Deal With The Devil

by Mark Taylor, DeMOCKracy Ink

Deal With The Devil
by C.A. Matthews

About once a year, I feel compelled to write a post about the dangers and pitfalls of lesser evil voting in the US. So here it is, for better or worse.

If you add a letter “d” to the front of the word “evil”, you’ll get the personification of evil, that is, the “devil.” However lesser evil voting is being discussed, the end result is the same: The voter is being asked to make a deal with the devil or evil.

What is often left out of this old saying are what consequences you incur when you make a deal with the devil. Here’s the complete saying: “When you make a deal with the devil, be careful you don’t get burned.”

Dealing with the devil can get you burned. Lesser evil voting burns voters. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a closer look.

The Devil is in the Details

First, a definition of lesser evil voting is needed. In the lesser evil voting scenario, voters are informed that there are only two candidates running for each office. We’ll call them candidates “A” and “B”. Voters are told they have no other options, and they have been convinced of this fact. They feel compelled to vote for either A or B or stay home and not vote. That’s it.

But what if voters don’t care for either candidate A or B? What if they strongly detest and/or despise both A and B? Can they vote for candidate C, D, E, or F instead? In most states in the United States there are other candidates’ names printed on their ballots for each office. However, many voters have been programmed (brainwashed) into thinking those options simply do not exist for them, so they’re stuck with choosing between A and B or not voting at all.

But what happens when a voter decides to vote for C, D, E, or F, and their treachery to vote outside the box is discovered? Woe to that voter! The voter will be vote shamed and pressured to change their mind. The most common vote shaming method is to tell renegade voters that they have cast a wasted vote because they refused to vote for either A or B. They are informed by supporters of A and B that all voters who dare to vote for C, D, E, or F are stupid and foolish.

Other forms of coercion exercised by supporters for A and B can include ostracizing these rebel voters socially in-person and/or online, threatening the rebel voters’ careers or job positions, and sometimes even threatening or committing physical violence against the rebel voters or their property. 

All of these forms of lesser evil voting coercion tactics have been documented widely (and some of them experienced by yours truly). These are only but a few of the ways voters can get burned when making a deal with the devil called lesser evil voting.

I’m sure there are supporters/past-supporters of A and B out there whose ears are burning about right now as I expose their crimes. But I’ve found that lesser evil aficionados often are proud of their vote shaming tactics. They rarely get caught or charged with any criminal activity since fellow A or B supporters will cover for them, so I doubt they’ll ever stop the dirty tricks.

With that sort of pressure placed upon voters to consider voting for only A or B, what do you think happens to candidates C, D, E, and F? Do you think they receive as much attention in the mainstream media as A and B do? Lesser evil voting supporters for A or B cannot afford to allow voters to learn about other candidates and their platforms, so mainstream media spokespersons are generally kept in line and told to exclude all mention of other candidates as much as possible.

Can you see how this practical censorship would prevent C, D, E, and F from effectively advertising or fundraising? Without sufficient funds to campaign, what would you say are the chances of these alternative candidates being able to compete against the well-funded and well-promoted campaigns of A and B? Did you say zero to none?

It should be obvious by now that lesser evil voting isn’t really a strategy to help American voters choose a candidate who represents their values, needs, wants, or desires. Lesser evil voting is simply a method to get rid of A’s and B’s competition. 

Think about it: It’s much cheaper and easier for corporate lobbyists, wealthy individuals, and political action committees (PACs/Super PACs) to bribe two candidates to do as they command than a multitude of candidates who may or may not be open to taking corporate lobbyist cash. This legal bribery of politicians in the US is allowed under the 2010 Citizens United ruling. Money talks, and it talks much louder than average voters' voices, obviously.

How fair is lesser evil voting? Not fair at all unless you absolutely adore A and/or B. But it’s completely legal and acceptable by the parties of A and B who rather you didn't know you have more choices. Here’s an example of how it’s manifesting itself in this year’s presidential election.

The Devil You Know...

Americans worship stability and sameness. Life just seems safer that way. Even if their present lives are miserable or downright unbearable, Americans’ philosophy of life can be summed up thusly: “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”

Note once again how the letter “d” can be subtracted from “devil” leaving the word that describes the devil’s best known quality of “evil”. Americans rather put up with a known evil than radically change their lives by making a different choice, possibly for the better, because what if their choice proves worse than the one they’ve been told to make by supporters of A or B? Many American voters seem paralyzed by indecision. They seek guidance and are looking for someone else to make the decision for them.

If only Americans believed they needn’t be cornered into corner A or B! Think of all the possibilities for a brighter future voters might have by choosing C, D, E, or F. How can we break through such a lack of imagination and encourage American voters to invite change and consider non-duopoly (non-A or -B) candidates?

Let’s say you’re an American voter who wants the genocide in Gaza to end as soon as possible and all the war criminals punished. You’re sick and tired of the bloated US military budget and long for more funding for programs such as Medicare For All, free university tuition, student loan debt forgiveness, and programs to tackle the climate crisis. What are your choices for president who speak to your conscience?

Here in a nutshell are the options of the upcoming presidential election:

A – a current known evil who supports the genocide in Gaza and takes money from AIPAC and many corporations/PACs

B – a past known evil who supports the genocide in Gaza and takes money from AIPAC and many corporations/PACs

C – another candidate (with a famous last name) who accepts corporate cash and loudly supports the genocide in Gaza and takes money from AIPAC/PACs

D – a candidate who doesn’t accept corporate/PAC cash and doesn’t support the genocide in Gaza, supports Medicare For All and climate crisis actions, and will probably be on all 50 state ballots and the District of Columbia

E – a candidate who doesn’t accept corporate/PAC cash and doesn’t support the genocide in Gaza but probably won’t be on very many state ballots

F- a candidate who doesn’t accept corporate/PAC cash and doesn’t support the genocide in Gaza but probably won’t be on very many state ballots

(G, H, I candidates – some accept corporate/PAC cash, some don’t support the genocide or war, but most probably won’t be on very many state ballots)

Looking at the above chart, you’ll see that your personal choices do not include the A or B candidates that lesser evil voting strategists are going try to shame you into voting for. Your best bet to change the leadership the White House to a person who represents you is to vote for candidate D or possibly E or F or one of the other lesser known candidates if they're on your ballot. By voting for a candidate like D, you’ll feel proud of yourself that you aren’t perpetuating the genocide in Gaza and are helping to make the US a better place for all its people.

Sounds like a sound voting choice that reflects your values and speaks to your conscience, right? If only it was that easy in the USA!

The political parties of A and B will do all that they can to block your preferred candidate’s name from being on as many states' ballots as they possibly can. With huge war chests of campaign donations from military-industrial complex corporations and money from PACs such as AIPAC, these parties will use every legal and extra-legal trick in the book they can to prevent any competition from challenging them. Supporters of A and B who own the mainstream media outlets will block all mention of the other candidates and pass along the propaganda that teams A and B dream up to slander/libel their competition.

Many American voters, never knowing there are actually candidates who closely represent their own values because of the practical censorship, might choose to stay home and not vote. Voter apathy in the US is sky high, and with such a screwed up system, is it any wonder?

This is lesser evil voting strategy at its worse. These devils you’ve known for years are anti-democratic and bullies. And you will be forced to put your conscience to sleep and vote for A or B because you’re told these are your only options. 

You’ll be told that C, D, E, or F have no chance of winning, not realizing that in poll after poll the largest percentage of American voters consider themselves as independent. These voters don’t support the parties of either A or B and stay home more often than not if they don't have another option. If that large percentage of voters followed their conscience and voted for other than A or B, another candidate might actually win. The math speaks for itself.

Vote shaming can be intense, but it can be dealt with rationally as the above meme demonstrates. A candidate must earn your vote and stand for your values. Follow a litmus test like I do to pick your candidate, and you'll never suffer from a guilty conscience. You won't be tempted to sell your soul to the devils and their corporate masters. You'll help others to avoid getting burned as well.

The great Eugene Debs gave us this sage advice that voters should always follow:

"I'd rather vote for something I want and not get it than to vote for something I don't want and get it."

Don’t be tempted to make a deal with the devil (d-evil). Don’t get burned. Stay away from lesser evil voting. Always vote your conscience, and encourage others to do the same. And may the best candidate win.

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links

Here's a way to turn lesser evil voting on its head: https://twitter.com/CallForCongress/status/1771242193438593153

The Democrats’ “all-out war” on third parties and independent candidates https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/03/23/bzsf-m23.html

UN Special Rapporteur finds Israel is committing genocide https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/un-special-rapporteur-finds-israel

The Chris Hedges Report: Halting Biden’s Weapon Shipments to Israel https://scheerpost.com/2024/03/22/the-chris-hedges-report-halting-bidens-weapon-shipments-to-israel/

"It's Not About Trump": American CJ Hopkins, Charged Again in Germany, Describes Global Censorship Effort https://www.racket.news/p/its-not-about-trump-american-cj-hopkins

