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Hawkins Calls for Democratic Reforms to End Albany Political Corruption
Howie Hawkins for Governor
P.O. Box 562, Syracuse NY 13205
www.howiehawkins.org
Medial Release: May 5, 2010
For more information:
Howie Hawkins, 315-425-1019
Mark Dunlea, 518-860-3725
Howie Hawkins, a Green Party candidate for Governor, said today that he strongly supported the efforts by a wide range of citizen and public interest groups to enact systemic reforms to end the political corruption and legislative dysfunction that dominates the State Capitol.
"Far too many state lawmakers see former Senator Joe Bruno as a role model rather than as a disgraced convicted felon. They use the Capitol as their personal ATM, doing favors for their campaign contributors while looking for ways to enrich themselves. State lawmakers view their positions as their ticket into the inner circle of the ruling elite, where one does favor for your friends so they will do favors for you. We need to do more than just change the way that political campaigns are financed or restrict the relationships between lobbyists and politicians. Corporate rule and power have prospered under the unique American two-party system. Real reform requires us in joining the rest of the world in creating a multi-party democracy through proportional representation. And the rules of the Assembly and Senate must be democratized so our elected representatives can represent us instead of the party leaders,” explained Hawkins.
Hawkins supports a Clean Money Clean Election system of public campaign financing; an independent commission to redraw legislative and Congressional district lines in a non-partisan manner; same day voter registration; enactment of referendum and initiative; and democratic control and consolidation of public authorities. Hawkins supports a lifetime ban on the revolving door between government and lobbying; the creation of an independent ethics commission to oversee both the legislative and executive branches; and stricter enforcement of the ban on gifts and honoraria to elected officials. He supports stronger enforcement of the laws by local and state Board of Elections.
Hawkins supports adopting a proportional electoral system that is standard in almost all other democracies, electing political legislative bodies that reflect the diversity of political opinion among the voters. Candidates of the various parties would be elected based on the percentage of the vote each party receives. For Executive branch elections such as Governor and Attorney General, he would use Instant Run-off Voting. Voters would rank candidates in order of preference, and a candidate would have to have a majority rather than a mere plurality to be elected. If no candidate had a majority on the first round, the lowest ranked candidate would be eliminated and their votes re-allocated to the voter's second choice. This process would continue until one candidate had a majority.
Hawkins said he would have welcomed the opportunity to speak as a Gubernatorial candidate at the Reform Day, which was the initial structure for the day. "It is a little hard for me to understand how the Attorney General is particularly relevant to the issue of ethics reform, other than that the current one is running for Governor. but HE prefers to avoid tough questions about the state budget, so he hasn't bothered to announce. Unfortunately, we heard almost exclusively from the representatives of the Democratic Party about their wonderful promises to reform the system, but the reality is that they made the same promises four years ago, took control of both the Governor's office and the State Senate, and the political corruption and the power of the special interests is more prevalent than ever," added Hawkins.
Howie Hawkins for Governor
P.O. Box 562
Syracuse NY 13205
www.howiehawkins.org
Media Release:
May 5, 2010
For more information:
Howie Hawkins, 315-425-1019
Mark Dunlea, 518-860-3725
Howie Hawkins, a Green Party candidate for Governor, said today that he strongly supported the efforts by a wide range of citizen and public interest groups to enact systemic reforms to end the political corruption and legislative dysfunction that dominates the State Capitol.
"Far too many state lawmakers see former Senator Joe Bruno as a role model rather than as a disgraced convicted felon. They use the Capitol as their personal ATM, doing favors for their campaign contributors while looking for ways to enrich themselves. State lawmakers view their positions as their ticket into the inner circle of the ruling elite, where one does favor for your friends so they will do favors for you. We need to do more than just change the way that political campaigns are financed or restrict the relationships between lobbyists and politicians. Corporate rule and power have prospered under the unique American two-party system. Real reform requires us in joining the rest of the world in creating a multi-party democracy through proportional representation. And the rules of the Assembly and Senate must be democratized so our elected representatives can represent us instead of the party leaders,” explained Hawkins.
Hawkins supports a Clean Money Clean Election system of public campaign financing; an independent commission to redraw legislative and Congressional district lines in a non-partisan manner; same day voter registration; enactment of referendum and initiative; and democratic control and consolidation of public authorities. Hawkins supports a lifetime ban on the revolving door between government and lobbying; the creation of an independent ethics commission to oversee both the legislative and executive branches; and stricter enforcement of the ban on gifts and honoraria to elected officials. He supports stronger enforcement of the laws by local and state Board of Elections.
Hawkins supports adopting a proportional electoral system that is standard in almost all other democracies, electing political legislative bodies that reflect the diversity of political opinion among the voters. Candidates of the various parties would be elected based on the percentage of the vote each party receives. For Executive branch elections such as Governor and Attorney General, he would use Instant Run-off Voting. Voters would rank candidates in order of preference, and a candidate would have to have a majority rather than a mere plurality to be elected. If no candidate had a majority on the first round, the lowest ranked candidate would be eliminated and their votes re-allocated to the voter's second choice. This process would continue until one candidate had a majority.
Hawkins said he would have welcomed the opportunity to speak as a Gubernatorial candidate at the Reform Day, which was the initial structure for the day. "It is a little hard for me to understand how the Attorney General is particularly relevant to the issue of ethics reform, other than that the current one is running for Governor. but HE prefers to avoid tough questions about the state budget, so he hasn't bothered to announce. Unfortunately, we heard almost exclusively from the representatives of the Democratic Party about their wonderful promises to reform the system, but the reality is that they made the same promises four years ago, took control of both the Governor's office and the State Senate, and the political corruption and the power of the special interests is more prevalent than ever," added Hawkins.
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