“The Working Families Party have sent a cynical signal…”

The July 2nd mayoral candidate forum hosted by the Working Families Party –with only Mike Bloomberg, Tony Avella and Bill Thompson– hurts New York City and hurts us all. The threesome represents the Republicans and Democrats. No mayoral candidate from any other party was invited, despite our own efforts to reach WFP, and so we’re stuck with these three guys.

There is one mother of all issues. Democracy is it. Bloomberg arranged with his money to flout public votes for term limits and is now running against Democracy itself. His corruption of our right to free elections will be judged harshly in history, as a modern Tammany Hall. We must oppose his $90 million campaign not just to oppose his leadership as a person, but to show future generations that we had the guts and energy to rise up against big money’s imitation of democracy.

The candidate from the Pepsi and Coke parties will immediately frame their conversation in the old way. They know that, with new and creative leaders at the microphones, the debate would be closer to common sense talk to many New York citizens in this crises year. Now, more than ever — we need creative (and Green) approaches to taxation, to public safety, to education and transit. The Working Families Party have sent a cynical signal, here before signature gathering for ballot access has even begun for the third parties: that we must be resigned to this same self-dealing financial/political class. Bloomberg’s policies toward our city are those of a corporate executive answering to wealthy investors, and so often the Democrats go along.

But New York is not a corporation. New York is a city. A city in a democracy. Let’s debate like it is.

Rev Billy Talen, Green Party candidate for Mayor of NYC.

This entry was posted on July 7, 2009 at 10:35 am and is filed under News, Political News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.