23 August 2016
By Maureen Hayden
Daily News (Greensburg, IN)
"A restrictive ballot-access law reserves that designation for a
select few: the Republican in the race, the Democrat and the Libertarian
(Gary Johnson) -- whose party earned a qualifying 2 percent of the vote
in past elections.For Roberts to win any votes, Hoosiers will have to go to the polls with his name in mind and write it onto their ballots.Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential nominee, is in the same write-in boat.
So,
too, is Emidio Soltysik, candidate for the Socialist Party USA. His
party’s early 20th century standard bearer, Indiana-born Eugene Debs,
appeared on presidential ballot here five times...."
Read More
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Socialist Party Presidential Ticket Will Be on MI Ballot
The Presidential Ticket Will Also Be Joined by Socialist Party State House Candidate Michael Anderson (70th district)
For Immediate Release
August 7, 2016
Official Presidential Campaign Website: www.rev16.us
LANSING – The 2016 Socialist Party USA presidential campaign of Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik and vice presidential running mate Angela Nicole Walker will be included among the six presidential tickets appearing on Michigan’s ballot this November. The ticket was officially added to the Michigan Secretary of State’s November general candidate listing this week, along with a clickable hyperlink to its campaign website (rev16.us).
Due to the Socialist Party’s longstanding exclusion from direct access to the Michigan ballot, its Michigan state party branch has, for the past two decades, relied on qualifying its nominees through combinations of independent candidate petitions, dual party nominations, and write-in campaigns. Accordingly, the Soltysik / Walker ticket will be ballot-listed with the label of Michigan’s Natural Law Party, which has independently retained its state ballot status since its national affiliate’s 2004 disbandment.
The 2016 election will be the first to include the Socialist Party’s presidential nominees on Michigan’s ballot since 2004. In the last two presidential elections of 2012 and 2008, the Socialist Party’s ticket was limited to certified write-in status in this state, amid the Michigan NLP’s nominations having then gone to the independent campaigns headed respectively by Rocky Anderson and Ralph Nader.
Citing recent national poll findings that two-thirds of U.S. voters want “radical change,” Socialist Party of Michigan State Chair Matt Erard noted that the Soltysik / Walker ticket represents the only presidential campaign confronting the capitalist system as the root social force driving ever-expanding inequality, political plutocracy, environmental devastation, police and foreign-policy aggression, debt strangulation, and austerity. Uprooting capitalism, he contends, depends most critically on the working class asserting its political independence.
“The Democratic Party is this nation’s premier apparatus for restraining working people from fighting back in the class struggle.” Erard said. “If the choice must be between ‘wasting one’s vote’ or perpetuating the corporate oligarchy, which is the real lesser evil?”
In reference to the victory of nominal ‘socialist’ Bernie Sanders in Michigan’s presidential primary, Erard noted that every Michigan voter who sought to cast her vote against the Wall Street overclass last March is now assured a choice for political expression in November. At the same time, he argued that Sanders’ recent realignment of his ‘political revolution’ behind the neoliberal banner is a direct reflection of the Democratic Party’s essential class character.
The Socialist Party’s presidential ticket will also be joined on Michigan’s November ballot by Socialist Party State House candidate Michael Anderson (www.anderson2016.spmichigan.org), who will be challenging Republican Jim Lower and Democrat Ken Hart in the 70th district—covering portions of the central region counties of Montcalm and Gratiot. In contrast to the Socialist Party’s presidential nominees, Anderson’s name will be listed on the ballot with the label of Michigan’s Green Party.
The Socialist Party’s National Platform, as fully shared by its presidential and Michigan State House candidates, calls for a democratically planned economy, centered on worker- and community control of all major industrial firms and financial institutions, with production tailored to use and sustainability, rather than private profit. Other policy priorities include:
Contact:
Matt Erard
Chair, Socialist Party of Michigan
313.437.2865
mserard [at] gmail.com
Mimi Soltysik
SPUSA Presidential candidate
310.***.****
info [at] rev16.us
Angela Nicole Walker
SPUSA Vice Presidential Candidate
414.***.****
feistybutterfly19 [at] hotmail.com
Michael Anderson
SPMI State House Candidate
989.***.****
contactmichaelanderson [at] gmail.com
###
For Immediate Release
August 7, 2016
Official Presidential Campaign Website: www.rev16.us
LANSING – The 2016 Socialist Party USA presidential campaign of Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik and vice presidential running mate Angela Nicole Walker will be included among the six presidential tickets appearing on Michigan’s ballot this November. The ticket was officially added to the Michigan Secretary of State’s November general candidate listing this week, along with a clickable hyperlink to its campaign website (rev16.us).
