Whitney Campaign Updates

RICH WHITNEY TO SPEAK IN MONEE

2006-09-30T18:04:00.000-05:00

WHAT:
Campaign appearance including a meet and greet, fundraiser, and speech to address the proposed Peotone airport, budget, clean energy, healthcare, clean government, and other issues. Free outdoor event, open to the public.

WHERE:
George's Farm
28020 S. Crawford
Monee, IL 60449
708-534-7319

WHEN:
Sunday, October 1st, 2:00pm-5:00pm

Whitney at Northwestern University, October 4th

2006-09-25T18:58:00.000-05:00

The Campus Greens at Northwestern are bringing Rich Whitney to campus on October 4th. The title of his talk is "Clean Energy and Clean Government: The Green Message"
When: Wednesday, October 4th, at 8:00 pm
Where: University Hall, Room 102
1897 Sheridan Rd, in Evanston
Contact Loren at 847.312.9899 or l-balhorn@northwestern.edu for more information.

ILGP Fundraising Dinner, September 23, Chicago

2006-09-15T01:18:00.000-05:00

JOIN THE ILLINOIS GREEN PARTY IN A CELEBRATION AND FUNDRAISING DINNER!

Saturday, September 23rd, 6:30 pm

La Decima Musa Restaurant
1901 S. Loomis Street, Chicago

FEATURING…

Keynote speaker: Rich Whitney, Green Party Candidate for Governor ‘06
Speeches by other Green Party candidates
Short Film and Auction!

Suggested Donation: $10
(Does not include cost of dinner. Full menu available.)

For more information:
Contact Dorian at fundraising@ilgp.org or 312-315-4950

Rich Whitney fundraiser in Downtown Peoria

2006-09-08T01:27:00.000-05:00

Join local Green Party members in welcoming Rich Whitney, Green Party candidate for Governor, to Peoria. Rich will talk about his campaign platform and how you can get involved!

Where: Rhythm Kitchen Cafe (corner of Liberty and Water Streets in Downtown Peoria)

When: Thursday, September 21st, 5:00 pm

For more information, contact Jeremie at gaffergirl (at) gmail.com
http://www.rhythmkitchenmusiccafe.biz/

POLL SHOWS 73% FAVORABILITY RATING FOR RICH WHITNEY CANDIDATE FOR ILLINOIS GOVERNOR

2006-09-06T23:23:00.000-05:00

POLL SHOWS 73% FAVORABILITY RATING FOR RICH WHITNEY CANDIDATE FOR ILLINOIS GOVERNOR

Recent poll shows that 73% of voters favor Rich Whitney, the Green Party's candidate for Illinois Governor, compared with only 51% for Blagojevich or Topinka.

Contact: Jennifer Rose, Campaign Manager Whitney for Governor:
PO Box 3803
Carbondale, IL 62902
618-528-VOTE
www.whitneyforgov.org

Contact: Patrick Kelly, Illinois Green Party Media Coordinator:
773-203-9631
www.ilgp.org

Contact: Phil Huckelberry, Illinois Green Party Co-Chair:
309-268-9974
www.ilgp.org

Research 2000 surveyed 800 likely voters, who vote regularly in state elections, from August 28 through August 31, 2006. Among those voters with an opinion, 73% were shown to have a favorable impression of Rich Whitney, the Green Party's candidate for Illinois Governor. In each case, however, only 51% of those with an opinion had a favorable impression of Blagojevich or Topinka.

89% of those surveyed had no opinion regarding Rich Whitney. "This poll was conducted before Rich Whitney was actually on the ballot; and even after voters learn about Rich, we expect that he will continue to lead the other candidates," said Jennifer Rose, Rich Whitney's Campaign Manager. The State Board of Elections certified Rich Whitney for ballot placement on September 1, 2006.

The poll's margin of error indicates that as many as 5.5% may have decided to vote for Rich Whitney, even before he was officially on the ballot. Despite these results, Rich Whitney has not been invited to participate in upcoming debates with the other two candidates. "Broadcasters may put into jeopardy their license and tax-exempt status if they air a debate that excludes Rich Whitney," warned Tim Tacker, the campaign's Communication Director.

When asked if he would withdraw if Rich Whitney is invited, Blagojevich replied, "Let me put it to you this way: we've offered a series of 12 to treasurer Topinka. Our offer is to debate her one-on-one." Regarding his decision to exclude Rich Whitney, James Anderson, with the Illinois Radio Network, recently wrote in an email, "I told Rich that if these two candidates come to me and tell me they would welcome him in the debate, I would change my mind."

Topinka has already indicated she is willing to debate Rich Whitney.

-end-

WHITNEY AND ILLINOIS GREEN PARTY STATE SLATE TO BE ON NOVEMBER BALLOT

2006-09-01T15:42:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- August 31, 2006.

This morning, the State Board of Elections voted unanimously to certify the Green Party state slate
to appear on the November ballot. The people of the State of Illinois will now have a
third, and better, choice of candidates for all state constitutional offices.

The Green Party slate has come a long way to get this far. First, we had to overcome the
legal roadblock that the two corporate-sponsored parties erected against all third-party
efforts in this state. We had to collect 25,000 signatures in just 90 days – five times the
number of signatures that their candidates had to collect – just to qualify to be on the
ballot. We accomplished that, collecting well over 39,000.

We had to overcome another roadblock when the Blagojevich machine used its staffing
and monetary advantage in challenging our petitions before the State Board. We were
forced to hire a ballot defense coordinator and pay for legal services to defend our
petitions against the challengers. Apart from that, the rest of our defense lay in the hands
of dozens of dedicated volunteers who worked many long hours for several weeks to
defend our petition signatures, line by line. While these volunteers did not have to be paid
for their time, this obviously diverted their time and energy from the real work of the
campaign – which, of course, was just what the Blagojevich machine wanted.
Fortunately, some of you in the news media were good and responsible enough to cover
the story exposing this underhanded ploy. And, as of today, we beat the Blagojevich
machine back, winning this vital battle for ballot access.

We’re two for two so far. Now the next challenge we face on the road to victory is to get
into the remaining gubernatorial debates.

Whatever one may think about me or my proposals, I think that we have at least
established that I am a serious candidate for governor. We have demonstrated this by
making the monumental effort to get on the ballot and beating back the petition
challenge. We have also demonstrated this by providing voters with detailed proposals
and position statements on all of the major issues facing the people of this state.
The voters deserve to hear the points of view of all ballot-qualified candidates in the
debates. This would serve the interest of having a fully informed electorate that can
choose the best candidate with the best plans for the people of Illinois, instead of the
candidate who manages to raise the most money for a barrage of television ads. In
addition, I believe that the majority of Illinois voters would prefer to hear all candidates’
points of view represented in the debates. I respectfully request the news media in Illinois
join us in calling for all candidates to be included in the debates in order to serve the
greater public good and the popular will.

At least one sponsor of an upcoming debate, the Illinois Radio Network, has informed me
that, as of now, I am not being invited to participate in a debate scheduled for October
2nd. However, they also informed me that their position could change if the other two
candidates agree to include me in that debate. Unfortunately, we cannot seem to get a
straight answer from the Blagojevich campaign regarding whether I should be included in
future debates. When asked by reporters, Mr. Blagojevich has repeatedly dodged the
question. On the other hand, at least one Blagojevich spokesperson has stated that the
decision is up to the debate sponsors. So if a sponsor tells us it’s up to the other
candidates and one other candidate tells us it’s up to the sponsors, I hope you can
appreciate that this creates quite a dilemma for us.

I can understand why Mr. Blagojevich may not want to debate me, inasmuch as I have an
actual plan for dealing with the state’s budget crisis that does not involve skimping on
payments to the pension system and delaying Medicaid payments to health care
providers. In fact, recent polls have indicated that a majority of Illinoisans support at least
some version of an income tax for property tax swap to fund education in Illinois, yet I
am the only candidate in this race who is campaigning on behalf of this majority position.
I also have a superior plan to deal with the twin crises of global warming and soaring
energy prices that involves developing renewable energy resources other than simply
ethanol. Undoubtedly, Mr. Blagojevich does not agree with my assessment. But that’s
precisely the point of including all candidates in the debate. Let’s put his ideas, and mine,
and Ms. Topinka’s, to the test.

I once again publicly call upon both the Blagojevich and the Topinka campaigns to do the
right thing and include all ballot-qualified candidates in all future gubernatorial debates.
Let’s get all points of view in front of the voters so that they can make the best informed
decision.

-end-

Meet Rich in Murphysboro

2006-08-30T00:38:00.000-05:00

Join hosts Randy and Gaye Auxier in welcoming Rich Whitney to their home in Murphysboro. Their address is 411 N. 9th Street.
Contact the Auxiers at drauxier (at) yahoo.com or 618.565.1238 for directions or more information.
Everyone welcome!

Green Tea Party in Macomb, August 30th

2006-08-27T14:42:00.000-05:00

Come and meet Rich Whitney, near the campus of Western Illinois University. Join hostess Sarah Reed at 422 N Pearl in Macomb, on Wednesday, August 30th at 5:30 pm. Contact Sarah at 309-253-9032 or sj-reed2 (at) wiu.edu for more information.

