Howie Hawkins for Governor

Green Party - www.howiehawkins.org

For Immediate Release:
May 27, 2010

For More Info:
Howie Hawkins, 315 425-1019
Mark Dunlea, 518 860-3725

Media Advisory

Howie Hawkins News Conference to Announce Gubernatorial Campaign to Syracuse Community and Respond to Nomination of Andrew Cuomo by the Democrats

Howie Hawkins will hold a news conference on Friday, May 28 at 1 PM to formally announce his gubernatorial campaign to the Syracuse community. Hawkins recently received the Green Party nomination at its statewide convention in Albany.

The news conference will be held at Skiddy Park in Syracuse at its northeast corner at Tioga and Otisco Streets. Hawkins chose this location in a public park next to a public housing project and the Blodgett School to illustrate the consequences of the austerity budgets proposed by the major party gubernatorial candidates that threaten to close state parks, privatize public housing, and cut public school funding for teachers and repairs.

Hawkins will also respond to the nomination of Andrew Cuomo by the Democrats at their nominating convention this week in Westchester.

Hawkins will compare his platform to that recently released by Cuomo as well as the continuing paralysis at the State Capitol with the budget.

"With a Democrat like Cuomo, who needs the Republicans? Cuomo's economic austerity program sounds like the Republican platforms of Lazio, Levy, and Palladino," said Hawkins. "The two corporate parties, starting with Andy's father, gave huge tax cuts to rich that cut state revenues by more than $16 billion this year alone. Cuomo and his fellow politicians in Albany are now moving into the second stage of their campaign, using the deficits created by the tax giveaways to their campaign contributors as a pretext to cut funding for schools, housing, jobs, and other essential services. They want to impose IMF-style structural adjustment on New York to make working people pay for rich folk's tax cuts and the state bonds they own for New York State's borrowing," said Hawkins.

"Cuomo's fiscal cuts and corporate welfare proposals will reinforce a vicious circle of debt and depression. Reduced public spending when private sector business and household demand is depressed will further depress the economy, reduce tax revenues, and lead to more public spending cuts to balance the budget. What we need instead is need to make the rich pay their fair share of taxes in order to fully fund our schools, parks, health care, aid to local governments, and other public goods," said Hawkins.

The Green Party is committed to ecology, democracy, nonviolence, and social justice. It has over 20,000 enrolled voters in New York State and needs at least 50,000 votes for its gubernatorial ticket to secure an automatic line on New York ballots for the next four years.