Category: Positions

California Propositions: Which Should Win?, November 1 in Berkeley

On Saturday, November 1 the Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party and Movement presents “California Propositions: Which Should WIN? LOSE!”.

When: Saturday, November 1, 2014 from 2:30pm to 4:00pm (doors open at 2:00pm)
Where: Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Avenue at Prince Street, Berkeley (MAP)
What: Forum on California ballot propositions
Sponsor: Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party and Movement

Cost: free (but please buy food & drink at the pub)

Where are the Statewide candidates?

We are not recommending a vote for any of the statewide candidates, including Governor.

This November’s election for Governor and other state officers does not offer any options for working-class people. Under the new “top two” rules of Prop 14, the electoral system, which has always been dominated by the people with the most money, has gotten worse .You will not be able to vote for Peace and Freedom, Green, or Libertarian candidates, or even cast a write-in vote.

The Peace and Freedom Party is working to overturn the anti-democratic Proposition 14. Passed in 2010, it allows voters to choose a candidate from any party (or no party) in the primary election. But only the top-two vote-getters , usually the ones with the most in their campaign coffers, advance to the November election. We end up with only the candidates of the wealthy and big business, and no choice for working class people.

We urge you to go to the polls and vote for the issues and candidates that you believe in. In Los Angeles, our Peace and Freedom candidate for Congress, Adam Shbeita, won a spot on the ballot through the write-in process against the otherwise unchallenged incumbent. Write-ins are allowed in the primary, but are not an option in the November top-two elections.

And of course, it is is important to vote on the statewide propositions and on local ballot measures.

You can help us fight this travesty. You can donate to our legal suit to overturn Proposition 14. You can connect with others to spread the word. And you can register in the Peace and Freedom Party to help us remain ballot-qualified as we work to change the system.

Why Vote Peace and Freedom?

Sick of Republicans who are clueless? Tired of Democrats selling you out? There is an alternative! That alternative is the Peace and Freedom Party.

We fight for the things all working people need: free education, from pre-school through university; an end to U.S. intervention throughout the world; free health care for all, such as enjoyed by workers in every other industrialized nation in the world; full employment at union wages, with generous paid vacation and other benefits. Workers, both documented and undocumented, have the right to organize, safe working conditions, and paid sick leave. We can pay for these things if the rich are taxed at rates they can well afford.

These are not just planks in our platform, these are issues Peace and Freedom candidates and members work for. The many problems facing the working class concern us because we are a part of that class. We know we can’t get what we need just by voting for it, so we participate in mass organization and direct action as part of the labor, anti-war, civil rights, and other movements, and now the Occupy movement. But we also know we can’t get what we need unless we also vote for it—and that’s why we need an electoral party rooted in and responsible to the movement.

Beyond these specific issues and movements, we understand the underlying reason why we have to keep struggling for the things we need is the ownership of the world and the conditions of our labor by a very few, very wealthy people—capitalism. To win any of these struggles finally and for good, we need to replace capitalism with a working-class democracy in which production is planned to meet human needs—socialism.

From the Statewide Voter Guide

The Peace and Freedom Party’s statement of purpose in the Official Voter Information Guide for the November 4, 2014 general election, published by the Secretary of State.

The Peace and Freedom Party is a working-class party in a country run by and for the wealthy and their corporations. We should not have to sacrifice our health, our livelihoods and our planet for our bosses’ profits. We can tax the rich, whose wealth is created by workers, to pay for society’s needs. We favor:

  • Decent jobs and labor rights for all
  • Free education for all, preschool through university
  • Free universal health care
  • Comprehensive services for disabled people
  • Bring the troops home
  • End all discrimination. Marriage equality
  • Full rights for immigrants
  • Restore and protect the environment
  • Real democracy and fair political representation.

The “top two” law has taken most parties off the general election ballot. We must end it. Please vote for Adam Shbeita for Congress in the 44th District.

While our system puts the wealthy first, we will suffer war, police brutality, low wages, unsafe workplaces and pollution. We advocate socialism, the ownership and democratic control of the economy by working people. If we join together to take back our industries and natural resources, we can work together for the common good, rather than being slaves to the rich and their corporations.

Register Peace and Freedom Party!