WHITNEY: FOR REAL CLEAN AND CHEAPER ENERGY, LOOK TO THE GREEN PARTY PLAN

2006-08-24T00:31:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 23rd, 2006

Contact: Jennifer Rose, Whitney for Governor, 618-528-VOTE,
campaignmanager@whitneyforgov.org, www.whitneyforgov.org

WHITNEY: FOR REAL CLEAN AND CHEAPER ENERGY, LOOK TO THE GREEN PARTY PLAN

Rich Whitney, Green Party candidate for Illinois Governor, expressed approval of some components of the renewable energy plan recently released by Governor Rod Blagojevich. However, he added, tongue in cheek, that some aspects of the plan sounded "familiar":

"Back on December 22 of last year, when I announced my candidacy for Governor, I stated: 'Illinois has the agricultural and other resources and ability to turn a negative into a positive – to get out on the cutting edge of new, clean energy technologies that the times demand. I will get us on the right track, so that we meet and exceed the goal of 20 percent renewable energy by the year 2020 – a target that will create tens of thousands of new, quality jobs.'"

Both Rod Blagojevich and Judy Baar Topinka have recently come out with energy proposals that frequently refer to "clean" and "renewable energy," with a lot of emphasis on biofuels and "clean coal" technologies. Some of Blagojevich's rhetoric sounds like it came straight from the Whitney playbook. But why should voters support the pale imitations when they can elect the genuine article? Rich Whitney and the Green Party -- a party based on ecological principles -- offer a comprehensive, job-creating "New Deal" on sustainable energy and sustainable transportation, that includes promotion of wind, solar, bio-fuel, geothermal and clean coal energy, as well as energy efficiency in building codes and consumer products, and efficient mass transit, such as high-speed rail.

Whitney does favor clean-coal production through gasification and has previously pointed out that an existing technology -- "Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle," which can burn coal about as cleanly as natural gas -- should be promoted as one part of a comprehensive energy plan. And he applauded the Blagojevich plan for including promotion of coal gasification and sequestering carbon dioxide emissions.

However, according to Whitney, the plan puts too much emphasis on coal gasification and ethanol production alone. "Our experience with petroleum should teach us that it isn't wise to put too many of our energy eggs in one basket. I do support ethanol production, but we need to be much more cautious than the 'full-bore' approach of the Blagojevich administration. There are genuine concerns over ethanol production. For instance, many analysts have concluded that it takes almost as much -- or even more --petroleum-based energy to create the ethanol as the amount of energy contained in it. There are also genuine concerns over both water consumption and water pollution from existing plants."

"Frankly, I have to wonder whether the incumbent Governor's enthusiasm for ethanol might just reflect the $50,000 campaign contribution he received from Archer Daniels Midland on May 24th, rather than him suddenly 'getting religion' about renewable energy."

Blagojevich does not have a good record on keeping his environmental promises, Whitney observed. "Rod Blagojevich promised in 2002 that he would push sustainable energy sources like bio-diesel and wind power - and yet only two-tenths of one percent of our State's energy needs are now being provided by such sources. In fact, he raided the Renewable Energy Resources Trust Fund for $9.5 million and the Energy Efficiency Trust Fund for $3 million, to put into the general fund, so that he can continue to brag that he (supposedly) balanced the budget without raising taxes. So I think Illinois voters are justified in being a bit skeptical over the latest round of grandiose promises."
Whitney's full plan can be found at: http://whitneyforgov.org/articles/EnergyPolicy.htm

WHITNEY PROMISES TO FIGHT FOR FULL EMPLOYMENT AND BRING GOOD JOBS TO ILLINOIS

2006-08-24T00:30:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 21, 2006

Contact: Jennifer Rose, Whitney for Governor, 618-528-VOTE,
campaignmanager@whitneyforgov.org, www.whitneyforgov.org

WHITNEY PROMISES TO FIGHT FOR FULL EMPLOYMENT AND BRING GOOD JOBS TO ILLINOIS

Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney has announced that it will be the goal of his administration to create “genuine full employment” at wages that will “allow every working person to be able to support a family.”

Whitney says that to attain this goal the state cannot continue to rely upon the failed strategies of past governors: offering tax incentives, subsidies, enterprise zones and other forms of “corporate welfare” designed to attract big business to Illinois. “Forty nine other states -- not to mention low-wage competitors like China, Mexico and India – are always striving to outdo us in this kind of ‘race to the bottom’. The only winners in that game are the multinational corporations.”

“I don’t know where politicians got the idea that all businesses care about are tax breaks and giveaways.” Said Whitney. “We need strategies to attract solid, socially responsible businesses to Illinois, but we shouldn’t be giving away the store to do it. We also need strategies that will help us grow our own businesses.”

Whitney is promoting a ten-point plan to help create a beneficial business climate that would create quality jobs in Illinois. His plan includes:

1. Renovating our infrastructure.

2. Building new, high-speed rail systems.

3. Improving energy conservation.

4. Supporting the development of clean, renewable energy.(including clean coal technology)

5. Supporting small businesses — for real.

6. Promoting capital improvement and public works.

7. Creating more, better-paying social service jobs.

8. Raising the minimum wage.

9. Passing a living wage law.

10. Making corporations accountable and encouraging other forms of business ownership

Other proposals, like universal health care and overhauling the outmoded tax system, will save employers enormous amounts over time. While these proposals will cost taxpayer money they will be more than offset by decreases in costs like crime, unemployment insurance and welfare. Whitney claims making prudent investments in the public sector will make Illinois more attractive to businesses. “Businesses will be attracted by having a well-educated and well-trained workforce, higher productivity and a high quality infrastructure.”

Please see the entire Whitney Jobs position at: http://whitneyforgov.org/articles/Employment.html

With Labor Day around the corner, the Whitney Campaign encourages you to draw distinctions between the gubernatorial candidates and each candidates' proposals to improve employment and bring better jobs to Illinois workers.

Green Tea Social in Alto Pass on Sunday, August 27th

2006-08-16T21:17:00.000-05:00

You are cordially invited to attend
A Green Tea Social

Meet Illinois Green Party Gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney

HOSTED BY GEORGEANN HARTZOG
1170 RATTLESNAKE FERRY RD
ALTO PASS, IL
SUNDAY, AUGUST 27TH
4PM-7PM

TEA, SPIRITS AND FINGER FOOD PROVIDED
ALONG WITH MUSIC AND INFORMATION

Hi 127 south to Pomona turnoff, left at Pomona Gen Store, 4 miles to Y in road, turn left, at Hickam Rd (~1/2m)turn right, take right Y at bottom of hill, go 1 mile to yellow mailbox on right. From Alto Pass, west on Milligan Hill Rd. ~ 3 1/2 mi to Hickam Rd, turn left and proceed as above. Really, it’s easy.

For more information, please contact Georgeann at ghartz (at) midwest.net or 618-521-4239.

Green Tea Party in Peoria, August 16th, 7:00

2006-08-09T10:19:00.000-05:00

Come and meet Rich Whitney, your candidate for Governor, and enjoy some Green Tea. Learn how to help support the campaign and talk to Rich in person. Please RSVP to Sheldon Schafer at 309.682.1876 or sschafer7 (at) insightbb.com.

What: House party for Rich Whitney

When: Wednesday, August 16th, at 7:00 pm

Where: 4623 N Missouri Ave, Peoria, IL 61614

Contact: Sheldon Schafer, 309.682.1876, sschafer7 (at) insightbb.com

MEDIA ALERT: Press Conference 1:00pm 6/26 Springfield Capitol Press Room

2006-06-22T07:40:00.000-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - June 22, 2006.

WHITNEY TO SUBMIT SIGNATURES AT SPECIAL PRESS CONFERENCE

Contact: Jennifer Rose, Whitney for Governor, 618-528-VOTE, campaignmanager@whitneyforgov.org, Phil Huckelberry, Co-Chair, Illinois Green Party, 309-268-9974, phil@mcgreens.org

Illinois Green Party Gubernatorial Candidate Rich Whitney will hold a press
conference at 1 p.m, Monday, June 26 in the Capitol Press Room to formally
submit over 35,000 signatures that have been collected by hundreds of Green
volunteers around the state over the past three months to obtain a place on
the November ballot. Whitney will be joined at the conference by fellow
candidates: David Black, Attorney General; Dan Rodriguez-Schlorff, Treasurer; Dorian Breuer, 1st State Senate; Phil Huckelberry, State Rep 88th; Tom Abram, State Rep 103rd; Charlie Howe, State Rep 115th; and others.

Whitney will make a short opening statement, to be followed by a
period for questions and answers. Press kits containing his position
papers, contact information and other materials about the campaign will be
made available for members of the press who attend.

This marks the first time the Green Party has put forward a slate of
candidates for the six Illinois constitutional offices. Because they are
regarded as a new party, 25,000 signatures are required by law to win a
place on the general election ballot; but the Greens collected the extra
signatures as a cushion to guard against expected challenges to their
petitions. Illinois has one of the most restrictive ballot-access laws for
third parties in the nation

Phil Huckelberry, who coordinated the Greens' petition drive and is also
running for the 88th District House seat, said the despite harsh ballot
access law, the Green message is resonating with voters.