Armed by Washington, Israel Trashes the Genocide Convention https://scheerpost.com/2024/03/20/armed-by-washington-israel-trashes-the-genocide-convention/

Flour Massacre Called ‘Aid-Related Deaths’—Rather Than Part of Israel’s Engineered Famine https://fair.org/home/flour-massacre-called-aid-related-deaths-rather-than-part-of-israels-engineered-famine/

Find Someone Who Loves You Like Israel Loves Attacking Palestinian Hospitals https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/find-someone-who-loves-you-like-israel

As Conflict Rages On, Israel and Gaza’s Environmental Fates May Be Intertwined https://insideclimatenews.org/news/15032024/todays-climate-gaza-israel-sewage-environment-debris-pollution/

British Surgeon Describes Children Suffering “Appalling Injuries” in Gaza, Demands Immediate Ceasefire  https://www.democracynow.org/2024/3/21/gaza_doctor_nick_maynard

After Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation, a Pentagon witch hunt looms https://therealnews.com/after-aaron-bushnells-self-immolation-a-pentagon-witch-hunt-looms

Just Seeing Through The Propaganda Isn't Enough - We've Got To Open Our Hearts As Well https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/just-seeing-through-the-propaganda

IDF General Admits War Impossible Without US Support https://rumble.com/v4kh2tc-system-update-245.html

Here’s What Canada’s Vote to End Arms Sales to Israel Means for Antiwar Effort https://truthout.org/articles/heres-what-canadas-vote-to-end-arms-sales-to-israel-means-for-antiwar-effort/

Israel Lobby DESTROYED On Mainstream Media! https://youtu.be/kQ_58cRZeaM?si=ITU3k366k5V3BnIO

Things That Have Been Discredited During The Destruction Of Gaza https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/things-that-have-been-discredited 

If you say this is a genocide and then you support the people who are backing this genocide, it means either (A) you’re fine with genocide or (B) you only called it a genocide to score progressive political points and don’t actually believe what you said.

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More nominees for "The Aarons"

Here are a few more names that were nominated for A Human With A Conscience Award (read about it here) this past week. These folks and organizations can post the above meme on their social media sites if they choose. Keep your nominations coming!

Banksy (Best Graffiti Artist with a Conscience)

Laura K from Normal Island News (Best Satirist with a Conscience)

Randy Credico (Best Podcaster/Indie journalist with a Conscience)

Neil Oliver (Best Podcaster/Journalist with a Conscience)

Toledo Area Activists with a Conscience:
Jomana Al, Walaa Kanan, Mike Ferner, Jasmin Nada Hummos, Yousef Baddar, Susan Kuehn, Terry Lodge, Omar Aysha, and Ahmed Amrou.

Suggested category: Best Poet with a Conscience 

Congratulations all!

Poison Pill Politics

 

Every member of the squad voted for this. Unfettered rich people spending on elections. pic.twitter.com/k7X0qjA6FW

— Abolitionist (@womenbaseball1) March 4, 2021

 https://youtu.be/xnNvzJ4G3dk (The story starts at 5:50 and goes to about 14:30)

Poison Pill Politics

by C.A. Matthews

HR1, also known as the For the People Act, creates a national system of automatic voter registration, which is expected to bring millions of new voters to the ballot box, and cracks down on voter suppression tactics. --Ryan Grim, The Intercept

The so-called "For The People Act" has been passed in the House and has been sent on to the Senate. It all sounds great on the surface, but as one peers deeper into its 790 pages some rather troubling features are revealed. While 62% of Americans have stated they want more choices in candidates/parties on the ballot, this bill actually introduces legislation that would make it virtually impossible for third or independent parties to run candidates for office. Added bonus--it enables "Dark Money" to flood campaign coffers of the two so-called "major parties."

A bill that has a coating of good on top to hide its inner rotten core is called a poison pill. And it's not something anyone should swallow.

 According to Harvey Wasserman of Reader Supported News:

Though much in HR1 is absolutely essential to the survival of American democracy, one section is a cynical assault on third parties, making barriers to their signature-gathering and fundraising virtually insurmountable. Those clauses come from Democratic operatives who hate the Green Party and other third parties.

HR1 would inflate the amount of money national party committees can give to their candidates from $5000 to $100 million, an astonishing increase of 1999900% that would give party bosses virtually unlimited power to flood elections with Big Money.

This bill is "for the people"? It takes "Big Money" out of politics? Really?

The bill that should have been passed is The Fair Representation Act. Introduced in 2018 and 2019, if enacted ranked-choice voting (RCV) and multi-member districts for Congressional elections would become the law of the land, giving voters more power and more choice.

