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Georgia Green Party Platform 2000
Platform Links
2000 Platform of the Georgia Green Party (.pdf - 34 pages)
2000 Platform Amendments (.pdf)
2000 Nominating Convention Minutes - March 18, 2000 (.pdf)
2000 Nominating Convention Minutes - June 3, 2000 (.pdf)
1999 Platform of the Georgia Green Party (.pdf - 14 pages)
Resolution to Ratify 1999 Platform
1998 Platform of the Georgia Green Party
Platform Sections
Platform Resolution
Agriculture
Auto Insurance
Criminal Justice
Democracy
Economic Democracy
Economic Development
Education
Electric Reregulation
Environmental Justice
Foreign Policy
Forests
Health Care
Human Rights
Public Utilities
School of the Americas
Taxes
Transportation And Land Use
Veterans
Platform Resolution
Platform – 2000
of the
Georgia Green Party
As adopted by the
Wrightsville Nominating Convention - June 6th, 1998
and amended by three subsequent Conventions in
Americus - April 17th, 1999
Americus - March 18th, 2000
Brunswick - June 3rd, 2000
Pending Ratification by a phone conference
of the 2000 Coordinating Council
August 1st, 2000
Rev. Zack Lyde, chair and Kerrie Dickson, co-convenor
Debbie McAdoo, treasurer, Hugh Esco, clerk
Rovene Askren, Patrick Fulton, Dr. Lisa Hoferkamp,
Russ Howard, Will Jackson, Erin James,
Lyn Lawhon, Christopher Ott, Dana Roberts,
Charles Sumblin and Peter Wright
The Georgia Green Party
P.O. Box 5332; Atlanta GA 31107
vm/ fax) 1-877-GREEN-09 or 770-635-3496
http://www.greens.org/georgia/ * ggp@greens.org
GGP:CC Proposal #00-2: ___
Offered by Hugh Esco
To provide for the adoption and publication of the Platform - 1999 of the
Georgia Green Party.
A Resolution
of the Coordinating Council
of the Georgia Green Party
Whereas, the by-laws of the Georgia Green Party provide that the Annual
Convention of the Party may adopt a platform; and
Whereas, the Party held two Nominating Conventions in 2000, in Americus on
March 18th, 2000 and then in Brunswick on June 3rd, 2000; and
Whereas, each of these state conventions considered amendments to Platform -
1999 of the Georgia Green Party as that Platform had been ratified by the 1999
Coordinating Council on June 29th, 1999.
Whereas, the minutes of the Americus Convention held March 18th, 2000,
published in the Internal Discussion Bulletin #00-1: pages 3 through 20,
amended and accepted by the Council on May 1st, 2000, document how the delegates
considered sixteen proposed changes to the Platform, referred two papers to the
next nominating convention, adopted seven as a part of a consent agenda,
consented to the author’s withdrawal of one paper, while debating, amending
and consenting to the adoption of the other six proposed amendments; and
Whereas, the minutes of the Brunswick Convention held June 3rd, 2000,
published in the Internal Discussion Bulletin #00-2: pages ___ through
___, amended and accepted by the Council on _____________, 2000, document how
the delegates considered nine proposed changes to the Platform, referred two
papers to the next nominating convention and debated, amended and consented to
the adoption of the other seven proposed amendments; and
Whereas, the 1999 Platform was revised by compiling it with the amendments
passed by the each of the 2000 State Conventions of the Georgia Green Party, and
this compilation was accomplished by Hugh Esco, in his capacity as clerk of the
Party, and published in the Party’s Internal Discussion Bulletin
#00-2:__ through __; and
Whereas, the clerk has compiled and the Council has adopted an amendment to
the compiled Platform, as published in the Internal Discussion Bulletin #00-2:
__, correcting stylistic, punctuation and spelling errors as enumerated in that
amendment.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Coordinating Council, ratifies
IDB#00-2:__ through __ as corrected by the stylistic amendments, as the 2000
Platform of the Georgia Green Party.
RESOLVED, that the Web Clerk and web Team are directed to publish this
platform on the web site of the Georgia Green Party.
RESOLVED, that the Quick Decision Council is authorized to provide for the
publication to our members and to the public of Platform - 2000 of the
Georgia Green Party on the web and at a price not to exceed $5.00 for a
bound complete text copy or by excerpt in brochures, press releases, tabloids,
flyers and other suitable means of sharing the Party’s positions on important
issues with the general public and the media.
RESOLVED, that the members of the Coordinating Council are authorized and
encouraged to speak and write publicly on behalf of the Party on the issues
addressed in this Platform, being careful to distinguish Party policy from
personal positions.
RESOLVED, that in publishing the Platform, the Party shall invite interested
Georgians to get involved with the Party, to organize affiliated locals to send
delegates to the 2001 Convention, to offer their input to expand and refine this
Platform and to work with the Party and in their communities for the fulfillment
of the Green vision articulated in this document.
RESOLVED, that the Clerk may publish a version of the Platform, line-numbered
for reference and discussion, and distribute it as part of a package on local
organizing developed in cooperation with the Local Affiliation Committee for not
more than $20.00 as a merchandise item, and for free to organizing or affiliated
locals for internal duplication and distribution.
Platform 2000
Platform – 2000
of the
Georgia Green Party
___________________________________________________________
Agriculture
"Create higher quality foods with lower environmental and
community damage"
Modern Industrial Agriculture has been a mixed blessing. While large factory
farms are producing more food than ever before, meat and produce products have
actually become hazardous for consumers. Toxin levels are increasing, and
overall quality of food is decreasing.
Many factory farm techniques exhaust organic nutrients in farm lands,
creating the need for higher and higher levels of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides. As a result, soils, rivers, and products are being poisoned.
Finally, agricultural conglomerates have forced most small farmers out of
business, consigning farm labor largely to immigrants who work in hazardous
conditions with no benefits, no legal protections, and very little pay.
In all, short-term savings and profits are coming at the expense of
substantial long-term damage -- for the consumer, for the environment, and for
the farmer. The Green Party of Georgia offers the following reforms as a
starting point for the dialogue on Agriculture:
1. Keep Corporate Money Out of Politics
Policymakers will make better decisions about agriculture if large political
donations from agribusiness interests are prohibited. The interests of consumers
and community must take precedence over private interests.
2. Support and Develop Ecological, Organic, and Bio-Dynamic Farming
Methods
Vegetables and fruits can be raised without chemicals. They're a lot healthier
to eat that way, and they end up tasting better, too. Moreover, natural
techniques re-generate the earth, instead of exhausting it. We need to phase out
poisons in agriculture, and phase out ecologically destructive practices such as
factory farming and mono-cropping; in their place we need to implement organic
and bio-dynamic farming techniques. We need to research and teach these
techniques and methods in agricultural schools.
3. Support a Moratorium on Genetically Modified Organisms in Agriculture
We don't need these, and the risks of putting them to use are too
enormous. Nature's wisdom in creating the existing divisions between
species developed over the course of more than a billion years. It is
astonishingly presumptuous for profit-minded corporations and investors to
imagine that in a few short decades we can make deep, radical changes in these
boundaries without serious repercussions, and it is politically contemptuous to
visit these repercussions on everyone without their universal consent.
4. Develop Consumer-Right-to-Know Labeling Laws
It is unfair that all manner of pesticides, hormones, radiation and
genetic engineering are used on food and fiber crops and the results sold
without labeling what was used--while organic growers are required to pay for
intricate certification procedures in order to prove they are not using any of
the above. Political decency requires that all the insecticides,
fungicides, herbicides, hormones, radiation and genetic modification used to
produce or process food crops be listed on labels when they are sold.
5. Healthy School Lunches
Prohibit the use of BGH-treated dairy products, irradiated meats and
produce and the products of genetic engineering in the preparation of school
lunches. Phase-out over seven years all non organic meats and produce from
school lunches. Establish a unit of the Cooperative Extension Agency,
Board of Regents to cooperate with the Georgia Organic Growers Association to
assist farmers in the transition from the use of Chemical inputs to operating
practices that will allow for Organic Certification.
6. Support Local Farmers
We will require that government institutional buyers give purchasing
preference to products of local Farmers. We would make local purchasing a
criterion in the award of government contracts.
7. Phase Out Factory Animal Farms, and Replace Them with Pasture Farms
Most meat animals raised today in America spend their entire lives packed in
dark boxes, shoulder to shoulder with other animals, knee- to hip-deep in their
own waste. The meat from these animals is unhealthy to eat. The waste from these
farms pollutes entire rivers. And the production of the grains used to feed
these animals relies heavily on chemical fertilizers and techniques that deplete
farmlands (see #2). Carefully managed pasture farms would feed livestock
naturally (and less expensively), and sunshine, mobility, and organic diet would
vastly improve quality of their meat. Animal wastes would be used to build
topsoil of the pastures.
8. Develop Requirements for Composting Animal Confinement Wastes
Presently the concentration, holding and disposal of urine, manure and
carcasses in animal confinement operations pollutes our air, surface water and
ground water. Composting these materials for use as fertility inputs would
transform them from pollutive wastes into valuable assets.
9. Investigate Alternate Sources of (Pulp) Fiber, Food and Oil
We have to use trees for lumber, but we probably don't need them to produce
paper pulp. First we should maximize recycled content in all paper (and other)
products. Next, alternate sources of fiber such as kenaf, bamboo and hemp (the
non-narcotic kind) are faster and cheaper to grow. At the same time, keeping
more trees standing cleans more pollution (carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere,
and saves more wildlife habitat.
