Make the culprits pay

By G. SCOTT DESHEFY (GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE FOR 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DIST)

Publication: The New London Day(Published 05/23/2010 12:00 AM)

AP Photo/Elasmodiver, Andy Murch, File

Scientist Eric Hoffmayer of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs, Miss., takes fin measurements of a whale shark in the Gulf of Mexico on June 11, 2009, about 55 miles off the Louisiana coast. Hoffmayer says whale sharks, the world’s biggest fish, are particularly vulnerable if they get into the oil slick caused by the April 20 rig explosion in the Gulf. The reason is that rather than moving up to the surface and down again, whale sharks eat by swimming along the surface and sucking in plankton, fish eggs and small fish.

Scientist Eric Hoffmayer of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs, Miss., takes fin measurements of a whale shark in the Gulf of Mexico on June 11, 2009, about 55 miles off the Louisiana coast. Hoffmayer says whale sharks, the world’s biggest fish, are particularly vulnerable if they get into the oil slick caused by the April 20 rig explosion in the Gulf. The reason is that rather than moving up to the surface and down again, whale sharks eat by swimming along the surface and sucking in plankton, fish eggs and small fish.

Having prepared the first Type A ecological damage assessment claims in Connecticut history for oil spills which occurred to Long Island Sound in the 1990s, I suggest that the parties responsible for the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico be treated as recalcitrant polluters.Pursuant to existing environmental laws, the federal government should marshal all available public and private resources to cap or otherwise stem the release, already exceeding millions of gallons and unmitigated. Then the government should sue BP Corporation and other perpetrators for 150 percent of its costs of remediation plus damages to U.S. coastal economies, and most importantly, using the best available assessment modeling, plus ecological damages extrapolated over at least 10 generations of impacted species.

Importantly, BP is not the only responsible party in this environmental tragedy. Democrats and Republicans in Congress also have conspired against the marine and coastal ecosystems, not only for the Gulf, but for the Atlantic, as well. Congealed oil continues to sink into the water column and follow the Gulf Stream north, and the U.S. and Great Britain may well be taken into receivership for reparations.

As required by Norway, Brazil and most other coastal nations for off-shore drilling rigs within their waters, our congressional incumbents could have mandated that BP and other oil corporations install acoustic blow-out valves on their thousands of offshore drilling wells.

BP and other oil corporations successfully petitioned against such requirements, arguing that the $400,000 devices were “too expensive,” not nearly as expensive I suggest as their biennial congressional campaign donations to receive such favorable, and, ultimately, devastating exemptions. Perhaps, we cannot sue incumbent Democrats and Republicans as a matter of reparation and to redress their willful negligence, but we can surely vote them out on their environmentally deaf ears come November.

Scott Deshefy is the 2010 Green Party candidate for Congress in Connecticut’s 2nd District.

Green Party 1ST Congressional District  Convention
Where: East Hartford Public Library, 840  Main Street - Community room

When: Monday, August 30 - 7 pm

What: 1st Congressional District Green Party Convention nomination of candidate for Congress against John Larson

1st State senate nomination

Who: Any registered GREEN voter may vote for the nomination

Nominations shall be accepted from the floor.  Only registered Greens who are residents of the First Congressional District and are present at the meeting may be nominated.  Only registered Greens who are residents of the First Congressional District and are present at the meeting are eligible to vote.  The nominee must receive support from a simple majority of those who actually vote.  If there is more than one person nominated, instant runoff voting will be used and abstentions will not be counted as votes.

For further information contact;

Steve Fournier 860-794-6718

or

Mike DeRosa 860-919-4042

GREEN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT

 News Release- April 24, 2010 - for immediate release   

 CONTACT; Tim McKee, Spokesperson and National Committee member, cell (860) 778-1304, Email:  thebiggreenpicture@gmail.com 

Mike DeRosa, State Co-Chair (860) 919-4042

Scott Deshefy, 2^nd Congressional district candidate, (860) 642-7066

CT GREEN PARTY CONVENTION NOMINATES CANDIDATES

CONDEMNS ARIZONA “RACIAL PROFILING” IMMIGRATION LAW

  The convention of the Green Party of Connecticut met Saturday, April 24 at the Portland Senior Center,  and nominated candidates for Federal and State office.   The Green Party Slate of Candidates:

  The following candidates will appear on the final fall election ballot as Greens because the Greens have secured ballot status for these state lines:

·         Scott Deshefy of Lebanon, won the 2nd Congressional District nomination  (Eastern CT) to run against Joe Courtney. He is a retired CT state D.E.P scientist.  

