Started the door-to-door campaign with trifold brochures today...talked to several voters in Lawrenceville about Marcellus Shale toxic gas drilling and my support for the DRILLING BAN RESOLUTION coming up at Pittsburgh City Council.

(Come to the Public Hearing on Sept 13th, 7pm, City Council Chambers, City-County Bldg, Grant St,
Pittsburgh).

A comment from a voter today: "big money runs this country"...my answer: that's why we need candidates from the Green Party who will not be bought.

If you have any time to help with literature distribution or organizing a house party, please contact me at ebbortz@gmail.com or phone 412-231-1581.

We can have a government of the people, by the people, for the people...or we can have a government
of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations...but we cannot have both.

From the on-going environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, to the toxic onslaught of Marcellus Shale hydro-fracturing gas extraction in our own backyard, to the massive unemployment and economic meltdown affecting tens of millions of people suffering daily while billions are dumped to Wall Street, one thing is perfectly clear: WE ARE ALL paying the price of corporate-dominated politics in our country. Where is the accountability...where is the oversight... where is the transparency...where is democracy?

This election in Pennsylvania's 14th Congressional District is that simple.

August 11, 2010, 11:30 a.m.
Entrance to Point State Park
Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh, PA

http://EdBortzforCongress.org
email: ebbortz@gmail.com phone: 412-231-1581

Put decision making in the hands of the people, not corporations

Continued wars, economic recession, and environmental catastrophe plague our nation. None of these were accidents, but the result of government policies that continue to disregard the needs of the American people, opting instead for an agenda written by and for corporations. In the war rooms and corporate board rooms, these disastrous policies and plans were put in place without as much as consulting the American public. Public officials that support these policies are in fact complicit in the results.

Let me be specific:

1) Peace Now...Bring Our Troops Home Now

On Monday, August 2nd, Green Party candidates in Pennsylvania successfully filed all nominating papers (petitions) in Harrisburg, PA. Congratulations to all candidates, petitioners, and supporters.

Ed Bortz, Green Party candidate for U.S. Congress in the 14th District of Pennsylvania filed more than 9900
signatures, more than twice the minimum requirement for ballot access.

Mel Packer, Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate also satisfied the statewide signature requirement, as did
all Green Party candidates for Representative in the General Assembly.

Green Party Candidates in 2010:

Mel Packer, U.S. Senate, Pennsylvania
Ed Bortz, U.S. Congress, District 14
Hugh Giordano, Representative in the General Assembly, District 194
Rex D'Agostino, Representative in the General Assembly, District 183
Charles Moyer, Representative in the General Assembly, District 145
Jay Sweeney, Representative in the General Assembly, District 111

(Speech at Allegheny County Council Public Hearing, Pittsburgh, PA, July 21, 2010
Marcellus Shale Gas Hydraulic Fracturing)

My name is Ed Bortz and I'm the Green Party candidate for U.S. Congress in the 14th Congressional District of Pennsylvania.

I have one overarching question: What kind of legislative body is it, whether it's the U.S. Congress or Allegheny County Council, that would even consider proposals from the gas industry that require exemptions from the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (also known as the Superfund Law), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act?

Online petitions have been started urging registered Democrats in Pennsylvania to support full ballot access rights for the Green Party. With Green Party candidates in the race, incumbent legislators are more likely to address the issues of war and war funding, banning of Marcellus Shale gas extraction, healthcare for everyone, funds for education instead of Wall Street bailouts, and the ability of citizens not corporations to make policy.

Pennsylvania's repressive ballot access regime for minor party candidates and independents, along with the petition challenge process (usually initiated by competing candidates) is fundamentally unfair to less-financed candidates. (http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/50946)

If you'd like to sign a petition supporting Green Party ballot access rights, go to either online site:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/PA-Dems-of-Conscience

http://www.petitiononline.com/pad2010/petition.html

by Ed Bortz, Green Party candidate for U.S. Congress, 14th District, Pennsylvania

What kind of accountability is there for public officials and police officers in a clear case of police abuse and brutality, such as in the case of Jordan Miles?

Why do most public officials in this town run for cover when they should be standing here with us for justice?

Why isn't there a thorough federal civil rights investigation happening right now regarding the abuse of the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of Jordan Miles? What does that say about local, state, and federal government commitment to uphold and protect Constitutional rights?

Why hasn't the District Attorney proceeded with indictments of the police officers who were responsible for the brutality against Jordan Miles? Where is the accountability of government?

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/51965

The Great Awakening

by e b bortz

We need to really think outside the bounds of mainstream U.S. culture and media to find the great awakening...which is most definitely in progress.

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/50946

Pennsylvania's Elaborate Scheme against Free and Fair Elections
by Ed Bortz, Green Party candidate for Congress, 14th District Pennsylvania (http://edbortzforcongress.org)

The system used to challenge ballot access petitions for candidates in Pennsylvania is fundamentally arbitrary and unfair. The process does not err on the side of registered voters who wish to support a candidate's right to be on the ballot, but rather, it favors the challenger of the candidate's petitions via an elaborate maze of "invalidating" criteria.(1)

Here are some of the pitfalls/issues that are used to invalidate voters who sign candidate ballot access petitions: