Our Platform

major policy initiatives include:

1. End corporate citizenship and corporate welfare. Implement an anti-corruption agenda.

2. Implement affordable and sustainable health care that is accessible to all.

3. End income tax. End the Federal Reserve and taxation of the currency.

4. Allow for school choice and support school performance. Address falling literacy rates.

5. End the senseless wars and pursue a peace agenda.

6. End the war on drugs/legalize marijuana use. Criminal Justice and Prison reform.

7. Living wage indexed to inflation. Support the legal right to form a union.

8. Children’s agenda: nutrition, peer mediation and parental literacy.

9. Food Safety and Agricultural sustainability. Cooperative economic solutions.

10. Energy self-sufficiency through sustainable power sources.

Education

● Eliminate gross inequalities in school performance. Permit school choice to remove geographical/income-based restrictions for student attendance at performing schools. Address the unsustainable failing literacy rates in many school districts. Address the grotesque inflation of the cost of college education. Support and expand professional, vocational and technical training leading to careers. Provide free college tuition to all qualified students at public universities and vocational schools. Abolish all student and parent loans taken out to finance post-secondary and vocational education. Oppose the administration of public schools by private, for-profit entities. Increase funding for after-school, parent literacy, peer mediation and daycare programs.

Health Care

● Single Payer aka “Medicare for All”: Enact a universal, comprehensive, national single-payer health plan that will provide the following with no increase in cost. A publicly funded health care insurance program, administered at the state and local levels, with comprehensive lifetime benefits, including dental, vision, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, medication coverage, and hospice and long-term care; Participation of all licensed and/or certified health providers, subject to standards of practice in their field, with the freedom of patients to choose the type of health care provider from a wide range of health care choices, and with decision-making in the hands of patients and their health providers, not insurance companies; Portability of coverage regardless of geographical location or employment; Cost controls via streamlined administration, national fee schedules, bulk purchases of drugs and medical equipment, coordination of capital expenditures and publicly negotiated prices of medications; primary and preventive care as priorities, including wellness education about diet, nutrition and exercise; holistic health; and medical marijuana. More comprehensive services for those who have special needs, including the mentally ill, the differently abled and those who are terminally ill; A mental health care system that safeguards human dignity, respects individual autonomy, and protects informed consent; Greatly reduced paperwork for both patients and providers; Fair and full reimbursement to providers for their services; Hospitals that can afford safe and adequate staffing levels of registered nurses; Establishment of national, state, and local health policy boards consisting of health consumers and providers to oversee and evaluate the performance of the system, ensure access to care, and help determine research priorities; and Establishment of a National Health Trust Fund that would channel all current Federal payments for health care programs directly into the Fund, in addition to employees' health premium payments.

Criminal Justice

● Criminal Justice Reform: Abolish the death penalty. Repeal "three strikes" laws. Restore judicial discretion in sentencing. Abolish mandatory sentencing. Establish and fund programs to strengthen self-help and community action through neighborhood centers that provide legal aid, alternative dispute-resolution practices, mediated restitution, community team policing, and access to local crisis/assault care shelters. Establish elected or appointed independent civilian review boards with subpoena power to investigate complaints about prison guard and community police behavior. Sharply restrict police use of weapons and restraining techniques such as pepper spray, stun belts, tasers and choke holds. Prohibit property forfeiture and denial of due process for unconvicted suspects. Establish freedom on bail as a right of all defendants charged with non-violent crimes. Incorporate mental health and social services in bail agreements. Increase compensation for jurors and provide childcare for those serving jury duty. Protect victims' rights. Ensure the opportunity for victims to make victim-impact statements. Consider forms of restitution to victims. Thoughtful, carefully considered gun control such as is contained in the Brady Bill (1993). Eliminate the gun show loophole that permits sale of weapons without background checks. Extend background checks to all private sales of firearms.

