Senate hopeful comes to campus

By Erika Neddenien, News Writer

Stephanie Munoz / Contributing Photographer

Thursday night a crowd of approximately 50 gathered to hear Green Party U.S. Senate candidate Howie Hawkins detail his campaign platform.

Hawkins, a co-founder of the Green Party, focused his speech on three major issues: ending the war in Iraq, health care and the implementation of renewable energy sources in New York.

“It can’t get any worse over there,” said Hawkins of the situation in Iraq. “The violence is aimed at U.S. troops, and they’re directing it back at those people. If you withdraw the troops, the extremists will hopefully be isolated in their communities.”

Hawkins is also calling for a complete overhaul of the current health care system in America.

According to his Web site, Hawkins encourages “a democratic universal health care program, funded by a single public payer out of progressive taxes and democratically controlled by elected local health boards.”

Thursday night Hawkins added, “Every other industrial country has this — even Iraq did before we went in and overthrew them.”

Hawkins has long been an advocate of employing renewable energy sources in New York, as he helped to found the Clamshell Alliance, an anti-nuclear group that opposed nuclear construction in New England in 1976.

Hawkins’ current plan would involve a $300 billion a year investment to “rewire the planet for renewable energy” over the next 10 years, creating new jobs and boosting the economy.

“We’re facing now an ecological Armageddon,” he said. “We need to start investing now so that we have a safe and reliable form of energy in the future.”

Hawkins believes investing in this new technology would not only help the environment, but would also improve foreign relations.

“Instead of fighting wars for oil, let’s share this technology and make friends,” he said. “We can be the world’s humanitarian super power rather than being the world’s bully.”

In addition to these three main issues, he also spoke of “pro-democracy reforms” he would like to see take place. These reforms would include abolishing the Electoral College and developing more publicly verifiable forms of voting. Hawkins, who has been excluded from public debates with competitor Hillary Clinton, complained that his exclusion has caused important issues to be overlooked.

“Everyone is getting worked up over guns, God, gays and abortion — which are all important issues,” he said. “But domestic and foreign policy is hardly debated.”

While Hawkins stated that he did not believe he was likely to win the election, he hopes that will not affect voters’ willingness to vote for the third party candidate. He believes that obtaining even a marginal portion of the vote will help to bring attention to the major issues of his campaign.

“You can all make a difference,” he said. “Everyone can do something and that’s how movements succeed.”

http://www.bupipedream.com/pipeline_web/display_article.php?id=3257 

Veterans Benefits Jeopardized by Rising Iraq War Costs, Hawkins Says

Howie Hawkins for US Senate
www.hawkinsforsenate.net

Media Release

For immediate release: October 30, 2006
For more information: Howie Hawkins, (315)425-1019
Sally Kim, (518) 364-2968

Long Term Costs of Vets Benefits at least $1 Trillion

Weekly Bill in Iraq Now Tops $2 Billion as US Builds Permanent Military Bases
Outsourcing Military Work to Corrupt Corporate Contractors Adds to Costs

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for US Senate, has been focusing his antiwar campaign recently on his concern that Iraq war veterans benefits are in jeopardy because the federal government is not planning for the over $1 trillion long-term costs of those benefits.

Hawkins, a Marine veteran of the Vietnam era, raised these concerns on Friday at a news conference for the opening of the first GI Coffeehouse of the Iraq War era near Fort Drum in Watertown. He emphasized them again speaking to antiwar meetings in New Paltz and Brooklyn on Saturday and Cooperstown on Sunday.

“The US military’s official number of wounded is now around 20,000. But the reality is that hundreds of thousands of troops have already been disabled during their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. One-fourth of the returning veterans have already applied for disability benefits. We can expect that to rise to the over one-third of veterans, as we’ve seen with the veterans of the first Gulf War who are now on disability. With over 1 million troops having already served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the real number of wounded and disabled is in the hundreds of thousands and certainly at least ten times what the military is reporting,” Hawkins said.

“Due to today’s body armor, many more troops survive serious wounds with amputations, spinal injuries, and brain damage. Exposure to depleted uranium on the battlefields is causing many long-term disabilities related to radiation exposure, from nervous and sleep disorders to high rates of cancer and Lou Gehrig’s disease, as we’ve seen with the Gulf War veterans. The military itself has acknowledged that one-fourth of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer mental disorders from the trauma of war. Conservative estimates put the cost of taking care of our veterans at one to two trillion dollars over their lifetimes. But the Administration and the majority in Congress continue to deficit-finance these wars, plan for long-term occupations, and leave it to coming generations to pay most of the bills,” Hawkins said.

