Justice Party Will Challenge Dems, GOP in 2012 Elections
12/14/2011
SustainableBusiness.com News
On Monday, the newly formed Justice Party announced it would provide a third party option in the 2012 presidential election.
After getting input from people across the US, they chose the name,"Justice Party," because it seems what people want most is a level playing field of economic justice, social justice, and environmental justice for all.
Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, known as one of the more progressive mayors ever, is running for president on the Justice Party ticket.
During his two mayoral terms from 2000-2008, Anderson was an outspoken champion of environmental sustainability, gay rights and opposing the war in Iraq.
He vows to fight the influence of money in politics and pledges to limit individual donations to $100.
Rocky Anderson discussed his campaing in an interview with Amy Goodman, host of the nationally syndicated radio news program, Democracy Now!.
Here are some excerpts from Rocky Anderson:
We launched the Justice Party because the entire system is so corrupt. It's so diseased. We know that the public interest is not being served by anyone in the system right now, particularly the two dominant parties who have sustained this corrupt system and who are sustained by it.
... through their collusion, have brought this country to its knees economically. Without the Democrats colluding with the Republicans, we would not have engaged in an illegal, aggressive war against Iraq. We've seen Democrats and Republicans together granting retroactive immunity to the telecom companies and Wall St firms.
... we have this two-tiered system of government. Not only a two-tiered system in terms of our economy, with very few privileged people cleaning up while the rest of us are suffering in so many dramatic ways because of the economic upheaval, but we have this special class of people who aren't even held accountable under the law.
... When they make these campaign contributions, they get a very good return on their investment. We'd have a universal healthcare system like every other nation in the industrialized world, were it not for the corrupting influence of the money flowing in from the medical insurance industry. So, that's what--the failure, in terms of every major public policy issue, to serve the public interest can be attributed to that corrupting influence of money.
... There is a greater economic disparity between the very wealthy and the rest of us in this country, greater than at any time since the 1920s. And we need to get things back to the point where we're building up a strong middle class.
You know, when you hear about Newt Gingrich proposing that we give these massive tax favors, once again, to the very wealthiest, and not giving a break to the middle class and the poor in this country, that--it's an obscenity. The loss of revenues from the Bush tax cuts, which have been perpetuated now by both parties, is devastating to our economy and our budget.
... Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich know the dangers of climate change and what the science is. But these people who are willing to ignore the catastrophic consequences of climate change in order to get elected, rather than providing the leadership that we as a nation need and that the international community needs, I think it's unconscionable.
And once again, that's where we see our government completely failing the people, not only of this nation, but people around the world. And it's because of the corrupting influence of the fossil fuel industry, the coal, oil and gas companies that pour so much money into these campaigns, and impacting what Congress does and now what the White House is doing.
... I was mayor of Salt Lake City, the capital of probably the most conservative state in the country. We reduced greenhouse gas emissions from city operations by 31 percent in three years. I went around the country and spoke in other nations about best practices, the dangers of climate change, how we all need to come together.
Last month, Dr. Jill Stein announced she would run for president as the Green Party candidate. When asked why he didn't run as part of the Green Party, Anderson said it has organizational problems and is perceived as too far to the left to attract people across the political spectrum.
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Website: www.alternet.org/story/153419/a_challenger_for_obama_progressive_former_mayor_rocky_anderson_enters_race_with_new_third_party?page=entire