The Democratic and Republican parties have done what can be expected of a corporatist duopoly:  They have made it virtually impossible for a true people’s movement, through an alternative political party, to have a fair shot in our electoral process. 

The vast majority of Americans want an alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties.  

"Voters favored having a major third party run a candidate for president in 2012 58%-13%—with one in five saying they were absolutely certain or very likely to vote for a third-party candidate." (Wall Street Journal Article available here) 

Yet, contrary to the interests of the American people – and of our democracy – the Republican and Democratic parties have passed laws in many states that make it next to impossible for alternative parties to get on the ballot.  For instance, the Justice Party was founded in mid-December 2011, yet California required that, for the Justice Party to be on the ballot, 103,000 people would have had to register to vote as Justice Party members by January 3, 2012.

It gets worse.  

The Commission on Presidential Debates, formed by the Democratic and Republican parties, hijacked the presidential debates from the League of Women Voters and has organized and run the debates according to the dictates of the two dominant party candidates.  Without the blessing of both the Republican and Democratic candidates, third-party or independent candidates are excluded – all further eroding any semblance of our democracy.  Once again, the king-makers – owned and operated by corrupting corporate money – call the shots, while the public interest is further betrayed.    

Rocky Anderson is committed to expanding the Justice Party into a major force in U.S. politics – to remove the stench of corrupting money from our political system, to restore the rule of law, and to provide far greater fairness and decency for the American people.  

Although he has expressed concerns with the funding and transparency of Americans Elect, he has declared himself a candidate with Americans Elect, which may provide an otherwise impossible opportunity for ballot access in all 50 states.  He is doing this while, at the same time, working with the Justice Party to get on the ballots of as many states as possible as the Justice Party’s nominee.

With only about a thousand votes separating Rocky Anderson and the current front-runner on Americans Elect, we have a very real opportunity – with the help of all our supporters – to take the lead and further Rocky’s exposure to an ever-widening audience. 

The Justice Party’s organizing efforts are picking up speed, with enthusiastic organizers in more than 30 states.  The exposure gained through Americans Elect will aid in the Justice Party’s growth and support, bringing it closer to being the majority national party of, by, and for the people.

Ideally we would grow the party organically without the need of Americans Elect, but as we’ve been backed into a corner by the anti-democratic collusion of the Democratic and Republican parties, we view Americans Elect as providing an opportunity for ballot access and the Justice Party’s continuing national growth.  

We urge you to support the Justice Party and, at the same time, support Rocky’s candidacy with Americans Elect.

Click here to go to Rocky's page on Americans Elect now.

PRESS RELEASE:

Rocky Anderson, the Justice Party’s candidate for President, declared his candidacy on the Americans Elect website today.  The announcement comes in the midst of the Justice Party’s effort to gain ballot access across the country.  Although the Justice Party has had some recent setbacks in ballot access acquisition, it continues to grow and expand as America’s fresh face of an independent movement calling for an end to Washington, D.C. corruption.

“Americans Elect provides a unique opportunity to third-party candidates” Anderson states. “It gives the American people the ability to select their choice for President without worrying about the corporate investors backing their campaign. Declared candidates of Americans Elect are selected based on their qualifications rather than the size of their campaign war chest.”

Anderson, an ardent supporter of campaign finance reform, has noted that seeking the Americans Elect nomination is consistent with his nomination as the Justice Party’s presidential candidate.  “The advantage of gaining the nomination of Americans Elect is that it advocates for the candidates to develop non-partisan solutions and a more cooperative approach to the politics.  Americans Elect can be utilized for candidates outside the two-party duopoly, above the influence of corrupt money.” 

Although Americans Elect doesn’t require a candidate to take a pledge towards a particular ideological stance, it does ask that every presidential ticket be ideologically balanced.  “A fusion ticket would not only energize the public, it would allow for a greater number of interests to be represented,” observes Anderson. “The Democrats and Republicans no longer respect nor represent the public interest.  They both feed from the same trough of, and depend upon, special interest money.  Our Democracy has been transformed into a plutocracy – government of, by, and for the wealthy.”

