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Fri Sep 10, 2010 at 17:20:27 PM EDT
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| From the Stein for Governor campaign:
The 9-member Boston media consortium sent a letter to Jill Stein today telling her that they intended to exclude her from their upcoming televised debates. The letter, signed by Jen Peter of the Boston Globe, said that "Jill Stein does not meet the criteria for participation".
Upon being informed of the letter, Stein responded "The people of this Commonwealth deserve to hear about how badly the Beacon Hill establishment has failed them under both Democratic and Republican governors. They deserve to hear from the one candidate who isn't taking money from the lobbyists or from the favor-seeking CEO's. They deserve to hear from the one candidate who is advocating for secure jobs across the Commonwealth - not just low wage casino jobs in three communities - for universal health care, for comprehensive fair tax reform and for ending the wars that consume 10 million Massachusetts federal tax dollars each day. These badly needed solutions will assuredly be ignored in the debates if we let the three establishment candidates crowd me off the stage." |
| eli_beckerman :: Media Consortium attempting to exclude Stein from debates |
| Stein's campaign has said that all candidates who qualify for the ballot should be invited to the debates that use the public airways. Stein collected 16,000 voter signatures (far more than the required 10,000) in order to secure her place on the ballot.
In an August 10 letter the consortium sought to impose three conditions on Stein's participation, stipulating the size of her campaign staff, the amount of money she has raised, and her standing in public opinion polls. Although the Stein campaign feels that any such criteria are improper, the campaign feels that they have substantially met them all. The letter of exclusion came as a surprise to the campaign. Calls by the campaign attempting to determine the exact reason for the exclusion were not returned.
Stein is the only woman running for governor, so her exclusion would offer an all-male lineup to voters. According to Sprague, the three men who will take the stage are similar on issue after issue, which is a formula for a tedious, bickering debate focused on distractions rather than the substantive issues that should be addressed by the next governor.
Following her appearance in an untelevised August debate sponsored by MassINC and Suffolk University, Stein won widespread praise from many quarters for having made a substantive contribution to the dialogue. After her recent appearance in a televised debate sponsored by WBZ-TV, Stein's campaign donations and volunteer recruitment surged forward - indicating strong support springing from the people that had not previously heard about her campaign. That's the way democracy should work, according to Stein "Debates should drive polls. Not vice versa."
Michael Horan, Green-Rainbow Party co-chair, noted that "At one time or another all the candidates have described themselves as outsiders who want to bring change to Beacon Hill. But things like this reveal the truth: There is only one genuine outsider in this race. Her name is Jill Stein. People are resonating to her message and that makes her a threat to business-as-usual. The only way they can stop her is to prevent her voice from being heard. I don't think the people of Massachusetts are going to let that happen." |
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Green Mass Group is an online forum for Green thought and collective action in Massachusetts. It is a community forum for justice, sustainability, democracy and health in the Commonwealth and beyond.
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| Quotes |
"Now, is this the deal I would have preferred? No. I believe that we could have made the tough choices required - on entitlement reform and tax reform - right now, rather than through a special congressional committee process. But this compromise does make a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year. Most importantly, it will allow us to avoid default and end the crisis that Washington imposed on the rest of America."
--President Barack Obama on the debt ceiling "deal"
"Despite Democratic control over the White House, despite Democratic control over the Senate, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, a small minority of the members of the Republican-controlled House have successfully pushed an extreme right-wing agenda onto the American political landscape. It is an ideology which believes that despite the fact that the rich are getting richer, the middle class is shrinking, and poverty is increasing, all - all of the burden for deficit reduction should rest on working people."
--Independent Senator Bernie Sanders on the debt ceiling "deal"
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Then and Now
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Then...
"Last year Evergreen, a Massachusetts company, agreed to establish their first-ever United States based manufacturing facility here in Massachusetts. They did so, or are doing so, at Devens. They have now agreed and chosen to triple their size at Devens. Their next phase of expansion, right here in Massachusetts, a signature company in a signature sector, and we congratulate all of the folks at Evergreen and look forward to continuing to work with you...
We made a personal commitment to Evergreen for the sake of Evergreen, but also because we wanted to show that there are ways in which state government, in working together with private industry and with the utility companies, could begin to create a different kind of environment, a different kind of business climate here, to grow that sector, and it is happening. It's happening. Evergreen is one of the most prominent examples, but there are a whole host of examples."
--Governor Deval Patrick, April 7, 2008, boasting about state investment in Evergreen.
and Now...
"Evergreen Solar Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday, completing a stunning reversal of fortune for a high-flying alternative-energy company that once seemed to herald a new era for the Massachusetts economy... At its peak, Evergreen employed roughly 900 people locally and attracted more than $50 million in state support, as its stock price soared above $100 a share.
Yesterday, Evergreen's stock closed at 18 cents. The company shuttered its manufacturing plant in Devens earlier this year and now has only 85 employees left. Massachusetts is one of its top creditors, owed $1.5 million in rent."
--Erin Ailworth, Boston Globe, August 16, 2011
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