For the People
Green Party of Michigan Says NO to Proposal 1 — and YES to Proposal 2
GREEN PARTY OF MICHIGAN grassroots democracy • social justiceecological wisdom • non-violence http://www.MIGreenParty.orgwww.facebook.com/migreenshttps://twitter.com/migreenparty FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 2, 2020 CONTACT:Matt Crehan, Communications Managercommunications@MIGreenParty.org616-438-2700 John Anthony La Pietra, Elections Co-ordinatorelections@MIGreenParty.org269-781-9478 Green Party of Michigan Says NO to Proposal 1 Opposes Grab by Oil and Gas Industry forMore Political Power, Protection for Fracking Endorses Proposal 2 to…
Justice for the People: A Discussion Toward a Program
As I’ve promised here and there, I want to start a discussion on the broad subject of having more justice in this country — and I hope it grows broader, and deeper, with your comments. I’m going to be putting out a lot of ideas here — all of them ideas I think are worth…
Vote NO on Proposal 1
I’m voting NO on Michigan’s Proposal 1 — and I hope you will, too. * * * * * Proposal 1 would amend the state constitution to shift lease and royalty payments for extraction of oil, gas, and minerals from state-owned lands — now going into the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) to cover…
Michigan’s constitution says it right up front: “All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for their equal benefit, security and protection.” But from Detroit to Benton Harbor, from Flint to Fort Custer to Rockford, from the Straits of Mackinac to the Kalamazoo River, in Lansing and East Lansing and Ann Arbor – all across Michigan – we see those who have stolen that power from us, in a hundred different ways, clinging to it.
To find a pleasant peninsula today, we need to do more than just look around. We need to take back our power, use it to lift Michigan up from dead last in state government integrity and accountability, and invest it in benefits for the people:
• Workplace policies that help all truly essential workers and their families.
• Tax, justice, and health systems based on fairness to the people.
• Education to raise good citizens, good learners – ready to build a better future.
• Sustainable transportation – and other public infrastructure and utilities.
• Protection for Michigan’s water, air, and soil – and other public trusts.
• Fair elections – countable, recountable, and accountable to the people.
Our latest crisis has shown us all who’s most important to our lives and our livelihoods. It’s us. It’s each other. We the people have the power to build social connections that bridge our physical distances and personal differences. With those connections, we can create a politics for practice *by* the people to give us government that’s *for* the people.
It’s time. It’s past time. But it’s not too late. . . . if we the people come together.
Experience
I’ve worked ten years in state, regional, and local government – and served as a volunteer for a couple more years. I also have a decade of experience in the private sector, so I know the difference between “being businesslike” and “operating like a business”. And I’ve put in ten more years with non-profit organizations and campaigns.
Now I’m in the twelfth year of my latest career as an attorney – trained in Constitutional and administrative law, the legislative process, and writing legalese in plain English. And I have gone to court on issues of justice for the people: civil rights, election law, free speech, freedom of information, and property rights.
I hope to work with the people of the 63rd District to take back our power, and our seat in the Michigan State House, this November.
jalp For the People 