“How are we going to pay for taking care of our veterans? We heard nothing about that in the Clinton/Spencer US Senate debates from which I was excluded. They argued over who had the best approach for continuing the war. But they had nothing to say about how the war is bankrupting our country,” Hawkins said.

Hawkins noted the federal discretionary budget for fiscal year 2007 devotes $633 billion to military expenditures and only $350 billion to non-military expenditures, which includes $36 billion for the Veterans Administration (see http://thebudgetgraph.com).

“The one to two trillion dollar cost of Iraq war veterans benefits is equal to the entire non-military discretionary budget for three to six years and the current Veterans Administration budget for 30 to 60 years,” Hawkins said.

A paper by Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz and former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury, Linda Bilmes, released last January estimated that the long-term costs of the Iraq war would amount to one to trillion dollars, an estimate Stiglitz told the London Guardian was “very conservative” (see http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jstiglitz/cost_of_war_in_iraq.pdf).

“US taxpayers are being fleeced, and American soldiers and Iraqi civilians are being killed, in order to support war profiteers and oil companies. We need to bring our soldiers and tax dollars home now. Instead of occupying other countries’ oil fields, we should invest our military budget in developing renewable energy and providing jobs and services for Americans, including taking care of our veterans,” stated Hawkins.

Weekly Bill in Iraq Now Tops $2 Billion as US Builds Permanent Military Bases

Hawkins said the immediate costs of the war are being underestimated as well, citing a congressional analysis released last month showing that the Iraq war is now costing taxpayers almost $2 billion a week.

“The congressional report documents that once again the US government is misleading both the American and Iraqi about its intention to build permanent military bases in the country,” noted Hawkins. “Whether you consult the Republican neo-con’s Project for a New American Century documents or Democratic geostrategist Zbigniew Brzezinski’s book, The Grand Chessboard, it is clear that the real mission of military-industrial elite’s so-called bipartisan consensus on foreign policy is to seize Iarq’s oil supplies and to build permanent bases there to serve as a staging ground for military operations throughout the oil-rich countries of the Middle East and Central Asia.”

The Congressional report shows that the war spending is rising despite relatively constant levels of troop deployment due to a dramatic increase in the “investment costs” needed for military bases to sustain a long-term deployment of American troops in the two countries.

Outsourcing Military Work to Corrupt Corporate Contractors Adds to Costs

Other reports indicate that war profiteering is also a major contributor to the escalating costs.

“From criminal mismanagement of Iraq’s oil revenues to armed private security contractors operating with impunity, this war has fueled an appalling amount of corruption. Iraq has become a free fraud zone as well as a free fire zone. It is time to stop the stealing and start the prosecutions. The guilty should not be protected by their campaign contributions,” added Hawkins.

The Center for Corporate Policy reports that the Pentagon’s effort to keep a lid on military force requirements (thereby avoiding the need for a draft) has dramatically increased the hiring of “corporate warriors” (i.e., mercenaries). The General Accounting Office (GAO) estimates 48,000 private security and military contractors (PMCs) are stationed in Iraq. Observers estimate military outsourcing will be a $200 billion annual business by 2010. In early 2005 CIA officials told the Washington Post that at least 50 percent of its estimated $40 billion budget for that year would go to private contractors.

The use of PMCs has put “both the military and security providers at a greater risk for injury,” the GAO says, because PMCs fall outside the chain of command and do not operate under the Code of Military Justice. PMCs, for instance, were implicated in the scandals at Abu Ghraib.

While Halliburton, formerly run by Vice-President Cheney, has become synonymous with war profiteering in Iraq, there are lots of other major companies with greedy fingers in the pie. Bechtel received one of the largest no-bid contracts — worth $2.4 billion — to help coordinate and rebuild a large part of Iraq’s infrastructure. But the company’s reconstruction failures range from shoddy school repairs to failing to finish a large hospital in Basra on time and within budget. In July, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), released an audit of the Basra Childrens’ Hospital Project, which was $70 million to $90 million over budget, and a year and a half behind schedule. Bechtel’s contract to coordinate the project was immediately cancelled.

In March, Custer Battles became the first Iraq occupation contractor to be found guilty of fraud. A jury ordered the company to pay more than $10 million in damages for 37 counts of fraud, including false billing. In August, however, the judge in the case dismissed most of the charges on a technicality, ruling that since the Coalition Provisional Authority was not strictly part of the U.S. government, there is no basis for the claim under U.S. law.