"We have done very well this year because the general public is mad at both
the Democrats and the Republicans," he said. "We talk about real issues
like alternative energy, and have real solutions to problems like education
funding. This makes us more credible than the entrenched parties in the eyes of many voters."

30

ILLINOIS GREEN PARTY BALLOT DRIVE SURPASSES 25,000 SIGNATURES

2006-06-19T00:22:00.000-05:00

"Illinois politics-as-usual is about to change," said Jennifer Rose,
campaign manager for Green gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney, as the
Illinois Green Party recently collected its 25,000th signature on the way
to getting its slate of candidates to appear on the statewide ballot this fall.

"New" parties are forced by state law to collect 25,000 signatures between
March 28 and June 26 to qualify for the fall ballot. The Green Party has
now surpassed that number, and Greens are continuing to collect signatures
through June 26 to buttress against a possible challenge.

The six-person statewide slate includes: Rich Whitney (Carbondale) for
Governor; Julie Samuels (Oak Park) for Lieutenant Governor; David Black
(Belvidere) for Attorney General; Karen Young (Chicago) for Secretary of
State; Rev. Dan Rodriguez-Schlorff (Chicago) for Treasurer; and Alicia
Snyder (Centralia) for Comptroller.

The Green Party will also field more legislative candidates in Illinois
than ever before. Already ballot qualified are Nathan Helsabeck for 8th
State Rep (Oak Park, western Chicago); Phil Huckelberry for 88th State Rep
(Bloomington-Normal); and Charlie Howe for 115th State Rep (Carbondale
area). Other legislative candidates currently petitioning include Dorian
Breuer for 1st State Senate (Chicago); Robert Cepeda for 2nd State Rep
(Chicago); Kathy Cummings for 4th State Rep (Chicago); Tim Curtin for 78th
State Rep (Oak Park); and Tom Abram for 103rd State Rep (Champaign-Urbana).

The success of the petition drive in spite of harsh ballot access laws
could indicate that the Green message resonates well with voters this
election cycle, some in the party say. "We have done very well this year
because the general public is mad at both the Democrats and the
Republicans," said Huckelberry. "We talk about real issues like alternative
energy, and have real solutions to problems like education funding. This
makes us more credible than the entrenched parties in the eyes of many voters."

For more information on Green campaigns in Illinois, see also:

Illinois Green Party – www.ilgp.org
Rich Whitney for Governor – www.whitneyforgov.org
Dan Rodriguez-Schlorff for Treasurer – www.schlorff.com

Whitney Calls for Ban on Marriage Between Corporations and Government

2006-06-14T18:51:00.000-05:00

Whitney Calls for Ban on Marriage Between Corporations and Government

Whitney for Governor 2006
http://www.whitneyforgov.org
P.O. Box 3803, Carbondale, IL 62902
Jennifer Rose, Campaign Manager: (618) 528-VOTE
campaignmanager@whitneyforgov.org
June 8, 2006

Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney has called for a
constitutional amendment to ban marriage between government and
corporations. "President Bush has called for a federal amendment to
ban gay marriage on the basis that it hurts the family, and Illinois
is holding a referendum on the same question," said Whitney. "But
which kind of 'marriage' poses the real threat to the families of
Illinois?"

Green Party candidates claim that the unnatural union between
government and big corporations is a loveless marriage of convenience
designed to mutually benefit both parties. It can also be an
incestuous relationship, given the current revolving door policy
between corporate offices and government positions. "Just look at our
current vice-president, and former president of Halliburton,
Dick Cheney," Whitney said.

Whitney added that he is seriously studying the text of a proposed
state constitutional amendment to redefine corporations in a way that
would strip them of their rights as legal 'persons'. It would require
them to meet social responsibilities to the communities, employees,
and the environment in which they operate. It would also limit the
ways government and corporations can interact.

Rich Whitney has made a commitment to Illinois voters to refuse
corporate campaign contributions. "In a healthy democracy, elected
officials should represent people, and not be the servants of deep
pockets and multinational corporate interests. I am determined to
represent the interests of Illinois citizens." Whitney said.

"One thing is certain," Whitney said. "When corporations and
governments climb into bed together, it is the voters that end up
being screwed."

www.whitneyforgov.org
P.O. Box 3803 Carbondale, IL 62902
Campaign Phone: (618) 528-VOTE

How We Can Win Health Care for All

2006-05-21T22:13:00.000-05:00

How We Can Win Health Care for All
A Position Paper by Rich Whitney, Green Party Candidate for Governor

The United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not guarantee health coverage for its population.

The U.S. spends far more on health care per person than any other country in the world – in fact more than twice as much as the average for other rich countries. We have the best technology and certainly among the finest physicians. Yet we are not getting our money's worth in terms of good health.

The United States ranks near the bottom of the industrialized world in life expectancy, infant mortality, and other standard measures of health. The World Health Organization ranks the United States 37th in overall quality of health-care performance. No wonder, since so many don't have health-care coverage at all and millions more have inadequate coverage.

The situation is growing worse. Double-digit increases in health care costs are leading more employers to drop health insurance coverage for workers or their family members, and to raise costs for those who keep coverage. According to one recent report, "health insurance premiums for workers are rising around three times faster than their wages, and health costs eat up a quarter of earnings for more than 14 million Americans." This survey of 35 states found that health insurance premiums rose by nearly 36 percent between 2000 and 2004, while average earnings rose only 12 percent. It added that "Family health premiums paid by employers and workers rose from $7,028 in 2000 to $9,320 in 2004. The average amount paid by workers for this coverage rose from $1,433 to $1,947 during that period."

Thus it's no surprise that the number of people without insurance or with inadequate insurance is rising rapidly. Here in Illinois, we have about 1.7 million uninsured, and about twice that number, 3.5 million, are uninsured during some part of the year. Eighty percent of the uninsured are working people and their dependents.

Even those who have insurance are feeling the impact of rising costs. Employers across the country are passing on rising health care costs by forcing workers to accept pay cuts to
keep their health care coverage and to pick up more of the cost of their health insurance. Millions of workers have to pay much of the cost of their insurance premium out of their own pocket, and often have to pay the entire cost of insuring their spouse or children. Increasingly, they have large co-payments and deductibles that still leave them stuck with big medical bills. With out-of-pocket expenses already averaging almost $1,000 per person each year (and, as just shown, nearing $2,000 per worker per year), it should come as no surprise that health care expenses are the number-one cause of skyrocketing personal bankruptcy rates in this country.

With health care costs projected to more than double over the next decade:

Unless something is done, the number of uninsured is also expected to grow rapidly.

Unless something is done, those who have insurance will have to devote an ever-larger portion of their pay to health care costs.

Unless something is done, even workers with decent insurance will live in constant fear that if they lose their job, they will lose their insurance. Studies show that when workers lose their jobs, the prospect of getting another job with comparable health insurance is bleak – especially for the tens of millions of workers with preexisting health conditions. And in a system in which health-care coverage depends upon employment, the rising cost of health care will encourage more companies to use part-time and temporary workers to avoid having to provide benefits.

Why is this happening? And what can be done about it?

As to why, health care is the most profitable industry in the nation, and it is perhaps the most shameless example of unbridled corporate greed in the United States. In the guise of cost-containment, it redistributes resources from sick people and their care-givers to wealthy businessmen and shareholders.

Our health care system is also enormously wasteful. Every year, hundreds of billions of dollars of health spending gets wasted paying the administrative costs of a fragmented and inefficient private health insurance system. Most private insurers are run for profit. In addition, the top executives in the insurance industry often pull down annual salaries that run into the millions, or even tens of millions. The private profits and the huge CEO salaries necessarily come out of the pocket of patients and/or employers.

In addition, the web of private insurers creates a huge amount of unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy. Insurers make money by not paying bills. Their profits rise when they can find ways to avoid paying bills, passing them on to either the government, other insurers, or to you, the patients. As a result, the administrative costs of the private health insurance system are almost ten times as great (per dollar amount of health-care payouts) as the administrative costs of the Medicare system. Or, to use another point of comparison, our nation spends over 31 cents of every health-care dollar on administrative costs, while Canada – which provides high-quality health care to all of its citizens, through a single-payer, government-insured system – spends only 16.7 cents per dollar on such costs.

The huge gap in administrative costs between the U.S. and Canada arises from their differing mechanisms of paying for health care. While Canada has a single insurance plan, or "single-payer", in each province, that pays the bills for everyone, the U.S. has a complex and fragmented payment structure built around thousands of different insurance plans, each with its own regulations on coverage, eligibility, and documentation.

Functions essential to private insurance but absent in public programs — such as underwriting, marketing, and corporate services — account for about two-thirds of private insurers' overhead. In addition, private insurers have incentives to erect administrative hurdles – by complicating and stalling payment they can hold premiums longer, boosting their interest income. Such hurdles also discourage some patients and providers from pursuing claims.

The waste that results from the system of private insurers is even larger than just the difference in administrative costs. The efforts of private insurers to avoid paying claims force hospitals, doctors' offices, and other health care providers to spend hundreds of billions of dollars dealing with paperwork from the insurance industry.