The Fair Representation Act sounds like a good thing, doesn't it?

But you've probably never heard of The Fair Representation Act if you get your news from mainstream media outlets. All you've heard  is how great the "For The People Act" is from numerous neoliberal talking heads without mention of how it will take away your choice of candidates and add even more unrestricted SuperPACs and Dark Money into US politics. That's because the major networks are owned by a tiny handful of multi-millionaires. They want this poison pill legislation to pass so there will be less chance of independent candidates winning and less chance of third party candidates who can think for themselves representing us, the people, and not them, the oligarchy.

Less democracy means there's far less mess for the oligarchs to keep under control. Far fewer chances for voters to elect representatives who will pass laws to tax these millionaires and billionaires the way they should have been taxed all along. Far less chance of these media monopolies being broken up to increase fairness and competition and give more choices to us, the people.

Fairness and choice?  Fewer chances for the mega-wealthy to purchase politicians with unlimited private donations? Hmm, those sound like healthy things, don't they?

 I hope you won't swallow the poison pill called the "For The People Act." Please share this information with others, watch the videos and pass the links along to your friends and family. Because the only true antidote to poison in politics is education and vigilance.

 

In this video, 2020 Green Party presidential and vice presidential nominees Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker discuss HR1 and the dangers hiding within it.  https://youtu.be/TiUQsekabsk
 

More from Howie Hawkins' #GreenSocialist Organizing Project:

Like you, we believe in the protection of voting rights, including same-day and automatic voter registration, restoring the franchise to people with criminal records, and an expansion of early voting, voting by mail, and absentee drop boxes...as a first step. 

HR 1, also known as the "For the People Act," is a bill that has passed the House and is in the Senate and which contains these types of necessary reforms.  In these days, when Republicans and right-leaning Democrats are happy to make access to the voting booth all the more difficult, these are good reforms that are useful now.

However, there is a specific section of this omnibus bill that deals with matching funds and overall campaign finance that serves to entrench dark and corporate money in campaigns even further.  

The major problems with the Campaign Finance of H.R. 1 include:

Excludes Third Parties: The qualifying threshold to receive presidential primary matching funds is increased five times, from $100,000 ($5,000 raised in 20 states in contributions of $250 or less) to $500,000 ($25,000 raised in 20 states in contributions of $200 or less). This higher threshold puts public funding beyond the reach of third-party candidates.

Increases Funding Disparities: The 6:1 ratio in matching funds increases the public funding disparities between candidates by seven times. A 6:1 match for a candidate with $1 million in qualified contributions would yield $7 million. A 6:1 match for $5 million would yield $35 million. The funding disparity grows seven times, from $4 million to $28 million.

Eliminates Private Spending Caps for Publicly Funded Candidates: H.R. 1 eliminates the private spending caps under the existing program of presidential public funding, which limits how much private money candidates who accept public funding can spend.

Increases Big Donations through Party Committees: H.R. 1 increases the amount national party committees can contribute to presidential candidates from $5,000 to $100 million. Each party has three national committees that can make this contribution: the national committee and the party’s house and senate campaign committees. So the total amount increases from $15,000 to $300 million. This change increases the influence of big donors. The current individual contribution limits to a federal candidate’s campaign committee is $5,600 ($2,800 for the primary and $2,800 for the general). The current individual campaign contribution limit to party’s national committees is $109,500. So the super-rich can give up to $328,500 to a party’s national committees.

Increases Big Donations through Victory Funds: H.R. 1 does nothing to curb big donor funding through joint campaign committees of presidential candidates and national and state party committees. This loophole enables the super-rich to give six-figure donations to the presidential candidates’ so-called Victory Funds. In 2020, donors could give up to $620,600 to the Biden Victory Fund and $580,600 to the Trump Victory Fund.

Preserves Unlimited Private Donations for Independent Expenditures: HR 1 does nothing to curb the unlimited donations the super-rich give for independent expenditures by SuperPACs, including as undisclosed “dark money” laundered through 501c4 nonprofits.

In short, the Campaign Finance section in H.R. 1 does not curb the swelling ocean of private campaign funding by corporate special interests and super-rich oligarchs. It simply enables the major party recipients of unlimited private donations to also get some public money as well. It is a reform that doesn’t reform.

Click here to read Howie's entire policy paper on HR1.

Click here to read Howie's article about HR1 on Counterpunch.  And please share!