Last December when the Justice Party was formed with the help of Rocky Anderson, there was a unifying goal to establish a strong foundation for sustained, long-term changes in the U.S. to achieve a more peaceful, healthy, and just nation. To do this, they understood that they needed a movement to obtain governing authority at all levels of government and they would need to educate and advocate to build support for policies and practices that lead to a more peaceful, healthy, and just nation.

The Justice Party has nominated Rocky Anderson as its Presidential candidate and has been pursuing ballot access in every state. This is, however, a daunting task. Independents and new parties who have achieved nationwide ballot access have spent three to four million dollars collecting signatures. The Justice Party is built on principles, like refusing special interest money, that preclude it from buying its way into the democratic process. We have had success in several states and are actively organizing in over thirty states to develop the Justice Party for long term success. 

Americans Elect is a non-partisan non-profit organization in the US hosting the first national online presidential primary in U.S. history. Under the guidelines set forth in an appeal granted by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling against the Federal Election Commission (FEC), to remain outside FEC regulations of political committees, Americans Elect cannot accept funds from candidates or candidate committees, nor donate funds to them, nor can the organization advocate for or against any issue. The organization's sole purpose is to obtain signatures to get on the ballot throughout the United States and to build the technology to process an online nomination.

Americans Elect provides a never-before-possible option for a real choice in 2012 that already has guaranteed ballot access. Let's take advantage of this opportunity. We need everyone to take a few moments to register and become a supporter for Rocky Anderson on Americans Elect's website (Go there now.)

If you have any questions, please post them below, and we'll do our best to address them in a timely manner. Thank you for your continued support, everyone -- please share on Twitter, Facebook, and any other social platform to get the word out.

Click here for a step-by-step guide to supporting Rocky on Americans Elect.

"Only in today's Washington could a president circumvent his own ban on hiring lobbyists by hiring the head of a lobbying firm," said Dana Milbank regarding Vice President Joe Biden's decision to hire Steve Ricchetti. 

Barack Obama has made a point to decry lobbyists and their corrupting influence on government; first by restricting the hiring of lobbyists for administration jobs, followed by barring lobbyists from federal advisory panels. Obama has been consistent in one regard: there is scarcely a principle he has espoused without subsequently acting in a manner diametrically opposed. 

Ricchetti's firm -- conspicuously named Ricchetti, Inc. -- has represented the American Bankers Association, multiple drug companies, the American Hospital Association, military contracting giant United Technologies, and The Association for Advanced Life Underwriting. The firm's issue areas, according to disclosure forms, include budget, energy, defense, banking, labor, and health care. What sort of counsel could Steve Ricchetti provide Biden without a blatant conflict of interest regarding the issues about which his firm is currently lobbying or recently lobbied?

We must all face the truth: Obama's legacy will be the art he's made of the juxtaposition between populist rhetoric and corrupt corporate action. Will you stand up to the pretense of a people's movement by joining a real one?

Today is the day.

Today the mainstream media will be focused on results of primaries from a Republican field that have all been shown to be bankrolled by a small number of billionaires. There are Americans all across the country who see right through the corruption, and today is our day to say “no more” by donating to Rocky Anderson’s Super Tuesday Moneybomb.

For me, today carries a different message. Today we let the American people know that they don’t have to choose between four unqualified candidates, none of whom can garner the majority support of their party. Clearly, Americans are not happy with their choices today.  The American people have been telling the Republicans and Democrats that these candidates aren’t their top choice, but no one seems to be listening.  The American people want better choices, stronger choices, and they deserve that.  Republicans deserve better, Democrats deserve better, America deserves better.

Today I ask that you to participate in a one-day media and donation blitz, the goal of which is to bring awareness to the public that there are candidates that represent the public interest, rather than the interests of a few corporations and the politicians who do their bidding.

This is not my campaign or the Justice Party’s campaign; this is the American people’s campaign.  This is a campaign of honest discussions between people, not closed meetings of politicians and corporate investors.  If we want real and lasting change, we need to remove the corrupting influence of money on politicians. We need to show the bureaucrats in Washington that the American people still have a voice in, an understanding of, and a passion for American politics.  It is not the American people who are broken; it is the corrupt political figures in Washington, and their corrupting system that is broken.