10. Educate Farmers
No farmer sets out to destroy the environment and produce unhealthy food --
market forces and current agricultural techniques create these phenomena. We
need to teach organic and bio-dynamic farming methods to working farmers, and to
young farmers in schools. As the average age of farmers pushes 70, a new
emphasis on Urban Farm Schools is necessary and appropriate.
11. Educate Consumers
No consumer sets out to buy toxic foods. What we don't know, however, really is
hurting us. A Nutrition Awareness Program could educate consumers about health
implications and issues surrounding both factory- and organically-grown produce
and meat.
12. Encourage Municipal Composting and Recycling of Biological Wastes
Composting turns these liabilities into assets. Cities need only to be shown
how.
Auto Insurance
"If we need to buy it, make the prices fair."
Auto insurance companies claim that high jury awards and large numbers of fraud
cases force them to jack up insurance rates. Yet the past five years have shown
record profits for nearly all the major auto insurers.
Legislators have made auto insurance mandatory in the state of Georgia
(and nearly every other state). We question the justice of that law. We wonder
if a state mandate for auto insurance would have passed in an environment of
publicly funded elections. We view this as another example of corporate welfare.
But we do maintain that if we are required to purchase insurance, (or anything
else for that matter), the sellers of this commodity shouldn’t be getting rich
off us.
At the same time, rampant medical and legal fraud is becoming
increasingly expensive --for the consumer. More often than not, insurers take a
why bother attitude when prosecuting bogus claims, because they know they
can pass the costs directly on to the rest of us. Good drivers are footing the
bill for bad drivers, resulting in an annual premium penalty of hundreds of
dollars per driver.
To foster auto insurance policies that truly protect the public, the
Green Party will:
1. Make Auto Insurance Optional.
While we understand that it can be prudent to carry insurance and do not
intend to impair any contracts by lenders which require insurance, we oppose the
state laws which prohibit operating an uninsured vehicle. This creates a class
barrier to jobs and other necessary travel and serves to criminalize poor people
for their poverty.
2. Demand Accountability
Medical and legal fraud could be, and should be, more aggressively prosecuted by
insurance companies. Let the insurance companies recover their losses at their
own expense through tighter claims review and civil litigation.
3. Mandate Immediate Rate Reduction
Impose a 20% reduction in auto insurance rates. Our program would closely
parallel California's Proposition 103. This program's success in California has
led to a 1% increase in average premiums since 1988, compared with 32%
nationwide. The California proposition mandated a 20% reduction in premiums and
is yielding great results. The Greens played a major role in pushing the
legislation through in California.
4. End Discrimination
Prohibit rate discrimination based on sex, race, or income under the guise of
geographical risk factors. Premium rates should be determined by drivers’
personal records and age only.
5. Deny Automatic and Arbitrary Decision-Making
We will eliminate automatic rate increases and provide consumers the right to
challenge the cancellation of their insurance policies.
6. Reject Caps on Awards
Insurance companies have no right to penalize us for exercising our rights in
court. We will maintain our right to pursue tort claims for pain and suffering,
with no limitations imposed other than the good conscience of an impartial jury.
7. Require Legislator Integrity
Legislators with direct ties to the insurance industry -- clear conflicts of
interest -- should not be allowed to write legislation for the industry.
8. Create the Office of Public Advocate
The office of a full-time administrator should be created to act on the taxpayer’s
and consumer’s behalf, not the insurance companies’. This Public Advocate
would monitor the insurance companies' profits and methods of rate
determination, and challenge all rate increases.
Criminal Justice
"Create a criminal justice system that protects our
communities, our tax revenues, the rights of the accused and the wages and
working conditions of Georgia workers."
Currently the state of Georgia is incarcerating an ever increasing number of its
citizens at great cost in both the tax money needed to operate the Prison system
and in the human potential being wasted. Georgia has abandoned any intention to
rehabilitate its inmates -- most of whom will one day return to our communities.
The get-tough-on-crime policies of the status quo is making our communities less
safe and promises to bankrupt the state's coffers and human potential.
Meanwhile critical threats to the safety of our communities are
practically ignored by the criminal justice system. Our state lacks both the
commitment and the infrastructure to address the ecological crimes of
corporations and the very real and ever present threat of violence in our homes.
Corporate boards and officers make decisions every day that result in the
introduction of poisons to the air and water which we all share as our common
heritage. These same acts committed by individuals would be considered and
prosecuted as criminal. Corporations hide behind immunity and poison our
communities and food supplies, killing our neighbors with impunity.
Half or more of the women and children of Georgia suffer physical abuse
in their own homes. Assaults that would be considered criminal if they happened
on the streets are shrouded and protected in a cloak of familial secrecy.
Creating justice for women and children can not be done with police and the
courts, alone. But these institutions must play their role. We also need to
recreate a culture where this sort of violence is not tolerated and where
parents and spouses are supported in finding non-violent ways of resolving
conflicts.
Georgia has become the focus of International attention for the human
rights abuses that go on in the state's prison and juvenile detention centers
every day.
1. Create a Restorative Justice System
Create a justice system that focuses on police accountability, public safety,
rehabilitation and re-integration into the community and court and judicial
accountability (which includes: speedy trial, the rights of the accused, the
rights of prisoner, the rights of ex-offenders and the rights of victims). The
criminal justice system must be equally fair and accessible to all people,
regardless of wealth. To that end, every person accused of a crime should be
offered competent, adequately funded legal counsel at all stages of the
proceedings.
2. Non-Violent Juvenile Offender Sentencing Reform
No youth accused or convicted of a non-violent crime shall be
incarcerated. Communities, courts, local and state government should fund
alternatives to incarceration and the elements of a restorative justice
system.
3. Declare Peace in the War on Drugs
Police officers do and sell drugs from confiscation rooms. The DEA and CIA make
millions on drug laundering, sales and use. Corruption exists in all levels of
drug enforcement. The Drug War is a waste of money and a counterproductive
policy. In the interest of ending corruption in law enforcement, saving tax
dollars and maintaining non-violent offenders as contributing members of our
communities, we urge that the state offer treatment for addictions instead of a
war on drugs. Replace a criminal justice response to substance abuse with
treatment and addiction counseling. Focus on shifting resources away from the
prosecution of victimless crimes. We advocate that simple misdemeanor possession
of marijuana be dealt with with minimal fines and that we stop incarcerating our
citizens for this offense or using this, unsupported by other evidence, as a
basis for a finding of deprivation. We advocate the repeal of all mandatory
minimum sentences for simple drug possession. We will correct the sentencing
disparities between crack and powder cocaine that have resulted in the
disproportionate incarceration of African-Americans in Georgia and across the
country. We will extend amnesty to any offender who was previously sentenced in
a manner inconsistent with these sentencing parameters.
4. Protect the Rights of the Accused
Fully fund indigent defense and roll back the 1999 increase in jail bonding
fees.
5. Rehabilitate Inmates
Reclaim public resources from the prison industry for reinvestment in
prevention. Make rehabilitation the purpose of incarceration. Respect for the
humanity of all inmates must be the foundation of incarceration. We will
redirect public resources from incarceration to fund drug rehabilitation
programs available to all regardless of income or offender status.
6. Protect Workers from Slavery
Prohibit private prisons from using inmate labor that would leave Georgians
working in unsafe conditions for declining wages in competition with unpaid,
inmate slave labor. Amend the XIIIth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to
repeal the exception to the Constitutional prohibition against slavery and
involuntary servitude.
7. Prevent Domestic Violence
Increase resources to prevent and respond to domestic violence. Commit funding,
resources and personnel to build a coordinated community based response to
domestic violence in our homes, that emphasizes the accountability of the
perpetrator and the protection of those victimized by abuse. Implement the
recommendations of the Commission on Gender Bias in the Judicial System
in their June 1992 Report to the Supreme Court of Georgia. Train police and
court personnel to do their part to end domestic violence. We urge Greens and
Georgians to challenge the sexist assumptions of our culture which are used to
justify family violence.
8. Prosecute Environmental Crime
Increase resources to respond to crimes against ecological integrity. We oppose
immunity for corporate officers from liability for criminal acts of their
corporations.
9. Prohibit State-Sanctioned Murder
The Death Penalty is barbaric, archaic, and morally reprehensible. Capital
punishment is imposed in classist, racist and freakish manner. The death penalty
has no place in a world moving into the next millennium.
10. Indict Wayne Garner
We call for the dismissal and indictment of Corrections Commissioner Wayne
Garner.
Democracy
"Create a government of, by and for the people."
Despite the rhetoric of high school civics classes, we don't live in a democracy
but in a corporate oligarchy where public policy is made at the behest of and to
benefit wealthy business interests. This has cost us more than just democracy
and the right to meaningfully participate in the governance of our own
communities. It has also cost us access to clean air, water, soil and food. It
has cost us the common wealth of mature forests and unpolluted oceans. It has
cost us our ability to offer our children a future that serves their best
interests.
Incumbents through the reapportionment process have more influence over
who wins an election than do voters. Corporate lobbyists and wealthy campaign
contributors have more influence over the direction of public policy than do the
citizens and tax-payers of Georgia.
1. Eliminate Barriers to Voting
All citizens have the right to participate freely and equally in an electoral
system free of onerous barriers to voter registration which protects the
principle of one-person/ one-vote.