A fragmented payment structure is inherently more expensive than a single-payer system. For insurers, it means the duplication of claims-processing facilities and reduced insured-group size, which increases overhead. Fragmentation also raises costs for providers, who deal with multitudes of different insurance plans — one study pointed out that there are at least 755 insurance plans in the city of Seattle alone. This means providers must determine each patient's insurance coverage and eligibility for a particular service, and keep track of varying co-payments, referral networks, approval requirements and formulas. In contrast, Canadian physicians send virtually all bills to a single insurer using a simple billing form or computer program, and may refer patients to any colleague or hospital.

The multiplicity of insurers also precludes paying hospitals on a lump-sum, or global-budgeted basis as in Canada. Global budgets eliminate most billing, and they simplify internal accounting since costs and charges need not be attributed to individual patients and insurers.

Little wonder, then, that the Canadian single-payer health system is better at controlling health-care inflation. Health expenditures in the U.S. are currently rising three times as rapidly as the U.S. Gross National Product; in Canada they are rising at a rate only slightly greater than growth in the Gross National Product.

In sum, a poorly regulated, corporate-dominated for-profit health care system eliminates choice, erodes care, increasingly sticks you with the bill anyway, and inflates administrative costs while boosting profits and CEO compensation.

While the costly administration of the insurance industry is one of the biggest single sources of waste in the U.S. health care system, it is not the only one. The United States also spends far more on drugs each year – more than $200 billion in 2004 – than any other country in the world. Drug prices are the most rapidly growing health care expense. Drugs are projected to cost the country almost $520 billion annually by 2013, more than $1,700 per person.

There is no reason that drugs have to cost this much. With few exceptions, drugs are cheap to produce and would sell for a low price in a competitive market. Drugs are only expensive because the U.S. government grants the pharmaceutical industry unrestricted patent monopolies. These patent monopolies allow drug companies to charge as much as they want, without fear that competitors in the market will undercut their prices. The United States is the only country in the world that gives the industry unrestricted patent monopolies. As a result of these unrestricted patent monopolies, people in the United States pay twice as much for their drugs as do people in Canada or other rich counties. Some drugs sell for prices in the United States that are three or four times as high as the price that the same drug – subject to the same quality and safety standards – sells for in other rich countries.

This, unfortunately, is a problem, or failure, of national policy that will mostly have to be solved at the national level, notwithstanding our Governor's current attempts to challenge the federal government on it. So there's not much I can propose on that account, except to say that the we could improve our ability to use our State government to negotiate a price with the industry if we had a single-payer system.

Clearly, a single-payer health-care system would seem to have tremendous advantages over the present system. But I'm sure most of us have heard common objections to this idea:

1) This is "socialized medicine." Do we really want the government in charge of health care?

2) People in Canada have rationing and have long waiting periods. Some Canadians come to the U.S. to get faster treatment, so their system can't be all that good.

3) Maybe this would be a good idea on a national scale but it will not be feasible for a single state like Illinois to adopt such a plan; and

4) This will drive our taxes up.

Let's address these in turn.

First, a single-payer health care plan is not the same as "socialized medicine." Government is not going to be delivering the care. It's going to pay for it. Your doctors, other health professionals and hospitals will remain private, just as now. The medical decisions are left to the doctor and patient, and you have your choice of doctors, unlike the lack of choice that many people have now. A government health-care agency will perform functions of health planning, creating an overall budget, making budgetary decisions and negotiating reimbursement rates with doctors and hospitals. It will be like any other agency that oversees a public service. Because it is a public agency, problems will be aired in public. Nothing will be hidden or swept under the rug. The agency will be accountable to the people, in contrast to the lack of accountability in our health care now.

Second, as to rationing and waiting periods in Canada, "single payer" does not mean that our system would have to emulate Canada's system in every respect. Notions of rationing in Canada are highly exaggerated. There are problems with some services in Canada, depending on which province you live in. For example, some shortages exist in radiation treatments for some cancers. However, Canadians with end-stage renal disease, for example, receive more kidney transplants on average than U.S. citizens do. U.S. citizens receive more procedures than Canadians, but Canadians receive more overall care — more testing, more evaluation by physicians, more overall health services than Americans do. (JAMA, 1996;275:1410.)

Also, keep in mind Canada spends one half what we spend per person. A single-payer system does not dictate how much we spend. And if we kept spending twice as much as Canada (on actual health-care services, not waste) we would not experience the same shortages.

In other words, it's a matter of public will, or you get what you pay for. What is actually happening in some provinces of Canada is a systematic attack by the right wing to underfund public health care in order to let the forces of privatization and corporate greed get their foot in the door – much like the right wing in this country has systematically underfunded public education in order to push their agenda of cutting taxes for the rich and push privatization in education. First they cut the budget, then they turn around and say, "Aha! See, government programs don't work – we need to turn this over to private business." And unfortunately, some voters, some of the time, fall for it. And then you end up with the worst of both worlds: publicly subsidized profiteering.

But it doesn't have to be that way. The experience of other nations – not just Canada – proves that when you keep progressive-minded people in office, single-payer health care can work, and work well.

If comparisons with Canada are troubling, think of Medicare instead. Despite some recent controversial tinkering with Medicare, most objective observers would have to agree that Medicare has been a successful positive example of a government program that works and works rather well. The administrative overhead for Medicare is literally nearly 10 times cheaper, per health-care dollar, than the administrative overhead of private insurance plans. A single-payer system is like Medicare for everyone, which does kind of make sense, since the elderly are not the only people in our society who get sick.

Well, then, if we can't wait for universal health care in the United States, is it feasible to have a single-payer plan in Illinois?

Assuming that our states can be as efficient at administering health-care as the Canadian provinces, one recent study in the International Journal of Health Services showed that states like Illinois would save more than enough to fund universal coverage without any increase in total health spending.

In Illinois, for example, the administrative savings alone – about $12.3 billion – would be equivalent to $7,362 per year per uninsured resident, clearly more than enough to cover their health-care costs.

What does this mean? We could provide quality health-care for all Illinois residents – better than what the overwhelming majority are getting now – and the amount of tax revenue needed to cover it would be less than what most insured residents are paying now in insurance premiums, not to mention co-pays and deductibles.

The details of how it would work in Illinois have not yet been worked out because our government has not yet seen fit to commission a study on single-payer in Illinois. However, the State of Vermont did a study on how it could work in that state and the findings were very eye-opening.

Under the Vermont proposal, public funds now used for government programs (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) would be folded into the unified system. A payroll tax and an income tax would replace all insurance premiums and deductibles. A payroll tax of 5.8 percent and an income tax of 2.9 percent would be adequate to fund the system. The annual cost to employers would be about $1,450 per worker, far less than the cost of insurance premiums.

Under the model studied, there would be no premiums or deductibles to collect and administer except for a $10 co-pay for most services. Any benefits provided under Medicaid not covered under the plan would continue.

Families earning under $75,000 would pay less than they currently do while getting full health coverage. Businesses with fewer than 25 employees also would save, between $225 and $995 per worker. Employer costs for retiree benefits would drop substantially, saving employers another $30 million, because many covered services would be part of the universal plan. Physicians practices and hospitals would see no net loss in revenue.

Every Vermonter would receive comprehensive healthcare with free choice of provider. Providers could spend more time with patients and less on administration and paperwork. Savings could go to prevention and public health improvement, further reducing long-term costs.

Under the Vermont plan, the total savings to the people of Vermont would be $118 million in the first year. Single-payer in Illinois would obviously have a much bigger payoff because of the advantages of economies of scale. So, yes, obviously our taxes would go up because any publicly funded system would obviously have to be funded with tax dollars. But the increase in taxes would be far less than the savings we would realize by not having to pay health-insurance premiums, and our overall cost of living would go down. There would be big savings to businesses, especially small-to-medium businesses that struggle to pay for health care, and this, in turn, would stimulate spending in other areas and be good for our business climate and our economy.

The wealthiest nation in the world clearly ought to be able to deliver quality health care to all its citizens, no less than Canada and other industrialized nations. Health care is a critical social good that demands that collective interests prevail over private gain. It should be viewed as a right, not a privilege. Accordingly, I support, and will fight for universal health-care in Illinois if elected – because it clearly would serve the public good.

Sources Used:

Health Insurance Costs Rise Faster than Wages (Maggie Fox, Reuters, 9/28/2004).

Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Insuring the Uninsured: The Gains from Reducing Waste, 9/12/04, available on the web at www.cepr.net.

Jobs with Justice, Waste Not, Want Not: How Eliminating Insurance and Pharmaceutical Industry Waste Could Fund Health Care for All, available on the web at www.jwj.org.

Various materials from Vermont Health Care for All; www.vthca.org

Himmelstein, Woolhandler and Wolfe, "Administrative Waste in the U.S. Health Care System in 2003: The Cost to the Nation, the States and the District of Columbia, with State-Specific Estimates of Potential Savings," International Journal of Health Services, Vol. 34, 79-86, 2004.