● End the War on Drugs. Redirect funds presently budgeted for the "war on drugs" toward expanded research, education, counseling and treatment. Amend the Controlled Substances Act to reflect that drug use in itself is not a crime, and that persons living in the United States arrested for using drugs should not be incarcerated with those who have committed victim oriented crimes. Legalize possession, sale, and cultivation of cannabis/marijuana. Strike from the record prior felony convictions for marijuana possession, sale, or cultivation. Grant amnesty and release from confinement without any further parole or probation, those who have been incarcerated for the use, sale, or cultivation of marijuana in federal and state prisons and in county/city jails, and who otherwise are without convictions for victim oriented crimes, or who do not require treatment for abuse of hard drugs. Provide the option for drug treatment to those leaving confinement. Implement a step-by-step program to decriminalize all drugs in the United States.

● Prisons. Ban private prisons. Implement a moratorium on prison construction. Redirect funds to alternatives to incarceration. Require that each state prison system install a rehabilitation administrator with equal authority as the highest authority. Ensure that all prisoners have the opportunity to obtain a General Education Diploma (i.e. high school equivalency diploma) and higher education. Education has proven to reduce recidivism by 10%. Ensure the First Amendment rights of prisoners, including the right to communicate with journalists, write letters, publish their own writings, and become legal experts on their own cases. Provide incarcerated individuals the right to vote by absentee ballot in the district of their domicile, and the right to vote during parole. Restore the right to hold public office to felons who have completed their prison sentence.

International Affairs

● Military Reform: Honor International UN treaties and demilitarize space activities. Dramatic cuts to military spending. Repeal of the 2001 AUMF (Authorization of Military Use of Force) and NDAA. End all US military actions in Afghanistan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. Sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT). Work to return Iran and bring Israel (200 nuclear warheads or more) to sign the NNPT. Reverse US withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM). Close the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas, in Ft. Benning, Georgia.

● Revise International Trade Treaties: Re-formulate all international trade relations and commerce as currently upheld by the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) to protect the labor, human rights, economy, environment and domestic industry of partner and recipient nations so that the growth of local industry and agriculture has the advantage over foreign corporate domination. The U.S. government should call for replacing the WTO, IMF, and World Bank with new institutions that are democratic, transparent, and accountable to the citizens of all nations.

 ● One Secular State for both Israelis and Palestinians. Suspend all military and foreign aid, including loans and grants, to Israel until Israel withdraws from the Occupied Territories, dismantles the separation wall in the Occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, ends its siege of Gaza and its apartheid-like system both within the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Israel toward its non-Jewish citizens.

● Puerto Rican Right to Self-Determination under the United Nations Charter.

● Legal Status and humane treatment for legal immigrants. The undocumented immigrants who are already residing and working in the United States, and their families, should be granted a legal status by way of becoming U.S. citizens. Persons should be excluded from this process only if they present a clear and present danger to other members of our society (have committed a crime). The Independent Green Party calls for permanent border passes to all citizens of Mexico and Canada whose identity can be traced and verified.

Economy, Ecology and Democracy at Work

● Living Wage and Abolition of Income Tax: Federal law mandating a living wage of at least $15 per hour for all workers indexed to inflation (CPI). Abolition of the federal income tax in favor of selected sales and excise taxes under the Constitution.

● Enforce the Labor Relations Act of 1935 (right to form a union). Remove “right to work” clauses as violations of the 1935 Act.

● Fair Taxation: Exempt food, clothing, prescription medications, other necessities and second-hand goods from sales taxes. End corporate welfare, such as the bailouts for Wall Street, the big banks and the automobile industry; subsidies for agribusiness, Export-Import Bank loan guarantees; tax abatements for big box stores; the tax loophole for "carried interest" from private equity and hedge fund managers; tax deductibility for advertising and business entertainment; offshore tax avoidance schemes; giveaways for new sports stadiums and casinos. Impose a financial transaction tax on trades of stocks, bonds, currency, derivatives, and other financial instruments. Block financial transactions with tax havens, to stop tax evasion. Apply the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (Social Security and Medicare) taxes to investment income and to all levels of income, not merely the first $106,800 earned. Oppose the privatization of Social Security.