·         Stephen Fournier won the nomination as Attorney General. He is an attorney from Hartford with 30 years experience practicing law.

·         Michael DeRosa of Wethersfield won the nomination for Secretary of State. 

·         David Bue of Westport won the nomination for State Treasurer. He is an investment advisor.

·         Colin Bennet of Westbrook won the nomination for State Comptroller.

The following candidates were nominated by the convention and will petition to be on the ballot in the final election:

·         Ruthann “Rae” Johnson is a candidate for the State Senate District number 9 (Middletown, Cromwell, Newington, and Rocky Hill).

·         Ben Wojan of Meriden for House #84 seat.

·         Nicholas Payne of New Milford for House #67 seat.

The Greens are actively seeking other candidates for both State and Federal office and will add those  to the Green Party Slate at a later time.

The Convention also unanimously passed a resolution strongly condemning the new Arizona law giving local police the right to ask for citizenship papers. The Greens believe that immigration enforcement is a Federal issue and that this new law will lead to “racial profiling’ of Latinos and will violate the rights of U. S. citizens of Hispanic decedent.

#End of release#

January 28, 2010 -The 40 year plan.com

Bill Curry on ‘The Power of Ideas’

By Ken Krayeske • 8:45 AM EST

A windmill in the sun,the Netherlands, July 2007. I found this while bicycling along the levees north of Amsterdam.

The route to transformational politics lies in believing in the power of ideas, Bill Curry, lawyer and politico, told the Connecticut Green Party’s monthly statewide meeting at the Portland Senior Center Tuesday, January 26, 2010.

“We have to believe that the power of ideas are stronger than the money,” Curry said. “You have to believe that your ideas will organize people.”

The United States was the most powerful force in the world before it had money, armies or even a foreign policy. The American revolution, fueled by ideas of egalitarianism, equality and liberty, toppled monarchies across Europe. This is the power of ideas that we need to harness now, Curry said.

With a hint of resignation about the current political configuration in America, Curry’s visit to the Green Party represents a milestone. For months, even years, Curry has said that the two major political parties in America are the Greens and the Libertarians, as their ideas align most with the majority of the American peoples.

However, the collusion between the Democrats, Republicans and corporations prevents those ideas from gaining traction in the political information war of the early 21st century.

Curry isn’t the first statewide political figure from the two major parties to meet with the Greens. Republican state representative Diana Urban met with the Greens in the Portland Library when she was considering running an anti-war candidacy for the U.S. Senate should Lamont have lost to Lieberman in the primaries.

While Urban ended up switching parties to become a Democrat, and never married with the Greens, the exigencies that prompted the visit from Curry remain. As Curry put it, the Democrats and Republicans may not get along, but they have slowly become infused in the corporate state that is the American government.

Curry told the crowd of 18 or so people, including Green Party faithful, new Green Party members, and John Mertens of the Connecticut for Lieberman party, who was stumping to become the Green Party nominee for U.S. Senate, that the time is ripe for the ideas of a third party to take center stage in the American political scene.

“The kind of change you are I are talking about requires real political parties,” Curry said. “Real political parties build constituencies behind ideas.”

The Democratic Party, he said, is a mere shell, with town committee meetings resembling Madame Tussaud’s wax museum more than active debate.

While he hoped that the Green Party could fill that role, he warned that the Green Party was not there yet. Policies drive progress and organization, he said.

The Green Party, Curry said, has to work out internally policy ideas, and the actual blueprint for what this transformational politics will look like. “People will buy it, they just don’t know it is available,” he said.

He outlined the demise of national Democratic Party policy from its height as the leader of the civil rights movement, to it being punch drunk and purchased by corporate dollars now.

As a former state senator, progressive organizer, state comptroller and presidential advisor, as well as a two-time gubernatorial candidate, Curry’s thoughts deserve reflection.

For almost 30 years, Ralph Nader did the heavy lifting of intellectual policy exploration for the progressive community in America, Curry said. Nader passed more laws than virtually anyone in American history.

Yet as Nader’s legacy was being dismantled by corporate Democrats in the legislative and the executive branches, Nader could not gain an audience these so-called progressive leaders.

Meanwhile, the Republican Party had and has the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Tax Reform and other think tanks creating the policies that drive their conservative engine.

Curry was on the Democratic Party policy team in 2004. One of the fights that he picked in trying to formulate policy platforms for the Kerry campaign was generated by union constituencies. But it said that every American had a right to drive the car of their choice. Quite the global warming initiative.

The ascendancy of Obama presented the best shot for progressive policy enactment in his lifetime, Curry said. And in a deadly serious tone, he inferred a doomsday for the American republic.

