Our June 2015 meeting will be held 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Monday, June 8, 2015, at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, 10360 North Street, Fairfax, VA, Room 214.
NOVA Greens June 2015 Meeting
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NOVA Greens May 2015 Meeting
Our next monthly meeting will be held 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Monday, May 11, 2015, at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, 10360 North Street, Fairfax, VA, Room 214.
NOVA Greens April 2015 Meeting
Our next monthly meeting will be held 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Monday, April 13, 2015, at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, 10360 North Street, Fairfax, VA, Room 214.
Former Candidates Share Tips and Ideas on Running for Public Office
Interested in running for federal, state or local office as a Green Party candidate or volunteering for a political campaign? Then this event is for you. The Arlington Green Party is sponsoring a panel discussion of campaign experiences by four former candidates. NOVA Greens Co-Chair and former Green Party Congressional candidate Joe Galdo will be one of the panelists. The panel discussion will be held on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, from 7 PM to 8:30 PM at the Shirlington Branch Library, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington 22206. The event is free and open to the public.
NOVA Greens March 2015 Meeting
Our next monthly meeting will be held 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Monday, March 9, 2015, at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, Room 214.
See you there!
NOVA Greens November 2014 Meeting
The November meeting of the NOVA Greens will be held on Thursday, November 20, 2014, from 7:00 pm to 9 pm at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, 10360 North Street, Fairfax, in Room 214.
Why the Green Party Represents the People and the Democrats Do Not
I am Joe Galdo, Green Party candidate for Congress in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District. I am running to give voters a choice – a candidate who will work to reduce income inequality, end corporate welfare, protect the environment and stop military interventions that damage our national security.
In a recent conversation with Salon, Senator Elizabeth Warren says, “The system is rigged…I am watching America’s middle class get hammered. They just keep sliding further down.” She blames her fellow Democrats. She criticizes the Obama White House, “They protected Wall Street. Not families who were losing their homes. Not people who lost their jobs. Not young people who were struggling to get an education. And it happened over and over and over.”
And we have to blame, as well, the New Democrats in Congress who supported these policies, over and over and over again. It’s no wonder that in 2010, the first year of the recovery, 93% of income gains went to the 1%. The rest of us shared what little was left.
New Democrats embrace a political philosophy that has been described as created by Wall Street and run by Wall Street for Wall Street.
As vice-chair of the New Democrat Coalition, our Congressman leads the way to increasing income inequality, sending more American jobs to Asia and abandoning the middle class for Wall Street and the 1%. This is why he joins Republicans in proposing to double the H-1B program for temporary foreign workers, a program that supports the outsourcing of American engineering and technology jobs to Asia. It is why he voted to exempt venture capitalists and wealthy investors from paying capital gains tax. Why he voted to reduce requirements for subcontracting to small businesses on federal contracts. Why he voted to reduce retirement benefits for federal employees. He calls this bipartisanship, compromising, a “hold-your-nose and vote yes vote.”
If you want change, then I ask for your vote. I will work to get money out of politics, to focus policy on its impact on the average American rather than benefiting Wall Street and the 1%, and to return jobs to America. If legislation is so bad that you can smell it, you can count on me to vote against it.
Don’t hold your nose when you vote either. This year you have a choice. Vote to make a difference.
Working for a better Virginia and a better America,
Joe Galdo
NOVA Greens October Meeting
The October meeting of the NOVA Greens will be held on Wednesday, October 15, 2014, from 7:30 pm to 9 pm at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, 10360 North Street, Fairfax, in Room 103.
This will be the last meeting before the election. If you are available to hand out sample ballots at one of the polling places on election day in the 11th Congressional District, please attend the meeting or send us an email so we can assign you a place and time slot. We need volunteers. As of now you can choose your polling place and 4-hour time slot. The polls are open from 6 AM to 7 PM on Tuesday, November 4.
If you are not registered to vote and are eligible, do so before the October 14 deadline for the November 4 election. You can register online at https://www.vote.virginia.gov/
NOVA Greens September 2014 Meeting
The September meeting of the NOVA Greens will be held on Wednesday, September 24, 2014, from 7 pm to 9 pm at the City of Fairfax Regional Library, 10360 North Street, Fairfax, in Room 214.
A Sad Day for Virginia
Yesterday was a sad day for Virginia and for former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell, his wife Maureen and their family. A RIchmond jury found the couple guilty of public corruption for selling the influence of the governor’s office in exchange for gifts and loans. It is difficult to argue that the jury did not make the correct decision. But it is also just as clear that the former governor believed he had done nothing wrong. Maybe this is because he felt he had done no more than many politicians in Virginia do every day. It is not unusual for state legislators to receive substantial gifts from special interests impacted by bills being considered by the General Assembly. Political analysts characterize Virginia as a “pay-to-play’ state, from top to bottom. The distinction of the McDonnells’ case was that the prosecution, at least from the jurors’ perspective, was able to establish a quid pro quo.
By itself, the acceptance of the gifts by the former governor was not illegal in Virginia at the time. So McDonnell’s rationalization that the gifts from Richmond businessman Jonnie Williams were unrelated to the political courtesies extended to him may be understandable. As the former governor pointed out, Williams gained no real benefit from his gifts. McDonnell did not order anyone to give Star Scientific a contract. He did not pressure anyone to conduct the clinical trial Williams wanted. On the other hand, Dominion Power, to cite only one example, has lavished tens of thousands of dollars in gifts annually on members of the General Assembly and, not surprisingly, generally finds favor in legislation that impacts Dominion’s business operations in the state. Dominion’s influence in the state’s politics is frequently cited as a major reason renewable energy has not had more of an impact in Virginia. While the utility, like Williams, expects favorable treatment in return for its generosity, a quid pro quo would be difficult or impossible to establish. Yet the impact of Dominion’s gifts and political contributions have had a real effect on our daily lives. So, which is worse? Even with the recent reform of Virginia’s ethics laws, there is no limit on intangible gifts, such as meals, golf outings, or travel. So do not expect the influence of money on policy to change. The McDonnells may rightly be asking, why us?