Stein Comes to Baltimore and is Joined By Harris and Flowers
By: Kyle J. Andrews
Green Party Presidential Candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, made her pitch to a Baltimore crowd on Thursday. Her ideas included a public bank, breaking up the big banks, closing tax loopholes, a Green New Deal and campaign finance reform, among other things.
Amongst the crowd Joshua Harris, the Baltimore Mayoral candidate and Dr. Margaret Flowers, a candidate for the U.S. Senate. They all spoke about peace and unity as a key cog in fixing a system that they all agreed was broken. Dr. Flowers has a very positive outlook on the city of Baltimore and Maryland as a whole under her leadership.
“When I look around our city I see incredible potential. When I speak to long-time residents, I hear stories of the days before the city shifted most of its investment away from the neighborhoods and to the waterfront. I hear about thriving communities with local markets and neighborhoods where residents felt safe,” said Flowers.
She would also talk about Harris’ economic plan that she believes is groundbreaking.
“That desire and spirit still lives in Baltimore. We are the ‘City of Firsts’ and I believe that Harris’ economic plan will reverse the damage done to the city residents over the past few decades and will become a model for cities across the nation. As Senator, I will work with Harris and others to support this plan and promote it to the rest of the state and the nation.”
According to Flowers’ website, she “is a Maryland pediatrician and mother of three. She has practiced medicine in hospitals and in private practice. In 2007 she stopped practicing medicine to start advocating full-time for a state and federal single payer health care system. She has organized and participated in numerous campaigns to promote fair trade, a new economy, and investment in peaceful public infrastructure.”
According to Harris’ website, “he is a leader and visionary who advocates on behalf of the community. He is dedicated to creating attainable solutions for the challenges Baltimore faces. Joshua has a passion and commitment to empowering his community.”
Stein’s platform is as follows, from her website:
Key points of the Power to the People Plan:
A Green New Deal:
Create millions of jobs by transitioning to 100% clean renewable energy by 2030, and investing in public transit, sustainable agriculture, and conservation.
Jobs as a Right:
Create living-wage jobs for every American who needs work, replacing unemployment offices with employment offices. Advance workers rights to form unions, achieve workplace democracy, and keep a fair share of the wealth they create.
End Poverty:
Guarantee economic human rights, including access to food, water, housing, and utilities, with effective anti-poverty programs to ensure every American a life of dignity.
Health Care as a Right:
Establish an improved “Medicare For All” single-payer public health insurance program to provide everyone with quality health care, at huge savings.
Education as a Right:
Abolish student debt to free a generation of Americans from debt servitude. Guarantee tuition-free, world-class public education from pre-school through university. End high stakes testing and public school privatization.
A Just Economy:
Set a $15/hour federal minimum wage. Break up “too-big-to-fail” banks and democratize the Federal Reserve. Reject gentrification as a model of economic development. Support development of worker and community cooperatives and small businesses. Make Wall Street, big corporations, and the rich pay their fair share of taxes. Create democratically run public banks and utilities. Replace corporate trade agreements with fair trade agreements.
Protect Mother Earth:
Lead on a global treaty to halt climate change. End destructive energy extraction: fracking, tar sands, offshore drilling, oil trains, mountaintop removal, and uranium mines. Protect our public lands, water supplies, biological diversity, parks, and pollinators. Label GMOs, and put a moratorium on GMOs and pesticides until they are proven safe. Protect the rights of future generations.
Freedom and Equality:
End police brutality, mass incarceration and institutional racism within our justice system. Expand women’s rights, protect LGBTQIA+ people from discrimination, defend indigenous rights and lands, and create a welcoming path to citizenship for immigrants. Protect the free Internet, replace drug prohibition with harm reduction, and legalize marijuana/hemp.
Justice for All:
Restore our Constitutional rights, terminate unconstitutional surveillance and unwarranted spying, end persecution of government and media whistleblowers, close Guantanamo, abolish secret kill lists, and repeal indefinite detention without charge or trial.
Peace and Human Rights:
Establish a foreign policy based on diplomacy, international law, and human rights. End the wars and drone attacks, cut military spending by at least 50% and close the 700+ foreign military bases that are turning our republic into a bankrupt empire. Stop U.S. support and arms sales to human rights abusers, and lead on global nuclear disarmament.
Empower the People:
Abolish corporate personhood. Protect voters’ rights by establishing a constitutional right to vote. Enact electoral reforms that break the big money stranglehold and create truly representative democracy: public campaign financing, ranked-choice voting, proportional representation, and open debates.
Here is a tidbit from Stein’s visit:
Originally posted on The Demo Tape on 06/17/2016.
