Green Party of Florida supports $15/hour minimum wage

Posted on July 5, 2014 by jeffroby

Hails historic victory of 15 Now and Kshama Sawant in Seattle

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 4, 2014

In honor of our Independence Day, the Green Party of Florida (GPFL) stands 100% behind the fight for the $15 minimum wage. The Green Party 2012 presidential slate of Jill Stein and Cherri Honkala have written:

“Thank you, Seattle, for leading the way in this national fight for our economic lives! We write to express our gratitude and support for the $15 Now campaign … Working people across the country are inspired and encouraged by your campaign for a $15 dollar an hour minimum wage, which carried Kshama Sawant to her historic election to the Seattle City Council … We must follow their lead by building a broad national movement in the fight for 15 Now.

15-now

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Didier Ortiz: “How are they going to feed their families?”

Posted on July 3, 2014 by roseroby

 “If we’re going to get people of color to join the Green Party, we’re going to have to worry about issues that relate to their economic needs. They are more worried about how they are going to feed their families. What kind of schools their kids are going to go to. How they’re going to keep their families safe.”

Didier Ortiz for Fort Lauderdale
City Commission, Dist. 3.

didier02Ortiz is running for Fort Lauderdale’s non-partisan 3rd District Commission seat, running on “Ban the Box,” and the $15/hour minimum wage. The primary is next year on February 10, with a March 10 runoff if no one candidate gets 50% + 1. The city of 170,000 used to be famous as a Spring Break destination for rowdy college students, but is now known as a year-round tourist spot, as well as the “yachting and sport fishing capital of the world” with over 100 marinas and boatyards.

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$15 Now!

Posted on June 28, 2014 by jeffroby
kshama01

Kshama Sawant and $15 Now.

What we’re up against.

Typical comments on the $15 minimum wage in the May 15, 2014 Tampa Tribune.

  • “The notion that any menial task should pay a living wage is only in the minds of liberals like you.”
  • “If someone is over 30 years old and still making minimum wage, it is no ones fault but their own.  period.”
  • “These jobs like waiters, servers, bartenders and such were for people to make a extra income. They were not there to raise a family.”
  • “The fact that 3/4’s of the people that work at these establishments don’t speak a word of English tells you why this problem even exists!!”
  • “You want to make more money, become a CEO.”

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Human need must trump corporate profit

Posted on June 17, 2014 by jeffroby

First principle

When human need confronts corporate profit, we are 4-square on the side of human need.

Politics can be a complicated business. Even using the term “business” makes us uneasy. Those of us who have been in politics for more than five minutes know that you can’t just proclaim the revolution and then sit back waiting for the castles of corporate greed to crumble. The more militant among us learn quickly that the forces of darkness can’t be swept away in one mighty upsurge. The masses do not rise up as one.

asgard2

Not a good plan.

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Greens gather in Orlando: party shows a new face

Posted on June 11, 2014 by roseroby

“I was really impressed with the weekend, it made me really happy,” related Cathy Gilbert, the newly-elected Female Co-Chair of the Green Party of Florida (GPFL). The long-time Green continued, “The discussions weren’t just worthwhile for getting business done, but they actually excited and energized people. Folks who had never met face-to-face had the chance to talk in person, to actually get to know their partners from around the state. Their commitment was apparent, and I could see that people are working in their locals with a lot of passion.”

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Remarks on the Swarm — pt. 1

Posted on June 9, 2014 by jeffroby

Swarmwise, the tactical manual to changing the world, by Rick Falkvinge

— submitted by Jeff Roby, 06/06/14

001BeehiveFrom the introduction:

“On June 7, 2009, the Swedish Pirate Party got 225,915 votes in the European elections, becoming the largest party in the most coveted subthirty demographic. Our campaign budget was fifty thousand euros. Our competitors had spent six million. We had spent less than 1 percent of their budget and still beat them, giving us a cost-efficiency advantage of over two orders of magnitude. This was entirely due to working swarmwise, and the methods can translate to almost any organized large-scale activity. This book is about that secret sauce.

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Remarks on the Swarm — pt. 2

Posted on June 9, 2014 by jeffroby

See Part 1

And if the bourgeois state smashes you …

010kentNor does Falkvinge deal seriously with repression, other than to welcome it. Certainly the government’s prosecuting Pirate Bay members and seizing servers allowed the Pirate Party to turn mass anger into building the swarm. Yes, sometimes that works. He relates: “As the news spreads, people are absolutely furious over the injustice committed by the District Court [One year in prison and thirty-five million SEK (about four million euros) in damages]. That rally permit will most definitely be needed — you won’t be able to keep people off the streets. Our member count is spiking — it will triple over the next week, from 14,400 to 42,000. We’re getting over 1,000 new members to the Pirate Party per hour.” (p.185)

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Homeless in the Sunshine State

Posted on May 9, 2014 by jeffroby

— submitted by Jeff Roby
March 30, 2014

family in carThe New York Times cites a 2007 report stating that Florida led the nation in unprovoked attacks against the homeless.  This past September, Think Progress reports, “Earlier this year, a survey of 250 homeless people living in South Florida conducted by the Task Force for Ending Homelessness found that more than 4 in 10 women (44 percent) and 3 in 10 men (34 percent) have been victims of violent attacks since living on the streets.”

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Don’t Mourn, Organize

Posted on January 16, 2014 by roseroby

julia memorial… and we will carry on.

She was there at the beginning, from when the Green Party US came into existence, and remained a fighter to the end. On Christmas Eve, Julia Aires, 74, passed away in her home from complications caused by diabetes, and the Green Party of Florida has lost a strong voice for peace and social justice and the environment.

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Confessions of an Occasional Democrat

Posted on August 9, 2013 by roseroby

Those we would follow won’t lead,
those who might lead we won’t follow.

— submitted by Jeff Roby
August 10, 2013

A Little Background

The debate kept going back and forth between independents and left Democrats. Hadn’t changed much in 20-odd years. The Democrats were a sold-out corporate party, they were a trap for the Left, they took bad positions on this, that and the other, imperialist warmongers, etc. (All true.) The Democrats argued back that the working class base that the Left needed was still beholden to the Democrats (all true), and could not be abandoned. The indies smartly retorted that a more progressive politic would draw in the currently unorganized. Democrats smirked back, “Yeah, prove it!” which the indies didn’t. Then there was the lesser/greater evil thing. “Yo momma’s the lesser evil!” “Well, yo momma’s the greater evil!” Ralph Nader Ralph Nader Ralph Nader Ralph Nader …

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