I'm going to vote tomorrow!
 

The Texas governor's race is up this time, and it's between a crazy democrat (Tony Sanchez) and a stuffy republican (Rick Perry). However, the Green Party has thrown a candidate into the mix, Rahul Mahajan. I'm voting for him. He's got some good ideas about governmental reform, drug policies and environmental awareness. True, the green party is a big out there, but so is the republican and democratic party's if you look at their overall agendas.

A little about Rahul Mahajan and his beliefs, taken from our interview last Thursday afternoon:

1. Minimum wage/living wage issues
We feel that the current levels for 'minimum wage are unjust. believe every human has an inalienable right to adequate shelter, food and health care. We fully support a universal living wage system - we feel that this will NOT be a drain on business and will help to move the economy to a more sustainable system, something the Green Party of Texas supports.
The Green Party of Texas supports a Living Wage that would allow all 40-hour-a-week, minimum-wage workers to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the communities in which they work. Applying the Fair Market Rates published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, affordable means that no more than 30 percent of an individual's gross income should be spent on housing.

2. Campaign Finance Reform
I have wholeheartedly embraced the Green Party of Texas’ full range of electoral and political reforms. I support full campaign finance reform - including publicly financed campaigns, instant runoff voting (or approval or ‘borda’ vote systems) and proportional representation.
Also, not utilizing the best technology possible for our ballot designs and voting mechanisms is inexcusable in the most technologically advanced ‘democracy’ in the world; therefore I support implementing upgraded physical voting systems as soon as possible.

3. Health Care Reform
The Green Party of Texas endorses a universal single-payer health-care system that guarantees health care as a human right. Under such a system, affordable, quality health care will be available without regard to income, employment, health status, or place of birth. All people will be free to choose doctors and other health professionals.
Health-care providers must practice according to professional standards without undue interference from third-party decision makers. The emphasis will be on preventive and primary care, which would reduce unnecessary overhead and insurance company profits, streamline financing, and improve efficiency.

4. Gay/Lesbian/Transgendered Rights
We oppose discrimination based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. We support the rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people to be free from discrimination in all arenas of life including housing, jobs, child custody, and adoption. Moreover, we support legal recognition of same-sex civil marriage with all the rights and benefits currently granted to heterosexual couples.

5. Welfare
Welfare benefits must be equal to the living wage standard of the county in which the welfare recipients reside. Workfare programs may not cause the demotion or unemployment of existing workers and will be subject to prevailing wage laws.

6. Guns
The Green Party of Texas supports legislation and policies that require criminal ********** checks to be conducted on all secondary firearm sales. The criminal ********** check must be identical to that required by federally licensed dealers under the Brady Law. We support licensing and registration of newly purchased or transferred handguns and assault weapons. We support the right of local municipalities to regulate the sale, transfer, transportation, licensing, and registration of firearms, ammunition, or firearm supplies.

7. Reproductive Freedom
We support the right of women to make their own decisions regarding all aspects of their reproduction, without any attempt by government to restrict or control their reproductive choices

8. War on Drugs
We will call for the abolition of mandatory minima for nonviolent offenses and an end to the “war on drugs,” which has been so notable for its failure.
We believe that it one cannot talk about drug prohibition without also talking about racism - and that one feeds the other. We believe this extends to our foreign policy, as well - that the use of military force outside of our country in the name of the drug war is racist, and motivated merely by monetary factors. There are few who stand to gain from the war on drugs, and many who are impacted negatively by it. The few who could be impacted positively by the legalization of a proven pain reliever for cancer patients are the sick - and to not at least legalize medicinal marijuana is simply "cruel and unusual punishment" upon people already suffering

9. Death Penalty
We will call not just for a moratorium, because of the certainty that innocent people are being murdered by the state, but for abolition of the death penalty, because it embodies in a microcosm everything that is wrong with the harshly punitive view of criminal justice that we have today.

As you can see, he's a good candidate and is worthy of my vote. Too bad he won't get more than 6% in this stuck up, republican state.

Re: I'm going to vote tomorrow!
 

SP, if he gets as much as 3% of the vote I'll be you dinner when I come to Houston over X-Mas break. I'll be shocked if this guy gets more than 1% of the vote. May not even get that much.

Also, what's wrong with Sanchez? Everything I see on CNN about him sounds postive. Yeah, so he laundered Colombian drug money in the 80s. Big deal.

That said, glad to see Samsa has influenced you to vote. I think she will be happy. I can't believe done such a 180 in one day's time.

Re: Re: I'm going to vote tomorrow!
 

The green party is growing fairly rapidly here, and I'm just optimistic. He'll likely get 2%, but I wish it were more.

Sanchez is just a big banker gone political. He sits on the Board of Regents at the University of Texas, yet hasn't attended a meeting in roughly two years.

He has spent more money on this campaign than any other politican has spent on any campaign, set aside presidential candidates. He's gotten his money from some shady banking investments and loans in El Paso and Far West Texas in the late 80s and early 90s. He has some strong views, but his ********** is too shady to trust. Plus, he has no opinion on public education, which Texas already sucks at and needs to focus to get stronger.

Samsa didn't influence me. I was just making a point by arguing. Although she didn't accept it, I know it made sense to someone on here, and that's all that matters. This will be only the second time I've voted; the other was for a bond election when I was 19.

is it even close between the dem and the rep?

Re: Re: Re: I'm going to vote tomorrow!
 

excuse me? in other words you were just arguing for the sake of arguing ie to fuck up my topic? thanks.

Uh, It's like 50 percent for Perry (Rep.) and 35 percent for Sanchez (Dem.) as of right now. That number will shrink, but still will be a republican win. That's just how this state works, unfortunately.

Re: Re: Re: Re: I'm going to vote tomorrow!
 

I wasn't trying to mess your topic up. What'd be the point of that? I was trying to argue the point I usually have, which is it's pointless to vote on many occassions. That's all. It was peronal like you appear to believe, I promise.