A new documentary, Iraq for Sale, by Robert Greenwald, shows a “revolving door” in which high-ranking officers leave the Pentagon to join defense contractors, which in turn lobby members of Congress and contribute millions of dollars to their electoral campaigns. The film shows that billions are being diverted to companies that are overcharging U.S. taxpayers for shoddy services, as illustrated by a $45 bill for a six-pack of Coco-Cola and a $100 fee for washing a bag of laundry.

Hawkins noted that Hillary Clinton is receiving increasing amounts PAC money for her campaign accounts from big military contractors like BAE North America, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman.

Letter to the Editor

http://www.ulsterpublishing.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=380585 

I am writing in support of the Green party Peace Slate for statewide elections on November 7. The Green party has gained much momentum in the 2006 election season. Green candidates have received endorsements from renowned individuals, such as Cindy Sheehan, demonstrated impressive showings in statewide polls and have garnered unprecedented support for their efforts from various groups, including the League of Women Voters. Green candidates also have the marked distinction of being the only candidates running on a platform that calls for an end to the war in Iraq, echoing the urgency of public sentiment.

Nationwide, nearly 400 Green candidates are on the ballot. In New York alone, we have a full slate of candidates: Malachy McCourt for governor, Alison Duncan for lieutenant governor, Rachel Treichler for attorney general, Julia Willebrand for comptroller and Howie Hawkins for U.S. Senator. With Spitzer’s enormous margin of support over Faso, anti-war voters need not struggle with the possibility of a perceived “spoiler” effect in these races. New York’s voters can vote their conscience and help ensure that the Green party will have a voice in future elections.

The ramifications of homogenous candidates are extensive and only serve to suppress democracy. If we truly value democracy’s principles, we should seek diverse and unique candidates who will bolster these ideals. If the Green party receives 50,000 votes on its gubernatorial line, a small fraction of the votes expected to be cast this year, Greens will be guaranteed a spot on the ballot for New York elections until 2010. This will enable more Green candidates to run, providing more options for voters on Election Day and raising issues that traditional parties have been reluctant to address during campaigns.

The increase in voter turnout and participation, as well as the increased pressure on traditional party candidates, will ensure that any representative of New York’s voters will be held accountable.

Combine Senator Clinton’s refusal to develop a realistic strategy for ending the war in Iraq with Attorney General Spitzer’s imminent ascent to the Governorship and it becomes obvious that this is an ideal opportunity for voters to do what is right. I will be proud to vote for Malachy McCourt and the entire Green Party Peace Slate on November 7.

Brittany Turner

Saugerties

Cindy Sheehan Endorses Howie Hawkins

Howie Hawkins for US Senate
www.hawkinsforsenate.org

Media Release

For immediate release: October 24, 2006
For more information: Howie Hawkins, (315) 425-1019
Sally Kim, (518) 364-2968

Cindy Sheehan has endorsed Howie Hawkins, the Green Party’s anti-war challenger to incumbent Democrat, Hillary Clinton, in the New York race for US Senate.

Sheehan became the most prominent face of the anti Iraq war movement in the summer of 2005, when she announced that she would camp near President Bush’s ranch until he talked to her about the US war in Iraq. Sheehan’s son, US Army Specialist Casey Sheehan had been killed in action in Iraq on April 4, 2004. Bush’s refusal to meet with this mother of a fallen soldier became compelling a national news story that ran on for weeks. Sheehan went on to co-found Gold Star Families for Peace and continues to campaign for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

“Cindy Sheehan’s endorsement will be a big help in getting the word out that I am the anti-war alternative on the ballot to the pro-war incumbent, Hillary Clinton,” said Howie Hawkins.

“Cindy Sheehan sparked a resurgence of the anti-war movement at a time when it had become demoralized after Bush was elected to a second term. When she speaks out against the war, she has the moral authority of someone who has been personally affected by it. Her voice reaches not only the peace activists, but the majority of Americans who now oppose the war, a majority she played a significant role in building,” Hawkins added.

A 64 to 34 percent majority now “oppose the U.S. war in Iraq,” according to a poll conducted for CNN by Opinion Research Corporation, October 13-15.

Sheehan met with Hillary Clinton on September 22, 2005 seeking to persuade here to come out against the war in Iraq. In an open letter she wrote about the meeting a few weeks later, Sheehan wrote, “I thought the meeting with Sen. Clinton went well….I thought Mrs. Clinton listened, but apparently she didn’t because immediately afterwards she said the following to Sarah Ferguson of the Village Voice: ‘My bottom line is that I don’t want their sons to die in vain… I don’t believe it’s smart to set a date for withdrawal… I don’t think it’s the right time to withdraw.’…What Sen. Clinton said after our meeting sounds exactly like the Republican Party talking points I heard from Senators Dole and McCain.”

