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It has been fashionable for a while for media pundits of both progressive and conservative stripes to lament big money influence in the politics and policy-making of the two ruling parties.  This is often accompanied with a call for a new party (or two or three).  It is seldom accompanied with any real reporting on those pioneers who are already doing the unfashionable hard work of party-building, especially those that do it without that very disdained establishment money.

In yesterday’s New York Times, Frank Rich lamented on the big bad money.  His fellow Times columnists Thomas Friedman and Bob Herbert have also done so  frequently.  I’m sure that Rachel Maddow has, too.

Pollsters tell us that lots of people are unhappy with corporate two-party politics:  over 60% of both self-identified conservatives and self-identified progressives believe the country should have a new party.  News producers, therefore, know they’re on safe ground when they report on voter dissatisfaction with the political process in the abstract.  That abstract safe ground is where they remain for now.

Continue reading Richly said again – and again and again

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Freedom Rider: Obama Style Fascism

By Margaret Kimberley

Created 11/23/2010 – 22:37

Submitted by Margaret Kimberley on Tue, 11/23/2010

by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley

Black Agenda Report     www.blackagendareport.com

The germs of fascism infest both parties, thriving among Republican and Democratic hosts, alike. Barack Obama’s 2008 victory was also a new lease on life for George Bush’s foreign wars and strangulation of domestic civil liberties, most recently in the assault on travelers bodies at airports. The first Black president rules very much like the last white president, and “the absence of outrage directed in the right direction makes us more endangered now than in the days when Bush occupied the White House.”

Continue reading Obama Style Fascism
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Ed. note: This piece is striking for its most obvious, unstated conclusion. I blame Greens for not being a visible answer for Speth’s call… but I’m glad to see Speth’s colleague, David Korten, make the obvious more explicit. It’s time for a new economics and a new politics, and a renewed Green Party to lead the charge.

By Gus Speth

Read the original at Solutions Online

New Economics & New Politics

If America’s present system of political economy were performing well, there would be little need to question it or seek fundamental change. But that is not the case. Asked what the key goals of economic life should be, many would reply, “to enhance social well-being while sustaining democratic prospects and environmental quality.” Judged by this standard, today’s political economy is failing. It is a failure that reaches many spheres of national life-economic, social, political, and environmental. Indeed, America can be said to be in crisis in each of these four areas.1, 2

The economic crisis of the Great Recession brought on by Wall Street financial excesses has stripped tens of millions of middle class Americans of their jobs, homes, and retirement assets and plunged many into poverty and despair.

Continue reading Towards a New Economy and a New Politics
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Ed. note: this is a stunning development. I dare say it represents the beginning of a changing tide from timidity regarding the Green Party to explicit investment of hope in its development. Korten’s courage here is noteworthy, moving from theoretical ideas of a sustainable and just economy to the practical work of designing its political roadmap and beginning road construction.

2010 Pacific Northwest Regional Green Gathering

David Korten, November 13, 2010

Read the original article.

I was delighted to be invited to address this gathering of Pacific Northwest Regional Green Party leaders. I had not realized at the time that would be an exclusive gathering of the party elders. We do have the benefit of bringing a depth of experience and connections to the significant work at hand.

I’ll be laying out my take on what is at stake at this point in America’s history and how I believe we need to rethink and reposition the Green Party to function as the political arm of a much larger social movement devoted to advancing the universal human values that frame the Green Party’s agenda. It requires, among other things, coming up with a much more concise statement of what we are about-our elevator speech.

Continue reading How the Green Party Can Become America’s Most Significant Political Force
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h/t to johnk and BMG

Scott Brown stood with Republicans and business as usual to prevent women from achieving equality in the workplace.  

Senate Republicans voted unanimously against legislation to close the pay gap between women and men. The Senate voted 58-41 against allowing debate on the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would help end discriminatory pay practices against women. It had already passed the House.