So what can you do? Please sign our petition to immediately send an email to your U.S. Senator to request that they work to eliminate the campaign finance section of HR 1, as well as work to enact real campaign finance reforms that matter.  Click here to go to the petition.

Related Articles:

https://howiehawkins.us/hr-1s-campaign-finance-program-a-reform-that-doesnt-reform/

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/mar/1/green-party-accuses-nancy-pelosi-house-democrats-t/

https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/68131-rsn-the-all-out-war-on-voting-rights-has-gone-nuclear 

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The Revolution Continues is now in our sixth year taking on the propaganda of the fauxgressives and their friends in the corporate-owned duopoly. We need passionate revolutionaries like you to help us provide progressive insights that are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can donate a little to the cause, please do so at the Paypal.me link below.

http://paypal.me/camatthews

Thanks for all you do in making the world a better place. Power to the people!

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Part of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (HR 1280), newly reintroduced in the U.S. Congress, is called the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act. This is an issue that World BEYOND War has been working on, with some success, at the local level, and that work will continue no matter what. But this federal law would be a major boost, and it has a good chance of passing if we push for it.

Under this law, the U.S. military would be forbidden to transfer to federal, tribal, state, or local law enforcement agencies the following:

• Firearms, ammunition, bayonets, grenade launchers, grenades (including stun and flash-bang), and explosives.
• Vehicles, except for passenger automobiles and bucket trucks.
• Drones.
• Controlled aircraft that are combat configured or combat coded or have no established commercial flight application.
• Silencers.
• Long-range acoustic devices.
• Items in the Federal Supply Class of banned items.

Click here to tell Congress to pass this bill right away!

Demonstrators across the United States declared in one voice that "Black Lives Matter," demanding criminal justice reform at the federal level. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was the House's response.

An overdue package of reforms, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, in addition to demilitarizing police, makes police more accountable, reforming qualified immunity, creating a national registry of police misconduct, prohibiting racial profiling, banning no-knock warrants in drug cases, banning excessive force, incentivizing the banning of chokeholds and carotid holds, and requiring the use of body cameras, but forbidding the use with those cameras of facial recognition technology.

Click here to add your name in support!

***

HR 1 is sold as a way to get money out of politics and to protect voters but it contains a poison pill for democracy and opposition parties like the Green Party. HR1 quintuples the amount of money Green presidential campaigns will be required to raise to qualify for federal matching funds: from $5,000 in each of 20 states to $25,000 per state.

The Green Party stands opposed to this bait-and-switch legislation that claims to improve access to voting while actually dismantling everyone's right to organize electorally against the parties of War and Wall Street. In a recent Gallup poll, a record 62% of US voters said we need a new major party.

HR1 is just the latest example of how the parties of War and Wall Street have no shame about strangling democracy to preserve their duopoly, even while pretending they're doing exactly the opposite. Please donate to the Green Party today so we can fight back.

No doubt you've heard from "progressive" groups about how HR1 contains much-needed voter protections. And it's true, HR1 contains some badly needed reforms. That makes it all the more shameful for the Democrats to use those reforms as cover to eliminate competition from alternative parties.

Go to our Action Page and Tell Congress: Stop HR1, the "Voting Rights Bill" That Restricts Voter Choice!

And make sure you tell your family and communities how HR1 will:

• Eliminate the limits on donations and expenditures candidates can receive and make — what kind of campaign finance reform is that?
  
  
• Inflate the amount of money national party committees can give to candidates from $5000 to $100 million, an astonishing increase of 1999900% that would give party bosses virtually unlimited power to flood elections with big money
  
  
• Abolish the general election campaign block grants that parties can access by winning at least 5% of the vote in the previous presidential election. HR1 will eliminate this provision that was created to give a fair shot to alternative parties that demonstrate significant public support
  
  
• Replace the general election block grants (where each qualified candidate receives a set, lump sum of public funding for campaign expenses) with matching funds through Election Day — a huge step backwards for public campaign finance reform — using the above-mentioned criteria designed to squeeze out alternative parties and independent candidates

Instead of trying to fool American voters and eliminating minor party voices, the Green Party calls for real reforms to democratize elections:

• The Fair Representation Act, introduced in 2018 and 2019, would enact Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) and multi-member districts for Congressional elections, giving voters more power and more choice
  
  
• Individual state governments should enact RCV for their elections, including the presidential election
  
  
• Fully-public campaign finance for every federal, state and local office through the Clean Money/Clean Elections model now used in Arizona and Maine

Make sure you sign the petition today!

With Gratitude,
The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org/

DONATE

A True Public Servant

Remember--vote your conscience, not someone else's politics.  And when you get your ballot, always look for...

