Why Rocky Anderson in 2012?

A Message From Pirate TV: Which One Is Real?

We received this from Pirate TV and thought we ought to share it with everyone:  

"A few weeks ago I went to my Democratic County convention and guess who I happened to run in to?  Well, as you can imagine, I decided to use this rare opportunity to give the President a piece of my mind on his failures on everything from endless war, targeted assignations, bankster rule, austerity, global warming, etc., etc…  After about an hour and a half of this, I realized that he wasn’t listening and I got the distinct feeling that this president is nothing more than a cardboard façade and that the real power was somewhere else.  So, I had a talk with another candidate and got a much different impression."

Be Sure to Watch Rocky Standing Up for Justice on Pirate TV, Monday 5/28/12 8-9pm (Repeats 1pm Wed):

"The two-party system has given us endless wars, bank bailouts and tax-breaks for the rich. Rocky Anderson, former two-term, progressive Mayor of Salt Lake City, has a proven track record on human rights, environmental stewardship, and justice for the 99%. Rocky left the Democratic Party to build a third party alternative and is now running as a 2012 Candidate for President with the Justice Party.  Hear him speak out on corporate corruption, cost of war and the 2012 election."

Watch Pirate Television in King County channel 29/77 Mondays 8-9pm & Wed. 1-2pm PST or streaming live on Seattle Community Media. Pirate TV streams several times a week on Puget Sound Access.  Pirate TV also broadcasts on Free Speech TV: Details listed on FStv website.

Obama's Campaign Doubles Down on Private Equity Hypocrisy

While Rocky stands against corruption -- limiting contributions to $100.00 per donor -- the Obama administration is having trouble finding a spokesperson who is flexible enough to bend out of the hypocrisy behind the slew of private equity money backing Obama. 

"I don't understand why it's okay for the president's private equity supporters to bankrupt companies and put people out of work, but it's not okay for Mitt Romney's equity firm to do that?" Anderson Cooper repeatedly asked Ben LaBolt, a dodgy representative for Obama. "The president has support from business leaders across industries who agree with his vision of building an economy that's built to last," LaBolt stuttered through, "where hard work and responsibility are rewarded..." Anderson let him continue for a few seconds before reminding him, "You yourself said that's not what private equity is about," at which point LaBolt evaded a real answer with another populist talking-point.

Will you defend Romney's regressive economic vision, or join Ben LaBolt in Obama apologetics without consulting his actual record? Or will you support Rocky Anderson -- a candidate who requires no question-dodging? Watch Rocky's television appearances here, and read his solutions to the problems America is facing here. 

Two Parties, Zero Principles

Our goal is equality. It is a fight that has defined our nation's history. Every step toward this goal has come from people at the grassroots taking a stand together. Join our campaign to push now for equality relating to sex and sexual orientation. Our progress will be measured by the extent to which we rally people together in this common cause. 

Unlike President Obama, Rocky Anderson believes that, as with other constitutional protections, equality as between people of different genders and sexual orientations should be federally guaranteed. When a president asserts a commitment to equality, he or she should actually do something to make it a reality.

We can look back on our lives and know that we have said the right words and voiced the right opinions. Or we can look back and know that we took action and stood up against oppression and its greatest weapon--complicit silence.

Don't be silent. Please take action by signing this letter calling for a New Equal Rights Amendment, contributing to Rocky Anderson's campaign, and passing this message along to friends and family. It will all make a difference.

 

Sign the petition for the New Equal Rights Amendment.

Today we have set a goal to collect 600 signatures (we're already half-way there!), as well as raising $3,000 toward the $50,000 goal we have set. The only way this will happen is if you who believe in the solutions for which this campaign is fighting decide TODAY to contribute and to forward our message.

Why now? Because only with support today will we be able to continue our fight for equality.

Water Resources

View PDF Version

When looking for life on other worlds, astronomers attempt to find the tell-tale signs of water for the simple fact that we cannot imagine the existence life without it. Concerns regarding global water resources are increasing as the human population grows, while the small percentage of fresh water on Earth remains static or decreased in some areas. America’s water resources are also of concern, as the likely result of global climate change is the decrease of mountain snowpack that provides a large amount of western water and an increase in evaporation due to increased temperatures.¹  Further, groundwater resources face unsustainable drawdown to meet population needs and increased pressure as climate change decreases surface water resources.²