I would ask that after you listen to my message you forward it to any friends or family members and consider making a donation of no more than $100 per donor. We are not accepting special interest money, with no exceptions. Today we tell corrupt politicians that we have had enough.  Today we stand up to the two-party duopoly.  Today we take back the nation for the American people.  Donate today and together we can make a difference. 

This Tuesday, March 6^th, also known as “Super Tuesday,” millions of Americans will to go to the polls to choose the presidential candidate they hope will represent them.  But the reality is that these politicians, no matter who has been chosen, don’t represent the public, they represent corporate interests.  

Our campaign is here to let you know it doesn’t have to be this way.  Political movements can, and should, be about building a better future, together. Thanks to contributions from Americans across the country, and around the world, each donating up to $100, this campaign has momentum.  With your continued support, we will grow and create a national grassroots network of Americans who have the resolve to stand up to the fear that sustains a dangerous status quo.

Our Super Tuesday Moneybomb will be another vital step in our journey. It  is a declaration to the corrupt politicians and their corporate investors that people in this country are wise to the charades of the presidential candidates, including President Obama, who place the the millions of dollars they receive from Wall Street and other corporate interests  before the interests of the American people. 

Will you help this grassroots movement fight the corrupting influence of big banks, defense contractors, the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, and oil companies by donating up to $100 to this grassroots campaign?  You can pledge your support now, and share your pledge with family and friends to do the same, and then make your contribution on the big day towards the success of our Super Tuesday event. 

Also on Tuesday, I will post a video I just recorded.  It is my hope that you will share it with friends and family in asking their support of our cause.  The message is that Americans deserves better and that we can do better.  We will only achieve better government after we get out of denial, stop waiting for hope, and stand up together at this crucial moment in our nation’s history.  Taking a stand is our obligation to ourselves and future generations.

Throughout our history, the people who have made the greatest difference were told that the odds were too great and that they didn’t have a chance.  But because they believed and continued to work toward their goals, they ultimately won. We can, too. 

This week, and beyond, let us also demonstrate the power of the American people, working together for a nation that truly reflects our values. 

Thank you for your participation, 

Rocky Anderson

Rocky Anderson spoke on a panel to a packed audience at a Unitarian Universalist church in San Francisco. The event was featured on C-SPAN and reached an audience of over two million. Rocky asked a very poignant question: “Have we got to settle for the lesser of two evils? No. We can’t settle for this system and whether it’s either one of these evils, they represent essentially the same thing. We will never see a change as long as we cave into the fear of letting the worst of two evils defeat the lesser of two evils. Let’s bring about change in this country once in for all.”

This Tuesday our campaign is asking Americans of all political stripes to come together to support a leader who has always represented the public interest by pledging and contributing to our Super Tuesday Moneybomb. 

Watch Rocky make the strong case for America's need for a third party,
while dismantling the "spoiler" fallacy, here:

Rocky Anderson today openly reproached Republican Candidates for their debate rhetoric about health care.

“They call it RomneyCare or they call it Obamacare. They cast aspersions on both plans but the fact remains: American citizens need and deserve an effective, affordable and just health care solution. Paying more than twice per capita what is paid in the rest of the industrialized world for health care, we remain the only nation in the industrialized world that fails to provide millions of people with basic health care. Even if President 

Obama’s plan is fully implemented, 23 million will be without essential health care in the U.S. That is simply wrong.  It is immoral.”

Is anyone working on solutions?  Republicans in last night’s debate complained about government “interference” in health care, but they didn’t address solutions. 

“Give us a plan that provides solutions,” responds former Mayor of Salt Lake City, Anderson, “We spend more than two times the average spent by all nations throughout the industrialized world. The World Health Organization says we rank 37th in the world in health care. That’s what Presidential candidates should be talking about, instead of boasting they’ll get rid of Obamacare their first day in office.  45,000 Americans die each year because they can’t afford health care. 700,000 Americans go bankrupt each year because of medical bills. We’re the only country among developed nations where people become bankrupt from medical bills.”

Why has the health care discussion devolved into name calling and finger pointing? Rocky Anderson has an answer. 