5/10 12:30 Rich Whitney to Speak on Nationally Syndicated Thom Hartmann Radio Show

2006-05-08T08:35:00.000-05:00

"A Governor in Denial" A Green Party Response to Governor Rod Blagojevich's 2006 State of the State Address

2006-05-07T09:22:00.000-05:00

By Rich Whitney, Illinois Green Party Candidate for Governor

Rod Blagojevich’s 2006 State of the State Address was an exercise in deception. It didn’t accurately depict the true state of our State. It ignored gaping problems. It contained several “feel good” sounding proposals but failed to identify the flaws and shortcomings contained therein. Above all, it failed to even acknowledge the proverbial “elephant in the living room” – the joint failure of the Blagojevich administration and the Illinois State Legislature to deal with our State’s failed system of taxation and budgeting, which threatens the well-being of future generations of schoolchildren, college students, pensioners and taxpayers in general.

What the speech mainly signifies is that Rod Blagojevich will try to buy an election victory by throwing more government dollars that we can’t afford to spend on a few short-term road projects and school construction projects, while ignoring the impact of his irresponsible budgetary decisions on future generations.

The Whitney for Governor campaign will do everything in its power to persuade voters not to fall for such a ploy. We’re like the ant in the ant-and-the-grasshopper fable. A little hard work now can help us avoid the folly being urged on us by the current governor, who is as careless about the future as the fabled grasshopper.

What is the real State of the State in 2006? Let’s look at a few realities:

! The State still has not solved its budget crisis. As a consequence, state services and programs – from assisted living facilities to correctional facilities, to the Department of Natural Resources, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and environmental programs, to schools and universities, to the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and tourism programs, to the Department of Children and Family Services – are all struggling to make do with less money, and simply cannot maintain quality service. The long-term failure to adequately fund the State’s public pension systems means that we will face deeper budget crises in the years ahead, causing even deeper cuts and/or broken promises to future pensioners – unless we enact a major overhaul to our tax system now.

! Unemployment remains at unacceptably high levels, while manufacturing and other high-paying jobs continue to decline. In 2004, 12.2 percent of Illinoisans lived below the national poverty line, as did 17.7 percent of its children. Since 1999, median household income in Illinois dropped by more than 12 percent, the second sharpest decline in the nation and more than triple the rate of decline nationwide.

! Despite Governor Blagojevich’s highly touted initiatives to bring health-care to children, the percentage of Illinoisans lacking any health insurance coverage stood at 14 percent in 2004, up from 10.9 percent in 1990.

! Although Illinois has the fifth-highest Gross State Product in the nation, it ranks 48th in education spending. Sixty percent of its funding comes from property taxes, which has also given Illinois one of the largest gaps between rich school districts and poor school districts in the United States. In 2003-04, the highest spending school district in Illinois spent $19,361 more per pupil than the lowest spending school district, increasing the gap by $4,000 compared to the year before. More and more school districts in Illinois are in deficit spending, and the number of schools facing serious academic performance problems has risen dramatically. Not surprisingly, Illinois also has some of the worst school achievement gaps in the country and the overall performance of its schools has been mediocre at best. Meanwhile, tuition and fees at our colleges and universities continue to climb, making higher education out of the financial reach of more and more students from working families.

In the face of these realities, Rod Blagojevich selectively cited a few “factoids” in an attempt to put a smiley face over a dismal picture. For example, he claims that Illinois has “invested more money in its schools in the last three years than any other state in the Midwest.” But what is he talking about? Capital spending on school construction or spending on education itself? Either way, the fact that Illinois may eclipse other states, that may be even more disgraceful in their failure to support schools, hardly justifies praise. Illinois is still spending over $1,200 less per pupil than the state foundation level recommended by the Education Funding Advisory Board.

Blagojevich claims that Illinois has made progress toward achieving equality for African-Americans and Latinos under his leadership. In fact, the gap between White and African-American and Hispanic wage rates has grown in recent years – while the State’s Department of Human Rights is yet another agency that does not receive the financial support it needs to do an adequate job.

Some of the things that Blagojevich calls “progress” do not warrant that description. He spoke of “a bipartisan effort to reduce medical malpractice costs,” when in fact he signed a bill that did little to address the real causes of soaring malpractice rates, but pandered to the insurance industry by curtailing the rights of victims to an award determined by a jury of their peers.

He actually had the gall to brag about supporting the notorious boondoggle known as the Peotone Airport project.

He called for various road-building projects that were plainly calculated to reward his allies in the State Legislature, not serve the interests of the people. For example, his proposal to “widen Route 13 from Marion to Carterville” is a ludicrous venture that cannot be justified on the basis of relieving traffic congestion or anything else. It does, however, amount to a healthy slice of pork for such Democratic allies as Rep. Brandon Phelps and State Senator Gary Forby.

This is the same kind of “pay for play” politics that has made many State workers and job applicants angry, as they see evidence that some State jobs and benefits are being awarded on the basis of political patronage, not merit. It’s the same kind of pay for play politics that prompts Governor Blagojevich to suddenly promote keno (yet another gambling game that preys largely on lower-income workers) as a means of funding schools, after the gambling “industry” donates over $10,000 to the Blagojevich campaign – and expect voters to believe that this is just a coincidence.

Blagojevich spoke of creating 230,000 jobs through capital “improvement” projects – most of them consisting of road construction jobs, with a far lesser sum being devoted to public transportation and schools. This reflects more of the same distorted priorities that we have come to expect from both Democratic and Republican administrations in Springfield. At a time when global warming threatens to wreak havoc on human society and all life on the planet; at a time when it is obvious that the era of cheap oil is on the way out, Blagojevich continues the trend of favoring the automobile over other forms of transportation. He wants more roads and highways – meaning more urban sprawl, more lost time and lost money spent commuting, more human isolation and alienation – and more environmental destruction. Automobiles account for about one-half of all air pollution emissions in the United States and are the biggest producers of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming, emitting about one-quarter of the total. When are politicians like Blagojevich going to get the message that we need a major shift in our transportation priorities now – focusing on more energy-efficient modern high-speed rail and light rail systems, better urban planning to shorten distances between homes and workplaces and promote bike and pedestrian traffic?

This projected creation of 230,000 new (but mostly temporary) jobs, by the way, is to be funded by yet more sales of bonds, increasing the state’s indebtedness – and long-term budget problems – by another $3.2 billion.

But that seems to be the Blagojevich way. Instead of real solutions, he presents gimmicks that will cost the State money without solving the underlying problems. Tuition going up? Let’s give $1,000 to every freshman and sophomore who maintains a B average or better. Will that really make college more affordable to poor, working-class or middle-class students? Not much. Is there a sound plan to pay for it? Probably not. But it does create the appearance that Rod Blagojevich is a friend of higher education.

Is lack of health-care coverage a serious and growing problem in Illinois, as in the rest of the nation? You bet. Let’s come up with something called All Kids to allow all children in the State to have access to health care. Never mind the details on funding, and on how doctors get paid, and whether or not it will work; it sounds good. Now (he says, in the State of the State address) lets follow that with a new plan to cover Veterans. But does this piecemeal approach to providing adequate health coverage get to the core of the problem – the steady erosion of health insurance coverage by private employers? No. What it mainly does is score some political points, while creating new and unnecessary bureaucracies. Instead of a real solution – universal health care, through a comprehensive, single-payer system – we get a patchwork of plans. What’s next? A new plan to provide health coverage to all persons whose name ends in A through C? All Scorpios and Libras? All Siamese twins? All persons who were born on a Tuesday?

To be sure, there are a few points that Blagojevich spoke about that do make sense and that, in general, I would support as well. Raising the minimum wage. Imposing tougher regulations on mercury emissions. But even on these points, Blagojevich’s fine words haven’t always been matched by equivalent deeds. If he is really interested in reducing mercury emissions, why did his administration give the green light to a mine-mouth coal-fired plant – the Peabody Coal plant in Marissa, Illinois – that does not use the best available technology to reduce mercury and other harmful emissions, and that will likely contaminate more of our streams, lakes and ponds in Southern Illinois?

In sharp contrast to Mr. Blagojevich, I offer some real solutions that are based on a realistic appraisal of the State’s problems – beginning with the budget.

Our tax structure in Illinois is fundamentally unfair, placing far too much of the tax burden on those least able to pay – the poor, and low-to-middle income workers and farmers, and small businesses – while giving most of the breaks to those most able to pay, the big corporations and the extremely wealthy. That is the main reason why our State is underfunded and cannot balance its budget without causing serious harm to the quality of life of the people.

According to a recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, Illinois is the 6th worst state in the nation in terms of being regressive, that is, in terms of taxing lower and middle-income taxpayers at a higher rate than the wealthy. When all taxes are taken into account – income, sales, excise and property taxes, and the effects of federal offsets, the poorest 20 percent of Illinois taxpayers pay 13.1% of their income in taxes, the middle 60 percent pay, on average, about 10.1% of their income in taxes, while the top 1 percent – people with an average income of $1.3 million per year (or about $23,000 per week) – are only paying 4.6% of their income in taxes. Years of special tax favors to big corporations also means that these wealthy non-persons are also not paying their fair share of taxes, either.

