From the Green Party of the United States: Candidates and activists in the Green Party of the United States are expressing strong opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) as currently negotiated between the United States and European Union."Trade barriers between the U.S. and Europe are already low, but the TTIP would lower it even further by weakening labor, food safety, and environmental protections, enabling further privatization of public resources and services, and gutting corporate regulations," said Friedemann Buschbeck, co-coordinator of the Green Party of Tampa, Florida."The White House doesn't want us to talk about it. As with the TPP [TransPacific Partnership], the TTIP's U.S. negotiators have tried to keep the deal a secret from the public. We need public scrutiny and discussion, including hearings, on the effects of the TTIP," said Mr. Buschbeck.The Green Party of the U.S. has strongly opposed trade deals that establish secretive panel of pro-corporate experts sitting in a foreign court of arbitration with the power to nullify legislation passed in the U.S. and other signatory states. Greens support negotiation of TTIP and renegotiation of other agreements to strengthen labor, environmental, and consumer protections. Read the complete statement here...

Dear Friends, Thank you for your continued support of the Maryland Green Party. We're happy to be able to reach out to you at such an exciting time of year. We have several projects happening right now that you can get involved in today. We hope you will stay connected with us throughout the year on our new website. The first, and most important, project we are involved in is our continuing ballot access drive. Once again, state law requires us to submit 10,000 signatures of registered Maryland voters in order to maintain our status as a political party. We need you to get involved! Click here to download petitions and watch a video showcasing some of our most experienced petitioners.We are constantly seeking new volunteers to petition but we are also planning to hire professional signature gatherers to supplement our efforts.Please click here to make a contribution to help us stay on the ballot!We are holding our mail-in primary election for several 2014 candidates for local, state, and federal elections. Visit this page to see if you are eligible to participate in this year's Green Party primary vote. Our 2014 Annual Assembly will be held Saturday, May 31st in Takoma Park. Our program will begin at 10am at the Takoma Park Presbyterian Church. We will be meeting Green candidates for public office and holding panels on resolving economic inequality and strengthening our alliances with unions. Visit this page for more details. Of course, we need your help to fund all of these projects, help more candidates run for office, and promote our activities to voters and potential new members. We hope you will make a contribution today to support our mission. Click here to make a contribution today!Thank you, The Maryland Green Party

From the Ian Schlakman for Congress campaign: After attending the recent "It's Our Economy" Conference in Baltimore, Ian Schlakman is calling for new economy activists to declare their support for his campaign for U.S House, District 2.Schlakman is running on a platform including universal single-payer health care, incentivizing new economic systems such as alternative currencies, and a basic income guarantee (BIG) for all citizens."New economy activists are discussing many tools we need to move away from a centralized, corporatized national economy," noted Schlakman. "My campaign is about challenging Congress to talk about these things on Capitol Hill. I am prioritizing the concept of a basic income guarantee because it is a tool that Congress can use to radically change how Americans relate to work and money."Under a basic income guarantee, all citizens would be paid a subsistence-level wage on a regular basis. Sometimes called "Social Security For All", the program would be administered similarly to Social Security, but provided for all citizens regardless of age or ability."A basic income guarantee is one way to stimulate innovation in our economy," says Schlakman. "Hundreds of thousands of Americans are working unfulfilling jobs because they are stuck with millions of dollars of student and consumer debt. They can't risk leaving their jobs to pursue the ideas that will drive our economy in the coming decades. A basic income guarantee can provide the security tomorrow's innovators need to get to work.""I am calling on new economy activists to support my campaign for Congress and help elect a voice willing to make this argument in Washington, DC. The current crop of Congressional leaders are unwilling to talk about the economy we need to create."Schlakman is a small business owner and certified IT professional. He is seeking the nomination of the Green Party for Maryland's 2nd District U.S. House seat. 

From the Green Party of the United States: Saving the Internet as we know it will take perpetual public pressure on the FCC, the Obama Administration, and future administrations not to enact new rules repealing net neutrality, said Green Party leaders and candidates.Green Party leaders said that telecommunications lobbies will continue to press the FCC to abolish net neutrality and said that the U.S. must remove the Internet from corporate control by providing public access through free broadband.An amended FCC proposal in response to the public outcry shows concessions but maintains pay-to-play access fees and a new standard that "creates high costs of regulation, does not provide certainty to market participants, and tilts the playing field in favor of large, established companies..."Read the complete statement here...

From Ian Schlakman for Congress:Ian Schlakman - who is seeking the Green Party nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives, District 2 - has announced his Think BIG, "Basic Income Guarantee" campaign message.A basic income guarantee - also known as a universal basic income - would provide a unconditional sum of monetary support to all citizens on a regular basis. "Members of Congress swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States," said Schlakman, "which calls to promote the general welfare of the people of the United States. Ensuring each citizen of the United States a basic income is a key foundation of my campaign for the U.S. House."One quarter of Baltimore residents live in poverty, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics. A basic income guarantee would provide all citizens with sufficient income to pay for basic housing, utilities and food needs.  "Congress is deadlocked on President Obama's proposal to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour," Schlakman continued. "This is not surprising. Democrats should have expected this resistance and not set such a low bar. If they know they are going to have to fight the GOP to increase wages, why not set a higher bar and call for a basic income guarantee? The obvious answer is that most Democrats won't support what the 99% of lower-income Americans really need. That's why we need a fresh set of leadership in Capitol Hill."  Schlakman is seeking the nomination of the Maryland Green Party. The Green Party's platform calls for a basic income guarantee for "every adult regardless of health, employment, or marital status, in order to minimize government bureaucracy and intrusiveness into people's lives".  Ian Schlakman is a certified IT professional. He is campaigning for the foundation of a new, ecologically-sound economy, an end to the surveillance-driven security state, and a basic income guarantee for all Americans. For more information, see www.ian42.com or call 410-575-1764.