Issues

Foreign Policy

1. Stop the war. Our military operations in Iraq should be halted immediately and the troops should be withdrawn in a prompt and orderly fashion. The plan put forth by John Murtha and endorsed by Mike Doyle calls for a "strategic redeployment" whereby a strike force would be left in Kuwait, just across the border from Iraq (and Iran). However, our military presence in Iraq and the Middle East in general is a destabilizing factor and not in our national interests.
2. Stop threatening Iran and North Korea. As a Green, I urge all countries to reject both nuclear power and nuclear weapons, yet I cannot approve of coercion in the pursuit of this goal. There are literally dozens of countries with nuclear programs more advanced that Iran's, and Iran is surrounded by states deploying nuclear weapons, including Israel, Pakistan, and India. America's hypocritical stance does not advance the cause of peace. As for North Korea, it has shown itself ready to make major concessions in negotiations, and seeing as its demands of direct negotiations, diplomatic recognition, and a non-aggression pact would cost the United States nothing, it is very much in our interest to enter into direct talks aimed at achieving a diplomatic solution.
3. Demilitarize. Our military budget needs to be slashed drastically. The military petro-industrial complex is the biggest threat to the lives and liberties of people both in the United States and overseas. We should be withdrawing from the large majority of our overseas military bases, starting with Guantanamo Bay. The vast sums of money saved should be reinvested in our own country.
4. Reorient foreign aid. We should redirect our foreign aid away from Israel and Egypt and towards poor countries. Israel is an affluent and powerful state with nuclear weapons. It has proved that no combination of countries in the region is a threat to its basic security. As in the case with the United States, the main security threat to Israel is the resentment and desperation that its militarism causes among the populations that it impacts. Foreign aid to Israel and Egypt should be cut off, although the United States should be prepared to help finance a mutually acceptable settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Out foreign aid should be used for promoting economically and environmentally sustainable development in Africa and other impoverished areas.

Domestic Policy

1. Reparations for Slavery. The vast inequalities in the social, economic, and health situations between blacks and other groups is a direct result of slavery and the ensuing state sponsored racial discrimination. Because of the passage of several generations since the abolition of slavery, direct compensation as was the case with Japanese-Americans interned during World War II is impossible. What we should do, however, is to establish targets for equality in social, economic, and health measures and implement policies to achieve it. These policies would include expanded affirmative action, targeting neighborhoods with high black populations for urban homesteading, federal assistance to public schools with concentrations of black students, loan guarantees for small business, etc.
2. Civil Marriage Equality. We must value all families. Families are people living together and committed to care for one and other. It is in society's interest that family members be able to care for one and other. However, the exclusion of gay couples from legally recognized civil marriage and the rights and responsibilities it involves represents an effective obstacle towards their being able to care for one and other. It is therefore in society's interest to remove this obstacle. I favor establishing a "marriage equivalence test" as part of the tax code to allow couples currently excluded from the institution of civil marriage by their states to be treated the same as legally married couples for purposes of federal taxation and federal programs. Religious institutions should continue to decide for themselves to whom they choose to offer the sacrament of marriage.
3. Universal Health Care. The United States is the only industrialized nation without a national health care system. The current system's high costs and widely recognized failures demand that bold steps be taken. The Green Party supports a universal, comprehensive, national single-payer health insurance program as the only solution to the current disastrous for-profit system.
4. Renewable Energy. The U.S. is blessed with tremendous renewable energy potential, enough to meet the entire electric demand of the country. We call for a Manhattan Project-level of commitment to developing clean renewable energy technologies - technologies that do not create pollution in the course of generating electricity. These can include wind, solar, ocean power, geothermal, and small-scale hydro. Clean renewable energy does not include nuclear power.
5. Protect the Constitution. The Bush administration has been systematically violating the constitution, and the Congress has been complicit, sitting on the sidelines or even passing resolutions
   applauding his misdeeds. Congress needs to hold Bush accountable by insisting he obey the War Powers act and by starting impeachment
   proceedings against him.

On Guantanamo Bay

On Israel

On North Korea