Sheehan added later in the letter, “I think she [Clinton] is a political animal who believes she has to be a war hawk to keep up with the big boys.”

Before endorsing Hawkins for the general election against Clinton, Sheehan endorsed Clinton’s anti-war challenger in the Democratic primary, Jonathan Tasini. Tasini received 125,000 votes to Clinton’s 641,000 votes. While the many media commentators have described that result as a landslide for Clinton, others have noted that the one out of six Democratic votes for Tasini’s low-budget campaign was a strong showing, which indicates Clinton’s pro-war and pro-corporate policies are alienating the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

Sheehan’s open letter to Clinton of October 2005 included an appeal to Clinton that left the door open for future support if Clinton changed her position on Iraq:

“I would love to support Hillary for President if she would come out against the travesty in Iraq. But I don’t think she can speak out against the occupation, because she supports it.

“I will not make the mistake of supporting another pro-war Democrat for president again: As I won’t support a pro-war Republican.

“This country wants this occupation to end. The world wants the occupation to end. People in Iraq want this occupation to end.

“Senator Clinton: taking the peace road would not prove you are weak. Instead, it would prove that you are the strongest and wisest candidate. As a mom, as an American, as a patriot: I implore you to have the strength and courage to lead the fight for peace.

“I want to support you, I want to work for you, but like many American moms, I will resist your candidacy with every bit of my power and strength unless you show us the wisdom it takes to be a truly great leader.

“Prove that you are “passionate” and reflect our nations’ values and refusal to support imperialism, greed and torture.

“Senator Clinton: come out against this occupation of Iraq. Not because it is the politically expedient thing to do but because it is the humane thing to do. If you want to make Casey’s sacrifice count, bring the rest of his buddies home alive.”

A year later, Sheehan, a life-long Democrat, is coming to the conclusion that peace and justice are not going to come from the Democrats.

In an interview published October 23, 2006 on the CounterPunch website(“An Interview with Cindy Sheehan: The Antiwar Movement and Independent Politics” by Joshua Frank, (http://www.counterpunch.org/frank10232006.html), Sheehan said, “Even if the Democrats take back the lower House, the potential Speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has already said that impeachment would not be ‘in the cards.’ Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) has also backed off of impeachment rhetoric. Since Bush has said over and over again that the troops aren’t coming home while he is president, it is up to us to make sure that his presidency is cut short.”

Sheehan added, “I think that to save our democracy our country needs a viable and credible third party. This nation was founded on rule by a few rich white males, and for all intents and purposes, we are still ruled by a corporate elite. We need a third party that will represent all the people, not just the wealthy.”

Hawkins Laments Loss of Democracy in 2006 US Senate Race in NY

Peace Candidates are Ignored by the Media Despite a Majority of Voters Supporting their Position 

For immediate release: October 23, 2006
For more information: Howie Hawkins, 315-481-7710

Albany – Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for US Senate from New York, said today that the exclusion of anti-war candidates from the Senate debates was part of the increasing erosion of democracy in America.

Hawkins was joined by Jeff Russell, the Libertarian Senate candidate and William van Auken, the Social Equality Party nominee, in protesting the failure of the media to cover their anti-war positions even though a majority of New Yorkers oppose the war. Hawkins and the Green Party actively opposed the invasion of Iraq and support an immediate withdrawal of American troops. The latest CNN Poll, October 13-15, 2006, found that 64 percent of Americans oppose the war in Iraq.

“Our democratic rights are under assault in post 9/11 America. Corporate interests and their bought politicians and media outlets are shutting down democracy. The refusal to debate is just the tip of the iceberg. The Big Brother state predicted by George Orwell has arrived, where the media duly joins in repeating obvious lies made by the government,” stated Hawkins.

“Corporations finance both major parties while their bought politicians block campaign finance reform. Media ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few large corporations, many with strong ties to the military industrial complex. Corporate electronic voting machine vendors refuse to let election administration officials review their vote counting software on the grounds that it is proprietary information. Both parties have supported efforts to curtail civil liberties and the right to free speech,” noted Hawkins.

The League of Women Voters withdrew their support for the two recent Senate debates over the failure to include to Hawkins.