● Nationalize the Private Federal Reserve Bank: Nationalize the 12 Federal Reserve Banks, reconstituting them and the Federal Reserve Systems Washington Board of Governors under a new Monetary Authority Board within the U.S. Treasury. Re-enact the Glass-Steagall Act, which prohibited bank holding companies from owning other financial companies and engaging in systemically risky economic transactions. Break-up any large financial institution that is “too big to fail” constituting a systemic risk.

● End Fossil Fuel Subsidies: Create carbon taxes. Eliminate tax subsidies for the oil, gas, coal, nuclear and timber and mining industries. Enact a Green Tax Shift that shifts from taxing people and work (via income and payroll taxes) to taxing natural resource extraction, use, waste and pollution. Ban the harvest of old growth forests.

● Green New Deal: 100% Renewable Energy and n et-zero carbon emissions in America by 2030. Economic Bill of Rights. The American Society of Civil Engineers warns us that $2.2 trillion is needed to bring existing infrastructure to safe levels over the next 5 years. Create 20 million new jobs with a “WWII-scale mobilization” by transitioning to 100% clean renewable energy by 20 30, and investing in public transit, sustainable (regenerative) agriculture, conservation and restoration of critical infrastructure, including ecosystems. Create a “Just Transition” by helping workers move to new jobs via training and public sector hiring. Improve our nationwide smart energy grid. Redirect research funds from fossil to sustainable sources. Phase out of all fossil fuel plants and nuclear power ending subsidies. Outlaw fracking, tar sands, offshore drilling, oil trains, mountaintop removal, natural gas pipelines, and Uranium mines. Clean energy is a human right and pays for itself with reduction of health issues. Invest in green chemistry (reward zero waste policies at the federal, state and municipal level), organic agriculture, permaculture, and sustainable forestry. Full employment through a nationally funded, locally controlled program providing 16 million jobs in sustainable energy and energy-efficiency retrofitting, mass transit and “complete streets” that promote safe bike and pedestrian traffic, regional food systems based on sustainable organic agriculture and clean manufacturing. Creation of local Job Banks for public hiring to replace unemployment offices.

● Revitalization of Fair Housing. Enforce and strengthen the federal Fair Housing Act and other federal and state fair-housing laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, familial status and national origin. Consider establishment of an independent Fair Housing Enforcement Agency outside of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Require that communities that receive federal housing funds provide evidence that their housing policies are affirmatively furthering fair housing. Amend the federal Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program to increase access of eligible families to high opportunity communities, by including higher rents where necessary, improving administrative portability of vouchers across jurisdictional lines, re-establishing housing mobility programs to assist voucher-holders seeking to move to higher opportunity areas, creating strong incentives and performance goals for administering agencies, and providing incentives to recruit new landlords into the program. Guarantee tenant's rights, including: freedom from harassment and evictions without just cause; well-enforced habitability standards; strong anti-discrimination enforcement, including family protection laws and domestic partnerships; continuation of established services and amenities; the right to reasonable guest visitation; maintenance of roommate privileges; and the right to communicate with other tenants about conditions or circumstances in their buildings. Enact and enforce strong penalties for landlords who violate these rights. Fund public and non-profit tenant-related counseling and legal assistance for renters. Amend the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program to include fair housing requirements for site selection, affirmative marketing, and reporting of racial/ ethnic data to ensure that this program works to further fair housing goals. Revive the President's Fair Housing Council to coordinate federal activities across agencies to support fair housing. Defend and expand cities' right to enact local rent control laws, including vacancy.

● Establish a Children’s Agenda: The Green Party supports and seeks to expand Head Start and Pre- and neo-natal programs. A universal, federally funded childcare program for pre-school and young school-aged children should be developed. Family assistance available to working poor families in which the parent supports and lives with the children, should be maintained and increased to offset regressive payroll taxes and growing inequalities in American society.

● International Declaration that Water is a Human Right. Outlaw the sale, privatization or export of water for profit. Repeal the General Mining Law of 1872.