This situation must be reversed. That is why I support House Bill 750 – or something substantially similar – as the way to get us out of the budget mess, while also providing a better basis for funding education in our schools. The product of a genuine people’s advocacy group, the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, [ctbaonline.org], the bill would couple a general increase in the State income tax with tax credits for lower- and middle-income taxpayers, along with a dedicated fund, to provide badly needed property tax abatements of 20-25 percent to local taxpayers. Overall, the plan would raise enough funds to adequately fund our schools, begin solving the pension mess, getting our social service agencies back on track and allowing us to make some real headway through projects that represent genuine progress – like a job-creating “New Deal” to promote sustainable energy production and sustainable transportation in Illinois. [For more details on House Bill 750, see the Center’s website or my position paper on Budget and Education.]
Rod Blagojevich repeatedly brags that he has dealt with the budget deficit “without raising taxes.” The trouble is, he hasn’t solved the problem. His approach has been to cut services, raid dedicated funds, sell off state buildings – and above all, sell bonds, which only postpone the problem, making it harder for future generations to solve. That’s not a solution. That is sacrificing the public good down the road for political power now. It is more of the same irresponsible fiscal policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

What Mr. Blagojevich fails to understand is that the real issue is not whether taxes are “raised” or not. The real issue is whether our tax system is fair or not, and whether we are spending the public money we raise wisely, to serve the public good, not political friends. I want a fair tax system so that we can use government to serve the public good. Mr. Blagojevich defends a thoroughly unfair tax system and uses some of the funds to reward his political friends, while basic social, economic and environmental needs are left unmet.

The problems we face today are the legacy of years of rule by the two corporate parties, the Republicans and the Democrats. In saying this, we are not faulting the good hard-working citizens of this State who have identified with either the Republican or Democratic parties over the years. The fault is with these parties as institutions, and with their top leadership. They have come under the power and influence of the giant multinational corporations who are rapidly bringing this nation, and indeed the world, to ruin. That is why we need a genuine people’s party, the Green Party, a party that refuses all corporate campaign contributions, as a vehicle to fight back. With your help, we can make a good start by wresting the State of Illinois from the likes of Rod Blagojevich.

"The Times Demand Change" Acceptance Speech of Rich Whitney, Illinois Green Party candidate for Governor Carbondale, Illinois, December 22, 2006

2006-05-07T09:18:00.000-05:00

Carbondale, Illinois, December 22, 2006

Last month, at a membership meeting of the Illinois Green Party, the Party voted to
campaign for all Constitutional offices in the State of Illinois. The party nominated me as its candidate for governor. Today, after careful consideration, I have decided to announce my acceptance of the party’s nomination. And I am pleased to be joined today by our candidate for State Treasurer, Rev. Dan Rodriguez-Schlorff, and our new candidate for State Representative in the 115th District, Charlie Howe, who will be on the Green primary ballot in March.

I realize that this campaign poses a tremendous challenge. Because we are still considered a “new” political party under State law, and the Democrats and Republicans have written the election code to benefit themselves, we will have to collect 25,000 valid petition signatures statewide in order to get on the ballot, between March and June of 2006. However, we will get it – especially if we can get the help of all citizens who want a better, progressive choice on the ballot.

I am running to give the voters of Illinois that better choice. They deserve a better choice
than the choice between two corporate-run parties. They deserve a better choice than the party that gave us the lies of Bill Clinton and the party that gave us the lies of George Bush. They deserve a better choice than the corruption and bad judgment of George Ryan’s gang and the corruption and bad judgment of Rod Blagojevich’s gang. They deserve a better choice than a Republican leadership that is shameless and a Democratic leadership that is spineless.

The times demand change. Hurricane Katrina was just one of many warning signs that
global warming now poses grave dangers to the planet and the era of cheap oil is obviously moving toward a close, posing grave dangers to our economy – and yet, our so-called leaders in Washington and Springfield are not taking the threat seriously. They are fiddling while the planet burns. Rod Blagojevich promised in 2002 that he would push sustainable energy sources like biodiesel and wind power – and yet only two-tenths of one percent of our State’s energy needs are now being provided by such sources. He has failed. This in a State that is well poised to be a leader in developing such energy – while creating badly needed new jobs in the process.

Meanwhile, our state budget is a mess, our public services keep deteriorating and our
schools rank 48th in the nation in per pupil spending – but first in inequality. Yet Rod
Blagojevich has refused to consider essential tax reforms, choosing instead to mortgage our children’s future and our state pensioners’ future with short-term quick fixes.

Let me outline for you four essential initiatives that I promise to take if I am elected
Governor – four good reasons why I will give the voters a better choice than Rod Blagojevich or any of the Republican contenders.

First, I will fight to keep the Illinois National Guard at home, out of Iraq. As Governor, I
will be the Commander in Chief of the Illinois State Militia or National Guard. I realize that Illinois law states that it is the Governor’s duty to give up our Guards-men and -women to the federal government whenever the President orders them into active military duty. However, federal law does allow Governors to veto a federal mobilization of Guardsmen under certain circumstances and I believe that there is a higher duty that supercedes the duty imposed by state law. If elected, I will veto any further mobilization of our troops for duty in Iraq, on the grounds that the war in Iraq is plainly illegal and immoral. It is illegal under established international law, under the U.N. Charter and under the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal. And it is immoral under a certain moral code that tells me that we shall not kill, we shall not steal, we shall not bear false witness against our neighbors and we shall not covet our neighbor’s goods – even if those
goods happen to include massive amounts of oil.

The National Guard, as the name implies, is supposed to be guarding the nation – not
serving a deadly and illegal fool’s errand in Iraq on behalf of the gang of corporate robber barons that is now dominating our government. Unlike Rod Blagojevich, I will not send our young men and women – many of them kids who just thought they were going to earn their way to a college degree – to fight and die in the service of corporate greed, in an ill-conceived war that is making us less safe, more hated around the world and that is starving our state and local governments of funds to meet human needs at home.

Second, the global warming crisis and the end of cheap oil demand major changes in how
we produce and use energy. I will fight for a “New Deal” for sustainable energy development in Illinois. It is outrageous that during this energy crisis, we do not have any significant tax incentives or purchasing requirements that will support the development and installation of solar, wind, geothermal and biomass energy production. Illinois has the agricultural and other resources and ability to turn a negative into a positive – to get out on the cutting edge of new, clean energy technologies that the times demand. I will get us on the right track, so that we meet and exceed the goal of 20 percent renewable energy by the year 2020 – a target that will create tens of thousands of new, quality jobs.

And speaking of getting on the right track, we need a major state commitment to mass
transit, including high-speed rail. That is why I have chosen to make my announcement here by the AmTrak station. Mile for mile, rail transit is far more energy efficient and far less polluting than travel by automobile. A billion dollars spent on rail transit creates 7,000 more jobs than a billion dollars spent on highway construction. Yet our Republican president and his Democrat Transportation Secretary are trying to dismantle AmTrak. The present Governor and legislature have not made the necessary commitment to build new, modern high-speed rail systems that the times demand. I will. A person should be able to get on a train in Carbondale and get to St. Louis in an hour, to Springfield or Memphis in an hour and a half, and Chicago in three hours. We need to expand light-rail options to medium and then small-size cities. This is not pie in the sky. It is doable. It just takes the political will.

Third, I will fight for badly needed tax, budget and education reform in Illinois. Let me
say to the fiscal conservatives out there: I am with you. The right wing talks about “tax and spend liberals.” Well, let me tell you, there are politicians far worse than that. Such as “borrow, steal and waste pseudo-conservatives,” like our current president. Or “borrow, steal and waste pseudoliberals” like our current governor, who has refused to implement necessary tax reforms, instead choosing to balance the budget by delving into dedicated state funds, cutting necessary programs and burdening future generations with more interest on more bonds. Its ironic that some years ago, Governor Edgar had a pretty good plan for reforming our tax system, to place more of the burden for school funding on the income tax and provide real property tax relief – and the leaders of his own party refused to back him on it. Today, a few good Democrats have put forward a good plan for reforming our tax system, to place more of the burden for school funding on the income tax, making it more progressive, and provide real property tax relief – and now their own
Governor won’t get behind them. It’s called House Bill 750 and it’s a very good start. Unlike Rod Blagojevich, I would work with more forward thinking Democrats – and hopefully, some Greens in the legislature, like Charlie Howe – and get it passed.

Fourth, in Illinois, we need more than the “All Kids” program: I will fight for universal
single-payer health care, to cover everyone in the State of Illinois. You know, for Rod
Blagojevich to pat himself on the back for his “All Kids” program would be like Lewis and Clark stopping somewhere in Kansas and saying, “We’ve gone far enough. Please congratulate us.” I’m sorry but that just doesn’t get it. Do I have to say the obvious – children are not the only people who get sick? A state-funded, single-payer health-care program – essentially, Medicare for everyone – is the way to go. Instead of working people paying outrageous premiums for inadequate care for some, a modest payroll tax costing far less than current premiums would allow us to provide excellent care for all. And it would be a big boost to the economy as well, as it would remove a tremendous burden from businesses, large and small, that are struggling to provide health insurance from a predatory insurance industry.