Rocky Anderson recognizes that water resources are of grave concern for our planet’s, and species’, health and future. Water resources also factor into human rights and justice, because as fresh, clean water becomes scarce, those that can least afford it will be impacted the greatest. A National Intelligence Estimate report finds that in the coming decades, water resources will be used as a weapon, and conflicts directly related to water resources will increase.³There are many examples of water resources being fought over or used as a weapon of war, such as in the siege of Sarejevo in 1992.⁴ In order to reduce or reverse the ecological and humanitarian costs of water resource threats, Rocky will continue supporting this vital resource by:

• Setting the United States on course for a zero-net-carbon economy by mid-century, thereby limiting the damage to our ecosystem due to global climate change.
• Initiating a national water conservation program, recognizing that water that isn’t used doesn’t need expensive and resource-intensive treatment.
• Prudently supporting international efforts and organizations that work towards greater water resource security by best management practices, sustainable irrigation projects, education, and direct support.
• Evaluating our nation’s reservoirs for need and efficiency to determine if more rivers can be restored to their natural state.
• Supporting research into non-GMO crop breeding that can increase food yields while decreasing water consumption.

 

1. 1.     IPCC 2007, Summary for Policymakers, in Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report, p. 11.
2. 2.     Ground-Water Depletion Across the Nation, USGS Fact Sheet 103-03
3. 3.     www.dni.gov/nic/ICA_Global%20Water%20Security.pdf
4. 4.     Gleick, P.H. 1998. "Water and conflict." (See Chronologies A and B.) In P.H. Gleick, The World’s Water 1998-1999, Island Press, Washington, D.C. pp. 105-135.

Making Nationwide Equality a Reality: A New Equal Rights Amendment

All Blog Entires

• 05/21/2012 - Two Parties, Zero Principles: Support the Candidate Who Walks the Walk

• 05/14/2012 - Open Letter to Ron Paul From Rocky Anderson

• 05/14/2012 - Labor & Union Protection in an Anderson Administration

• 05/11/2012 - Call Out Obama's Betrayal On Medical Marijuana

• 05/08/2012 - Equality & Justice Are Not Just Catch Phrases

• 05/04/2012 - Some Things Can't Be Bought: Where Will You Draw the Line?

• 05/02/2012 - Catching Up With Rocky: April Campaigning in California!

• 05/01/2012 - May Day: The American Labor Tradition, & Our Way Forward

• 03/30/2012 - Romney Endorsed Mayor Anderson in Television Advertisement

• 03/29/2012 - Rocky Anderson: A Voice of Reason On Foreign Policy

• 03/28/2012 - Rocky Takes On Obamacare's Massive Shortcomings

• 03/15/2012 - Why Americans Elect?

• 03/14/2012 - Rocky Anderson: Officially Declared Americans Elect Candidate

• 03/12/2012 - Blatent Hypocrisy: Obama Administration's New Lobbyist

• 03/09/2012 - The New Battle For Voter's Rights

• 03/06/2012 - Rocky's Super Tuesday Moneybomb Letter

• 03/05/2012 - Join Us: Let's Give "Super Tuesday" New Meaning

• 03/02/2012 - Rocky's Strong Case For Third Party in 2012

• 02/22/2012 - Rocky's Bold Introduction at San Francisco Panel Discussion

• 02/20/2012 - President's Day & the Rule of Law

• 02/17/2012 - Let's Forclose On Our Government

• 02/15/2012 - American Needs Real Healthcare Reform

• 02/14/2012 - Say "NO" to the Keystone Pipeline Again

• 02/13/2012 - Cavalier Response on Behalf of Attorney Eric Holder

• 02/12/2012 - Big Banks STILL Gambling

• 02/11/2012 - US Citizens On Assassination Lists

 

 

Labor and Union Protection in a Rocky Administration

The evisceration of labor protections has been one of the key factors underlying the drastic shift in power and wealth from the majority to the minority over the past 40 years. Unionization allows workers – i.e. the majority of Americans – to band together to ensure fair treatment from their employers. They can bargain collectively to ensure –among other things – fair wages, decent working conditions, and social and environmental protections. Given this, strong unionization rates in the 1950s and 60s played an important role in the improvement of living standards throughout America, the rise in median wages, and rapid economic growth that was fairly evenly distributed. This helped create what is now known as the “Golden Age of Capitalism” with the maintenance of a thriving middle class.

Since the early 70s however, with the collapse of the Bretton Woods Agreement and the subsequent Reaganite assault on working Americans, there has been a major shift of power from workers to management, with total union membership rates dropping from around 25% to 12%, with nearly all that decline coming in the private sector, where the union membership rate of 7% is the lowest since the Depression. The US – where following World War II, one in three non-farm workers were union members -  now has the lowest unionization rate of any developed economy except France. Just as high unionization levels contributed to rising living standards for almost everyone, the fall in unionization rates has led to a reduction in living standards for all but the super rich, with real median wages stagnant or declining, and CEO to worker pay ratio skyrocketed from around 30:1 to around 200:1.

