[Sosfbay-discuss] Green Party Finances
Larry Cafiero_Liaison
larrycafiero_liaison at earthlink.net
Wed Aug 2 09:52:40 PDT 2006
That's a very interesting observation, Sam. However, the reasoning
behind this national GP policy is slightly flawed in a couple of instances.
Case in point: My wife is a Japanese national, and she makes Japanese
dishes for house parties that I attend (it's the least I can do --
bringing sushi for people who have to sit and listen to me talk about
insurance issues). This can be considered an in-kind contribution from a
foreign national. Should I be penalized for this?
Naturally, the policy's intention is to keep WEALTHY foreign nationals,
for example, from trying to sway policy, but the "letter of the law"
states foreign nationals without specifying whether it's an average
working person who wants to help the Green Party who is not an American
citizen or a wealthy multinational CEO based in a country outside the U.S.
Not taking money from labor organizations, too, is a flaw: There is big
labor, just as there is big business. And then there is real labor, the
unions that truly stand up for the working people who join them. Should
we turn away money from the Teamsters or some of the right-wing building
trade unions? Sure we should. Should we turn away money from natural
allies like SEIU or the UFW, with whom we agree on issues, because
they're (horrors!) a labor organization? I don't think so.
To allude to something Cameron referred to in an earlier e-mail, if
Republicans want to give Greens money because they support our policies,
I don't think we should turn it back. There is the valid argument that
if these donors in Pennsylvania are stupid enough to part with their
disposable income in supporting candidates who oppose what they stand
for, then maybe it's better they give it to us rather than spending it
on something wasteful and frivilous; or worse, giving it to people like
Santorum.
(Naturally, I don't advocate Republicans solely financing a petition
drive to get Greens on the ballot, as is what happened in Pennsylvania.
But I have to wonder why the ballot laws in that state make it so hard
for third-parties to get on the ballot -- something that is not
mentioned in either news article. Further, if wading through this
cesspool of campaign contributions from Republicans gains the
Pennsylvania Green Party ballot status in the Keystone State after this
election, is it worth it? Could this come back to haunt the GOP someday?
Probably.)
As repugnant this obvious concept might be (and it is), political
campaigns do run on contributions; even the Green Party's campaigns.
There's an excellent and obvious reason to have safeguards and rules
against taking corporate and government-contractor donations (all
parties should have this), but I think we need to be a little more
flexible about the labor organizations' and foreign nationals' donations.
(Also, I don't think banks can donate directly to political campaigns,
although there are probably a plethora of loopholes you could fly a 747
through to get around this.)
Interestingly, I haven't gotten any money from Republicans yet. Two
Democrats, yes, but no Republicans. But I have received the rest of my
campaign contributions from Greens (thanks, all!), and frankly I could
use more small donations to buy some radio time -- he says on bended
knee, making a pitch for people to go to http://www.votecafiero.com and
click on the "Join Campaign" link on the left (appropriately).
Larry Cafiero
Green for Insurance Commissioner 2006
=and=
Liaison to the Secretary of State
Green Party of California
Sam Rafter wrote:
> Hello All!
>
> Sorry for my slow response. I'm only subscribed to the digest of this list.
> My primary exposure to the Green Party has been through Mr. Camejo's
> gubernatorial candidacy, and I'd assumed other Green candidates shared his
> policies on not accepting campaign contributions from corporations. I did find
> some evidence of this policy in the Green Party online store:
>
> https://secure.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizations/Greens/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=4
>
> Scroll to the bottom to read the fine print in the donation section which
> states, "Contributions from the following individuals and entities are
> prohibited: corporations, labor organizations, national banks, government
> contractors, foreign nationals, or people under 18 years of age."