2. Democratically Finance Elections
We must provide public financing of election campaigns so that a candidate's
meaningful access to the electoral system is not determined by money; and where
candidate viability is determined by their appeal to the electorate not their
appeal to wealthy contributors. Prohibit the use of private money in public
elections.
3. Ensure Open Access to the Ballot
Open up ballot access to independent political parties. If the right to vote is
to mean anything, a voter's candidate of choice must have access to the ballot
and their votes must be counted.
4. Proportional Representation
Georgia's elections laws provide for a system of winner-take-all,
majority election rules. The right to govern belongs to the
majority. But the right of representation belongs to everyone. As
Greens, we advocate the use of proportional representation rules in the counting
of ballots.
These will allow voters to vote their convictions instead of their fears.
We propose that the Electoral College, the Georgia Congressional
delegation, the state House and local Councils and Commissions be elected
by a system of multi-member proportional representation and that single
member races be filled by single transferable voting or preference
voting.
5. Provide for Recall, Initiative and Referendum
Provide for a meaningful recall procedure to challenge and hold accountable
sitting elected officials. Provide reasonable means to access the ballot for
voter initiatives to set policies that elected officials ignore or refuse to
enact. Protect the right to referendum.
6. Stop Privatization
Protect democratic control over government services by halting the trend to
privatize public functions without community referendum. Ensure that workers
providing government services receive a livable wage for their work.
7. Ensure Sunshine in Public Policy
Maximize sunshine and open meetings in all policy making.
8. Expand Democratic Control of our Communities
Expand Democratic Community Control of our communities, land-use, economic
development, transportation planning, housing, schools, public safety, utilities
and local media.
9. Hold Corporations Accountable
Eliminate corporate influence and interference in the community development
decision-making process. Establish and enforce strict regulations that prohibit
real estate and banking policies and practices that are hostile to the interests
of the community. Establish a Corporate Charter Review Commission to consider
challenges to a Corporation's Charter to operate in Georgia. Provide that a
Corporate Charter may be revoked on a finding that a preponderance of the
evidence shows that the activities of the Corporation willfully or recklessly
threatens the health and welfare of the people of Georgia.
Economic Democracy
"Create an economy that recognizes the abundance of the planet
and the right of all to share in that abundance."
Political democracy without economic democracy is meaningless.
Our economy is organized around a scarcity mentality which protects the
profit and greed of an owning class while impoverishing a working class. For too
long, public policy has been written by corporations, for corporations, and at
the expense of working people and consumers.
Georgia and U.S. taxpayers subsidize corporations when we provide public
assistance to support the families of people employed at substandard wages,
benefits and working conditions. Georgia leads the country in infant mortality.
Hungry children don't learn. Poverty creates hopelessness and disempowerment
that leaves people turning to criminal activities to support their families.
1. Honor Economic Human Rights
Honor everyone's right to decent and affordable housing, health care, food,
retirement benefits, education and childcare. This is guaranteed by the UN
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and ought to be enforced by the state of
Georgia.
2. We recognize that children are entitled to housing, food, healthcare,
education, and the care of their parents. We oppose those aspects of Workfare
which we feel violate the Constitutional prohibition against involuntary
servitude and the punitive sanctions created by the 1996 Congressional
welfare reform act and the 1997 Georgia Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Act. We commit to restructuring the public welfare program so that children have
the benefit of their parent's time and energy; and that respects the autonomy of
single parents.
3. Guarantee Livable Wages and the Right to Organize
Guarantee the right to a safe, secure job at a livable wage, with protection of
the right to organize, to bargain collectively, to join a union and to strike
without fear of retaliation, reprisal or firing. Prohibit companies from busting
unions and attacking living standards through the use of scab replacement
workers, prison labor, economic blackmail, taking reprisals against
whistle-blowers or the payment of unlivable wages to their workers.
4. Guarantee a Community's Right to Know
A Community has the right to know about a company's plans for downsizing,
closing shop or moving out of the community; the right to know about a company's
toxic emissions and workplace conditions; and the right to act to stop a company
from pursuing policies and practices that are hostile to the interests of the
community.
5. Repeal NAFTA and GATT
We call for the repeal of NAFTA and GATT. We support the Steelworker's
Constitutional challenge of NAFTA's ratification process. We acknowledge that
the economy is linked on a global scale, but the free trade agenda has created
hardship for workers both here (where jobs have been lost) and abroad (where
wages are so low that workers cannot support their families). We oppose the
power granted to the World Trade Organization by the General Agreement on Trade
and Tariffs allowing them to overturn laws agreed to in a democratic manner by
local communities, state and national governments. Corporate challenges before
the WTO of worker and environmental protection laws as an "unfair restraint
of trade" have already overturned US Congressional laws to protect Marine
Mammals and protected Nike's use of child labor paid 9¢ an hour for 14 hour
days. We're committed to building an economy that is community based,
sustainable and just. The Free Trade agenda has created increased dependence for
Georgia's workers, on the farms and in the factories. It has accelerated the
loss of family farms and increased reliance on chemically addicted factory
farming. We are committed to building a Fair Trade Economy with our global
neighbors based on respect for the rights of all working people to the economic
rights and the environmental rights elaborated in this Platform.
6. Protect the Indigenous Worldview from the Free Trade Agenda
We endorse the Indigenous People's Seattle Declaration adopted on December 1,
1999 on the occasion of the Third Ministerial Meeting of the
World Trade Organization in Seattle Washington. We oppose the Agreement
on Agriculture which has encouraged export competition and import liberalization
destroying ecologically rational and sustainable agricultural practices that
have formed the basis for the food security of Indigenous Peoples around the
world. We call for the repeal of the provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) which permit the patenting of
life forms and have given rise to bio-prospecting projects to colonize
indigenous cultural and biogenetic resources. We urge that scientific
researchers and corporations be prohibited from appropriating and patenting
indigenous seeds, medicinal plants, and related knowledge about these
life-forms. The principles of prior informed consent and right of veto by
Indigenous Peoples must be respected. We oppose the General Agreement of
Services (GATS), with its focus on liberalizing investment rules and
privatization of the service sector.
7. Arts Funding
We recognize the importance of public funding for the arts, public access
television and radio and public broadcasting. Our ownership of the public
airwaves is meaningless unless people have the resources to access those
airwaves and set the priorities for programming.
Economic Development
"Local self-reliance is the key to economic
security"
We understand that economic democracy is a human right. We also know it will
not be granted to us by the Corporations who benefit from the current economic
insecurity. We intend to recreate the economy from the community out to foster
sustainable practices, humane working conditions and lives of abundance.
As Greens we recommend:
1. Local currencies
Local governments and non-governmental organizations can create new
currencies issued by them to workers and vendors who commit to accept the
currency. Local currencies recycle wealth in the community and multiply job
creation opportunities. Time Dollars, LETS and Hours systems of local currency
encourage livable wages and build a community base for widespread economic
security.
2. Broad-based Ownership
We favor policies including purchasing and contracting preferences that award
and encourage companies that share meaningful ownership with their workers and
community. This ownership would include participation in both the profits and in
shareholder decision-making. We urge state accounts and annuities be invested in
business enterprises which foster and create broad-based ownership, an equitable
distribution of wealth and income and the principles of economic democracy.
3. Creating Accurate Measures
We urge state legislation to give preference in state economic development
grant making to local governments which participate in programs to measure and
report relevant economic data to the public. These measures would include data
on human and community needs (especially energy and food) either unmet or filled
with imports which could be provided for locally.
4. Public Support for Lifelong Education
An investment in life long education universally available will reap
dividends in a culture of learning for our children and facilitate the ongoing
development of the people—who are the most important resource of our economy.
5. Energy self-reliance
The Public Service Commission can require that new investments by power
utilities be made in energy conservation and new renewable generating capacity,
especially photo-voltaic and wind. Plugging the leaks in our energy budget saves
our money for local spending and local job creation.
6. Zoning for Home-based Businesses
We urge local governments to amend their zoning codes to encourage mixed-use
development and home-based businesses.
Education
"Each and every person can attain whatever educational
level they desire in whatever manner they desire regardless of income, race,
disability or gender without discrimination."
An education should never be denied to anyone with a thirst for knowledge. For
too long education has been a privilege and we want to make it a right financed
by public funds.
As Greens, we will:
1. End Tracking
Stop tracking, compartmentalization and ability grouping in schools. These
programs with the stated intent of giving each child the attention they need to
achieve their own level of educational development have for too long been used
to reinforce old racist stereotypes of who is capable of what in an educational
environment. Young people are capable of far more than we give them credit for.
Schools should transform the limiting myths of racism and sexism, not reinforce
them.
2. Tax Money Should Fund Open, Inclusive and Democratic Education
Oppose school vouchers. Public funding must serve public schooling. We cannot
simultaneously build an excellent public education system and finance private
schools. Public resources must fund schools that provide open, inclusive and
democratic access to all students who wish to attend.
3. Protect our young from manipulative recruiting practices
We are committed to a future without war. We expect our schools to prepare
young people for meaningful employment in a peace economy. While some appreciate
the role that JROTC programs have played in providing structure, discipline and
self-confidence among some students, we oppose these programs militaristic
propaganda and their role as recruiting programs for the armed services. We
insist that if military recruiters are invited to schools, that others are also
invited who can tell the truth about the military and its enlistment promises
and offer young people viable alternatives to enlistment. We oppose the practice
of public schools using school hours for ASVAB testing and their providing lists
of the student body to military recruiters.
