The Green Party’s long shot
continued from page 11

attend law school during the mid ’90s. There he first began looking at the Green Party.

“What impressed me about the Green Party is that it takes a more comprehensive approach to social problems than you would find with socialist groups,” Whitney says, adding that the Green Party didn’t seem to have the attitude of, “If you do A, B and C, we’ll live in a utopia.” Instead, he says the Green Party is more apt to evaluate ideas and “learn by doing” than other political parties with which he had been involved.

This isn’t Whitney’s first rodeo. He ran as a Green candidate for governor in 2006 against Democrat Rod Blagojevich and Republican Judy Baar Topinka, receiving 361,336 votes — 10.4 percent of the statewide total. Although he didn’t even come close to winning, he did help his party gain “established” status, by getting more than the required 5 percent of votes in a race for statewide office. That means Green Party candidates only have to obtain 5,000 signatures to get on the ballot, instead of the 25,000 required of non-established party candidates. Prior to his first run for governor, Whitney ran for state representative for district 115 in southern Illinois as a Green Party candidate in 2004, losing to Republican Mike Bost.

Now, Whitney says, Illinoisans are frustrated enough with the two main parties to seek answers elsewhere.

“People who pay attention are very clearly fed up,” he says.

Among Whitney’s priorities is a proposal to switch Illinois’ flat rate income tax to a graduated income tax in which individuals with higher incomes pay a larger percentage. That move would require a constitutional amendment. While he concedes the idea is largely unpopular in conservative circles, Whitney believes the current system is fundamentally unfair because the poor must pay a larger proportion of their total income in taxes. The wealthy can write off much of their tax burden, he says.

Whitney has also called for an income tax increase, as was proposed this legislative session by Gov. Pat Quinn. The measure was tabled, some analysts say, because the legislature can’t stomach raising taxes before an election. Whitney pairs his tax proposals with plans for an audit of the state budget to identify and cut  wasteful programs, practices and positions – an idea borrowed from former Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrzejewski. Whitney hopes to cut $2 billion from the budget by cutting waste and ending pork-barrel spending.

“The idea that government is a kind of fatted calf, and that the main goal of each legislator is to get the biggest slice for his or her district, regardless of the effect on the rest of the state, is a sickness, destructive of the public good,” Whitney says in his 21-page position paper on how to fix the state’s economy and finances.

Among his other policy prescriptions are legalizing and taxing marijuana, raising the minimum wage to a “living wage,” making college free for qualified residents and expanding public sector employment with more, higherpaying social service jobs.

Whitney has plans for a state-run bank – similar to one created by North Dakota – which would collect all state revenues to invest both surplus funds and private deposits in projects that would benefit the state. He also hopes to promote green energy by implementing a “fee and dividend” system, which would collect fees from greenhouse gas producers and nuclear power companies. Part of the proceeds would be used to pay the state’s bills, while the rest would be redistributed to among Illinois residents, with low-income residents receiving the largest shares.

Tolerance is good – better than not – but we need to think more in terms of really embracing diversity.

To address what some experts believe is the root cause of the national economic downturn, Whitney would tax speculative trading, the highly-risky public trading of derivatives and other complex financial devices.

“That type of trading has no redeeming social value; it’s pure gambling,” he says. “That’s what caused the real estate bubble to collapse. It’s purely predatory and destructive activity. I propose we tax it so a fraction of that profit can provide benefit to the public.”

Whitney says he is particularly upset about the plight of people with disabilities, who have seen large cuts in social services that help them live productive and full lives, as well as discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community. Whitney summarizes his position on LGBT issues by saying he supports extending the same rights, privileges and protections to everyone, adding that he feels the nation needs to mature in its attitude toward sexual orientation.

“Tolerance is good – better than not – but we need to think more in terms of really embracing diversity,” Whitney says. “Tolerance implies that people who have a different sexual orientation are the ‘other,’ but we’ll tolerate them. No, these are our brothers and sisters. Human nature is diverse, and we need to move beyond tolerance. It’s not something government can do, but policy can motivate it.”

Despite his novel ideas, a guaranteed spot on the ballot and popular political sentiment clamoring for change, Whitney faces a couple of challenges that could stop his campaign dead in its tracks. His biggest problem, he admits, is fundraising – largely because Green Party candidates take no campaign money from corporations and political action committees. Instead, Whitney is relying solely on individual donations.

Jennifer Janasie, Whitney’s campaign manager, says Whitney has raised about $29,000 dollars since December, but points out the campaign is significantly ahead of the $16,866 Whitney reported for the same time period last time he ran for governor.

“We have a lot more people sending in donations this time,” Janasie says. “The numbers in no way suggest we can’t be competitive.”

Dr. Kent Redfield, a political science researcher and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois-Springfield, says he doesn’t expect any statewide candidate in Illinois to make much headway without spending at least $10 million. Redfield, who has studied Illinois