Due to the Socialist Party’s longstanding exclusion from direct access to the Michigan ballot, its Michigan state party branch has, for the past two decades, relied on qualifying its nominees through combinations of independent candidate petitions, dual party nominations, and write-in campaigns. Accordingly, the Soltysik / Walker ticket will be ballot-listed with the label of Michigan’s Natural Law Party, which has independently retained its state ballot status since its national affiliate’s 2004 disbandment.
The 2016 election will be the first to include the Socialist Party’s presidential nominees on Michigan’s ballot since 2004. In the last two presidential elections of 2012 and 2008, the Socialist Party’s ticket was limited to certified write-in status in this state, amid the Michigan NLP’s nominations having then gone to the independent campaigns headed respectively by Rocky Anderson and Ralph Nader.
Citing recent national poll findings that two-thirds of U.S. voters want “radical change,” Socialist Party of Michigan State Chair Matt Erard noted that the Soltysik / Walker ticket represents the only presidential campaign confronting the capitalist system as the root social force driving ever-expanding inequality, political plutocracy, environmental devastation, police and foreign-policy aggression, debt strangulation, and austerity. Uprooting capitalism, he contends, depends most critically on the working class asserting its political independence.
“The Democratic Party is this nation’s premier apparatus for restraining working people from fighting back in the class struggle.” Erard said. “If the choice must be between ‘wasting one’s vote’ or perpetuating the corporate oligarchy, which is the real lesser evil?”
In reference to the victory of nominal ‘socialist’ Bernie Sanders in Michigan’s presidential primary, Erard noted that every Michigan voter who sought to cast her vote against the Wall Street overclass last March is now assured a choice for political expression in November. At the same time, he argued that Sanders’ recent realignment of his ‘political revolution’ behind the neoliberal banner is a direct reflection of the Democratic Party’s essential class character.
The Socialist Party’s presidential ticket will also be joined on Michigan’s November ballot by Socialist Party State House candidate Michael Anderson (www.anderson2016.spmichigan.org), who will be challenging Republican Jim Lower and Democrat Ken Hart in the 70th district—covering portions of the central region counties of Montcalm and Gratiot. In contrast to the Socialist Party’s presidential nominees, Anderson’s name will be listed on the ballot with the label of Michigan’s Green Party.
The Socialist Party’s National Platform, as fully shared by its presidential and Michigan State House candidates, calls for a democratically planned economy, centered on worker- and community control of all major industrial firms and financial institutions, with production tailored to use and sustainability, rather than private profit. Other policy priorities include:
- An immediate 50% in the U.S. military budget, followed by further rapid cuts to less than 10% of its current funding level; Withdrawal of all U.S. troops stationed overseas and closure of all overseas bases; Abolition of the CIA; Prohibition on the manufacturing and use of weaponized and surveillance drones; Withdrawal from NATO; Support for a constitutional amendment requiring a binding vote of the people on all issues of war and military intervention; Cessation of all U.S. aid to Israel; Elimination of all U.S. military aid and arms sales; Forgiveness of all Third World debt; Withdrawal from the IMF, World Bank, WTO, and NAFTA.
- A maximum wage of ten times the minimum wage; Comprehensive single-payer health care for all; Tuition-free college/university education; Forgiveness of all outstanding student loan debt; Full-funding for quality childcare facilities; A 30-hour work week with no loss of pay or benefits, and six weeks annual paid vacation; 16-months paid new-parent leave; A steeply graduated income and estate tax and abolition of regressive payroll taxes; Right of retirement at age 55 with minimum 25k/yr benefits; Rent control for all existing rental units; A sliding-scale utility-fees index to ensure affordable access; A national moratorium on home foreclosures, Automatic union recognition based on card-check; Elimination of all anti-labor legislation, including restrictions on public-sector strikes, hot cargo agreements, and secondary strikes and boycotts.