4. Community Classrooms
Our community can play a dynamic role in educating young people in practical
living skills. We encourage students to get out from behind their desks and to
find teachers and mentors among their community as part of an organized
volunteer program funded by state and local schools boards. Students can find
skills such as gardening, cooking, construction (carpentry, electrical and
plumbing), sewing, writing, music, art, auto mechanics, etc. Senior citizens and
young people need opportunities to get to know one another again. By sharing on
a practical level we can all benefit and gain a greater understanding for each
other.
5. Stop Ritalin Abuse
Investigate the high incidence of children being diagnosed with Attention
Deficit Disorder in Georgia's classrooms. A frighteningly high number of
students in our schools are taking Ritalin and other pharmaceuticals to help
teachers control their behavior. We believe that the real problem has more to do
with the school's unrealistic expectations that young children sit still for
extended periods of time. Addicting children to drugs as a method of control has
got to stop.
6. Schools Can Help Us Unlearn Racism
Teach children the truth in our classrooms. Children deserve to know the true
history of labor, religion and politics. History has traditionally been written
by the "winners." If we don't go back and re-examine the lies we were
taught about those "victories," we'll never be able to peel away the
layers of racism which continue to impact our communities still, on the brink of
the new millennium.
7. Education Can Reduce Unwanted Pregnancies
Offer accurate, age-appropriate sex education which will 1) teach an
understanding of the practical biological processes, 2) teach an appreciation of
the responsibilities of parenthood, 3) encourage self-confidence, self-esteem
and self-worth among young women and 4) teach men to respect women's choices,
take responsibility for preventing unwanted conception, and for raising and
supporting any children in order to reduce the need for abortions.
8. Our Youth Need Recreation Opportunities
Expand recreational services for our youth. Renovate existing schools and build
new schools as needed.
9. Stop Short-Changing High School Athletes
High Schools must stop valuing athletics over academics. The purpose of the
public educational system is to prepare students for their future. Athletics
programs serve a role, but should not replace academic preparation. When an
Athletic Program leaves the student unprepared for either higher education or
employment that can effectively support them and their families, the school has
failed both the student and the community.
10. Honest Nutrition Education in Public Schools
Georgians suffer greatly from an inordinate amount of heart
disease, strokes and cancer. There is sufficient evidence in the medical
community to advise the public that these and other debilitating and fatal
diseases are preventable through diet changes as advocated by the
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (P.O. Box 6322, Washington,
D.C., 20015). Our economy is burdened by disease care costs that are
a direct consequence of the meat, egg and dairy diet. Our landscape has
been denuded for grazing and our water systems are degraded by fecal pollutants
which runoff our farms or are discharged from rendering plants. We urge
the State School Board to produce a Food Guide based on the recommendations of
the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. We urge that schools
promote in a gentle, encouraging fashion as an ideal, a Food Guide
recommending four, totally vegetarian food groups, i.e. (1) vegetables, (2)
whole grains, (3) fruits and (4) legumes – with other items (e.g. meat,
dairy, eggs, sweets, fats) mentioned in a sidebar, but not actually
recommended for health.
11. Academic Freedom
We advocate that teachers, like all workers exercise their right to organize
on the job site. We support the right of collective bargaining for teachers and
other public employees. Teachers like all working people deserve the right to
collective bargaining and protections from unreasonable termination. We believe
that the quality of our children's education is dependent on protecting the
academic freedom of teachers.
12. Student Rights
We will establish independent student advocates in each school to speak on
behalf of students, especially in disciplinary cases. We will ensure that
students have reasonable due-process protections in school disciplinary actions.
We call for the end of mandatory silent lunches for students. We call for the
end of dress codes as they are unconstitutional and deny students freedom of
expression and individuality.
13. Gateway Testing
Gateway testing is not an accurate means of determining the achievement or
intelligence of our children. We oppose proposals to hold back students based on
the score of one test or battery of tests. This practice can cause irreparable
damage as some children do not test as well as others.
Electric Re-regulation
"Re-regulation of public utilities done in a way that
protects consumers and small businesses and promotes the use of clean and safe
renewable power sources."
The re-regulation of public utilities, especially of the electric power
utilities, is going to happen. Several states have made these changes and others
including Georgia are studying these changes. The President of the United States
has repeatedly espoused this as one way to reduce our CO2 emissions to meet our
commitments to the rest of the world.
It is essential that Georgia re-regulate in a manner that is good for the
economy and good for the environment.
1. Demand Side Investments
Use the rate setting and regulatory powers of the Public Service Commission
to encourage investment in demand side efficiency and conservation improvements
over investments in new generating capacity.
2. Protect (Especially Residential) Ratepayers
Keep discriminatory practices out of electric service so that all consumers are
guaranteed access to reliable electric service. Low income and rural communities
must be offered programs in support of affordable electric service. Large
consumers should not be given lower rates. Ratepayers must be protected from
excessive rates during transition to a competitive market and protected from
discrimination in rates or services in the long term.
3. Electric Reregulation Must Not Sacrifice the Environment
Public protection from environmental damages caused by power generators and
facilities. Pollution from power plants must be reduced. Energy conservation
must be increased and cleaner energy supplies must be developed to move our
society towards a sustainable existence. All competitors must be required to
meet safety standards for workers and for the community. Public oversight for
electric utilities must be maintained. Consumers should be given full disclosure
of emissions and waste data, compliance with safety laws and all other
information necessary to make informed purchasing decisions.
4. Separate Power Distribution from Production
Electric restructuring done in ways that lead to a truly competitive market. It
is essential that the power grid and the means of distribution be run by an
organization that does not compete in the production of power. The power grid
must allow a level playing field for all producers. This means that if the
Southern Company's power grid is used, then it must divest itself of all power
production for the state of Georgia or sell the grid to a truly independent
organization.
5. Protect Ratepayers and Taxpayers from Stranded Costs
Taxpayers and ratepayers should not assume responsibility for losses from bad
investments made by utility companies. Utility company stockholders or
municipalities are not entitled to recover losses from bad investments from
electric consumers or taxpayers.
6. Shut Down Nuclear Power Plants
No nuclear power plants will be allowed in Georgia. No power plants that are
inefficient from an environmental point of view will be allowed. Before any new
large capacity is provided it must be demonstrated that extensive demand side
management has occurred. Investments in consumer efficiency are the most cost
effective manner of serving our power needs.
Environmental Justice
"Honor the rights of all to clean air, water, soil and
food."
Our economy's production processes were developed without sufficient attention
to the hazardous side effects they present. Toxic substances are accumulating in
the food chain. Our current economy is built on the principles of consumption
and waste, not sustainability and conservation of vital natural resources.
The fallout of these corporate choices for toxic technologies fall
disproportionately on poor communities and communities of color. While urban
dwellers are able to purchase products of convenience, in Georgia, it is
primarily poor, African-American and rural communities who pay the health costs
of toxic exposure. Workers are the first exposed. But the often short-sighted
policies designed to protect work-place safety tend to shift the pollution into
the communities, or to down-stream neighbors.
Ultimately we all pay the price since we all share the air and water
which cycles throughout the environment.
1. Phase Out Toxic Technologies
Phase out toxic technologies such as nuclear power plants, the automobile, waste
incinerators and landfills.
2. Shift Funding to Alternatives to Cars
Shift transportation investment from car-oriented road construction to projects
and programs that serve pedestrians, cyclists, public transit users, the elderly
and the differently-abled.
3. Prevent Pollution
Shift environmental policy from pollution control (which hasn't worked to
protect human health or to conserve non-renewable resources) to pollution
prevention - - not producing toxins in the first place. We support the
establishment of a Zero-Waste Goal for the State of Georgia. We advocate a
comprehensive program of education and other measures aimed at industrial,
institutional, office, household and consumers generators of waste to reduce
both the toxicity and the quantity of waste they produce. We urge
container deposit legislation and other economic incentives and disincentives to
promote the re-use of both products and materials. We urge the creation of
household, community, municipal and agricultural composting programs to divert
clean organics from disposal from household kitchens and yards, from
institutional kitchens and from agricultural waste generators to both reduce the
load on waste disposal systems and to build soil. We call for segregating
industrial discharges from municipal sewage systems in order to protect the
usefulness of these wastes for composting and non-food agricultural uses.
We support bans of compostable materials from disposal facilities. We urge
the development and public funding of programs for segregating and gathering
used materials for recycling. We support an ongoing survey of the waste
stream destined for disposal to determine the potential for additional waste and
toxic reduction, products re-use, organic composting and materials recycling.
4. Compensate Victims of Pollution
Protect the rights of victims of environmental pollution to receive full
compensation for damages and quality health care. Create a Pollution
Victim's Compensation Fund to receive dedicated revenue from a Pollution tax on
all releases reportable in the Toxic Release Inventory. The Fund is to be
divided into separate accounts and disbursed to pay a) the health-care costs of
Pollution Victims; b) providing technical assistance to community groups in
holding responsible corporations accountable for containing and cleaning up
uncontrolled toxic sites; c) funding grants for technical assistance by the
Office of Pollution Prevention to be matched by and to assist polluting
industries to retool production processes to reduce reportable discharges; and
d) for retraining, job placement and worker transition costs associated
with displacement created by production process changes motivated by pollution
prevention efforts.