These are just some of the things that I will fight for if elected. In general, I will be an
advocate for working and middle-class taxpayers, farmers, small business owners and the
underprivileged – not corporate privateers and predators. As always, we in the Green Party will not accept any corporate campaign contributions. We are building a true party of the people because we want to restore government of, by and for the people, instead of government dominated by big money. This campaign will be true to that principle.

In 2002 and 2004, my campaigns for state representative got the Green Party established
in this district. Now we are not only going to get the Green Party established statewide; with the voters’ help, we are going to make political history in Illinois in 2006.

Green Party response to "State of the State" & "State of the Union"

2006-05-07T08:57:00.000-05:00

GREEN PARTY RESPONDS TO "STATE OF THE STATE" AND "STATE OF THE
UNION"
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 1, 2006

Rich Whitney, The Illinois Green Party's candidate for
Governor, has issued a response to Gov. Rod Blagojevich's State
of the State address. Whitney points out that the
address "fails to even acknowledge" the failure of Illinois tax
policy to solve the state's budget crisis. Illinois is the 6th
worst state in the union for regressive taxes - that is, taxing
low- and middle-income taxpayers at a higher rate than the
wealthy. Whitney says, "Our tax structure is fundamentally
unfair...that is the main reason why our state is underfunded,
and cannot balance its budget without causing serious harm...to
the people."
Whitney points out that Illinois is 48th in education and due
to its reliance on property taxes to fund schools, has one of
the largest gaps in spending between rich and poor districts.

Whitney supports House Bill 750 and its concept of coupling a
general increase in State income tax with tax credits for low-
and middle-income taxpayers, to provide badly needed property
tax abatements as well as adequately fund our schools. This
bill is the product of a genuine people's advocacy group, the
Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, and the Green Party
supports greater involvement by such groups in developing
budget policy.

See the entire Whitney response to the "State of the State" at
his website, www.whitneyforgov.org.

Whitney is also a part of the Green Party of the United States
(GPUS) response to President Bush's "State of The Union"
address. A group of Green Party candidates from around the
country have recorded video rebuttals to the "State of the
Union" address. The video is available for download at the
Green Party website: http://www.gp.org/video/2006stateofunion/

The Green Party will send a Video News Release on request; a
form is available on the website.

The candidates include, in addition to Whitney:

Marakay Rogers, candidate for Gov. of Pennsylvania, who
discusses the failed Medicare prescription plan and the need
for single payer insurance

Renee Bowser, Advisory Neighborhood Commission Chair,
Washington DC, discussing the Bush attack on the social safety
net and on local democracy.

...and others.

Blagojevich is Gambling on Your Child’s Education - Rich Whitney is the Safer Bet!

2006-05-07T08:56:00.000-05:00

Jan. 13, 2006

Three recent stories have highlighted the huge problems with the education system in
Illinois: Our state’s schools, overall, are badly funded, with record levels of inequality, and, not surprisingly, are performing poorly. But instead of responding with a sound plan to address the problem, Governor Rod Blagojevich predictably has come up with another band-aid – relying on more gambling to finance school construction. Specifically, breaking his promise not to expand gambling in the State, he is now looking to permit the State lottery program to begin running electronic Keno games in taverns and restaurants statewide.

“Rod Blagojevich is trying to fix our increasingly bankrupt schools and state budget by
bankrupting more low-income workers who are susceptible to the temptations of gambling,” says Green Party gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney. Whitney has long opposed legalized gambling, on the ground that it preys especially on the poor and the desperate, and that it brings ruin and misery to far more working class families than the few who luck out.

The news that Blagojevich is looking to Keno as his latest “quick fix” scheme to shore up
the State’s increasingly shaky budget follows two recently released studies that have once again called attention to the dismal state of Illinois schools.

One study, conducted by Quality Counts 2006, published in the current issue of
Education Week magazine, gives Illinois an overall grade of C+ but graded Illinois a D+ in school funding.

This follows the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report,
released in October 2005 by the U.S. Department of Education. The NAEP, sometimes called the "nation's report card," is a national, standardized assessment based on regular testing of a sample of fourth and eighth grade students in math and reading. While the latest results show gains at the national level, Illinois was one of the many states that did not see such progress. The overall average score for Illinois fourth and eighth graders in reading and math did not show significant gains from the 2003 NAEP results.

Further, the 2005 NAEP results show that Illinois continues to have some of the worst
achievement gaps in the country and has not succeeded in narrowing them. The achievement gap between poor students and non-poor students in fourth grade math is the largest in the nation. In reading, the gap is the third biggest in the country. The story is no better for eighth graders, where there is the second largest gap in math and eighth largest in reading. The sizes of these gaps are not significantly different from those found in the last nation's report card in 2003.

These gaps are not a result of high achievement by non-poor students. They primarily
reflect the extremely low achievement of poor students in Illinois. For instance, the scores of poor fourth graders in Illinois make the list of the ten worst scores for poor students in the nation.

The achievement gap in Illinois is not surprising, considering the spending gap among
school districts in Illinois. Depending upon how it is measured, Illinois has either the highest or second-highest school inequality in the United States. The average low-poverty school district spent almost $2,500 more pupil than the average high-poverty district, reflecting the second largest funding gap in the nation. In 2003-04, the highest spending school district in Illinois spent $19,361 more per pupil than the lowest spending school district, increasing the gap by $4,000 compared to the year before.

Both the poor performance of Illinois schools and their rampant inequality are due to our
State government’s failure to provide adequate education funding for basic school expenses and our State’s overreliance on property taxes for school funding. The Education Funding Advisory Board (EFAB) determines a recommended per-pupil minimum funding level (or foundation level) by examining the resources used at fiscally efficient, high-performing schools where at least two-thirds of the students meet the state's learning standards. In April 2005, EFAB increased the recommended foundation level for the 2005-06 school year to $6,405 per pupil. Yet, the state's foundation level for the 2005-06 school year is over $1,200 per pupil short of this recommended level. This lack of State support for education places an overwhelming burden on local communities to finance education, with local property taxpayers providing 62 percent of
funding for school districts. Typically, communities with the greatest needs have the fewest resources upon which to draw. Schools on the state's academic watch list have considerably higher rates of poverty and lower property wealth, as determined by equalized assessed value (EAV) per pupil, than the state average. Due to their relatively smaller property tax bases, these communities have higher tax rates than the state average. Despite these high tax rates, they struggle to generate adequate revenues, and spend less per pupil than the state average. Thus, the school districts with the greatest academic needs and highest poverty lack the resources to invest
in programs that can help close the achievement gap.

Meanwhile this system imposes a property-tax burden in Illinois that is about twenty
percent above the national average, imposing an unjust burden on working and middle-class homeowners and on our farmers.

Both the problems and their causes are nothing new – although they are growing worse.
Yet Rod Blagojevich hasn’t lifted a finger to remedy this problem, even though a few members of his own party have come up with a reasonable plan – House Bill 750 – for shifting the tax burden from local property taxes to the state income tax. Leading House Republicans are also opposing the bill and the Republican Party was equally culpable for failing to address the education crisis in Illinois when it was in power.

This longstanding bi-partisan failure demonstrates the need to bring new leadership to the
State of Illinois – through a new party of the people, the Green Party. The two parties that are bought and controlled by corporate money don’t want to adequately fund our schools (or provide numerous other services needed to serve the public good) because they are more concerned with protecting the wealth of their benefactors by keeping their tax burden low than they are with serving the needs of the vast majority, the working people of this state, from the poorest to the middle class. Only the Green Party and candidates like Rich Whitney can be counted on to serve the people’s interest – because they are organized around the party’s principles and values, and they refuse all corporate donations as a matter of principle. For a commitment to quality schools
for all, support Rich Whitney for Governor!

Keno operators donated to Blagojevich

2006-05-07T08:53:00.000-05:00

Keno operators donated to Blagojevich

By ANN SANNER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SPRINGFIELD - Two companies that operate keno games in other states have given Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign fund thousands of dollars, either directly or through top
executives, state records show.

The Democratic governor wants to authorize keno in Illinois
to pay for new school construction, part of a $3.2 billion plan
to improve roads and other infrastructure.

Scientific Games International Inc. gave $10,000 to the Blagojevich campaign in December 2004,
according to campaign contribution records. Two corporate officers and CEO W. Bruce Turner of
GTECH Corp. contributed a combined $2,500 in July 2003, records show.

Scientific Games and GTECH are the nation's leading operators of keno games.

Both firms already do work for the Illinois Lottery, running instant scratch-off games and "online"
games such as Little Lotto. They have donated to state politicians, including Republicans, for
years.

Rick Gates, spokesman for Scientific Games, said the company's donation to Blagojevich had
nothing to do with trying to bring keno to Illinois. He said the company learned of the governor's
proposal this week along with everyone else.

The companies also have hired lobbyists with political links to Blagojevich - his former
congressional chief of staff and a campaign fundraising consultant. But the Blagojevich
administration insists merit, not political ties, will determine whether either company is hired to run
keno here.

Blagojevich spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch said Friday the administration won't let the
contributions influence any contract, which would be awarded based on competitive bidding.

Blagojevich's idea of authorizing keno games, which he says he can do without legislative
approval, has provoked intense criticism from gambling opponents and critics who say he awards
contracts on a "pay to play" basis.

