[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Greens: Compromise stimulus bill falls short as real stimulus

[Green Party of California Updates]

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GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Thursday, February 12, 2009


Stimulus bill falls short as a real stimulus, as compromises sacrifice
public works creation of new jobs, say Greens

• "The First 100 Days: What Would a Green Administration Look Like?"
(video and text) http://www.gp.org/first100


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders said today that the $789 billion
compromise stimulus bill falls drastically short of providing what's
needed to end the deepening recession, and urged the Obama
Administration to renegotiate the bill to restore and expand funding to
create jobs and to provide a real safety net for every American.

"The US economy needs a stimulus, but the bipartisan bill, as it stands
now, fails to address the biggest emergencies -- lost jobs and home
foreclosures," said Holly Hart, secretary of the Green Party of the
United States.  "If the bill has little effect, it means that America
will plunge even deeper into recession, with even more jobs down the drain."

"Public works projects, dismissed by many Congress members as pork,
would create jobs and get America working again.  Tax breaks for the
wealthy, Democratic leaders' biggest concession to Republicans stuck in
a  Herbert Hoover mentality, will stimulate the economy only minimally,"
added Ms. Hart.

Greens said that bipartisan compromises reduced or eliminated funding
for school construction, urgent relief for states (necessary to provide
Medicaid and other essential services), health care for the unemployed,
extended unemployment, Head Start, food stamps, public transit,
retrofitting housing, greening federal buildings, watershed
rehabilitation, and fire departments -- all of which would create and
protect jobs, benefit millions of Americans, and help restore financial
stability.  The removal of caps on executive pay further limits the
bill's effectiveness as a stimulus.

"Democrats caved in to the highway construction lobby when they diverted
funding that should have been used for public transportation, thus
sacrificing one of the most valuable items of the Obama agenda.  With
the world facing potentially catastrophic climate change in the coming
decades, we don't need more highways, we need more public transportation
and less car traffic.  We need to convert our economy from an auto
economy to a green economy.  Over $25 billion in vital green programs,
which would have created countless new jobs, was cut from the stimulus
under the compromise," said Fred Vitale, Michigan candidate for state
representative and state chairperson of the Green Party of Michigan.

Greens called the bill a missed opportunity for the kind of investments
needed to make the US a truly green economy, moving the US away from
dependence on foreign oil and other carbon fuels within the next ten
years, as former Vice President Al Gore has recommended.  Party leaders
cited an ABC News report on new jobs created by the rise of wind farms
in the Midwest (http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=6823005&page=1).
Greens expressed relief that pressure from environmentalists killed a
$50 billion loan guarantee for nuclear plants, a major victory for safe
and clean energy.

The Green Party has also recommended enactment of a Single-Payer
national health care program to relieve the costly burden on business of
providing health benefits to employees
(http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=158).

See also "Greens offer six big steps for economic recovery", Green Party
press release, December 10, 2008
(http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=152).  In September, 2008
Green presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney published a ten-point list
of solutions in response to the Wall Street meltdown, titled "Seize the
Time" (http://votetruth08.com/index.php/learn/mckinney-messages).

"The stimulus bill demonstrates how 'bipartisan' means the damage caused
by two-party politics, and how 'moderate' means too beholden to
corporate demands to effect real change," said Mark Dunlea, former chair
of the Green Party of New York State.  "It's the Rahm Emanuel ideology
-- the chief function of Democrats is to capitulate to Republicans and
corporate campaign contributors."  (Mr. Emanuel, the White House Chief
of Staff, has led negotiations on the stimulus bill.)

"If bailout and stimulus money went directly to threatened homeowners,
both homeowners and the banks would benefit," said Mr. Dunlea.  "The
result of the stimulus will probably be all too similar to last year's
taxpayer-funded $700 billion bailout for the financial industry, which
passed with support from both Obama and McCain, with no conditions on
how the money was spent.  It'll mostly wind up in the bank accounts of a
few wealthy people while doing little to jumpstart the economy, create
or save jobs, or provide financial security for working Americans."


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Tally of Green election victories
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
• Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
• Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections


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