5. Protect our Water Resources
We believe that the provision of a secure source for clean, potable water is
one of the primary roles of governments. We recognize that many communities in
Georgia can no longer offer uncontaminated water to their citizens. We insist
that poor people be provided with clean bottled water. We oppose the
privatization of public water and waste-water systems. We believe that
responsibility for protecting our water resources is the most fundamental role of
our governments and recognize this as a public function necessary to the
security and the promotion of general welfare of Georgia's citizens. We are
deeply concerned with the threats to our water security posed by surface and
ground water contamination from agricultural, industrial, sedimentation and
non-point run-off sources and by the depletion of the Floridian (and other)
aquifers. We advocate that the issuance or renewal of surface or aquifer
withdrawal permits for industrial use be conditioned on the existence of water
conservation programs and on-site water recycling programs. We would condition
the renewal of public withdrawal permits on educational and other programs
including the Georgia Friendly Yard and Neighborhood Program to promote the
conservation of water, the use of indigenous vegetation, water efficient
irrigation and efficiency standards for household, institutional, commercial and
industrial water appliances and processes. We urge the prompt separation of
septic sewage lines from storm water lines to protect from the accidental
discharge of untreated sewage into our streams and rivers. We support the use of
sewer tap-on moratoriums in those drainage basins which lack the capacity to
safely handle the existing and anticipated load on waste water systems. To
insure the protection of ground water resources, we urge counties and municipal
governments to provide for special use permits to encourage the experimental use
and development of onsite composting toilets in the place of septic tanks. We
urge riparian corridor and wetlands protections. We insist that Georgia pursue
an environmentally responsible resolution to the Tri-State Water Conflicts.
5. Reduce Greenhouse Gasses
Support the honoring of U.S. commitments to international treaties to reduce
green house gasses and other environmental concerns.
6. Population Growth
We oppose policies that work to encourage population growth. We encourage public
education that urges individuals to take personal responsibility for the impact
on the global resource base of population growth. We oppose policies for
coercive sterilization or contraception. We urge sensitivity in these
educational efforts to the diversity of cultures on the planet. We encourage
policies and education to honor and respect cultural viability/ integrity and
personal autonomy both in the U.S. and globally.
7. Make the Switch to Renewable Fuels
Greens advocate the conversion of the economy to truly renewable and clean
fuels. Out of sight, out of mind pollution schemes are discouraged including
electric power derived from coal burning and nuclear power plants. But we
encourage the development of electric cars that derive their power from green
energy, in particular, solar, wind and organically grown biomass (ethanol) fuels
and power sources. We urge that ethanol be substituted for lead as a no-knock
additive.
Foreign Policy
"There is no way to peace, peace is the way."
We oppose U.S. military adventurism. We are not isolationists. We are
committed to both personal and global responsibility. Our government does have a
role in international affairs. However, we do not support the federal government
assuming responsibility as world policeman. We are wary of the motives of U.S.
foreign policy that uses military force to selectively protect human rights for
some but not all. We recognize that frequently US foreign and military policy
have been driven by corporate interests instead of the country’s interests.
As Greens we call for:
1. End Human Rights Violations both here and abroad
The key to long lasting peace is economic and environmental justice and
reparations to those who have suffered. Generations of war and genocide can only
be stopped by ending the violence with peaceful negotiations and reparations,
not with bombing, sanctions and economic devastation. We do not support the use
of depleted uranium in weapons used by the NATO and U.S. military. Poisoning
water supplies, the Earth and air leads to more death and mounting health
travesties that will be seen in not only this generation, but future generations
as well.
2. Forgive International Debt
Restructure the World Bank and the IMF. We oppose the manner in which the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been administered to
manipulate access to investment capital to attack the rights of working people
to safe jobs paying livable wages and air, water and food safe for consumption.
We call for an end to the "Structural Adjustment Programs" and
forgiveness of international debt. Investments and loans must be targeted to
achieve self-sufficiency and ecological sustainability.
3. Demilitarize the International War on Drugs
We oppose the expansive new powers granted to the Director of the Office of
Drug Control Policy (the Drug Czar) to conduct militaristic foreign policy
missions under the cover of drug production intervention. We oppose the massive
arms sales being conducted in the name of fighting international drug
trafficking.
4. Democratize the United Nations
We urge the United States to lead a movement for UN Charter Reform to
eliminate the privileged position of Security Council members and to work to
build the UN into a tool for international peace making, reconciliation and
environmental protection.
5. Abolish the CIA, End Covert Operations
We would abolish the Central Intelligence Agency and those other federal
agencies whose primary mission is and has been the conduct of covert military
operations. Such activity is a direct threat to the security of democracy. We
would reserve to Congress the power to declare war. And prohibit the Executive
Branch from using military force without such a declaration.
6. Create a Peace Force committed to non-violent strategies
We believe that non-violence is the path to peace. While affirming the right
of self-defense, we are committed to creating a future without war. The military
serves a role we feel can be replaced by the organization and funding at both
the national and international level of a Peace Force which utilizes non-violent
strategies and tactics to pursue Foreign Policy objectives outlined here.
7. Halt arms sales to Human Rights Abusers
Pass Congresswoman McKinney’s bill.
8. End the War of Economic Sanctions against the people of Iraq
The suffering has gone on too long. Thousands of children are dying every
week in Iraq from preventable health problems and mal-nourishment as a direct
result of the 1991 bombing and sanctions. Clinton ought to be held responsible
for the 1998 bombing justified as retaliation for Hussein’s refusal to
cooperate with an UNSCOM inspection team staffed with U.S. spies. We ask the
World Court to rule on the illegality of the use of Depleted Uranium weapons. We
call on the U.S. government to commit to gathering and containing the
radioactive waste left across the desert by its military actions.
9. Create a Meaningful and Lasting Peace in the Balkans
Develop an effective strategy to create meaningful and lasting peace in the Balkans.
Such a strategy must be based on an immediate end to the bombing and any other
steps being proposed to escalate the violence. We call for the UN to intercede
and protect the people of Serbia, Albania and Kosovo from both NATO aggression
and from war crimes by Milosevic and others. We urge the OSCE to continue its
reconciliation work interrupted by the bombing. We call on Congress to act to
achieve these purposes.
10. Stop the War in Chiapas
We call for an immediate halt to all arms sales (usually funded as drug
interdiction activities) to the Mexican government. We recognize the rights of
the indigenous Mayan people to autonomy and self-government in their homeland in
the Mexican state of Chiapas. We urge the Zedillo administration to withdraw
troops from their war in Chiapas and to restore the Constitutional protections
afforded indigenous peoples prior to NAFTA’s enactment.
11. End the War of Economic Sanctions against the people of Cuba
End the economic blockade against Cuba. Adopt a policy of reconciliation
toward our neighbor to the South. We call for the repeal of the Helms-Burton
Act.
Forests
"Forests are indispensable to human and animal life and
must be protected."
Vast forests once covered most land. They moderate the Earth's climate and
provide habitats for myriad species of wildlife. The Earth's remaining forests
are a critical resource in that useful products, especially medicines, originate
in the forest. Today's global market economy in the hands of multi-national
corporations irresponsibly uses and often destroys this valuable and
irreplaceable resource.
Chip mill operations in the southeast have proliferated within the past
10 years. Wood chipping is the most unregulated, highly mechanized arm of
industrial forestry. In Georgia, forests are being unsustainably harvested in
order to feed the state's 20 wood chipping facilities which combined are
responsible for approximately 115,000 acres of clear-cuts each year.
Clear-cutting degrades water quality and air quality, causes soil erosion and
destroys wildlife habitat. The U.S. Forest Service has documented that
over-cutting is occurring throughout the Southeast and that softwood removals
exceed growth. In Georgia, nearly every county has been over-cut. Hundreds of
jobs are exported to foreign paper mills when the chips are exported for foreign
processing.
Hardwood chip exports increased by 500% from 1989 to 1995. The port of
Mobile, Alabama is now the largest exporter of hardwood chips from the U.S. The
southeast is now the largest pulp colony in the world. Hardwood industries such
as saw mills and furniture manufacturers are jeopardized by chip mills that are
chipping young hardwoods that would make tomorrow's lumber if left to grow. Saw
mills and other hardwood users employ more than twice as many people per unit of
wood harvested as the pulp wood industry. Only 6-10 people are needed to run a
chip mill that can devour more wood in one month than an average-sized saw mill
goes through in an entire year.
1. Our Forest Must Be Protected.
We must overhaul Georgia and U.S. Forest Service rules to protect our forests
and use them wisely. We must review, reform and restructure all Federal and
State land-use policies so that landowners will not be burdened with extra taxes
if they choose not to harvest their trees for lumber or pulp, and that forest
practices become environmentally sustainable in a manner that will provide a
continuing supply of high quality wood products.
2. Support and Develop Sustainable, Conservative Forestry Practices,
and Curtail Chip Mill Activity.
An environmental impact study must be conducted on the impacts of the wood
chipping industry in Georgia. A moratorium on the permitting of any new chip
mills or the expansion of existing chip mills should be placed in effect until
the results of this study are determined.
3. Eliminate Commercial Tree Harvesting in the Chattahoochee and Oconee
National Forests.
These forests are only 1% of trees harvested in Georgia. We must restore them to
the great forests they once were. This will be more beneficial to local
communities because recreation and tourism provides 40 times more jobs than does
the timber industry.