A True Public Servant

by C.A. Matthews

Once in a great while you might come across a true public servant. Why do they have to be so rare? Why can't we nurture and produce more of this endangered species?

If you don't know what I'm talking about, please check out this video by a very nice young man named Austin Bashore. Austin is the real deal. Austin wants to become a true servant of the people of his state house district. And, of course, every corporate-owned candidate and their corrupt party are going to make sure you never hear Austin's positive message of people, planet and peace over senseless polluting profits of the Big Oil & Gas frackers of Ohio. But his enthusiasm is contagious and oh-so-precious. Watch and see what I mean.

Instead of Austin, the citizens of Ohio house district 75 will probably be stuck with a corporate puppet who will allow more pipelines and fracking, among other crimes against humanity. It doesn't have to be like this, but Americans have allowed things to become this way. We've closed our eyes and bought into the lie that we can't change things. We just have to let the selfish, rich bastards run our government and our lives, right down to micromanaging a woman's womb and right to choose, no less.

Why did we give up so easily? Is it because we're lazy? Is it because we're scared of actually taking matters into our own hands? Think about it. If our forebears had acted half as lazy or afraid as Americans of today we wouldn't even be here as a nation 242 years later.

True public servants seem rarer than rubies (because in actuality diamonds are quite common, but DeBeers doesn't want you to know that fact). However, they don't have to become extinct if we work at preserving these unique and beautiful creatures. This blog has featured many other true public servants, such as Senator Bernie Sanders, Dr. Jill Stein, and Constance Gadell-Newton. We will continue to do so, but wouldn't it be nice if they became the rule and not the exception?

What can we do? How can we inspire a new generation of public servants? It's simple. We need to become the leaders we are waiting for. We can't afford to wait any longer. The planet is clearly giving us a countdown to permanent global climate change. It's happening even as you read this sentence. Fortunately, there are many civic leaders who act as public servants, both alone and in groups, in an un-elected capacity. These brave people are called activists. 

One such activist group is Toledoans for Safe Water. In spite of all kinds of legal chicanery to keep the Lake Erie Bill of Rights off the ballot this November, the "LEBOR" gang isn't giving up. They're protesting and picketing and petitioning--again--to get this first ever American Rights of Nature bill on the ballot sometime in the near future. At great personal cost and stress, they fight on. They are not giving up. They've vowed to keep fighting until safe, clean drinking water is available to all 11 million human beings who depend upon Lake Erie for life itself. They fight on to hold those responsible for polluting the lake accountable. (See their press release below.)

This midterm election might not quite turn out the way progressives hope for, but that doesn't mean we throw in the towel. We have to continue to fight. We have to find, nurture and cherish true public servants and encourage them to run for office. Above all else, it means we don't give in to the fear-mongers and naysayers.

We vote our conscience. We don't settle for "lesser evils." We vote for the future we believe in. To do anything less is to sell out our own souls. And why would we want to become soulless like those we oppose?

***

Will City Council Take Away the People’s Voice to Protect Lake Erie?

Lake Erie Bill of Rights is currently the only legal option that seeks to protect
Lake Erie and our drinking water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2018
Contact Toledoans for Safe Water
Markie Miller, organizer
Crystal Jankowski, organizer
SafeWaterToledo@gmail.com
419-482-8470

Toledo, OH - Toledoans for Safe Water will hold a press conference Monday afternoon (November 5) at 4:00 PM in the lobby of One Government Center. For weeks Toledoans for Safe Water and supporters of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) have been contacting City Council telling them to put LEBOR on the special election ballot along with the jail initiative.

Council seems to be applying a double standard on initiatives proposed by the people and this is not what the people elected them to do. They should not be picking and choosing for political reasons which of the initiatives people get to vote on. Toledoans for Safe Water organizer Jeremy Crawford said, “I personally collected hundreds of signatures for the LEBOR effort. I am calling on Matt Cherry - fellow member of my union (Local 33) to represent my interests by voting in support of LEBOR and placing it on the ballot at the upcoming City Council meeting this Wednesday.” Mike Ferner, founder of Advocates for a Clean Lake Erie, said, “Mayor Kapszukiewicz must stand up for Lake Erie and advise the law department to recommend LEBOR be placed on the upcoming and costly special election ballot. Wade was a strong advocate for Lake Erie in his campaign - it’s time to deliver on his promises.”