- Publically elected and fully-empowered police oversight councils, and structural overhaul of the contemporary police force model; Decriminalization of drug-use, and amnesty for all non-violent offenders; Abolition of for-profit prisons; Abrogation of all three strikes laws; A moratorium on new prison construction; Demilitarization of U.S. borders; Full-citizenship rights upon demonstrating six-months residency; Abolition of the NSA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security; Repeal of the USA PATRIOT and Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty acts.
- Free abortion on demand; A federal ban on all forms of job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity; Vigorous affirmative action programs; Federal reparations for slavery, and for genocide of Native American populations; Abolition of the death penalty; Publicly financed elections; Free and equal access to mass media for all candidates; Uniform ballot-access laws for all states.
- Public ownership of all natural resources and energy plants; Strict carbon emission limits, and ratification of the Kyoto Protocol; Development of solar, geothermal, wind, hydropower, and biomass energy sources; Phasing out of all nuclear plants and waste incinerators; Elimination of open-pit mining, Protection of minority communities from targeting for harmful waste disposal sites and operations.
Contact:
Matt Erard
Chair, Socialist Party of Michigan
313.437.2865
mserard [at] gmail.com
Mimi Soltysik
SPUSA Presidential candidate
310.***.****
info [at] rev16.us
Angela Nicole Walker
SPUSA Vice Presidential Candidate
414.***.****
feistybutterfly19 [at] hotmail.com
Michael Anderson
SPMI State House Candidate
989.***.****
contactmichaelanderson [at] gmail.com
###
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
A little more to the Left, America
12 July 2016
By Gabe Carroll
The Hindu
When Bernie Sanders stormed on to the 2016 presidential campaign stage, many branded him as “too socialist”. However, for his rivals further to the left, the Vermont Senator is not the right person to be carrying the banner of democratic socialism. For them, his views are hardly socialist, compared to the political revolution with which they hope to end capitalism in the United States. Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik and Angela Walker are running for President on the Socialist Party USA ticket. Their platform is openly radical, if not revolutionary, and their objective isn’t votes but visibility. The campaign is crowd-funded, and because neither candidate is a full-time politician many campaign appearances are made via Skype. They will only appear on the ballot in a handful of states while having write-in status everywhere else.
By Gabe Carroll
The Hindu
When Bernie Sanders stormed on to the 2016 presidential campaign stage, many branded him as “too socialist”. However, for his rivals further to the left, the Vermont Senator is not the right person to be carrying the banner of democratic socialism. For them, his views are hardly socialist, compared to the political revolution with which they hope to end capitalism in the United States. Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik and Angela Walker are running for President on the Socialist Party USA ticket. Their platform is openly radical, if not revolutionary, and their objective isn’t votes but visibility. The campaign is crowd-funded, and because neither candidate is a full-time politician many campaign appearances are made via Skype. They will only appear on the ballot in a handful of states while having write-in status everywhere else.
“Obtaining ballot status for a third party, especially a revolutionary
party, is incredibly difficult,” says candidate Mimi Soltysik, 41.
“Ballot access laws are quite prohibitive.” With his June web-address to
supporters Sanders began re-tooling his campaign to encourage a
tactical vote for Sen. Clinton to beat Trump, without giving a formal
endorsement. Sanders is continuing his campaign by pushing strongly —
and successfully — for a more radical platform within the Democratic
Party. Soltysik and Walker on the other hand are pushing forward with
their campaign outside the two major parties, running for President
while talking about revolution, and insisting that elections alone are
not the answer.
According to Walker and Soltysik, their campaign is about giving
expression and a platform to the struggles of everyday people, not to
themselves as individuals. The mainstream candidates, including Sanders,
campaign with the benefit of Secret Service details, and speak to
crowds of thousands. Soltysik, a community organiser, and Walker, a bus
driver who is also a mother and grandmother, work their day jobs and
campaign in their free time, speaking to small groups of supporters in
leftist spaces and in live web addresses, and organising social events
in restaurants and supporters’ houses....
