| Support Green Mass Group! |
Donate today to help cover our 2012 costs
if you'd like to see GMG survive & thrive!
|
|
Towards a just & healthy democracy in the Commonwealth... and beyond!
|
Mon Nov 15, 2010 at 19:02:28 PM EST
|
(Guess who's back. Back again. GRP's back. Tell a friend! - promoted by eli_beckerman)
For only a few more weeks Town Hall will continue issuing warning notices, generated by the Commonwealth's Elections Division, to any Massachusetts voter who registers in the Green-Rainbow party. Early next year the warning will be dropped. |
| scott_laugenour :: Warnings from Town Hall to Cease! |
| These warning notices have been appended to confirmations that local boards of elections send to voters regarding party registration. To members of the Green-Rainbow Party they have read:
Please be advised that you are not eligible to participate in state or presidential primaries.
When a party is small, it cannot hold any primary elections in Massachusetts or have town committees that participate in town governance. However, Nat Fortune received enough votes on the statewide ballot last week to accord the Green-Rainbow Party full major party status according to state election law, so the warning cited above will be dropped from confirmations processed early next year. Moving forward, the party needs to register only 1% of voters statewide into the party in order to make the status permanent and continue having its own primaries.
It's more than ever time for a party.
Anyone who wishes to advance 'green politics' in Massachusetts is encouraged to publicly express that support by registering Green-Rainbow. It's the most persistent and clear statement voter can make to register their expectations and it sets an example for others to follow suit. Many voters responded positively to the solutions outlined in the blog postings and statements of my recent campaign for State Representative: tax fairness, public health insurance, education, local jobs and enterprise , healthy communities, direct investment for infrastructure, and transparency. The Green-Rainbow Party is where the solutions are. The best way for voters to show that support is by registering in the party. This is how we grow, become more influential and attract more candidates, and win future elections.
By registering Green-Rainbow you are not promising to vote for Green-Rainbow candidates, of course. You can participate in party primaries to make sure that deserving candidates are put on the general election ballot, where any voter can vote for whomever he/she wants in the privacy of the voting booth. Your registration is a public statement about the kind of government you desire. There are far more than 1% of voters who desire the kind of pubic policies the Green-Rainbow Party advocates. Now is the time to make that desire clear. The momentum of party growth comes from you as we plan for future elections. Local chapters and town committees engage voters at the local levels with debate and new solutions.
We celebrated this and more at yesterday's Green-Rainbow Party convention in Worcester. In particular, it was wonderful to witness the number of young people who spoke on the panels devoted to showcasing future party leaders and candidates. Several of them were elected to important party offices such as Membership Director and Voting Delegate to the Green Party's National Committee.
As stated in my convention speech from May of this year. It's time. |
|
| About |
|
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.
Read more
|
| 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"
|
|
Then and Now
|
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
|
|