Toledoans for Safe Water will continue to put pressure on City Council. Petitioners and supporters of LEBOR are urged to attend the next City Council meeting on Wednesday, November 7 at 4:00 PM. Currently, LEBOR is the only option that seeks to protect Lake Erie. 

Toledoans for Safe water organizer, Markie Miller, said, “City Council members have yet to give a firm commitment to passing an ordinance to put LEBOR on the ballot, instead they allude to the final determination to come from the Law Department. Who exactly do they represent? This gives me little faith that they will recognize the efforts and needs of their constituents, let alone the urgency of recognizing the rights of Lake Erie - which our current laws violate and ignore. We do not want a repeat of 2014 and 3 days without water.” 

Toledoans for Safe Water have a second petition prepared and ready to go should City Council fail to uphold the rights of the people and recognize the necessity of protecting Lake Erie. The people now realize that no one else is going to protect them or Lake Erie and so the effort will continue no matter how council votes. TSW encourage all residents concerned about Lake Erie to support this effort, by attending the city council meeting or contacting the group at www.LakeErieAction.org.

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The Lake Erie Bill of Rights, a first-in-the-nation Ecosystem Rights of Nature initiative by the people, will enshrine in the Toledo City Charter that the Lake Erie watershed and ecosystem have legal rights, the right to exist and flourish. This will form the basis of a new legal framework for addressing environmental issues by giving citizen groups standing to sue major polluters on behalf of Lake Erie in civil court, enabling citizens to directly address pollution and harm to their drinking water before the harm occurs.

The initiative was drafted by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) at the invitation of Toledoans for Safe Water as a result of frustration felt by Toledoans at years of inaction by the government. Since 2006, CELDF has partnered with dozens of communities across more than 10 states to enact Rights of Nature laws. It currently works in Nepal, India, Cameroon, Colombia, Australia, and other countries. The introduction of the Lake Erie Bill of Rights will establish Toledo as a leader in the growing national movement embracing Community Rights and Rights of Nature.

*** 

Former Ohio US Senatorial candidate Joseph DeMare shares these insights about the "spoiler argument" that is often bandied about during election time:

This is a post I made four years ago, but it's worth remembering today as we Greens again face pressure for daring to participate in our democracy when the D's and R's play their two party game.

Question: Was Ralph Nader a Spoiler in the 2000 Presidential Election?

Answer: No

For more than a decade now, Democrats have claimed that Ralph Nader "gave us George Bush" by "stealing" votes from Al Gore in the 2000 Presidential election. For a long time, they used this idea to discourage voters from even considering voting Green. There's just one problem. It's a complete myth.

The truth is, Al Gore won the presidential election. Every full recount showed him beating George W. Bush in Florida by 20,000 to 30,000 votes.

What happened was that the Supreme Court stopped the recount when it was only partially finished and handed the presidency to Bush. The Republican Secretary of State in Florida then fraudulently certified the incorrect results. This was the real election theft.

The Democrats then went along with this theft. The Senate has to ratify the presidential election results. In the year 2000, the Democrats controlled the Senate. All that was required was a single objection by a Democratic Senator to put that ratification on hold until the full recount was finished. With Al Gore himself presiding over the Senate, and despite intense objections by Florida Democrats from the House of Representatives, the Democrats voted to give George Bush the presidency. Watch the first 10 minutes of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911 for the actual footage of Democrats handing the government over to the Republicans.

Why haven't you heard of this before? It's much more convenient for the Democrats to blame the Greens for their refusal to stand up for Democracy. The problem is that in the following Presidential election in 2004, the Republicans did the same thing in Ohio. The Republican Secretary of State there again certified the election results while there were still questions over the numbers. But the Democrats did nothing. In fact, the Ohio Green Party was the only organization that insisted on a recount in the presidential election in 2004, but that recount was conducted by the same people who returned the questionable numbers in the first place.

So, in the end, Ralph Nader's campaign in 2000 did not spoil the election for Al Gore. However, the whole idea that a Green can be a "spoiler" assumes that only the two major parties have a "right" to people's votes. We Greens reject this idea. The essence of Democracy is that the people have a right to vote for the candidate of their choice. A vote for a Green is a vote for a Green, period. In 2014, there was a three way race for House of Representatives in the state of Maine. The Republican won, even though more people voted for the Democrat and Green in total than voted for the Republican. But, in this case, the Green got more votes than the Democrat. Was the Democrat a "spoiler" for the Green candidate? Should the Democrat have dropped out and tossed his support to the Green? Should Maine rewrite its election laws to have run offs and require a majority vote for the final winner? These are complicated questions. 