4. Provide Economic Alternatives for Displaced Timber Industry Workers
Once a zero-cut rule is enforced on our public lands, we must redirect federal
forest funds to preferentially hiring displaced timber workers to perform forest
restoration work. We must ban the export of raw logs and wood chips that cost
American jobs.
5. Educate Consumers on Recycling, Renewable Resources, and Sustainability
We should enforce practices that encourage reduction of paper usage since most
of our forests are cut to make paper. We should develop comprehensive recycling
and require that high content post-consumer waste paper be used for copying and
printing, toilet paper, napkins, etc. in all government offices and public
schools. We should grow and use hemp, bamboo and kenaf as plentiful and
renewable resources for the manufacturing of paper and other forest products.
Public policy must maintain, restore and protect wildlife habitats, fisheries,
bio-diversity, scenery and recreation. We must accept responsibility for the
effect local actions have on the global economy and ecology.
Global Population
"We must demonstrate our leadership for equity and
sustainability."
The exponential growth of the impact of the global human population is
arguably among the more serious threats to environmental integrity our planet
now faces. We would like to stabilize this impact. But we reject the easy
answers. This is a complicated issue with no clear "bad guys."
We reject the short-sighted premise that this is solely about population
control. Throwing contraceptives and access to sterilization at this issue won't
address the underlying causes of the exponential growth in the human population.
People have large families to provide for their security. Creating meaningful
security for everyone is the only guarantee we have of our own security. Our
first priority is to recreate Georgia's infrastructure and our very culture of
consumption.
Immigration is not the cause of declining real wages, growing income
disparity, inequality and oppression. The cause is corporate exploitation. The
solution is not nativism or protectionism. It's engaging in the sort of
consciousness raising that enables us to see how these divisions are exploited
to the advantage of a slim minority. The solution is to fight racism, sexism,
classism, homophobia and heterosexism in ourselves and our own community. The
solution is to join together to fight exploitation (of both people and the
environment) on a local level and globally.
The United States does not have an overpopulation problem. The world does.
Eliminating immigration would not do a single thing to ease the population
burden on this planet. The US does, however, have an over consumption problem.
6% of the world's people live in the United States, but we use 50% of the
world's resources and produce ___% of the world's waste. We're all
interdependent. As Greens, we will:
1. Support Women's Voices
Working for a political voice for women is a prerequisite for women accessing
education and family planning services on their own terms. These are the factors
which have tracked declining family sizes.
2. Stop the Exploitation of Immigrant Labor
American workers are being pitted by the forces of fear and division against
immigrant workers in a race to the bottom. It is time we loosen (if not
eliminate) our restrictions on immigration. We must create an environment where
workers subject to substandard wages and working conditions are safe from
deportation when they organize on their job site or seek the enforcement of
basic worker protections. Our failure to protect immigrant workers from
exploitation dooms native born workers to declining wages and working
conditions. The elimination or severe reduction of legal immigration won't stop
illegal immigration. People are going to keep coming to this country as long as
we live in a world where wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few and moving
to this country is seen as a way to access a piece of that wealth. Slowing or
stopping immigration is not a solution to any problem. Reducing inequality is.
3. Minimize income disparity.
Higher standards of living usually correspond with lower birth rates. We
endorse the maximum wage bill proposed by United for a Fair Economy, which would
cap the deductibility from corporate taxable income of employee or contractor
compensation which exceeds twenty-five times the annualized wages or salary of
the lowest paid employee or contractor in a firm. It's time we stopped using our
tax dollars to subsidize corporate behavior which has led to such great income
disparities. No other mechanism is more apt to encourage responsible corporate
behavior than creating this economic incentive.
4. Forgive Foreign Debt.
We endorse the Jubilee 2000 Campaign's call for international debt relief.
The U.S. must reduce its consumption and help developing nations increase the
standard and security of their living.
5. Addressing the Impact of Global Population Growth
We as a nation must address within our borders the inequalities in wealth and
income distribution and health care. We must focus on unsustainable consumerism.
We can have comfortable lives with out consuming the worlds resources. The U.S.
is the primary destroyer of the Earth, we must accept responsibility for this
and change our ways. We must clean up our own act first. Having taken these
steps ourselves, this nation would be better positioned to engage in the
international arena on the impact of global population growth and to help our
global neighbors devise non-coercive strategies to address this impact which are
respectful of the autonomy of the world's diverse cultures.
6. Sex Education, Family Planning and Infant Mortality
We encourage domestic and international education that urges individuals to
take personal responsibility for the impact on the global resource base of
population growth. We oppose policies for coercive sterilization or
contraception. We urge sensitivity in these educational efforts to the diversity
of cultures on the planet. We encourage policies and education to honor and
respect cultural viability/ integrity and personal autonomy both in the U.S. and
globally. We must reduce infant mortality globally. We must focus on
preventative health care. We must help improve the likely hood that newborns
will survive into old age themselves. We will restore aid cut off in previous
administrations to countries that includes education on abortion in their family
planning programs.
Health Care
"Return to us control over our own bodies!"
As individuals, it can be said that if we truly possess nothing else,
we possess our own physical bodies. Our right to protect the life, death,
health, and ultimate welfare of own bodies should be absolute.
Currently, health care resources are distributed overwhelmingly to
the upper class, and to the upper middle class. At the other end of the social
spectrum, the elderly and the very poor obtain basic relief through Medicare and
Medicaid.
In between, the system fails the "working poor" and much of
the middle class -- those people who are neither able to afford private health
insurance, nor able to pay for health care directly.
The new Governor spent his political capital and honeymoon session
enacting an HMO package that offers little relief to the problems faced by both
healthcare consumers and practitioners. Further, his bill exempts from the
scrutiny of the new insurance advocate the Columbus based AFLAC, a major
campaign contributor. The current trend is to restrict choice of both
practitioner and modality of care. We oppose the limited window for exercising
one’s choice for out-of-network practitioners and the 17% monetary penalty for
exercising this choice, imposed by Governor Barnes’s new laws. We urge the
Georgia Assembly to look at existing proven models that will provide universal
access to healthcare for less money than the insurance industry charges now,
serving only a fraction of the population.
Universal health care coverage needs to be administered by the state for
two reasons: first, because access to health care should be considered a right
of every American citizen; and second, because health insurance has evolved in a
manner that deviates from the traditional insurance actuarial principles. Bending
to competition between insurers and corporate pressures to reduce costs, health
insurers have resorted to "experienced based" "insurance"
for small groups. Actuarial science is based on the theory of large numbers. By
deviating from these principles, employees of small companies end up unable to
afford health insurance and do not get good medical care. This happens to small
businesses who tend to hire the "working poor" and lower middle
classes. Those who need health care the most - the sick and the dying - are
inevitably denied insurance and care.
But because private health insurers treat risk in the same manner as auto
insurance companies and homeowner’s insurance companies, those who need health
care the most -- the sick and the dying -- are inevitably denied insurance and
care. To promote a healthy respect for the living, the sick, and the dying, the
Green Party will strive to:
1. Make Health Coverage and Consumer Choice a Right
Other great democracies already recognize Universal Health Coverage as a right
of citizenship. It is time for America to do the same. We need to support a
national single-payer health care system that includes all providers, and
assures consumer choice and freedom. The model is simple. The plan pays for
basic services, and up to a specified amount. Sums and services beyond those
basic levels can be paid for on an elective basis by the patient individually.
2. Tobacco Settlement Can Fund Universal Care
Create a Georgia Health Care Corporation to receive the tobacco
settlement funds and to use them to provide universal access to health care in a
system that includes all providers, and assures consumer choice and freedom,
including proven "alternative" and "complementary" health
care disciplines and practices, and with emphasis and priority given to health
measures and education designed to prevent the need for curative health
measures.
3. Separate Health Care from Employment
A single-payer system also separates health care from employment status and
share risks much more broadly. Employees shouldn’t be tied to bad jobs for
fear of losing coverage. And employers shouldn’t have to worry about hiring
employees with existing medical conditions.
4. Honor Parents Choices About Vaccines
No consensus exists for the use of vaccines. In fact there exists no
definitive studies which demonstrate the efficacy of vaccination as a means of
preventing disease. Evidence continues to surface suggesting that vaccinations
– intended to produce immunity from disease – are actually contributing to
diminished health and increased susceptibility to health problems. Many parents
who are committed to healthy diet and holistic health care are opposed to the
use of pharmaceutical vaccinations. We oppose policies which would force these
taxpayers to compromise their health care choices in exchange for access to
public education for their children.
5. Shift Emphasis to Prevention
Preventive health care has made great progress. Preventive health measures and
education should be given funding and priority over curative health measures.
6. Promote Reproductive Health
Create maternity care that results in healthy mothers, babies, and families.
Guarantee access to a full range of reproductive health services in and out of
the hospital including prenatal care, delivery and postpartum care, midwifery
care. Also provide access to and funding for family planning information,
contraceptives for both men and women and as a last resort, abortion.
7. Fund and Study Alternate Forms of Medicine
Only 150 years ago, physicians talking about bacteria and germs
were labeled kooks. Today, progressive thinking and research should not be
similarly derailed. Alternative health therapies should be carefully researched.
Currently illegal drugs, such as marijuana, should be studied to determine
potential health benefits. By the same token, legal drugs, such as nicotine and
alcohol, whose harmful effects are already known, should be more closely
regulated.