“Clinton defends her decision to send troops to illegally invade Iraq under the guise of protecting America and exporting democracy, yet she undermines democracy here in America. Clinton’s decisions have contributed to the death of thousands of American soldiers and half a million Iraqis, and yet she lacks the courage to stand in front of New York voters and debate the war with those candidates who disagree with her. She hid from Tasini in the primary and now she is hiding from me and the other anti-war candidates in the general election. Where are the editorials denouncing her refusal to debate?” asked Hawkins.

“Let’s remember that the war against Iraq has been the policy of three administrations, the first George Bush, Bill Clinton and the second George Bush. The war is linked to powerful commercial and corporate interests who want control of Iraq’s oil resources. The pro-war Democrats are more committed to supporting this war than they are in winning control of Congress; otherwise they would more forcefully use it as a campaign issue,” observed Hawkins. The war on Iraq has already cost over $300 billion and it’s ultimate cost is projected to be at least $1 trillion even if the troops are withdrawn immediately due largely to the costs of taking care of sick and disabled veterans. Corporate war profiteers connected to the Bush administration have benefited at American taxpayer expense.

“Both parties are working together to suppress the Bills of Rights without bothering to amend the constitution,” Hawkins added “While supporters of the Democratic Party like to portray Bush as the evil President, much of post-9/11 erosion of our civil liberties has been under Bill Clinton’s 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. Many Democrats like Hillary Clinton voted for the Patriot Act in 2001 and its renewal in 2006. Most recently, the Democrats in the Senate failed fight and filibuster the Military Commission Act. That Act’s suspension of habeas corpus sets our civil rights back almost 800 years to before the Magna Carta in 1215. And Congressional Democrats have failed to take action when they see the President breaking the law, whether its lying about the invasion of Iraq, torturing detainees, or NSA surveillance of the emails and phone calls of every law-abiding American.”

Hawkins has called for a repeal of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism bill and the Patriot Act. He supports the dismantling the Department of Homeland Security since it concentrates intelligence under the president and undermines the various intelligence agencies’ independence to give honest intelligence. Hawkins said that Clinton meanwhile treats the Department as a source of pork barrel funding for New York. Hawkins is also calling for Congressional investigations into covert operations by the intelligence community modelled after the Church and Pike committees of the 1970s.

Hawkins renewed his called for an independent investigation into the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “Bush and the Democrats are using 9/11 as an excuse for war, suppression of civil liberties, and increased corporate welfare and military spending. Yet they have blocked a full investigation into 9/11. The Commission admitted it lied to the American public about the role that our Middle Eastern policy played in these attacks. The Commission refused to investigate the source of funding for the attacks, particularly the role of the Saudi ruling family and the Pakistani intelligence service. And they refused to examine the role of the CIA and the American government in promoting the rise of bin Laden, the Taliban, and Saddam Hussein when it served the short term needs of American corporate and political rulers,” Hawkins stated.

Hawkins cited the recent prosecutions of Albany area Muslim Leaders Imams Umar and Aref, Dr. Rafil Dhafir of Syracuse, and defense lawyer Lynne Stewart in New York City as examples of politically motivated prosecutions designed to scare the public into supporting foreign military interventions and domestic restrictions on freedom in a “war on terror.”

Hawkins joined with the other Senate candidates in calling upon New Yorkers to vote against the platform of corporate rule and militarism promoted by Hillary Clinton and John Spencer.

“The rest of the world laughs when America claims it is a democratic nation. The first step is to require fair elections: non-partisan administration of the vote counting with a verifiable paper trail, equal access to the media and debates, proportional representation in legislative bodies, instant runoff voting for executive offices, and public campaign financing. Bill Clinton’s most lasting legacy will be that he showed the Democrats how they could get an equal share of the corporate largesse called campaign contributions. This form of legalized bribery pushes politicians to sell their soul – and the voters – to the highest bidder,” stated Hawkins.

Hawkins also criticized the trend of enacting more draconian ballot access laws and state court rulings that block independent electoral challenges to the major parties. The Democratic Party spending more than ten million dollars to block Ralph Nader from the ballot in 2004, despite the fact he had finished third in the previous national election. The newest trend is the charging of exorbitant fees when the major parties are able to use the complicated ballot access laws they wrote to knock opponents off the ballot. A Pennsylvania Court recently ordered Green Party candidate for US Senate, Carl Romanelli, to pay nearly one million dollars in legal fees to the Democratic Party after they were able to disqualify his petitions despite collecting nearly 100,000 signatures.

Hawkins also called for media reform. “You cannot have democracy if you don’t have an independent media. Clinton’s Telecommunications Act of 1996 had led to unprecedented media ownership concentration. That bill must be repealed. We need tough rules prohibiting the concentration of media ownership. The airwaves are public property; instead they are used to enrich a handful of corporate owners while prohibiting a diversity of viewpoints from being heard,” added Hawkins.

