GREEN PARTY OF CONNECTICUT

For Immediate Release: Friday, October 18, 2002

Contacts:
Tom Sevigny, 860-693-8344
Justine McCabe 860-354-9773

Nader To Hold Press Conference Sunday, Oct. 20, Hartford, Endorses Connecticut Green Party Candidates

Hartford, CT-Consumer activist and 2000 Green Party Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader will hold a press conference, Sunday, Oct. 20, at 1:30 on the North Steps of the State Capitol to endorse Connecticut Green Party Candidates. On this visit to his home state, Mr. Nader calls attention to the Greens as they address the real concerns of Connecticut residents--corporate welfare, poverty, health care--that are being neglected by most Republican and Democratic candidates.

Tom Sevigny, State Senate Candidate for the 8th District said, "We're thrilled to be endorsed by Ralph Nader, the leading US advocate for democracy. Like him, Greens are disgusted by our state government's support for corporate welfare, while it fails to support the average family. Governor Rowland's fraudulent loss of $220 million of our public funds to subsidize Enron is the tip of the iceberg. His administration's manipulation of the budget cap--supposedly to save manufacturing jobs--has been a total failure. By using tax abatements to industry, the state gave $3.7 billion in 2002 in tax exemptions--29% of our total revenues--to large corporations while 105,000 manufacturing jobs were lost, a decrease in manufacturing employment 3.5 times the national average from 1989-2001. Why would voters re-elect such incompetence and dishonesty?"

According to Peter Magistri, Green Party Candidate for State Representative for the 60th District, "The common theme I hear from voters is "Us vs.Them"--the rich vs. the poor, politicians vs. citizens. They feel powerless knowing the major parties are owned by big-moneyed interests. They see it in higher drug prices and insurance rates, and a regressive state income tax that favors the wealthy. Our legislators oppose publicly-financed elections, the change necessary to restore democracy and achieve economic justice. Green Candidates are working for this change."

Mike DeRosa, State Senate Candidate for the 1st District said, "As I walk the streets of Hartford, the poverty is staggering. Here, in the capital city of the nation's wealthiest state, 41% of children are poor. Hartford's Latino and African-American voters particularly are making the connection between a lack of funds to meet their basic needs or housing, education, and health care and the millions from Connecticut that will be spent for war in Iraq. Sixty to 70% of these voters are opposed to the war." DeRosa continued, "They poignantly ask me, 'Why should we take money from our poor community and send it to kill other poor people in Iraq?'" DeRosa has been endorsed by several labor unions and the CT League of Conservation Voters.

Charlie Pillsbury, Green Candidate for congress for the 3rd District declared, "Nader is right: the two-party system has been thoroughly corrupted by huge sums of private money and unchecked corporate power. " He added, "The Green party offers the best hope for the future-either by taking power or by forcing the 'Enron' Republicans and the 'Arthur Anderson' Democrats to represent people, not corporations."

Simone Mason, State Rep. Candidate for the 91st District in Southern Hamden stated, "In Connecticut, 10% of our non-elderly population is without health insurance, the majority of whom are employed. How can the wealthiest state in the nation neglect the basic health needs of so many of its citizens?" She added, "Health care is a right. It should not be a privilege."

Other Connecticut Green Party Candidates for state legislative office are Dr. Penny Teal, State Senate Candidate for the 18th District and Dr. John Battista, Candidate for State Representative for the 67th District.