8. Fund and Study Alternate Forms of Health Care
Establish evidence-based health care standards in all health care disciplines.
Expand health care choices to include proven "alternative" and
"complementary" health care disciplines and practices. Affirm and
enforce the rights of health care consumers to have complete information about
all the choices available regarding all aspects of their health care, and the
right to refuse care. Change laws that prevent the use of alternative medical
practices. Reduce the monopolistic power of the American Medical Association by
subsidizing medical training for increased numbers of physicians
9. Honor Quality of Life over Quantity
Keeping patients alive beyond all reasonable standards of quality of life is
both expensive and inhumane. We must stop extreme measures to
"prolong" life when dignity and quality of life suffers. We must also
provide for humane methods to end life when modern medicine fails.
10. Acknowledge that Resources are Limited
Support increased study in the outcomes of medical procedures. Adopt a plan
similar to the plan proposed in Oregon, one in which the allocation of health
resources is based on the expected outcome related to the expense. Expensive
procedures that only marginally prolong life, or sacrifice quality of life,
should not be funded by the single payer system. This should be left to the
individual or family as an option for private funding.
11. Acknowledge an Individual’s Right to Die with Dignity
Allow for the humane ending of a life under the directive of someone having a
durable power of attorney to make medical decisions for someone. We encourage
public education on the issues involved with a living will.
Human Rights
"End all discrimination."
We live in a society and an economy built upon the supremacy of wealthy,
straight, white men. The privilege afforded people in this hierarchy exists at
the expense of the oppression of others. Given the myth of scarcity that has
driven the economy, these hierarchies of privilege have served as a means of
allocating and distributing the wealth, material resources, and privileges of
the culture.
But scarcity is a myth. We live in a world of abundance. And the notion
of white male entitlement is silly at the very least. All life is sacred in the
eyes of the Creator, by whatever name we may each individually know that
Creative Force. The notions of manifest destiny and divine right do not serve
the cause of justice. They serve the interests of private profit. They have
justified disparate access to education, housing, jobs and wages.
We understand that racism and sexism are not about our personal
prejudices. They speak to the deeply ingrained patterns that permeate the
institutions of our culture. While we must individually strive to unlearn
prejudices on a personal level, as a political party we must strive to transform
our society's institutions.
Another myth is that the Civil Rights and Women's Movements have fully
accomplished their goals -- that there is now equal access to the material and
other benefits of the culture; that the need for affirmative action has been
met; that anyone who works hard and perseveres can succeed.
As Greens, we reject this myth. We know that the work of the Liberation
Movement has only begun. We commit ourselves to claiming our role in that
movement and speaking out for justice everywhere we see it lacking. Racism,
sexism, heterosexism and classism are still prevalent, and their effects are
still damaging. Those who are extended its privileges are often blind to its
existence. Those who are denied its privileges often internalize the myths of
their own inferiority, live invisible lives, and fail to reach their own
potential.
We recognize that privacy, autonomy and personal sovereignty are
fundamental human rights. We intend to transform a culture of fear into a
culture of hope, creativity and possibility. We are profoundly committed to the
preservation the Bill of Rights and those future changes to the U.S.
Constitution that have expanded our conception of human rights and human
freedom. We are now responsible to make our contributions to this document which
written and ratified by slave and property owners, still has offered some
seminal theory of human freedom. We intend to turn that theory into reality for
all who find themselves in this country and for our global family.
As Greens, we will:
1. Protect and Expand Affirmative Action
To address the continuing inequities in access to education, jobs and
promotions.
2. Ensure Legal Recognition for Domestic Partnerships
Including the right to marriage regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
3. Make Reparations to African-Americans
Officially acknowledge Georgia's and the United States' historic
wrongdoing in the enslavement of Africans. Initiate substantive and
practical dialogue on what Georgians can do today to make reparations to the
African-American community for the past four hundred plus years of genocide,
slavery, land-loss, destruction of culture and the present-day conditions which
have evolved from this history.
4. Make Reparations to Native Americans
Officially acknowledge Georgia's and the United States' historic
wrongdoing in removing Native Nations, and violating treaties with them, for the
settlement of Georgia. Initiate substantive and practical dialogue on what
Georgians can do today to make reparations for the past five hundred plus years
of genocide, land-theft, treaty violations, destruction of culture and the
present-day conditions which have evolved from this history.
5. Stop Violence and Discrimination
Against women, people of color, lesbians, gays, the poor, the homeless,
children, elders, immigrants, the differently-abled, and the
imprisoned.
6. Stop the Use of Racist Team Mascots
We support the American Indian Movement who has since 1975 urged sports
teams to stop the offensive use of mascots which refer to racial or ethnic
groups. We urge the Commissioner of Major League Baseball and Ted Turner,
the owner of the Atlanta baseball franchise to honor the requests of the Native
community for respect. We support legislation which would prohibit the use
of public funds to support professional, community or school teams which use
offensive mascots and prohibit those teams from playing at publicly funded
facilities. We urge the media to refrain from referring in their sports
reports by name to teams which use offensive mascots.
7. We will reclaim and protect our right to privacy
We will oppose and roll back the ever expanding web of corporate and
governmental intrusion into our lives and persons experienced in so many ways,
including random and universal searches of our persons and our property at
schools, transportation centers and government buildings; police road blocks and
random police stops; mandatory fingerprint, retinal scans, etc. identification
for government or corporate uses; governmental eaves-dropping on its citizens
whether by random searches of voice phone conversations or surveillance of
political associations, absent a warrant issued in the investigation of an
actual past crime; property seizures absent conviction of a crime.
8. Rights to Parent without Unreasonable State Intervention
We affirm the need for community and in some instances state intervention to
protect children from abuse and deprivation. It takes a village to raise a
child. Still we are concerned about the cultural, classist and racist biases of
DFACS workers that so often result in the needless destruction of families
without contributing substantively to the safety and welfare of children. When
DFACS becomes involved, it can take up to four years for children to be reunited
with their parents. In many cases children are placed in situations far worse
than the homes from which they were removed. We recommend that the definition of
deprivation be narrowed to prevent the Department of Human Resources and the
Juvenile Courts from breaking up families for 1) refusing to participate in
compulsory schooling that the child or parents find irrelevant to the child's
education or harmful to the child's psyche; 2) refusing to participate in the
dominant religious institutions of their community; 3) for choosing
non-traditional living conditions; 4) for choosing vegetarian, vegan or other
non-traditional, yet healthy, diets; 5) for refusing vaccinations, Ritalin or
other invasive pharmaceutical products or medical treatments; or 6) for
following the reasonable advice of the child's competent health care
practitioner.
9. Right to Housing
We support a constitutional right to housing and life-time tenancy and
statutory tenant protections from excessive rent increases, condo conversion,
unsafe living conditions and eviction without representation and sixty days
notice. We support a prohibition on housing discrimination on the basis of age,
children, race, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexual orientation, disability, HIV
status, nationality, religious faith or lack of faith or practice.
Public Utilities
"Provide services to all people who use public utilities
in an affordable and nondiscriminatory manner."
The Georgia Green Party supports all people having access to these important
services that everyone requires in this society.
1. Protect Consumers from Abuses by Monopolies
Prevent monopolistic structures and practices. If a truly competitive model with
many producers and no barriers to entry to the market is not feasible due to the
nature of the service, then the monopolistic practice must be strictly
regulated. Such regulation must be enforced by a Public Service Commission that
is responsive to the needs of all consumers and small businesses. It must also
give top priority to protecting the environment.
2. Stop Merger Mania
Stop the merger-mania that is creating a few extremely large companies. Large
companies that unfairly dominate the market can be stopped with current
regulatory and anti-monopoly laws if politicians have the political will to
enforce these laws. Large companies must be stopped from controlling the
enforcement of these laws through the use of large campaign contributions.
3. Replace Nuclear and Coal with Solar Energy
Support the development of safe, cleaner energy, especially
solar-derived energy. We support the immediate phase-out of inefficient and
unsafe nuclear and coal plants. The Public Service Commission should use its
rate approving authority to force the closure of coal and nuclear power plants.
4. Restructure to Protect Workers, Consumers and the Environment
Support restructuring the electric utility industry in a manner that will
benefit all consumers. Ensure and promote environmentally friendly production
facilities. Protect workers and citizens health and safety and reward clean and
efficient producers of energy.
5. Protect Ratepayers from Unregulated Investments
Protect the consumer from out-of-control corporations. Consumers and ratepayers
must be protected from the risks being taken by the Southern Company as they
invest in foreign and unregulated markets.
School Of The Americas
"Close the School of Assassins."
The US Army School of the Americas (SOA), located at Ft. Benning, Georgia, has
trained nearly 50,000 military officers from throughout Central and South
America and the Caribbean.
More than sixty percent of the Salvadoran military officers cited in the
1993 United Nations Truth Commission report for massacres, assassinations, and
other human rights abuses, were graduates of the SOA. More than forty percent of
Colombian officers cited by an international human rights tribunal were
graduates of the SOA. Many of the top military officials involved in Mexico's
counterinsurgency war in Chiapas are SOA graduates. Many graduates of the SOA
have been indicted for human rights abuses and drug trafficking in Argentina,
Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Peru,
including Gen. Manuel Noriega of Panama, Roberto D'Aubisson of El Salvador, Gen.