● Food and Agricultural Reform: Moratorium on GMO crops. Creation of a Food Policy Council composed of farmers, including small farmers and consumers, to oversee the FDA and all food policies at the local, state, and national level. Remove the USDA altogether from its conflicted role of supervising food safety while promoting the same industries. This council should adjudicate conflicts of interest that arise when industries police themselves. Rapidly phase-out CAFO, or “factory farming.” Ban the use of all sewage sludge as fertilizer on food crops Phase-out man-made pesticides and artificial fertilizers in favor of Integrated Pest Management. Mandatory, full-disclosure of food and fiber labeling.

Free Speech and Social Justice

● Media Reform. Antitrust actions vs media conglomerates. Charge for use of public airwaves. Reform the FCC so that it is accountable. Repeal the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Non-prosecution of whistleblowers.

● Inclusion of Women in Society/Non-discrimination: Women have rights as a full participants in society, free from sexual harassment, job discrimination or interference in the intensely personal choice about whether to have a child. Pass the CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, which was adopted in 1979 by the U.N. General Assembly and ratified by 173 countries. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission should actively investigate and prosecute sexual harassment complaints. Women who file complaints must not be persecuted and should be protected under federal and state law. We must enshrine in law the basic principle that women have the same rights as men, and promote gender equality and fairness in the workforce to ensure that women receive equal pay for jobs of equal worth.

● Reparations for Descendents of African and Indigenous people.

Democracy and Elections

● Electoral Reform: public financing of elections, ban corporate spending, open debates run by a people’s commission, rank-choice/instant runoff voting, abolish electoral college, proportional representation, Amend the General Election Campaign Act, permanent voter registration, election day is a federal holiday, all Senate vacancies filled by election, restore full citizenship rights to felons upon completion of sentence, statehood for District of Columbia.

● Anti-Corruption Agenda: Strengthen "sunshine laws" to provide citizens with all necessary information and access to their political system. Ensure that all important federal, state and local government documents are on the Internet, especially texts of bills, searchable databases of voting records, draft committee and conference reports, and court decisions. Reinvigorate the independent investigative agencies, such as the General Accounting Office and the inspectors general. In addition to allowing members of Congress to send mail to their constituents for free, letters from citizens to their members of Congress shall also be free. Enact tough new federal anti-bribery and gratuity laws to stop corporations and the wealthy from purchasing government action, and vigorously enforce anti-corruption laws by the Justice Department. Prohibit members of Congress, Governors, state legislators and their staffs from accepting for their own personal benefit any gifts of any amount from lobbyists or the general public. Require outside counsel to investigate ethics complaints against members of Congress, and toughen punishments within the congressional ethics processes for corruption, abuse of power and other wrongdoing. Replace the Federal Election Commission with a vigorous watchdog empowered to enforce federal campaign finance laws. Expand revolving-door lobbying "cooling off" periods for members of Congress and their top staff to at least two years. Allow any member of Congress to require a floor vote on any congressional earmark, to stop wasteful spending.

● End Corporate Citizenship: Amend the US Constitution to ensure the rights established by this Constitution and the laws of the United States of America are exclusively the rights of living, breathing humans, citizens of this country or residing therein. No corporation or other type of association or organization can have the status of a "legal person" and thus cannot derive rights from such status.

● Repeal the Patriot Act: End torture, such as in prisons like Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and other U.S.-controlled facilities. Ensure those guilty of ordering or executing torture are held accountable for violations U.S. and international law. Restore habeas corpus, a legal action to obtain relief from illegal detention. End the use of indefinite detention without trial. Revoke the 2011 re-authorization of the Patriot Act, including "John Doe" roving wiretaps and the "library records" provision. End the abuse of National Security Letters, which the FBI uses to force Internet service providers, libraries, banks, and credit reporting companies to reveal sensitive information about their patrons. End illegal government spying, including the use of warrantless wiretaps. Three federal judges have ruled that President Bush's National Security Agency warrantless wiretaps violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which contains criminal sanctions. Ensure that anyone who violated the FISA is held accountable for crimes committed.

Peace, Ecological Wisdom, Justice For All, & Democracy