“If this thing goes under, I’m not sure what happens next,” Curry said. “This thing is at the end.”

Curry’s disillusionment with Obama is shared by many, and Curry considers Obama to be another Clinton. While they are both transformational figures, and 2008 was a transformational election, both fell far short of creating transformation.

The point is best made in examining Obama’s first 100 days. In Roosevelt’s historic first 100 days, he didn’t spend a dime, but changed all the rules. In Obama’s first 100 days, he spent $1 trillion, but didn’t change any rules.

“We have to be writing fewer checks and changing more rules,” Curry said. For example, rather than discussing cap and trade, (or cap and steal as many of the Greens there called it), what about new conservation laws, or what about taxing coal fired power plants or mountaintop removal of coal.

Nor does he think the concept of liberalism that generates another tax hike to deal with the victims of capitalism is sustainable. “It is noble,” Curry said, “but as Ronald Reagan said, you can’t keep doing it forever.”

The Green Party may be in the best position to figure out how to address the core issues facing America. Curry suggested that if the ideas are right, the Greens won’t be looking at merely a state representative seat, but at the Presidency itself.

Curry challenged the Greens to envision what transformational politics would look like. “Most of our differences are tactical,” Curry said, “and I’m not sure how much is even left there.”

The conveyance of new ideas has to be clear and concise, and easy to comprehend. Furthermore, in the mold of Gandhi and Mandela, personality conflicts should take a back seat to these policy drivers. Don’t criticize the person, show respect, Curry suggested, but go hard on the issues.

Seeing Curry at a Green Party meeting should signal to progressives in Connecticut and elsewhere that we need to have the political courage to begin building bridges with others

GREEN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT  News Release- January 6, 2010 - for immediate release     CONTACT; Tim McKee, Spokesperson and National Committee member, cell (860) 860-778-1304, Email:  thebiggreenpicture@gmail.com 

CT GREENS STILL PUSH NADER AFTER DODD QUITS 

Hartford, CT-Green Party of Connecticut officials announced today that they are still pushing for Ralph Nader to enter the U.S. Senate race, despite the announcement of Senator Dodd’s retirement.  Tim McKee, a Green Party spokesperson said “Thousands of people are asking Nader to run and are willing to commit to money and volunteer time if Nader seeks the Green Party nomination. On social networking sites, such Facebook and MySpace, over 2 thousand people are asking Nader to run for the Senate in just a few weeks.  This is still a national race with people from all across the country saying they want to get involved”    Steve Fournier, State Co-Chair said “With Dodd out, nothing really changes. Where does a Richard Blumenthal stand of Green Party issues such Single Payer Health Care? Ending the Wars? Removing the influence of big money in politics? Only Nader and the Greens are answering those questions, not the Democrat machine.”

Mike DeRosa, State Co-Chair said “Blumenthal is still in Federal Court trying to defend the state’s unconstitutional Campaign Finance Reform and would not debate the Republican and Green Party candidates for Attorney General in the last election. His stances on election reform and other issues are very weak.”  

 McKee added “This election was never about Dodd and his corruption or the national machine of the Democrats funding Blumenthal now. Drafting Nader is a grass roots effort by thousands of people who are sick of slick party bosses. We are stepping up our efforts to get Nader to run, raise 3-5 million dollars and win the race. Local meetings for the Nader campaign will be announced next week.” www.ct greens.org

RALPH NADER FOR US SENATE CONNECTICUT on Facebook

#END OF RELEASE#

Ray Hackett: This could be year for impact of third party

Green Party could ride voter anger

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By RAY HACKETTNorwich BulletinPosted Dec 05, 2009 @ 10:57 PM

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Is this the year when a third party can make significant inroads in Connecticut politics?Scott Deshefy, of Lebanon, thinks it is — especially if Ralph Nader throws his hat into the U.S. Senate race on the Green Party ticket.Deshefy announced last week that he will again run as the Green Party candidate in Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District race. He ran in 2008, garnering between 7,000 and 8,000 votes — just less than 3 percent of the total votes cast.Although that may not sound impressive, it is significant in that this time Deshefy automatically qualifies for the ballot because he got more than 1 percent — so he won’t have to spend months gathering signatures on petitions just to get on the ballot.Deshefy becomes the third challenger to incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District. There are already two Republican challengers in the race, Matt Daly, of South Glastonbury, and Diane Novak, of Madison. And I suspect we haven’t seen the last yet.GOP split

There is strong speculation that yet another Republican candidate might emerge in the coming weeks. 