>
> If it is party policy to not accept donations from corporations, would it be
> much of a stretch to refuse donations from Republicans? Given the economic and
> environmental policies of the Republican party candidates, it seems reasonable
> to group these two classes of donors. I would recommend a policy at the
> national level for the Green Party that any candidate who does willingly accept
> donations from a Republican donor, and / or does not return the monies in, say,
> 30 days, would be booted from the Green Party, and would therefor have to run
> as an independent (and only trash their own name).
>
> For what it's worth, this report goes into a bit more detail on the
> contributors to Romanelli's campaign:
>
> http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001247.php
>
> Thanks for reading!
>
> -Sam
>
> --- Erik Kiehle <erik at kiehle.com> wrote:
>
>
>> For those who remember me I was seriously interested in running in
>> 2004 for State Assembly District 24. Long-time Assemblyman Joe
>> Simitian was termed-out and I thought it would be interesting to run
>> as a Green candidate in the Silicon Valley area where I grew up.
>>
>> I filed the "Intention to File" paperwork that became public record
>> of my intention to run. I was getting a late start and realized I
>> would probably need to pay the Filing Fee instead of gathering
>> signatures. In then end I moved with my family just outside of the
>> district boundaries and therefore couldn't run in that district.
>>
>> However, as the filing deadline approached I received calls from two
>> very determined persons interested in paying my filing fee for me to
>> get me on the ballot. Since the election had a very strong Republican
>> candidate (who spent millions of his own money), the race was won by
>> only 3.2 percent in the Democratic candidate's favor.
>>
>> After reflection I realized that during the November 2002 election
>> the average vote for the statewide Green candidates was about 4.5
>> percent. It may not have made any difference in the AD 24 election
>> results but I had to think that for about $1100 filing fee donation
>> to my campaign, any Republican may have made it a very narrow margin
>> for that election.
>>
>> I think the statistics in past elections (especially the recall
>> election) show that the Democrats are their own worst enemy. But, I
>> think it is a relatively cheap tactic for the Republicans to pay for
>> a 3rd party candidate's filing just to stir things up. I'm actually
>> surprised we haven't seen more Republican's changing party
>> registration just so they can try to draw off Democrat voters. (This
>> strategy could also be used in reverse where there are Republican
>> majorities though maybe with Libertarian candidate or other parties).
>> I'm not sure if there are any statistics of numbers reflecting how
>> often Republicans vs Democrats vote for Green party candidates.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Erik Kiehle
>>
>> On Aug 1, 2006, at 9:05 AM, Larry Cafiero_Liaison wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I'm going to assume, Sam, that your statement about Greens taking
>>> money
>>> from Republicans is sarcasm, as there is no "tradition" of this
>>> sort at all.
>>>
>>> However, we have had Republicans co-opt the party for their own
>>> purposes
>>> right in our own backyard. In 2004, a Monterey Republican Central
>>> Committee member named Paul Bruno put up the filing fee for Carmel
>>> electrician unknown to anyone in the local party in Monterey for the
>>> 15th Senate District in an effort to take votes away from the Democrat
>>> in that race.
>>>
>>> I don't know this guy Romanelli, or the Green Party gubernatorial
>>> candidate they mention, but I would be willing to bet that they are
>>> Greens by registration only, and nothing else (or, worse, Republicans
>>> trying to game the electoral system at our expense). I think they are
>>> props set up by the Republicans in the same way this guy in SD15
>>> was set up.
>>>
>>> True, it looks bad, but then it would be interesting to see how the
>>> Pa.
>>> Green Party reacts to this.
>>>
>>> Larry Cafiero
>>> Liaison to the Secretary of State
>>> Green Party of California
>>>
>>> Sam Rafter wrote:
>>>
>>>> The proud tradition of Green Party candidates taking money from
>>>> Republicans
>>>> continues?
>>>>
>>>> http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/15166569.htm
>>>>
>>>> I couldn't get www.Romanelli2006.com to load, but I'm curious how
>>>> Romanelli
>>>> spins this. Greens taking money from Republicans seems like an
>>>> unhealthy trend
>>>> to follow.
>>>>
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>>
>
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