Jill Stein wins Green Party presidential

Jill Stein wins Green Party presidential

By Jonathan Terbush 

The Green Party of the United States formally nominated Dr. Jill Stein, who campaigned on a promise to create a Green New Deal in America, as their presidential candidate at the party convention Saturday. 

Stein had been the presumptive nominee for weeks, an assumption made official in a vote held at the party’s convention in Baltimore, Maryland where Stein defeated activist and actress Rosanne Barr by a tally of 193.5 to 72. She will be joined on the ticket by Vice Presidential running mate Cheri Honkala, the National Coordinator for the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. 

Taking the stage to Bob Marley’s “Get up, Stand Up,” Stein vowed in her acceptance speech to, “turn the White House into a Green House,” and promised to be a true alternative in the presidential contest as a representative of, “the only national party that is not bought and paid for by corporate money.” 

“If we want to change the broken political system, what we need is not a new law or a new lobbying effort,” Stein said. “We need a new, unbought political party that can put people of integrity into office.” 

In a wide-ranging speech, Stein promised to puruse a litany of progressive causes, from marijuana legalization and demilitarization, to a radical overhaul of the tax code and a crackdown on Wall Street, positions she cites as part of her Green New Deal.

Delving into specifics, Stein called for a reinstatement of the Glas-Steagall Act, the post-Depression package of financial regulations aimed at curbing overly risky speculation, and for a 90% tax on bonuses for bailed-out bankers. Stein was not sparing in her criticism of President Obama either, saying he was practically as bad as his Republican rival, Mitt Romney. In particular, she remarked that Obama has overseen a major crackdown on immigration that has led to a record number of deportations. a policy she derided as the, “politics of fear.” 

“What democracy needs is not fear and silence, but voices and values,” Stein said. “It is time to answer the politics of fear with the politics of courage.” 

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