However the answer to the question, "Did Ralph Nader spoil the 2000 election?" is simply "No."

https://youtu.be/bgYEFxjJaUg
 

Jill Stein also addresses the "spoiler vote" argument and argues that ranked choice voting would solve this problem. So, why does the corrupt establishment parties block citizens' initiatives for ranked choice voting? Could it be they're afraid of losing?

https://youtu.be/YHR5a_1XtUM 

***

From Credo:

Just days after taking office, Donald Trump set into motion the revival of the dangerous Keystone XL pipeline project – the dirty oil pipeline that millions of us helped to defeat during the Obama administration.^1,2

Now, the Trump administration is carrying through with its threat and requesting public comment on its latest sham "Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement," a hastily-produced document ludicrously claiming the pipeline would only have "minor" impacts on clean air and water, endangered species and sacred indigenous sites.

We must make our voices heard before the Nov. 8 public comment deadline. This is our opportunity once again to demand that the Trump administration drop this plan immediately.

Tell the State Department: No Keystone XL pipeline. Click here to send your public comment.

We already know the proposed Keystone XL pipeline will destroy habitat for endangered species, trample Native American rights, exacerbate the climate crisis and harm clean air and water. And if recent history is any guide, our fears are becoming reality. 

In Nov. 2017, more than 407,000 gallons of oil leaked from an existing portion of the Keystone pipeline in North Dakota, twice as much as was previously thought.³ Even at the time, Reuters found that the "Keystone pipeline has leaked substantially more oil, and more often, in the United States than indicated in risk assessments the company provided to regulators before the project began operating in 2010," making clear that not only is this pipeline unsafe, its operators are saying whatever it takes to seek approval.⁴

We defeated this pipeline once before, and we can defeat it again. We only have a few more days to submit public comments, so we must stand in solidarity once again with local people, Native communities and activists on the ground who are fighting this dirty and and unsafe pipeline.
Tell the State Department: No Keystone XL pipeline. Click the link below to send your public comment:

https://act.credoaction.com/letter/keystone_comments_2018?t=7&akid=30546%2E9999572%2EdvLSbU

Thanks for everything you do.
Josh Nelson, Co-Director CREDO Action from Working Assets

Add your name:

References:

1. Samantha Page, "Trump uses executive action to revive Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines," ThinkProgress, Jan. 24, 2017.
2. Elijah Zarlin, "We did it! Thank President Obama for hearing our calls and rejecting Keystone XL." CREDO Mobile, Nov. 6, 2015.
3. Lorraine Chow, "Keystone Pipeline Spilled 407K Gallons in South Dakota, Double Previous Estimate," EcoWatch, Apr. 09, 2018.
4. Valerie Volcovici and Richard Valdmanis, "Keystone's existing pipeline spills far more than predicted to regulators," Reuters, Nov. 27, 2017.

 ***

From UHCan Ohio:

Please do what you can to promote the Marketplace health care insurance enrollment. Enrollment is November 1st through December 15th for health care coverage starting on January 1st, 2019.

Individuals may enroll at HealthCare.gov   Spanish speaking consumers should visit CuidadoDeSalud.gov.

For those who already have coverage through HealthCare.gov, they need to know that they should come back and shop because plans and prices change every year and there might be a more affordable plan that meets their needs. 

24/7 Call Center for Enrollment Assistance: To enroll or get assistance, people can call the Marketplace call center 24/7 (except Thanksgiving) during Open Enrollment at 1(800) 318-2596 and talk to a trained enrollment specialist.

In-person assistance: Confidential, unbiased in-person assistance is available - you can make an appointment here. You can talk through your family’s individual situation with a trained enrollment specialist.

Find More In-Person Help: You can find free and confidential local help in your community by visiting: LocalHelp.HealthCare.gov.

Flyer: UHCAN Ohio has posted a flyer (How to Enroll on Your Own - flyer) and a fact sheet (How to Enroll on Your Own - fact sheet) that you can use to let people know about open enrollment.  Please get these or your own versions of flyers out to as many people and places as you can.  If you want versions that you can brand yourself, let me know.  We also have Spanish language versions, other variations of this information, twitter and Facebook graphics, and talking points.
Be Careful - Warnings for Consumers

• Watch out for scammers and robocalls. Work only with navigators, certified application counselors and brokers listed on healthcare.gov
• Don’t be fooled by short-term plans. They don't have to cover pre-existing conditions or essential health benefits. On average they spend only 67% of your premium on care but ACA Marketplace plans have to spend 85% on your care.
• Enroll by the deadline.  Open enrollment ends on Saturday, December 15th.