The Rev. Philip Blackwell of First Methodist Church in Chicago said the game would amount to a
"regressive tax on the poor" and lead to more crime, divorce and domestic abuse.

"Gambling is the cowardly way of saying 'no new taxes,' " Blackwell said at a news conference
with other keno opponents. "Keno is the governor's way of playing upon our dedication to our
children's education without calling us to be responsible for it. It's a tawdry business."

"We need to mobilize to save our Republic!" - March 18, 2006 speech in Carbondale, Illinois

2006-05-07T08:25:00.000-05:00

"We need to mobilize to save our Republic!"
The following is the text of an address given by Rich Whitney, Green
Party candidate for Governor, on the occasion of the third anniversary
of the War in Iraq, March 18, 2006, in Carbondale, Illinois. Whitney
began by asking for a moment of silence for Tom Fox, the member of the
Christian Peacekeeper Team, and member of the Virginia Green Party, who
was murdered by his kidnappers in Iraq earlier in the month.
War.
Lying to the American people about the reasons for war.
Torture.
Kidnaping and transferring people to other countries for purposes of
torture.
Imprisoning people without charges or allowing a hearing.
No-bid contracts.
Stealing of elections with the use of corporate manufactured voting
machines.
Spying on American citizens without any court oversight, in violation
of the law and the Constitution.
The President breaking the law and saying he doesn't have to follow
it.
A Senator meekly suggesting that the Senate discuss censuring the
President for this – and he gets attacked for it.
A bill is introduced to make it a crime for the media to report the
crimes of the administration.
New threats of yet another war.
What the hell is happening to our country?
I submit to you that what we are seeing, right in front of our eyes,
is nothing less than the crumbling of our Republic. And unless we the
people mobilize to stop it, the powers now controlling our government
will continue on this path. Even now, although a plurality of 50 percent
of the American people favor a rapid withdrawal from Iraq, 70 percent of
our troops and at least 70 percent of the people in Iraq favor a rapid
withdrawal, and 47 percent of the Iraqi people actually support the
attacks on American forces; even though the War and occupation of Iraq has
been a complete and unmitigated disaster that grows worse by the day,
our government continues to stay on this disastrous course.
I propose to you that the peace movement today must not only be
engaged in the fight to end this war. It must become engaged in a larger
struggle against the forces of corporate America that brought us into this
War, and that are now rapidly, undermining our civil liberties,
expanding executive powers and threatening to undermine the Republic itself.
We must be part of a broader struggle to save the Republic and restore
genuine democracy.
Perhaps some of you think that I overstate the case, that things are
bad, but not that bad. But consider the words of one of the architects
of our Constitution, James Madison, who warned:
"No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual
warfare," and that
"A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long
be safe companions to liberty. The means of defence against foreign
danger, have been always the instruments of tyranny at home." And he
further warned, "If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in
the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
It is no coincidence that this so-called war on terror is being used
to systematically undermine our civil rights and liberties and
strengthen the executive branch.
Now consider the words of Benito Mussolini, the architect of fascism,
who said, "The first stage of fascism should more appropriately be
called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power."
Who among us can deny that we are well into this first stage? Is there
any thinking person who believes that the criminal misconduct of Jack
Abramoff is anything more than just an extreme example of business as
usual in the halls of Congress and the White House? Should anyone be
surprised that the Bechtel Group got awarded hundreds of millions of
dollars in no-bid contracts after it contributed nearly a million dollars in
campaign contributions to Republican candidates? Or that the more than
70 American companies awarded over $8 billion in contracts for work in
postwar Iraq and Afghanistan donated over half a million dollars to the
presidential campaign of George W. Bush? What kind of democracy do we
still have when 80 percent of all political contributions now come from
less than 1 percent of the population?
We all know that Bush concocted false alarms about weapons of mass
destruction as a pretext for war. But what was the real reason? Perhaps
there were several reasons but I submit that the principal one is the
economic drive of multinational corporations to control resources, markets
and sources of cheap labor – which has always been the underlying
motive for war in modern times.
Consider: In May 2003, Bush Executive Order 13303 indemnifies the
corporate looters such as ExxonMobil and Halliburton from prosecution, as
well as soldiers and private security guards committing crimes against
Iraqis.
Consider: Before U.S. proconsul L. Paul Bremer left Iraq in June 2004,
he imposed his '100 Orders' that were designed to transfer the Iraqi
economy form a centrally planned economy to free market economy by U.S.
fiat. The so-called Bremer reforms are similar to those imposed on
underdeveloped nations strangled by the International Monetary Fund. For
example, Order 39 pushed the privatization of Iraq's state-owned
enterprises; allowed 100 percent foreign ownership of Iraqi businesses; equal
treatment of foreign firms with domestic firms; unrestricted, tax-free
remittance of all profits and other funds; and 40-year ownership
licenses. In short, it allows U.S. corporations in Iraq to own every business,
do all of the work, and send all their money home. Nothing needs to be
reinvested locally to service the Iraqi economy, no Iraqi need be
hired, and workers' rights can easily be ignored. Foreign corporations can
withdraw their investments at any time. Order 81 is designed to destroy
Iraq's traditional agriculture system in favor of U.S.-style corporate
agribusiness. Today, Iraqi farmers are forbidden to save their own
seeds; they are forced to purchase them from agribusiness corporations.
Consider: Auditors from the General Accounting Office and the Pentagon
discovered that $8.8 billion that passed through the new Iraqi
government while Bremer was in charge is unaccounted for, with little prospect
of finding out where it went. Iraq oil is sold unmetered and more than
$4 billion in oil export revenue was sold off illegally to U.S.
cronies.
Consider: Labor unions in Iraq have been suppressed, and leaders
killed, while Kellog Brown and Root, awarded a $12 billion contract, pays
workers as little as 45 cents an hour.
Meanwhile, our so-called "reconstruction" efforts are a joke, mainly
used to line the contractors' pockets, while many Iraqis continue to
suffer without electricity, clean water and other basic infrastructure.
The U.S. is destroying Iraq on a daily basis and hampering Iraq's
economic recovery for the sole purpose of selling Iraq's public assets and
resources on the cheap to U.S. corporations, without consulting the
Iraqis.

And we the taxpayers are paying for all this. The cost of the Iraq War
is now at $315 billion and counting. Between the escalated military
budgets and Bush's tax cuts for the rich – further evidence of a "merger
of State and corporate power" – we now have record deficits and a $7
trillion national debt. Every man, woman and child in America now owes
about $30,000 apiece to the holders of that debt, much of it foreign
interests. The cost of the war to us in Illinois alone comes to about $17
billion – more than enough to provide health care to every uninsured
person in the State, more than enough to pay the salaries of 323,500
elementary school teachers; more than enough to outfit over 40 million homes
with renewable electricity. And that's not counting the human cost of
91 Illinoisans killed and over 650 wounded.
Even our troops are getting screwed – the bulk of the money is going
to the corporate profiteers, not them. Back in the Vietnam War, there
was an apocryphal story about how a peace protester had spat upon a
returning Vietnam Veteran. There is no real evidence that this actually
occurred but the Right loves to repeat the story. Today, however, it is our
own government that spits on our veterans – and it does so while they
are fighting as well as when they get home. They are poorly outfitted,
poorly protected; they are using Vietnam-era helicopters – and many get
denied proper care when they come home.
Now the Bush administration has just issued a document that actually
seeks to justify the Preemptive Strike Doctrine: Once again, it is
asserting that what is illegal for the rest of the world is okay for our
government to do. It is trotting this out because it is now seeking a
justification to attack Iran.
That is why it is important for us to understand, as I have argued
many times before, the war in Iraq was wrong, and illegal, not because
there were no weapons of mass destruction. It was wrong and illegal
because we attacked a nation that did not threaten to attack us.
After the horrors of World War II, the Allied forces convened an
International War Crimes Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany, at which it tried
and convicted Nazi war criminals. At that time, the U.S. government was
in the forefront of condemning wars of aggression – no matter what the
"excuse." As the Tribunal stated: "To initiate a war of aggression,
therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme
international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains
within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."
As Robert L. Jackson, Chief Prosecutor at Nuremberg and U.S. Supreme
Court Justice, stated:
We must make it clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their
fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that
they started it. And we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into a trial
of the causes of the war, for our position is that no grievances or
policies will justify resort to an aggressive war. It is utterly renounced
and condemned as an instrument of policy.

That is why, no matter what Iran may or may not plan to do to defend
itself, there is no justification for our government to attack Iran. It
would be another war crime.
That is why, in my own campaign for governor of this State, I have
made the Iraq War a campaign issue, by promising to veto any further
mobilization of our National Guardsmen and women for duty in Iraq, on the
grounds that the war in Iraq is plainly illegal and immoral.
This, too, is but one part of the larger struggle. Whether you do it
as a Green, or as a Democrat trying to make that party more progressive,
or as a concerned Republican, or through your church, your peace
organization, or some other organization, please get engaged in this
struggle:
We need to not only mobilize against the war.
We need to mobilize to protect the integrity of our vote.
We need to mobilize to stop corporate influence over government.
We need to mobilize to defend our civil liberties.
We need to mobilize to save our Republic.
Thank you.