No carbon emissions!

We are celebrating 2010 Earth Day this coming Saturday at the Carl Grey Park next to the FSU Panama City Campus from10 AM to 4 PM.

So Come on down & bring the kids.

For more information, go to the Bay County Earth Day Website. http://www.earthdaybaycounty.com/

The following is printed from Nick Ruiz’s website

(Nick is a fellow Green Running for Congress in Florida)

Dear Mr. Browning,

Many thanks for your time in reading this letter.

I am the Green Party candidate for Congress in Florida District 24. Perhaps the Office of the Secretary and the Florida Department of State are unaware that congressional campaigns in Florida are faced with Florida’s acutely restrictive ballot access fee/petition restrictions. Upon researching the procedural and constitutional validity of such fee and petition restrictions, our campaign has come to realize, along with many other campaigns and citizens, that the ballot access restrictions in Florida are unconstitutional.

For example, in Illinois the ballot access restriction is simply that the candidate collect  0.5% of the party vote in the last election, which amounts to 19 to 47 petition signatures, depending upon the district - a reasonable number and request. There is no fee.

In another example, for Tennessee, the ballot access restriction is simply that the candidate provide 25 petition signatures from the district. Again, there is no fee.

In a final example, for Utah, there is a filing fee - it is $435. There is no petition requirement.

In stark contrast, in Florida, the petition requirement is 1% of the district’s entire vote population, which amounts to 3,413 to 6,081 petition signatures, depending upon the district.

Florida’s ballot access petition restriction is approximately 200 times the number of petitions required in the example of Tennessee and Illinois, and an entirely unreasonable number and request.

Alternatively, in Florida, a candidate may pay a fee of 6% of the U.S. Representative’s salary in order to be placed on the ballot. The fee amounts to $10,440 in 2010.

Florida’s ballot access fee restriction is approximately 24 times the amount required in the example of Utah.

Given that the fee and petition ballot access restrictions in Florida are so radically outside of the general normalcy of ballot access restrictions in the United States of America, they can be neither reasonable, nor necessary.

Why does Florida restrict its citizens from candidacy in elections, and hence, why does Florida restrict voter choices at the polls - in so oppressive and Draconian a manner?

In fact, such onerous ballot access restrictions are unconstitutional. Legal scholars, and the courts, have asserted repeatedly that a voter’s rights and a candidate’s rights are implicated and interwoven as First Amendment rights, that may not be violated by any state, though states may, of course, enhance them.

The Nicholas Ruiz III for Congress campaign would like to request that in your capacity as Secretary, you consider possibilities for the waiver of such unconstitutionally burdensome ballot access restrictions in our State of Florida, so that the freedom to offer one’s candidacy, and the freedom of choice for each voter to select the candidate that they wish - are not impeded by unconstitutional restrictions of American First and Fourteenth Amendment rights from 2010 forward.

As the first step toward the accomplishment of such a waiver, we ask that the Affidavit of Undue Burden (Section 99.097(4) Florida Statutes) be utilized for such purpose of waiving the fee and petition signature requirement for all congressional candidates for whom such a ballot restriction fee, or for whom petition collection costs, exceeds their personal resources, or resources otherwise available to them for their congressional campaigns in 2010 and forward. We also ask that the deadline for submission of the affidavit be moved forward to match the deadline of the ballot access restriction fee payment, by noon of April 30, 2010.

Many thanks for your consideration. We eagerly await your decision.

Respectfully,

Nicholas Ruiz III, Ph.D

To view the post at Nick’s website use this link:

http://intertheory.org/nriii-031810.html

Time is running short fast!!!

Now that we have some nice weather, it’s time to get out and meet new friends!

How can we tell anyone to “Vote Green” if there’s nobody to vote for???!!!

Call Steve to find out more. The DEADLINE for submitting petitions to the Supervisor of Elections is March 29th. Don’t delay!!!

Collecting Petitions in Tallahassee

Fascism, pronounced /ˈfæʃɪzəm/, is a political ideology that seeks to combine radical and authoritarian nationalism^[1][2][3][4] with a corporatist economic system,^[5] and which is usually considered to be on the far right of the traditional left-right political spectrum.^[

^{The Supreme Court Thursday put what will probably be the final nail into the coffin of democracy in America when it overturned limits on corporate contributions of PACS and corporations to federal political campaigns.}

^{This will undoubtedly open the door to a floodgate of political campaign bribery the likes of which has never been seen.}

^{We already have a system heavily weighted in favor of the rich and powerful as evidenced by the dramatic accumulation of wealth by fewer and fewer individuals. The decision will likely block third party candidates from having an opportunity to get a message out as unlimited contributions drive up the stakes in what is typically an unfair advantage to incumbent candidates because of their capacity to draw contributions from outside their own political district.}

^{The Green Party has long opposed the legalized practice of taking money from entities other than United States citizens. And Green Party Congressional candidate Steve Wilkie pledges to continue to take a strong stand against what has become legalized bribery and graft. Steve’s campaign is running an increasingly uphill battle against the rich and powerful in favor of the common citizen who is already in a dire struggle to survive as jobs are outsourced to other countries and real incomes fall and as the necessities of daily life become more and more expensive.}

^{If you agree with Steve and the Green Party, we encourage you to get involved in with the Green Party and Steve’s campaign.}

It looks like I’m throwing my hat in the proverbial ring.

After a great deal of thought, and some political maneuvering with my wife, I’ve decided to make another run at getting on the ballot.

A political realist would probably not give me a very good chance of winning, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the corporately controlled, two-party system is no longer even remotely capable of addressing the needs of American citizens. However, the more I speak to voters, the more hopeful I am and the people I speak to are really overwhelmingly supportive and encouraging that other options are needed! (Who knows how fervent will be the clamor for another option by November!?!)

The latest fiasco is what the Green Party calls a lifeline to a sinking health insurance industry. We simply cannot afford to continue to bail out the wealthiest of our citizens while millions face bankruptcy and foreclosure.

The first priority will be to get enough petition signatures to qualify for the ballot. I will need 4,269 signatures to qualify. I certainly don’t have the $10,000 to buy my way onto the the ballot. The banks, oil & utility companies, phone and communications companies, as well as the military industrial complex have all seen to that!. However, I am encouraged.

Two years ago when I ran, I single-handedly collected well over 3,000 petitions myself. I had several others who helped out and contributed petitions also, but not enough to qualify for the ballot. (To my supporters, I am extremely grateful, particularly for the moral support they were to me!) I learned a LOT during that time, not the least of which is the level of interest there is in having more choices on the ballot. Peolpe are FED UP with what their current choices are: Conservatives who are not conservative, democrats who are not democratic.

We need to get the word out and educate people about the options they have to take back control of their government.

I will need even more help this time to be successful. So please, consider helping in whatever way you can.  Call me (850) 832-0357 if you think you might be able to help, even in some small way.

As Margaret Mead is quoted to have said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

For more information go to www.wewantwilkie.org