Alternative Parties: Beyond the elephant and the donkey

Greens moving beyond Nader's 1996 campaign By Nathan L. Walls HORNET STAFF WRITER Published October 21, 1998 It's time to move beyond a corrupt two-party system based on corporate interests, according to the Green Party. In its place, the Greens want to bring forward ten principles of government including grassroots democracy, nonviolence, community-based economics and ecological wisdom in politics. The party's statement in the 1998 voter information pamphlet includes universal health care, the end of corporate welfare, and higher levels of educational funding as specific goals. The party, which ran Ralph Nader for president in 1996, is on the ballot in 21 states. In California, 22 elected officials are members of the Green Party. The Green Party's Web site states the United States-based Greens took their lead from their counterparts in Europe. European Green parties were founded during the 1960s and are represented in 12 federal governments. Currently, Greens are targeting ballot qualification in all 50 states, working through the Association of State Green Parties, the grouping of 21 independent state Green parties. The ASGP was founded in 1996 shortly after the November election, the web site states. Green candidates are running for 22 offices, including governor and lieutenant governor. Other Green Party candidates are running for the House of Representatives and local political offices around the state. None of the candidates outside of statewide are running for offices in the Sacramento area. The Green Party can be contacted at http://www.greens.org.

American Independents want IRS gone By Nathan L. Walls HORNET STAFF WRITER Published October 21, 1998 Preserving the second amendment, (the right to bear arms), eliminating the Internal Revenue Service, and overturning Roe v. Wade are a few of the self-stated goals of the American Independent Party. The party is associated with the U.S. Taxpayer's Society at the national level and is running candidates for the state's major executive positions, including governor and lieutenant governor. Candidates are also being fielded for Senate and the House of Representatives, although none are running in the Sacramento area. Claiming to be California's fastest growing political party, the American Independent Party supports a balanced budget and having Congress replace the Federal Reserve system and issue money itself. The Web site also states the party is against the North American Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. "The American Independent Party urges that Congress take all necessary action to protect American workers, farmers, and businesses threatened by slave-wage foreign competition, and by imports subsidized by foreign governments," the Web site states. The party also says it wants a strict immigration policy implemented to protect "American workers and taxpayers." The party's Web site is located at http://www.wordpr.com/aip.