Neither Daly nor Novak have impressed party leaders with their campaigns — fundraising mainly — thus far, and there may be an effort under way to recruit a stronger GOP challenger.

I also won’t be too surprised if other third-party candidates throw their hats into the ring.

So far, the 2010 campaigns have seen more candidates and more shifting than anything we’ve seen in a long time. It seems that every week someone is jumping into a race, or abandoning one race and jumping into another.

But the possibility of a Nader candidacy in the Senate race would certainly be another major shakeup in the political landscape. Nader says he’s considering it, but first wants to be sure that the “support” that is being pledged is really there.

According to the Connecticut Green Party, hundreds already have signed an online petition urging Nader to run, and “thousands” have signed up to a Facebook account pledging to work for him and donate to his campaign.

Deshefy believes if Nader does enter the race, that will result in the party also having a strong Green candidate in the governor’s race. 

According to Deshefy, a known and respected progressive Democrat has indicated a willingness to switch parties and run for governor as a Green candidate if Nader comes onboard — thus giving the third party one of the strongest slates of candidate for statewide office it’s ever had.

‘Just might be’

And considering the growing voter dissatisfaction with Democrats and Republicans, he said, alternatives to the two major parties might be far more attractive to voters next year then ever before.

“2010 just might be the best year for a third party,” he said last week.

As for his own candidacy, Deshefy acknowledges his is an uphill battle just as it was in 2008. He can’t match Courtney’s fundraising and will struggle to gain media attention. But he is hopeful that the message of his 2008 campaign will this time resonate with voters. He supports single-payer universal health care, an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a new focus on job creation through investment in green technology.

And because he won’t have to spend the next several months gathering petition signatures to get on the ballot, he says he’ll have more time next year to focus on getting that message out.  

Ray Hackett is the Norwich Bulletin’s editorial page editor. He has covered Connecticut politics for more than 20 years. He can be reached at (860) 425-4225 or rhackett@norwichbulletin.com

Nader said his declaration to run isn’t dependent on just him, but whether people from around the state are going to be willing to work and put together a grassroots campaign.

He said it is hard for him at this point to truly gauge the political field for a run.

He isn’t sure if people want him to run just because they’re upset with the two incumbent senators or whether there is an actual force out there that will work in 169 towns in Connecticut”

From the West Hartford News

[http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20392443&BRD=1646&PAG=461&dept_id=11035&rfi=6]

# # #

Ralph is gauging the seriousness of our intention to give him enough volunteer service and campaign funding to make this run a win. He really has to determine if there is enough support behind him to make this run a win. He will be up against corporate powers, the corporate media, buckets of money and lots of dirty tricks.

Can we really deliver a victory for Ralph?

If you have not signed the petition and pledged your time and resources, please do so now.

[http://www.petitiononline.com/nader10/petition.html]

**It is not necessary to live in CT to pledge your time and money.**

After you’ve signed and pledged please repost on your wall, invite your friends, and spread the word in your networks. Blog it. Tweet it. Email it.

Ralph needs to get the message that together we can win this.

Thank you for all you do.

, November 18, 2009 • 2:00 PM )

Greens pushing Nader for Senate

posted by Gregory B. Hladky

The idea of Connecticut’s Ralph Nader running for a U.S. Senate seat in his home state next year seems to be gaining traction, at least with the Connecticut Green Party.

It’s not a prospect that is likely to bring smiles to the faces of Democratic incumbent Chris Dodd or his fans, but it might make some Connecticut Republicans go all warm and cuddly.

Green Party spokesman Tim McKee isn’t at all worried about Nader acting as a spoiler in 2010.

“Right now we’re feeling this is a lost seat,” McKee said. He said Connecticut polls show that voters in this state “are just sick of Dodd” and that those same surveys show two GOP candidates ahead of the incumbent.

“We are serious about Nader running to win,” McKee said, adding he believes Nader can easily raise the $3-5 million he would need for a legitimate U.S. Senate campaign in Connecticut.

McKee said many voters probably thought having Nader as a president was “kind of far out, but they can see him as a U.S. senator.”

The possibility of a Nader run for Dodd’s seat was first suggested last April in an editorial in Manchester’s Journal-Inquirer. The concept resurfaced last week on a couple of Internet news websites and it’s set the blogosphere abuzz.

McKee said his group has seen “hundreds of responses urging him to run.”

“With Dodd losing in many polls to the Republicans who have announced, we think Nader could be a clear choice to many who have lost faith in Dodd and and his scandals with the banking and financial industries,” McKee said.

