Detroit Greens a local of the Green Party of Michigan

On August 2nd the Michigan Green Party officially nominated George
Corsetti to be the party's nominee for 13th Congressional District
election in November. The seat is currently being held by Carolyn
Kilpatrick . For more information call George Corsetti at 313 885-4685
Below is the platform of the Candidate. The two most important issues
are a jobs program and ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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PLATFORM

*The two most important issues in my campaign for the 13th Congressional
District are (1) the need for a jobs program to combat the collapse of
the economy; and (2) **putting a stop to the ongoing wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan
*

JOBS, WARS AND THE ECONOMY

The most important problem facing the country at this time is
unemployment. It is imperative that we have a new stimulus program to
put people back to work. This program can be funded from the defense
department appropriation.

In 2008 the voters elected a majority of Democrats in the House and
Senate in the hope that the war in Iraq would be ended. But both parties
continue to support this war despite polls showing most Americans oppose
it.

The Democratic party is a major disappointment; they not only continue
to fund the war in Iraq, but they have ramped up the war in Afghanistan
an expenditure of $180 billion a year, money that should be used to fund
a WPA-style jobs program to get the economy going again.

* I am in favor of establishing a WPA style jobs program to provide
jobs to all who want to work.
* I am in favor of vastly increased spending on infrastructure,
railroads, mass transit, fixing existing roads and bridges and
developing alternative energy sources.
* I am in favor of vastly increased spending on infrastructure,
railroads, mass transit, fixing existing roads and bridges and
developing alternative energy sources.
* I am in favor of immediate pullout from both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Funding should be appropriated only to fully fund the safe and
orderly withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and to provide the care
they need when they get home.

*NAFTA, CAFTA

*In 1992, third party presidential candidate, Ross Perot, said that if
the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were enacted we would
hear a "giant sucking sound" as jobs left the United States. He lost the
election to Democrat, Bill Clinton who supported NAFTA.

In the 2008 presidential race the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama said,
"One million jobs have been lost because of NAFTA, including nearly
50,000 jobs here in Ohio. ....Well, I don't think NAFTA has been good
for America -- and I never have." Despite this he said he would not try
to repeal NAFTA. (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4336481)

* I am in favor of immediately repealing NAFTA.

*TAX THE RICH*

But the US economy is shedding jobs at a rapid pace that goes beyond
NAFTA. The rising U.S. trade deficit has cost more than 3 million actual
and potential U.S. jobs since 1994 according to the AFL-CIO
(http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/globaleconomy/). This deficit
was caused in part by borrowing enormous amounts of money to pay for the
war and at the same time, cutting taxes for the wealthy.

Trickle down economics was discredited under the Reagan administration.
Giving rich people more money does not create jobs. From 1992 to 2000,
when rich people paid more taxes, the private sector added 15.8 million
jobs and family income rose by 15.3 percent. By contrast, in the last
seven years and six months, when rich people paid less taxes, the
private sector has added just 3.5 million jobs and family income fell by
1.6 percent, and we are losing jobs at the rate of almost 100,000 a
month. (http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/f06ar.html
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/19/11078/)

* I am in favor of immediate restoration of a graduated income tax –
tax the rich, eliminate taxes for the poor.
* I am in favor of tax breaks for rehabilitation of existing houses
with greater emphasis on retrofitting those house with energy
saving devices like insulation and solar.

* FORECLOSURES*

My block club recently did a survey and found that about a third of all
the houses on my street in Detroit were vacant. Many of those houses are
now being vandalized and burned. The remaining occupied houses are
losing market value. This results in a shrinking equity for homeowners.
Every day more people are finding that they owe more money on the
mortgage than the house is worth. Many stop paying and just walk away
from their homes leaving them to the banks and the vandals. Thus a
vicious circle is created where people leave, housing values go down and
more people leave.

At a minimum, we have to find a way to keep people in their homes, keep
neighborhoods intact and provide housing for an increasing number of
displaced people. Recently passed housing legislation appears to remedy
this by allowing for renegotiated mortgages. But it is all voluntary.
Some people suggest a foreclosure moratorium as was done during the
Depression. But there is probably no single solution. Ultimately, people
need living wage jobs and an improved economy.

* I am in favor of amending the bankruptcy law to allow mortgage
contracts to be renegotiated in already established bankruptcy courts.
* I am in favor of allowing people facing foreclosure to negotiate a
rental agreement with the mortgage holder to pay a fair rental
value and stay in their houses.

HEALTH CARE

It is quite unbelievable that the United States is the only
industrialized nation that does not guarantee access to health care as a
right of citizenship. 28 industrialized nations have single payer
universal health care systems, while we spend at least 40% more per
capita on health care than any other industrialized country with
universal health care. Meanwhile millions of Americans go without
because they simply can’t afford it.

* I am in favor of single payer, Canadian style, health care system.

FOREIGN POLICY

Generally speaking the US Senate handles foreign affairs and the House
deals with budget and appropriations. But since foreign policy often
requires the appropriation of funds, the House plays an important role
in those foreign policy decisions.

The US has imposed an embargo on Iran largely because of pressure from
the Israeli Lobby which was also responsible for the war against Iraq.

At the present, Iran is no threat to the US. Israel, however, considers
Iran to be a threat. Israel also considers, Palestinian, Syria, Lebanon,
Iraq, etc etc etc to be it’s enemies. As a result of a very active
Israeli Lobby in the executive and legislative branches of American
government, Israel’s perceived enemies are deemed to be America’s
enemies. Not so.

The Israelis employed ethnic cleansing in 1948 and again in 1967 to make
about 700,000 Palestinians into refugees. For 40 years, the Israelis
have refused to give back the Palestinian and Syrian lands they seized
in war. They have blatantly violated international law by building
settlements on occupied land, and by violating the airspace of and
bombing other sovereign countries. Most recently Israel attacked a
flotilla bringing aid to Gaza killing unarmed US and Turkish citizens.

So we have this rogue country, Israel, that is stealing land and water
and constantly threatening neighboring countries. And the US House of
Representatives gives them “foreign aid” to the tune of about $6 billion
dollars annually, and, conservatively, about $108 billion total. Israel
is the largest recipient of US aid of any country in the world. (Source
Washington Report on Middle EastAffairs
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/July_2006/0607016.html Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel-United_States_relations
Counterpunch http://www.counterpunch.org/weir04042008.html
Commondreams http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0108-21.htm

If we want to move toward world peace we need to rein in Israel and
persuade this rogue country to make peace with its neighbors. The only
way to effectively do that is to stop funding Israel with our tax money.
We should use American tax money on our real interests, taking care of
America. This would also immediately reduce global tensions that lead to
expensive wars and high gas prices.

* I am in favor of the immediate termination of all aid to Israel
until there is a peace treaty with the Palestinian.

Contact info

George Corsetti
3512 Courville
Detroit MI 48224
313 885-4685