“Bribery and politics-as-usual in Washington is the reason for this disconnect. In the first quarter of 2009, health care firms and their lobbyists were spending at a rate of $1.4 million a day to prevent the health care system most Americans wanted. In addition insurers and pharmaceutical companies spent millions in contributions to candidates. “ 

What is the solution?

Anderson says, “There are many high-quality systems of health care we can replicate. We can learn a great deal from the very best health care programs throughout the world. We should be getting to work on a just, more efficient, less expensive system that provides the very best health care for our citizens.”

Click here to see Rocky's full Policy Paper on Healthcare:
 

What is our campaign's focus? Critical solutions to issues concerned with reality.

While other candidates are spending national airtime opposing contraception -- an undisputed personal choice that has long been resolved -- Rocky Anderson wasted no time in identifying the real issues that our nation actually faces in 2012 during his introduction on a panel discussion in San Francisco last week. 

"We're watching our nation, in so many different ways, being completely transformed, and it's all of us who are getting shafted," Rocky vehemently expressed. Anderson continued, speaking explicitly of our electoral process, "It's not just about electing the right people [...] It's all part of bringing people together."

Watch it here:

Watch the whole panel discussion on C-SPAN's website here.

Justice Party Presidential Candidate Rocky Anderson says President’s Day is the perfect time to look at the role of the President and the Constitution.

“The Constitution makes it absolutely clear; the President is to execute federal law. The past two Presidents – one a Republican, the other a Democrat – have not only failed to execute laws, they have broken the law. The American people should be taking action, instead of ignoring what their leaders have been doing.”

Anderson, a longtime champion of human rights, says this day would be best spent reflecting on the basic principles on which our constitutional republic was founded.

“We’ve had one President who supported water-boarding – or, “enhanced interrogation,” as he called it – wiretapping American citizens and sending prisoners of war off shore to be tortured. Now we have a President who’s refused to prosecute the bankers who brought our country’s economy to its knees, who sends destructive drones around the world with no congressional approval, and who signed the National Defense Authorization Act which allows for indefinite detention of US Citizens on American soil without a trial.”

As Executive Director of High Road for Human Rights, Anderson received the Morehouse University Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award as well as the Bill of Rights Defense Committee's Patriot Award. As a citizen, Anderson was not satisfied with Presidential candidates not speaking out about the disrespect for the rule of law, which has become one of many of his priorities as the Justice Party nominee.

“These people get up in arms about contraception, same sex marriage, and the auto industry bail-out, but they say nothing about the desecration of Law in this country by elected officials.”

Be sure to watch Rocky Anderson's Video on the importance and history of the rule of law:

Last week, President Obama revealed his plan for helping victims of foreclosures in our country.

The Justice Party’s candidate for President, Rocky Anderson, says he has his own plan:

“Let’s foreclose on Congress and the White House.  Let’s take them back from the rapacious special interests who have been controlling them and ensure, for a change, that they serve the interests of the public.”
Anderson says the agreement reached by the Federal Government and 49 states is pitiful.

“In California alone, two million people are under water on their mortgages.  The Obama plan only covers one million people in the entire country.  It doesn’t cover Veterans home loans or FHA loans. It only covers mortgages that are current with the banks. There are fourteen trillion dollars in outstanding mortgage debt. What about those communities and their homeowners who are omitted from this plan.”

Is this just a publicity stunt for those up for election?

“Well, it’s not fair and it’s not justice,” Says Anderson. “These homeowners not only lost their investments, they lost their dreams. In many cases their homes were taken through fraud and manipulation and robo-stamping of foreclosure notices.  The President is saying this is OK because we’re going to give those 750,000 homeowners $1500 or $2000 to keep them quiet. Meanwhile the people who defrauded them are not even getting a slap on the wrist.”

Rocky Anderson says Americans have got to stand up and demand better government:

“This settlement, should it go through, grants the banks immunity from future lawsuits. These bankers should be in jail. They perpetrated one of the biggest crimes in our history. Instead, after collecting tens of millions of dollars in bonuses and salaries, they are being let off the hook. Their total punishment will amount to only 18% of what they would have made in one quarter prior to the market collapse. I am fed up with Americans getting shafted while the fraudsters don’t even serve one day for their crimes and enjoy these ill-gotten millions of dollars.”