“Nader is America’s Public Citizen Number 1!” said Mike DeRosa, a co-chairman of the state’s Green Party. “We just want to know when to start gathering signatures for the petitions.”

Some people are still blaming Nader’s 2000 presidential run for costing Democrat Al Gore the election. (What most Nader-blamers fail to remember is that Gore lost his home state of Tennessee to George W. Bush in that election. Had Gore won his home state, he would have easily won the election regardless of the votes Nader got.)

Nader, 75, apparently hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a run. He’s currently on a book tour to promote his book, “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us.”

McKee said Nader, a Winsted native, is scheduled to appear at the West Hartford Library the day after Thanksgiving and Green Party officials plan to be there to urge him to get in the race.

Dodd’s poll numbers have been abysmal. He’s being challenged within his own party by political newcomer Merrick Alpert, and by several Republicans, including former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons; former World Wrestling Entertainment exec Linda McMahon; former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley; and Peter Schiff, a well-known investor from Fairfield County.

GREEN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT

 News Release- November 17, 2009- for immediate release   

CONTACT; Tim McKee, Spokesperson and National Committee member, cell (860) 860-778-1304, (860) 505-8454.  Email: thebiggreenpicture@gmail.com

CT GREENS WOULD WELCOME NADER RUN FOR SENATE

Green Party of Connecticut officials announced today that they would welcome Ralph Nader into the 2010 race for U. S. Senate and think he would have a good chance to win against current Senator Dodd.

“Since the media reports began in local and national web sites last week, we have seen hundreds of responses urging him to run.” said Green Party spokesperson Tim McKee.  He added “With Dodd losing in many polls to the  Republicans who have announced,  we think Nader could be a clear choice to many who have lost faith in Dodd and his scandals with the banking and financial industries.  To win, Nader would have to raise $3-5 million, which he has done easily in past campaigns and build an army of hundreds of volunteers for the race.”

State Co Chair Steve Fournier said “We have worked well with Nader and he knows the local Greens very well. We are very excited and can supply him with many workers if he chooses to run.”

Mike DeRosa, also a State Co Chair said “Nader is America’s Public Citizen Number 1! We just want to know when to start gathering the signatures for the petitions.”

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Keith C. Burris: Nader has best hope to unseat senator

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By Keith C. Burris

For The Norwich Bulletin

Posted Apr 17, 2009 @ 11:54 PM

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Ashford, Conn. —

A lot of Connecticut is angry at, and about, Chris Dodd. Suddenly everyone has discovered Dodd hasn’t really done that much and he’s a corporate Democrat. For years he has gotten a free pass. No more.

Maybe.

If former U.S. Reps. Chris Shays or Nancy Johnson had been as tight with the interests they were supposed to regulate in Congress, it would have been a minor scandal. But Dodd was the friend of Wall Street and of banks when he was he was supposed to be a major watchdog of same in the Senate. And no one minded — until now.

The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 separated commercial and investment banking. Guess who engineered its repeal? Dodd’s explanation for that foul deed, now that the entire banking system has collapsed, is that he didn’t mean to.

Officially, Dodd blames the regulators. But they did not repeal the regulation. He did.

Dodd’s poll numbers reflect not only the financial crisis, but his own bad faith. Dodd always has said what he says now. He believes in regulation. But he did the opposite of what he said he believed. His bipolarity has caught up with him. People will stomach a zealot or a fool. But not a phony.

Will this be enough to unseat Dodd after all these years?

Who can do it

At least three Republicans, so far, think so. But for a Republican to beat Dodd in 2010 in this state is an uphill slog, even if Dodd gets another pal to buy him another house in another foreign land. (There is none lovelier than Ireland.)

How about a fellow Democrat? Dodd would seem ripe for a Democratic primary challenge.

The problem: There’s the lack of Democrats in this state with a certain kind of fortitude.

But there is one once and perhaps future Democrat who has the knowledge and the courage, and could give this state a hell of a race in 2010. His name is Ralph Nader.

There is no one in this nation who is more anti-corporate, who knows more about antitrust and regulatory dismantling, and surer of his own mind and quicker on his feet. And he is a Connecticut voter; has been all his life.

So come back to Connecticut, Ralph. Be the Upton Sinclair of our day. Put the premier issue of the day before the state and the nation. Who owns the country? Who makes the rules? What is the public’s money for?

Nader can run against the two parties acting as mere shills for special interests. And he might awaken some critical thought and conscience in the Democratic Party.

Run, Ralph, run. Run on the issue of economic power. Create a genuine debate.

Keith C. Burris is editorial page editor of the Journal Inquirer in Manchester.