A press release from Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah:<\/p>\n
The former Mayor of Salt Lake City and Executive Director of High Road for Human Rights<\/a>, Rocky Anderson, calls for the formation of a new political party and a sustained movement committed to the public interest.<\/p>\n Two months ago, Anderson \u201cdivorced himself\u201d from what he referred to as \u201cthe spineless, gutless Democratic Party.\u201d Responding to an email from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which showed as the subject, \u201cStanding Strong,\u201d Anderson wrote: \u201cHow dare you send an email with the subject line \u2018Standing Strong.\u2019 You didn\u2019t do it on Iraq, you didn\u2019t do it on torture, you didn\u2019t do it on signing statements, you haven\u2019t done it on Afghanistan, you haven\u2019t done it on defense spending, you haven\u2019t done it on real health care reform, you haven\u2019t done it on the debt ceiling fiasco.\u201d<\/p>\n Rocky Anderson Says Adieu to the Democratic Party<\/a><\/em>, Rolly, Paul, The Salt Lake Tribune<\/em>, August 12, 2011.<\/p>\n Anderson continued: \u201cI\u2019m done with the Democratic Party\u2026 I think the answer is a new political party that actually will advocate for and promote the interests of the public rather than the narrow interests of the wealthy who bought and paid for not only Congress but the White House\u2026 The Constitution has been eviscerated while Democrats have stood by with nary a whimper. It is a gutless, unprincipled party, bought and paid for by the same interests that buy and pay for the Republican Former S.L. Mayor Rocky Anderson Divorces Himself From \u2018Gutless\u2019 Democratic Party<\/a><\/em>, Romboy, Dennis, Deseret News<\/em>, August 12, 2011.<\/p>\n This country needs a new, powerful party that can win elections, according to Anderson. \u201cThe pensions and other savings accounts of the middle class in this country have been decimated. The only way out is another party. I would call it, frankly, a second party that actually represents the interests of the American people. There isn\u2019t a real opposition force in Washington, D.C., any more, and we the people have the capacity to change that — and we must if our republic is going to survive. I consider myself an Independent, but I would be very pleased to work with others to form not just a political party to run another campaign, but to launch a sustained movement for major change in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n Rocky: Not a Democrat<\/a><\/em>, Levitt, Lexie, City Weekly<\/em>,September 26, 2011.<\/p>\n Anderson said that people are fed up with the Democratic and Republican parties, Congress, and the Obama administration to the point of being ready to support a new party that rejects the corporatism and militarism of the two \u201cWall Street lap-dog\u201d major parties. The polls support Anderson\u2019s view that the people of the United States are desirous of a new party, and bold, new leadership, like never before. Patrick Caddell and Douglas Shoen have written:<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States is in the midst of what we would both call a pre-Revolutionary moment, and there is widespread support for fundamental change in the system. An increasing number of Americans are now searching beyond the two parties for bold and effective leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n Expect a Third-Party Candidate in 2012<\/a><\/em>, Caddell, Patrick and Schoen, Douglas E, The Wall Street Journal<\/em>, August 25, 2011.<\/p>\n “Have you had enough?” asks Anderson. \u201cWould you support the formation of a new party that will commit to:<\/p>\n \u00b7 affordable universal health care<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00b7 an end to the wars<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00b7 a significant reduction in the military budget<\/strong> \u00b7 investigation of illegal conduct<\/strong>, including war crimes, by executive officials during the current and prior administrations<\/p>\n \u00b7 investigation of the events on 9\/11<\/strong> to answer significant questions that have been raised<\/p>\n \u00b7 prosecution for illegal conduct leading to the economic melt-down<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00b7 disincentives for U.S. companies to send jobs<\/strong> overseas; \u00b7 implementation of major domestic jobs and infrastructure programs<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00b7 an end<\/strong> to the Bush tax cuts<\/strong> for the wealthy<\/p>\n \u00b7 campaign finance reform to end<\/strong> the corrupting influence of money in politics<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00b7 treat substance abuse<\/strong> within a public health<\/strong> framework rather than as a criminal matter<\/p>\n \u00b7 repeal the PATRIOT Act<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00b7 compassionate and rational immigration reform<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00b7 marriage equality<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00b7 an end<\/strong> to subsidies<\/strong> for oil<\/strong> and gas<\/strong> companies<\/p>\n \u00b7 a ban<\/strong> on a Canada-to-Mexico tar sands pipeline<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00b7 air quality protection<\/strong>, including stricter ozone limits <\/p>\n and<\/p>\n \u00b7 aggressive action and leadership on the climate crisis <\/strong>and the environment<\/strong>?\u201d<\/p>\n Rocky Anderson has been in the process of contacting some of America\u2019s leading social, environmental and political activists with the goal of creating a powerful, broad-based political alternative to the increasingly unpopular Republican and Democratic Parties. He intends that the new party will have candidates in local, state, and federal races throughout the nation. <\/p>\n Anderson plans on hosting a meeting soon between leaders in various sectors of the country in order to draft a new platform and a long-term strategy capable of attracting a majority of voters, including millions of dissatisfied Democrats and Republicans who, until now, had nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n Anderson has stated his intention to do what is possible to get on the ballots in all 50 states and to campaign for candidates aggressively in all states. “The Democratic and Republican Parties have acted as if voters have no other real options. The people of this country will demonstrate that we, indeed, have another option – a party that will work in the public interest, rather than for the defense contractors, the health insurance companies, and the rapacious financial institutions that have caused such economic havoc in our nation and the world.”<\/p>\n Anderson anticipates a broad-based coalition, similar to the one built by the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP), which won impressive political gains in the Canadian federal elections last May. The NDP is the political party that brought universal health care to the Canadian people.<\/p>\n Press info: Mackenzie Scott – Tel. 801-520-0491<\/p>\n Rocky Anderson – Tel. 801-557-9007<\/p>\n 418 Douglas Street<\/p>\n Salt Lake City, UT 84102<\/p>\n E-mail: rockyandersonrocky@yahoo.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A press release from Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah: Have you had enough? New Party on the horizon The former Mayor of Salt Lake City and Executive Director of High Road for Human Rights, Rocky Anderson, …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2358"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2369,"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2358\/revisions\/2369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iomaire.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nParty.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nand an end to the military-industrial-congressional complex<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u00b7 employee and environmental safeguards in trade agreements<\/strong><\/p>\n