What About the Green Party?

Small but ever-strong, the Green Party is pushing forward into the 2008 General Election. The party has, in recent years, successfully forced the two major party candidates to talk about issues that might have otherwise been ignored. Already on the ballot in at least 22 states, the Green Party will again surely be a force in 2008. So, with their nominating convention just around the corner, what issues are the candidates pushing?


1. The Public Financing of Elections – With the disorganization of the 2000 Presidential Election still sour to many, the Green Party says no polling places should be privately-financed. They allege that a publically-financed and simplified polling place would enfranchise many people.
2. Freely Organized Unions and Living Wage – The Green Party strongly believes that a worker’s economic standing will not budge unless pushed. Workers must be allowed to unionize so as to better their standing and the government must raise the minimum wage until it becomes a living wage.
3. Environmental Protection Policy & Carbon Neutrality – The environment must be protected by the Government against big business exploitation. The price of gas can only be curbed by decreasing our dependence on oil through investigation into alternative energy sources.
4. A “Universal Access, Single-Payer, Health Care System” – Every sick American-- regardless of race, age, ethnicity—deserves to be treated.
5. Decreasing Funding to the Pentagon and the Military - The Pentagon cannot balance its books and admits to having "lost" $2.3 trillion. The Military does not need as much money as it receives.
6. End the War on Drugs and Prison for Profit – The war on drugs and national prisons are industries that rely on constant incarceration. The Green Party alleges that both of these industries promote de facto racism due to the fact that a disproportionate of the arrested are minorities.
7. An End to Militarism Abroad – The Green Party is against the war in Iraq, but they are also against the US Military’s influence over the entire globe.