Hector Gramajo of Guatemala, and Gen. Hugo Banzar of Bolivia.
Human rights observers, church leaders, peasant organizations, student
and lawyers' groups have identified numerous SOA graduates as responsible for
acts of torture, assassination, kidnapping, drug trafficking, disappearances,
rape, and death squad activity throughout Latin America. Despite the US Army
School of Americas' attempts to downplay the crimes committed by SOA graduates
to deny that the SOA taught undemocratic and illegal acts, the US Department of
Defense revealed in 1996, that training manuals used at the SOA included
sections on torture, execution, blackmail, and paying bounties for the
assassinations of community leaders.
The history of the SOA runs contrary to our principles of respect for
human rights and democracy
As Greens, we call for:
1. Close the School of Assassins
The immediate closure of the School of the Americas. The U.S. Congress and the
Executive Branch should, without delay, eliminate funding for and close the
School of the Americas at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
Taxes
"Create a progressive tax system that taxes
wastes,pollution wealth and income
to support equitable access to a basic income for all."
The current trend in taxation in Georgia has been towards a regressive tax
system that takes from the poor and gives to the rich. The capitalistic system
our country has adopted, while offering many benefits, has also promoted a
misallocation of wealth and income.
As Greens, we will:
1. Federal Budget Priorities
It is time our tax dollars were spent on the general welfare, as provided for
in the preamble of the Federal Constitution, instead of the welfare of generals.
We call for an immediate 50% or greater cut in U.S. Military spending. We urge
the investment of the peace dividend in 1) the creation of a Peace Force
committed to non-violent strategies, 2) retraining and job placement of workers
displaced by changing federal spending priorities, 3) the containment and
restoration of the Department of Defense's nuclear and hazardous waste sites, 4)
the retirement of national debts incurred to prosecute wars, grants for
assisting impacted communities in making the transition to participation in a
peace economy, 6) programs to foster food, water and environmental security. We
urge comprehensive cuts in corporate welfare and subsidies which undermine
worker and environmental protection. We recommend the following programs as
priorities for cuts: nuclear weapons development, testing, manufacture and
deployment, including depleted uranium weapons.
2. Peace Tax Fund
We urge the creation of a Peace Tax Fund to receive and disburse for
non-military purposes, the tax payments of those who hold a conscientious
objection to the payment of war taxes.
3. Institute a Progressive Tax Policy
Change the tax code so that it no longer benefits the extremely wealthy at the
expense of poor and working people. The marginal utility of increased wealth is
far lower for the rich person than it is for the poor. This is the reason we
need a progressive tax system that equalizes the burden of the system rather
than the dollar amounts paid.
4. Eliminate Regressive Sales Taxes
Municipalities should obtain their income from local progressive income taxes or
property taxes. Municipalities should charge large impact fees for new
development that will pay for new infrastructure and schools needed as a result
of the development. This will increase the cost of development and tend to slow
down sprawl in new suburbs in favor of using and maximizing existing
infrastructure investments. Existing residents of a community have already paid
or are in the process of paying for their infrastructure. They should not have
to pay for new infrastructure used to support new residents.
5. End Regressive User's Fees
End regressive user's fees that are being applied to basic services. Services
that benefit the community should not be paid through user's fees by
individuals.
6. Pollution and Extraction Taxes
We must give the appropriate economic signals to the marketplace by
imposing taxes on raw materials extraction, waste generation and the discharge
of pollutants into the environment. As Greens we will review the tax code
for subsidies to wasteful or polluting industries and repeal these tax
incentives so that our tax policy conforms with our public policy.
7. Stop Privatization
End the current trend to privatize public facilities and services. Privatization
does not necessarily result in benefits to the community. It is often a way to
shift the tax burden to users. Like other user’s fees, this shifts the burden
of paying for basic services to the poor. Private businesses are not implicitly
more efficient than public services.
Transportation And Land Use
"Plan roads and neighborhoods that make it possible
to live without a total dependence on the automobile."
Large metropolitan areas in Georgia are suffering from "sprawl"
--new development that spreads farther and farther from the central city (and
employment areas) into the suburbs and surrounding agricultural areas. The
pattern assures an ever increasing dependence on the automobile, and works to
preclude opportunities for more efficient means of transportation. The result is
increased traffic congestion, increased smog and water pollution, increased
illness and death from respiratory diseases, and more and more tax money needed
to fund the maintenance and expansion of . . . more roads to the suburbs.
Today, metropolitan Atlantans drive more per capita than any other people
in the United States, and the state of Georgia has already been denied federal
highway funds because of its high ozone and pollution levels. Instead of
reducing pollution to meet the laws, Georgia’s only current strategy for
solving the problem seems to be to lobby Congress to repeal the pollution laws
-- laws that were designed to provide for us a bare minimum level of health
protection.
Clearly, current transportation and land-use policies are not
sustainable. It is time Georgia changes these patterns and adopts new
alternatives. As Greens, we will:
1. Create Strong Regional Planning Authorities
We must adopt a regional approach to land-use and transportation planning.
Regional planning authorities must be established that have the authority to
require counties to comply with regional plans. In general, new road
construction should be a last resort. Prohibit new road capacity in air polluted
counties which are deemed non-attainment areas.
2. Oppose the Building of Atlanta’s "Second Perimeter"
Common sense tells us that the building of yet another perimeter around Atlanta
will re-visit and compound all the problems of sprawl, pollution and gridlock
associated with the first perimeter. Numerous studies support that assumption.
Plans for the Second Perimeter must be scrapped. Instead, HOV lanes must be
expanded using existing lanes, and enforcement of appropriate HOV lane use must
be increased. Traffic laws that protect the safety of motorists, pedestrians,
and cyclists should also be strengthened and enforced.
3. Re-Establish Mixed-Use Zoning
Develop communities that put housing, workplaces and shopping all within
walking and bicycling distance. This is the traditional model of development,
and besides creating less dependence on the automobile (and therefore less
gridlock, and less smog), it also creates an increased sense of community, and
safer streets.
4. Oppose Giant Box Stores and Regional Shopping Centers
The sheer scale of Mega stores and malls forces people to drive to shop, brings
strangers into communities, and creates more opportunities for crime. At the
same time, the trend of building ever newer and larger stores leads to
abandonment of older facilities, empty shops and blight. We will oppose this
trend in favor of revitalizing existing shopping centers.
5. Make Communities Bike and Pedestrian-Friendly
Biking and walking in many areas of Georgia is currently a dangerous
proposition. We need to encourage walking and bicycling by building more bike
paths and pedestrian walks. Building residential, working and shopping areas in
closer proximity will also help.
6. Aggressively Develop Mass Transit
Developing public transit is cheaper than building more roads and bridges.
Public transportation that is effective, accessible, and desirable is a working
reality in other metropolitan areas, and only requires political vision and
will.
7. Free the State Motor Fuel Tax
Current state law requires that all revenues from the state motor fuel tax be
spent on the creation of more roads -- which will of course create more
automobile use, which will create more fuel tax funds. Talk about a vicious
cycle! We need to amend the Georgia Constitution to make motor fuel tax funds
available for all transportation projects --including public transportation,
pedestrian and bicycle walkways; and transportation programs that serve the
elderly and handicapped.
8. Create High-Density Housing
When we’re not surrounded by freeways and six-lane roads, living next
to parks and shopping becomes very desirable. High-density housing must be
encouraged near shopping and industrial centers. Rather than zoning for minimum
lot sizes, zoning should encourage minimum densities (that are still human
scale) that will shorten walking distances, and protect surrounding open spaces.
In addition, mixed income housing should be built to foster a sense of
community.
Veterans
"We owe military veterans a future where our children no longer face
war."
We recognize the tremendous sacrifice our country has asked of its citizens who
have served in the military in the conduct of war. While we frequently
find ourselves and our commitment to non-violence at odds with the military
adventurism of the U.S. federal policies, we stand with the Georgians who have
served in these wars and insist that they and their families not be abandoned.
1. Our Commitment to a Future Beyond Wars
Our first priority in foreign policy considerations is to creating a
future without war -- and consequently without war veterans. We are
committed that future generations not face the separations and sacrifices of
war.
2. Honor our Commitment to Veterans
We insist that the cuts to Veterans Administration funding be halted and that
past cuts be restored. We must honor the promises we’ve made to veterans in
the past.
3. Gulf War Syndrome
Many of those U.S. Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen who served
during Operation Desert Storm in the Arab East have been exposed to nuclear,
chemical and possibly biological warfare agents. We insist that the
Veterans Administration not ignore the suffering they have experienced since
coming home from the war. The Congress should fund and the VA should
implement a comprehensive program to survey Gulf Vets and the impacts of Gulf
War Syndrome on them and their families and to provide the best possible medical
treatment available to minimize the suffering of these men and women and their
families. We insist that the Federal Government withdraw from deployment
Depleted Uranium, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. We insist that
the military halt the practice of testing experimental medicines and
inoculations on service members without their consent.
The
Ten Key Values:
Ecological Wisdom
• Grassroots Democracy • Social
Justice • Peace and Non-Violence
Decentralization
• Community-Based Economics • Feminism
• Respect for Diversity
Personal & Global
Responsibility • Future Focus on Sustainability
Georgia Green Party
P.O. Box 5332; Atlanta, GA 31107
770/ 635-3496 or 877/ GREEN-09
(vm & fax)
ggp@greens.org•http://www.greens.org/georgia/
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