For More Information:
(315) 425-1019
(315) 481-7710

–
Hawkins For Senate 2006
www.HawkinsForSenate.org
(315) 425-1019; Howie Hawkins
(518) 364-2968 c; Campaign Manager
(347) 446-4461 c; Media Director
HawkinsForSenateMedia@gmail.com

Green Senate Candidate Howie Hawkins Leads Protest and Press Conference Against Anti-democratic Clinton Debate: Sunday Morning, 10/22

Media Advisory / Notice of Press Conference

For More Information: Sander Hicks, Media Office, Hawkins for Senate, (347) 446 4461 or:  Sally Kim, (518) 364-2968, green_sallyk@yahoo.com

Date: Sunday, October 22
Time: 8:00 AM Protest, 10:30 AM Press Conference
Coffee and bagels to be provided by campaign
Where: WABC Studios: Northeast corner of Columbus Ave and 66th St .

Howie Hawkins’ anti-war message is striking a chord: he is polling 21% among independent voters. He’s projected to get at least 250,000 votes on November 7, a new record that will make New York history. This week, the League of Women Voters shocked New York by withdrawing their support from the charade of this weekend’s debates, because Hawkins was excluded.

At Friday’s Clinton/Spencer Senate in Rochester, Hawkins observed:

“On issue after issue, Clinton and Spencer agree on basic policies and argued over details, while a candidate who gives voice to alternative views that resonate with the majority of New Yorkers is excluded. It’s the voters of New York who lose when all the ballot-qualified candidates are not heard in the debates.”

Join Us, Sunday Morning, at 8 AM in NYC to take a stand against the political blackout of Howie Hawkins.

Hawkins Invites Himself to Senate Debate in Rochester

Howie Hawkins for US Senate
www.hawkinsforsenate.org

Media Release

For immediate release: October 21, 2006
For more information: Howie Hawkins, (315) 425-1019

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate, was not invited to the US Senate debate at the University of Rochester Friday night between Senator Hillary Clinton and her Republican opponent, John Spencer. A facilities manager for the university had told Polly Miller of Rochester Against War who asked for a room where Hawkins could give a post debate news conference, “We don’t want him on our property because he’s not invited.”

Hawkins showed up anyway. At 6:00 pm, as the media began to gather to cover the 7:00 pm debate, Hawkins was able to give a statement to one local television station.

“Tonight’s debate will have the two pro-war candidates debating how to continue fighting the war, while I would give voice to the majority of New Yorkers who oppose the war in Iraq,” Hawkins said to the television reporter.

“Clinton and Spencer will debate how to patch up the grossly inefficient and costly private health insurance system that leaves 2.9 million New Yorkers uninsured. I would present the position supported by the majority of New Yorkers who support a publicly financed, national health insurance program to provide full health coverage for all Americans,” Hawkins continued.

“On issue after issue, Clinton and Spencer agree on basic policies and argue over details, while a candidate like me who gives voice to alternative views that resonate with the majority of New Yorkers is excluded. It’s the voters of New York who lose when all the ballot-qualified candidates are not heard in the debates,” Hawkins concluded.

Time Warner sponsored the debate. Time Warner’s policy is to include in their senatorial debates only candidates who have raised at least $500,000. Time Warner’s executives have given the Clinton campaign over $100,000. Hawkins said he expects to have raised less than $50,000 by the end of his campaign.

Before Hawkins could speak with any more media, security escorted him off the campus to Wilson Boulevard, about 75 yards from the debate hall and the adjacent building for the press. Socialist Equality Party candidate, Bill Van Auken, was similarly escorted by security to Wilson Boulevard.

20 members from Rochester Against War joined the two candidates to protest the exclusion of antiwar candidates from the debate. For the next hour before the debate, they leafleted passing media and people going to the debates. Hawkins was able to give statements to two more local television stations, but the rest of the media, including CNN, AP, Buffalo News, Al Jazeera, and crews from Germany and Russia declined to interview him.

As the debate began, a cold rain started falling in the 40-degree night. Most of the picketers retreated to shelter, but Hawkins, Van Auken, and a few supporters remained, huddling under umbrellas listening to the debate on a portable radio.

Hawkins’ post debate news conference was called for 8:30 pm, 30 minutes after the debate ended to give the Green response. When no media came out into the rainy night and the candidates could see the reporters in their high-tech press room, labeled the “Media Spin Room,” typing away on computers to file their stories. Hawkins and Van Auken tried a few times to enter the press room, but were repelled by security.

