Debunking the Pendulum Theory

By Todd Thompson June 09, 2017 Democrats and other anti-Trump politicos sense that their prey is in distress. There is growing optimism about the opportunities it presents for the Left. For instance, some are saying that Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris agreement is an opportunity to seize a moment (see Joe Ware’s article in Counterpunch), that in four years, the issue of climate change could be the major topic of the 2020 presidential election, and they believe it would bode well for progressives. Others are pushing the moment to pass single payer health care because Trump has…


Ranked Choice Voting

By Jon Olsen Well informed readers will know that we in Maine succeeded in becoming the first in the country to initiate a vote for ranked choice voting (RCV) statewide with a referendum and winning that vote 52-47 percent last November. However, there is a problem. The opponents of our victory requested the Maine Supreme Court to offer an opinion on its Constitutionality, on the basis of RCV in its function requires a majority for the final result, but the Constitution just mandates a plurality. We had legal experts of high caliber expressing the view that it was likely Constitutional,…


No government financing for sports stadiums

By the Rhode Island Green Party Recently the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A field team for the Boston club, have come forward yet again with a proposal for taxpayers to finance the construction of a new stadium. Two years ago the team was arguing for the same thing but at a site located in Providence. Here we are going to syndicate the analysis of longtime Green Greg Gerritt, who was deeply involved in the opposition two years ago. If you take a good hard look at where the RI economy is going, we are in a very low growth phase….


Trump’s “election integrity” commission is the real fraud

After working on the largest election integrity effort in recent US history, here’s what I think about the President’s new mis-named initiative: Trump’s phony “election integrity” commission is the real fraud. After Trump and his team fought tooth and nail against election integrity efforts in 2016, his attempt to brand a voter suppression campaign as “election integrity” has zero credibility right from the start. Trump has appointed as vice chair of the commission Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State who has spearheaded the most extreme voter suppression campaigns since the Jim Crow era, including the Interstate Crosscheck program that…


On Trump’s Opposition to the Paris Climate Agreement

By Mark Dunlea Green Education and Legal Fund While COP21 is a flawed agreement, the refusal of the Trump administration to abide by even these limited goals locks us into catastrophic climate change. Congress should – but won’t – rise up and take legislative and oversight action to save the planet. It is up to average Americans to force elected officials to take effective and timely action on climate disruption. The path to a safer planet that creates jobs, improves health and strengthens local communities has long existed. The oil and gas barons use their enormous wealth to subvert the…