More than 45 years after passage of the Equal Pay Act, the pay gap shockingly persists with women still earning on average 77 cents to every man’s dollar. According to the National Women’s Law Center, “This persistent pay gap translates to more than $10,000 in lost wages per year for the average female worker.” The gap is even worse for women of color: African-American women earn 61 cents and Latinas earn 52 cents for every dollar a white non-Hispanic man earns.

thinkprogress.org

I called his office this morning and was told that the reason he voted no to this bill was because it would result in excessive and costly litigation costs for small businesses.  Apparently he is going to introduce a bill that will protect smaller businesses from being ruined by excessive litigation. Perhaps the way to avoid litigation is to pay the right wage in the first place. Protection for small businesses means there will still be a block of women left behind. A lawyer is not going to take up a case where there is not a clear discrepancy in pay, so they should not even have to worry about it if they are practicing wage equality.

Paycheck Fairness Act

Please call Senator Browns office and tell him that this is not acceptable.

email him here

and/or call him:

317 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington D.C. 20510

Phone: (202) 224-4543

Fax: (202) 228-2646

2400 JFK Federal Building

Boston, MA 02203

Phone: (617) 565-3170

Fax: (617) 723-7325  

Continue reading Scott Brown votes no to the Paycheck Fairness Act
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As a student of politics I have given some attention and study to significance of “partisan-ness” and the role and function of political parties.  

I’ve written some specific musings here touching on the subject of political parties and social movements, but with the aftermath of 2010 elections and the GRP convention I have new impetus to elaborate on the concept of political parties in general and their history.  

In this post I want to explore some of the history of political parties in modern democracies, their function, purpose, means of existence, and how they relate to social and political change. My task is more descriptive than prescriptive, and I want to cover this topic broadly while maintaining relative brevity. Of course my biases and prejudices will show.  And I’ll miss the caveats, details, key examples, and the satisfactions of an analysis with multiple perspectives. If I had to boil the focus down to anything its the unique nature of political parties in the United States, and how this differs from other advanced democracies.  But where I overgeneralize or fail entirely please tell me.

Historical understanding is rare, and a grasp of political and social history rarer. I hope that this post will provide some insight into some of the background that informs my politics as well as open folks up to considering present political questions in the light of this history.

Properly speaking, factions and groupings of people organized to gain and keep political power have existed as long as humanity.  The political party as a modern institution can be traced to the maturation of the nation state and the beginnings of liberal democracy, first in the 1600s in England and later in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the US and France.

Continue reading The Concept of the Political Party

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Excellent reporting by Worcester’s telegram.com, sharing the enthusiasm the Green-Raibow Party has as they continue to fight for a government that works for all of us. Jill Stein and all of the party activists look to the future and reflect on the successes that were achieved this year:

While their leader and flagship candidate from the state election earlier this month, gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein, captured just 1 percent of the votes and finished a distant fourth in the governor’s race, Green-Rainbow Party members seemed anything but discouraged at their state convention here today.

“I am so excited about where we are coming out of this race,” said Ms. Stein, a physician from Lexington. “This is our springboard into a really exciting era going forward.”

Ms. Stein said the Green-Rainbow Party’s showing in the recent balloting was enough to win back official party status in Massachusetts, which allows the party’s name to be listed on voter registration forms.

“We’re better equipped to fight the fight going forward,” she said.

Having been on the ground promoting the Green Rainbow Party candidates this election cycle, I know that many people were interested in this new voice for change.  They will be even more interested next time. I’m sure of it. Two steps forward and no steps back.  Next time it will be many more steps forward.  There is a lot to be excited about.

Continue reading Nope, not discouraged. Two steps forward and no steps back.
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Coalition Movement Camp II: Connecting the Dots

November 14, 2010, 2.00pm to 6pm EDT: http://movementcamp.org

The Coalition Movement Camp series brings new players and possibilities into view and allows us to connect the dots between them. Our goal is to consolidate our collective powers and prepare for a collaborative web development project unlike anything the world has seen.

The inaugural Coalition Movement Camp took place on October 10, 2010. Participants included representatives of Appropedia, OpenKollab, Metacurrency, 350, Dadamac, CoopAgora, JAK Bank, GreenTribe, and Gaia10. For eight hours, we brainstormed ideas towards a new generation of internet platforms and collaborative strategies for the climate crisis. Details of the 10/10/10 Coalition Movement Camp can be found on the Coalition blog ( http://cotw.me/invite101010, http://cotw.me/camp101010 ).

On November 14, 2010, the conversation continues.

Continue reading Global Online Climate Change Brainstorm – November 14
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