Meanwhile on campus, according to students who came by the antiwar protesters, another protest meeting was being held. Called by the university president, it was a meeting of students and faculty who objected to not being able to attend a senatorial debate on their own campus. They felt their campus had been “hijacked,” as one student said the university president described it. The president and some of the selected few faculty and students who had been offered tickets declined to attend.

Unable to get into the press room before the reporters filed their stories, Hawkins attempted to go to the “Beehive” on campus where the students and faculty were meeting. He didn’t get far. Security once again escorted him off campus.

Hawkins then headed back to Syracuse to work his night shift unloading freight at UPS. His next out-of-town campaign stop is the second and last senatorial debate to which he is also not invited at WABC studios in New York City at 9:00 am on Sunday, October 22. Hawkins will be there at 8:00 am and will hold a post debate news conference at 10:30 am, 30 minutes after the Sunday debate ends.

Anti-War Green, Howie Hawkins, Responds to Pro-War Candidates Debate between Clinton and Spencer

Hawkins for US Senate
www.hawkinsforsenate.org

Media Advisory / Notice of Press Conference

For More Information: Howie Hawkins, 315-481-7710, hhawkins@igc.org
Sally Kim, (518) 364-2968, green_sallyk@yahoo.com

Date: Friday, October 20
Time: 8:30 pm
Location: In front of Strong Auditorium, University of Rochester, site of
the Clinton/Spencer debate
Topic: Howie Hawkins, Green Party candidate for US Senate, responds to Clinton and Spencer

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for US Senate, will hold a news conference on Friday, October 20 in front of Strong Auditorium, site of the Clinton/Spencer US Senate debate at 8:30 pm.

Hawkins, an anti-war candidate, will respond to the debate between the pro-war candidates, Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican John Spencer.

Hawkins will also discuss his support for inclusive debates for real democracy, a single payer Medicare for All national health insurance program his opposition to the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act, and his proposals for redirecting $300 billion a year from themilitary to building a new energy infrastructure based on renewable sources of energy.

The League of Women Voters recently withdrew their sponsorship from the only other US Senate debate, the October 22 debate at WABC studios in New York City, because Hawkins is excluded from that debate as well. The League said Hawkins is a “bona fide candidate.”

A recent Zogby poll found Hawkins had 21 percent support among independent voters, which translates into more than 5 percent of the total vote based on party enrollment figures. Zogby did not release Hawkins support among Democrats and Republicans. With 5 million votes expected in this years election, 5 percent for Hawkins would amount to 250,000 votes. That is more than the last independent progressive candidate to receive more than 1 percent in a New York US Senate race, which was W.E.B. DuBois as the American Labor Party candidate in 1950 who received 210,000 votes, or 4 percent.

At 6 pm, Hawkins will join a protest of the prowar-candidates-only debate in front of Strong Auditorium at the University of Rochester. Rochester Against War is sponsoring the demonstration. Hawkins will be available tospeak to the media between 6 pm and 9 pm outside Strong Auditorium.

Hawkins has been active in movements for peace, justice, the environment, and independent politics since the late 1960s. He is a co-founder of the national Green Party. A former Marine, he helped organize opposition to the Vietnam War and was co-founder of the anti-nuclear Clamshell Alliance in 1976. An active member of the Teamster’s Union, he presently works unloading freight at UPS.

Hawkins Faults Clinton, Democrats for Failing to Filibuster Military Commissions Act

Howie Hawkins for US Senate
http://www.hawkinsforsenate.net/

Media Release

For immediate release: October 19, 2006
For more information: Howie Hawkins, (315) 425-1019

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for US Senate, castigated the Hillary Clinton and Senate Democrats for failing to filibuster the Military Commission Act of 2006 recently approved by Congress and signed into law Tuesday by President Bush.

“The Military Commissions Act sets us back nearly 800 years to 1214, the year before the Magna Carta, which established the right of habeas corpus, the right to challenge one’s imprisonment as illegal before a court that is independent of the executive branch of government. Now the president can label anyone, US citizen or foreign national, a so-called illegal enemy combatant and send them away in secret to military prison forever. The definition is so broad it could apply to antiwar activists engaged in nonviolent protests or humanitarian aid to the victims of US military aggression,” noted Hawkins.

“Democrats always tell progressives to support them as the lesser of two evils. But when it is time to confront the greater evil, the Democrats invariably roll over and are missing in action. The Democrats rubber-stamped this assault on human rights in the name of the so-called war on terrorism. It will further justify the growing worldwide perception of America as the evil empire,” said Hawkins.

