Illinois Green Party looks ahead to elections

Illinois' Green Party, one of only three established political parties in Illinois, held its state-wide semiannual meeting at the Illinois Terminal in downtown Champaign this weekend to discuss goals for the state and potential candidates for upcoming elections.

The University also has a student affiliated Green Party group on campus called Campus Greens.

"Campus Greens is basically a younger group. We provide support and help fuel local campaigns," said Sarah Grajdura, junior in engineering and president of Campus Greens.

With the recent presidential election, the group's membership has fallen, but members are focusing on recruiting new people in the fall. They will also be investigating companies that invest in the University foundation to ensure that they are ethical, green and sustainable, Grajdura said.

According to party officials, the Green Party is made up of local groups all over the state that adhere to the party's "ten key values." These values include "ecological wisdom," "community based economics" and "feminism," among others. Additionally, the Green Party is part of the international Green movement.

The party was officially established in 2006, when Rich Whitney ran for Illinois governor and received approximately 10 percent of the total votes.

Rich Whitney, the party's candidate for the upcoming governor election, says that some of Illinois' most pressing issues are the budget, the economy, health care and the war in Iraq.

"The war may seem like a national issue, but we have Illinois National Guardsmen overseas," Whitney said. "I intend to make it a state issue."

Illinois' budget is also a top priority, Whitney said.

"Almost every state in the United States is going through what Illinois is going through a budget crisis," he said.

"We need to change the way we tax," he added.

While income tax needs to remain high, it should be a vehicle for property tax relief as well as support for the public sector, he said.

"We should be expanding the public sector, not shrinking it, especially in a time of economic crisis," he added.

Along with expanding the public sector, Whitney would also like to see Illinois establish a state bank and eliminate the private bank "middle man." Currently, North Dakota has the only state-owned bank in the country and also has a rare budget surplus.

"I think we could learn from our sister state of North Dakota," Whitney said.

Competing against two much stronger parties — in both public support and finances — poses a challenge to the Green Party, said Sheldon Schafer, vice president of Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences in Peoria and third-place candidate in the 2008 18th U.S. Congressional District election.

People need to base their political decisions on fact rather than commercials or media coverage, Schafer said.

Climate change is an example of an issue where people base their decisions on hype and media speculation, he said. Much of this is driven by special interest groups, he added.

"Climate change is being treated in many circles as an optional belief. I've watched the data and I've read the papers. It's really going to be bad for business if we don't do anything about it," Schafer said.

By basing decisions on facts alone, Illinois and the United States can begin to solve some of its issues, Schafer said.

"We've got to be in it for the long run," he said.

Especially with the high cost of education to college students, Whitney encourages young people to get involved.

"Politics cannot be a spectator sport," he said. "If you don't like what you're getting out of your government, you have to get involved."