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Demonstrators take to L.A. streets to rally against shootings by police
09 July 2016
By Kate Mather, Anh Do
The Los Angeles Times
"We have to keep the message going and not have the narrative change by things like what happened in Dallas," said Kerry Koerbling, who drove to downtown L.A. from Thousand Oaks, where he's a member of the Ventura County branch of the Socialist Party USA.
His friend, Mimi Soltysik, presidential candidate for the Socialist Party USA, said he is proud that across the country, demonstrators have stayed calm, showing the world what they stand for.
"I think if there's fear and unrest, it would come from law enforcement. Why? Their record speaks for itself. The fact that a lot of protests have been peaceful is a real testament to the people..."
Read More
By Kate Mather, Anh Do
The Los Angeles Times
"We have to keep the message going and not have the narrative change by things like what happened in Dallas," said Kerry Koerbling, who drove to downtown L.A. from Thousand Oaks, where he's a member of the Ventura County branch of the Socialist Party USA.
His friend, Mimi Soltysik, presidential candidate for the Socialist Party USA, said he is proud that across the country, demonstrators have stayed calm, showing the world what they stand for.
"I think if there's fear and unrest, it would come from law enforcement. Why? Their record speaks for itself. The fact that a lot of protests have been peaceful is a real testament to the people..."
Read More
Saturday, June 25, 2016
A look back at U.S.'s radical Left
25 June 2016
By Gabe Carroll
The Hindu
"The SPA’s political heritage can be seen today in two organisations: the
Democratic Socialists of America and the Socialist Party USA. The DSA,
which is the larger of the two at roughly 5,000 members, supports Mr.
Sanders while the smaller and arguably more radical SPUSA has refused
to, running its own candidate, California community organiser Emidio
“Mimi” Soltysik.
Mr. Soltysik and the SPUSA argue that Mr. Sanders is not really a
socialist, and criticise his positions on foreign policy and the Middle
East, on Israel in particular.
“We are explicitly socialist, as in ‘worker control of the means of production’,” says Mr. Soltysik.
“Sanders seems to advocate for social democracy/progressive Democrat
policy. He also has a terrible foreign policy record. Those aren't
inconsequential differences.”"
Monday, June 20, 2016
Saying No to Clinton and Trump? See the K-12 Positions of Other Candidates
20 June 2016
By Andrew Ujifusa
Education Week
"The Socialist Party USA's nominee for president, Soltysik lists the party's education platform on his website. Some of the platform's general themes jibe with Stein's when it comes to K-12. Soltysik's platform includes the following points:
By Andrew Ujifusa
Education Week
"The Socialist Party USA's nominee for president, Soltysik lists the party's education platform on his website. Some of the platform's general themes jibe with Stein's when it comes to K-12. Soltysik's platform includes the following points:
- "We oppose merit pay for teachers, standardized testing, competition between schools within the same district, the sale of on-campus advertising in order to raise funds, and the increasing dependence of post-secondary institutions on corporate funding."
- "We call for an egalitarian educational system with teaching methods that accommodate the wide range of teaching and learning styles, and that provides all students with the means to obtain the post-secondary education they desire. We call [for] a maximum of 15 students per teacher for grades K-12, and a maximum of 50 students per teacher at the post-secondary level."
- "We support student, parent, and teacher control of curriculum formation, and in the hiring and dismissal procedures of school personnel, through the formation of local school/community committees.""
Sunday, June 12, 2016
SP Presidential Campaign Profiled on Univision (Video and Article)
12 June 2016
The U.S. Spanish-language broadcast network, Univision, has produced a a video interview with SP presidential candidate Mimi Soltysik, as well as an extensive article on the campaign. Both can be accessed by clicking here.
The U.S. Spanish-language broadcast network, Univision, has produced a a video interview with SP presidential candidate Mimi Soltysik, as well as an extensive article on the campaign. Both can be accessed by clicking here.
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