Hawkins asked, “What is filibuster for if not to stop this kind of outrage in the heat of an election campaign? Was Robert Byrd sick the week this passed the Senate? Where was Russell Feingold? We know Clinton would never filibuster this runaway militarism. She is too busy taking in runaway campaign contributions from the PACs of military contractors like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman. It’s obvious that the Democrats rolled over for the Bush fearing last minute attack ads. The Democrats don’t have the backbone to fight back.”

“The Democrats are afraid of being labeled soft on terrorism. As a result, they are as stupid on terrorism as the Republicans. The question is not being hard or soft on terrorism, but being smart or stupid. The stupid approach of US foreign and military policy has created terrorists, first of all by decades of training, financing, and  encouraging the terrorism of the Islamic right throughout the Middle East against secular nationalist and leftist movements. Add US support for Israel’s expanding settlements and military operations in the occupied Palestinian territories, US military bases in over 100 other countries, US bombing of another country every 18 months on average since World War II, and now the installation of puppet regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq through US military force, and it is not surprising that some of the victims try to strike back. A smart approach would reverse these policies and make friends instead of enemies by being the world’s humanitarian superpower instead of its global military occupation force,” Hawkins said.

“This Military Commissions Act will do nothing to stop stateless terrorism and could be used to eliminate activists who oppose US state terrorism using methods that used to be protected by the Bill of Rights in the US Constitution,” Hawkins said.

League of Women Voters Withdraws Senate Debate Sponsorship to Protest

Media Release

For immediate release: October 18, 2006
For more information: Howie Hawkins, (315) 425-1019
Sally Kim, (518) 364-2968

The League of Women Voters has withdrawn its sponsorship from a planned US Senate debate on October 22nd because Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins is not being allowed to participate. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Republican John Spencer are the only candidates invited by WABC.

The League said that Hawkins, who has pulled surprisingly well in recent polls as an anti-war candidate, met their definition of a legitimate candidate who should be included.

“The voters of New York State deserve better,” stated Marcia Merrins, President of the League of Women Voters of New York State, in announcing the League’s withdrawal of sponsorship.

“Clinton first ducked Jonathan Tasini in the Democratic primary, and now she is ducking me in the general election,” noted Hawkins.

“On most of the key issues — the occupation of Iraq, promoting corporate welfare and power, opposing universal health care — Spencer and Clinton have the same general positions and argue over the details. Clinton doesn’t want the voters to hear from a candidate in the race committed to bringing the troops home now, a national health insurance plan for all Americans, and a new energy infrastructure based on clean renewables in order to create good jobs, build world peace, and stop global warming,” added Hawkins.

“Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of American soldiers have been killed as a result of Hillary Clinton’s support for an illegal invasion. Clinton supports Bush’s wars to overthrow governments and occupy their countries in the name of building democracy. Clinton’s position is self-contradictory. Her anti-democratic politics are further demonstrated by her support for suppressing democratic rights at home through her support of the Patriot Act and her refusal to debate an opponent like me who opposes the war and the Patriot Act. There is no real democracy if there is no real debate about issues in an election,” noted Hawkins.

“Senator Clinton is behaving as if she was engaging in a coronation instead of an election where the voters are respected with ongoing debates,” noted consumer advocate Ralph Nader recently in endorsing Hawkins. “Senator Hillary Clinton has become a corporate Democrat who chooses to ignore the many interfaces between corporate power and the economic, health, safety and political freedoms of the American people.”

“The unelected corporate elites so thoroughly own the major parties in America that is matters little to them which one controls the government,” added Hawkins. “Hillary and Bill have mastered the art of selling themselves and their party to the highest bidder, making Hillary Clinton the politician with the most corporate funding in America today. As Boss Tweed used to boast, ‘You may elect whichever candidate you please to office, if you allow me to select the candidates.’ Corporations now select the candidates through the legalized bribery known as private campaign financing. They control the debates through giant media corporations. And, increasingly, they control the very counting of the votes through electronic voting machines where election officials can’t even look at the software because it is proprietary,” noted Hawkins.

The League also withdrew its sponsorship from the attorney general debates because they excluded the Green candidate, Rachel Treichler.

“The League of Women Voters deserves praise for sticking to its principles and refusing to sponsor debates that exclude a legitimate candidates,” said Hawkins. “I hope the League’s example inspires more resistance to corporate domination of the political process. It’s time for a pro-democracy movement in the United States to replace corporate rule with real democracy.”