Rocky Anderson’s Approach Toward Solutions

An Anderson Administration would recognize the fundamental importance of a strong and vibrant labor movement as being one of the key building blocks upon which a strong and vibrant working and middle class is based, as it was in the 1950s and 60s. As Mayor of Salt Lake City, he dealt constructively with three public sector unions.  Salt Lake City was the only city in Utah that engaged in collective bargaining, which Anderson has always supported.

Rocky would work towards enacting policies that will enhance union protection, and reverse the catastrophic decline in union participation rates, including the following:

1.     More union participation in government. The practice for decades by Republican and Democratic administrations has been to staff key administration positions with ex-CEOs of major corporations, or people with strong links to such companies. This reflects a balance of power tilted toward the managerial class, rather than the majority of Americans – the “99%”. There is no justification for this.  In order to assure a truly representative government, Anderson would staff a significant share of economic positions with union and labor leaders, people who represent the majority of working Americans. This would represent a drastic reversal from the current Wall Street alumni system that President Obama favors.  The beneficiaries of government policy would also change accordingly.

 2.     Repeal Taft-Hartley. Anderson would work to build a Congressional consensus to repeal what President Truman called the “slave-labor bill” passed in the 1940s, the effects of which are still felt by working men and women and their families.

 3.     Support the Employee Free Choice Act. As a corollary to repealing Taft-Hartley, Anderson would support the Employee Free Choice Act, in particular the provisions which facilitate collective bargaining, make it easier to join unions, and prevent firms from engaging in unfair labor practices. The Employee Free Choice Act is the most important current legislative proposal for labor rights.  Support of that Act must be a key aspect of any labor agenda.

 4.     WPA-type Initiatives.  The Works Progress Administration was an enormous success and we are still benefiting from the contributions of the WPA to the repair and building of much of our nation’s infrastructure.  (My high school, ranked one of the three most beautiful in the U.S., was a WPA project and is still serving my boyhood community well.)  With such a program, we could put millions of people to work and contribute significantly to building up our infrastructure – including roads, bridges, buildings, and, with additional components to the initiative, our arts and cultural infrastructure.

 5.     Fair Trade.  NAFTA and CAFTA were betrayals to working people and their families and should be repealed or, at the least, re-negotiated so that employers of U.S. workers are placed on a more equal footing with employers of people in other nations.  We should do what we can to return to the United States jobs lost to other countries as a result of the globalization of capital and the free trade agreements that benefited primarily the multi-national corporations that have moved many, if not all, of their operations outside of the U.S.

Read Rocky's Solution For Labor & Union Protection In Its Entirety Here.

Obama Refuses to Support Marriage equality. Tell him "Evolve" now!

Click here to watch Mitt Romney oppose marriage equality.

Click here to watch President Obama oppose marriage equality.

And now he continues to refuse to support marriage equality, saying that his thinking about the issue of marriage equality is “evolving.” 

Let’s help his thinking evolve – urgently. 

Justice delayed is justice denied.

Join today in sending the message to President Obama that, finally, he must unequivocally support equal rights for all Americans. 

Join in demanding marriage equality for all. 

Regardless of your own sexual orientation, please express your support for equal rights and equal dignity for our GLBT brothers and sisters . . . finally.

Please sign this letter today so we can provide it to President Obama right away.

And please forward this to your friends, family members, and associates, asking them to join in this powerful call for equality.

Dear President Obama:

You previously opposed marriage equality.  Now you say your thinking on the matter is “evolving.”  Nothing should have to “evolve” for you to finally stand up for equality under the law.

Political considerations should never trump such fundamental principles.

We urge you to demonstrate the essential leadership our nation needs for equality to become a reality for millions of gay and lesbian people who seek the same rights under the law – and the same dignity – enjoyed by other couples who join together in matrimony. 

It’s a simple matter of fairness and equality.  Just as laws prohibiting interracial marriages were abolished many years ago, so too should discriminatory laws prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying be abolished. 

It’s the right thing to do.  And we trust that you know it.

Sincerely,

Rocky Anderson

Add signature

Speech by Rocky Anderson at University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle, WA

Talk by Rocky Anderson, 2012 Justice Party Presidential Candidate given May 3, 2012 at University Temple United Methodist Church in Seattle, WA.