[GPCA Updates] GP RELEASE Greens call Obama's Wall St. rescue scheme wrong wrong wrong for economic recovery

[Green Party of California Updates]

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

For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, April 1, 2009


America needs a Green economic recovery plan, not Obama's Wall Street
rescue operation, say Greens

• Green Party Speakers Bureau: Green leaders available to speak on
economic policy http://www.gp.org/speakers

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


WASHINGTON, DC -- Green Party leaders today offered a set of urgent
economic steps for the White House and Congress, saying that President
Obama's Wall Street rescue scheme was merely "throwing hundreds of
billions of taxpayers' dollars into the Wall Street money hole."

"The justifiable outrage over AIG's use of taxpayers' money for
executive bonuses has distracted Americans from the far greater
scandal -- that the Obama Administration is bailing out the giant
financial corporations whose unchecked power created this mess.
President Obama will fail if his goal is to rescue companies like AIG
and return to the days of monster corporations controlling nearly
every aspect of the US economy," said Laura Wells, Green Party
candidate for California State Controller in 2002 and 2006 (Speakers
Bureau page: http://www.gp.org/speakers/detail.php?ID=39).

"Anger over the unprecedented transfer of public money to private
corporations must be channeled into political pressure on Mr. Obama
and Congress members, and into electing candidates who stand for
people instead of powerful lobbies.  We must not allow enthusiasm for
the new adminstration to translate into a rubber stamp for more
damaging policies," said Ms. Wells.

Green Party leaders said that President Obama and Congress could bring
real "change we can believe in" by introducing the following measures:

• Make assistance for Americans in dire financial need the top
priority, especially aid for those facing loss of jobs and homes
because of the mortgage crisis, with moratorium on home foreclosures,
utility shut-offs, evictions, and rent hikes.   Instead of throwing
hundreds of billions of taxpayers' dollars into the Wall Street money
hole, use the federal government's power to stimulate the economy by
creating jobs with a major public works program.

• Restore the Glass-Steagall Act (passed during the Depression,
separating banking from insurance and securities trading), usury laws
(prohibiting credit card companies and other financial firms from
charging exorbitant interest), and other regulations of the financial
industry that were stripped during the Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush era.
These rules were designed to prevent catastrophes like the one the US
is undergoing now.

• Nationalize insolvent banks and keep them as public banks;
nationalize the mortgage industry, including Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac; break up the giant financial conglomerates; strengthen provisions
to recapitalize pension funds.  'Too big to fail' means too risky for
a healthy economy and too powerful for a healthy democracy.  Introduce
measures to decentralize the economy, with aid for small and local
banks and credit unions.  Rescue Main Street instead of Wall Street.
(Nationalization talk from liberal politicians and pundits often means
lemon socialism: writing down bad assets at public expense to clean up
banks' balance sheets and then reselling them to private investors.
Bad assets should cost investors, not the public.)

• End trading in toxic financial instruments, including risky
derivatives, hedge funds, junk bonds, collateral debt obligations
(CDOs), and credit default swaps (CDSs) that create phantom wealth for
financiers based on expensive gambles for the rest of America.

• Make the Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, Securities Exchange
Commission, and other regulators transparent and accountable to
taxpayers.  Unfortunately, President Obama appointed experts like
Treasury Secrety Timothy Geithner and economic advisor Larry Summers
who promoted and oversaw the deregulatory policies that led to the
current crisis.  Mr. Geithner declared his real loyalties shortly
after he took office when he said, "We have a financial system that is
run by private shareholders, managed by private institutions, and we'd
like to do our best to preserve that system."

• Enact election reforms to restrict the power corporations have over
Democratic and Republican politicians and open the political field to
noncorporate parties and candidates.  (Greens accept no corporate
contributions.)  From 1998 to 2000, the financial industry spent $1.7
billion on federal campaign contributions and $3.4 billion on
lobbyists.  The result is that too many members of Congress --
including influential Democrats like Charles Schumer (NY) and Barney
Frank (Mass.), Chair of the House Financial Services Committee -- have
legislated on behalf of top financial firms instead of taxpayers and
working people.

• Make corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes;
aggressively investigate and prosecute Wall Street and mortgage
industry fraud and tax evasion.  A retroactive tax on windfall revenue
on the oil-energy industry, with a return to 1981 level capital income
taxation and repatriation of the $2 trillion from offshore tax havens,
will finance a recovery plan for working Americans.

Green leaders listed further steps that Congress and the White House
can take to end the recession and give the US a sound economic plan
for the 21st century:

• Reorient industries in light of current human and ecological needs,
especially to curb the advance of global warming.  By nationalizing
broke car companies, we can run them democratically as public
enterprises to produce light rail equipment for expanded public
transportation, electric cars, hybrids, etc.  Cities and towns can be
redesigned, with new construction to encourage density instead of
congestion, as well as retrofitting and greening of housing,
businesses, and government buildings for energy conservation.  New
jobs in watershed rehabilitation, alternative clean and safe energy,
and other green programs will put millions of Americans to work.

• Enact Single-payer national health care (Medicare For All) to
prevent Americans from going broke because of health emergencies.
Single-payer will relieve the financial burden on companies that
provide benefits for employees, and eliminate the participation of
insurance companies, which add high cost but no value to the health
care system.  According to the National Nurses Organizing Committee
(http://calnurses.org), Single-payer would generate 2.6 million new
jobs, $317 billion in new business and public revenues, and $100
billion in wages.

• Withdraw all US troops and military contractors from Iraq and
Afghanistan, ending the wars and occupations that have drained
trillions of dollars from the US economy and inflicted death and ruin
on these countries and on the lives of US servicemembers.


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

"Stimulus bill falls short as a real stimulus, as compromises
sacrifice public works creation of new jobs, say Greens"
Green Party press release, February 12, 2009
http://www.gp.org/press/pr-national.php?ID=179

Interview with William Greider
Bill Moyer's Journal, PBS, March 27, 2009
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03272009/profile.html
Transcript: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03272009/transcript2.html)

"The Big Takeover: The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's
about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a
revolution."
By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone, Issue 1075, April 2, 2009
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover

"How to Fail to Recover"
By Joseph E. Stiglitz, Project Syndicate, March 24, 2009
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stiglitz110
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/03/24-8

Green Pages, Vol. 13, No. 1
The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog


~ END ~