Forward candidates Bob Chew (U.S. Senate), Celeste Landry (Co Secretary of State), and Sam Bradley (Larimer County Assessor) interviewed along with Dave Ryan (chair of CO FWD).
The following article is from the Berthoud Weekly Surveyor. The full article is available at https://berthoudsurveyor.com/what-is-the-colorado-forward-party/
The Colorado Forward Party, an affiliate of the national Forward Party, conducted a town hall-type meeting on Saturday, June 20, at the Cornerstone Café in Berthoud.
With the designation of a registered minor party in Colorado, its candidates will be on this year’s Nov. 3 general election ballot. Berthoud mayor Will Karspeck welcomed everyone in attendance and said, “Third-party candidates will help find solutions to our problems.”
Dave Ryan, chair of the Colorado Forward Party, spoke first. He said that not only was there bitter partisanship between the two major parties, Democrats and Republicans, but factions within each major party prevented today’s problems from being solved. Ryan said today’s major parties would rather criticize their opposition instead of discussing solutions.
In contrast, Ryan added that the Forward Party puts public service first, ahead of party or self-advancement. He cited core principles, including moderation, accountability and election reform, as integral to his party’s values. The Forward Party will endorse a major party candidate if they display those personal qualities.
Three Colorado Forward Party candidates spoke at the event.
Celeste Landry, who is running for Secretary of State, stated the office should be nonpartisan and not be politically polarizing. Landry supports nonpartisan primaries and ranked choice voting and independent redistricting. Landry feels this would offset the “cancer of gerrymandering.” Landry supports mail-in ballots, but added they need a good chain of custody, a post-election audit and signature verification software.
When a member of the audience asked why there are people on the voter rolls who moved away or died, Landry responded that if the person who moved does not inform the secretary of state’s office to drop them from the voter rolls, the office doesn’t have the resources to determine that independently. She said, what is important is that all who did vote are registered voters, and that is verifiable.
Sam Bradley, candidate for Larimer County Assessor, spoke next. Since the repeal of the Gallagher Amendment by voters in 2020, he said the assessment process has been chaotic. Bradley said he advocates more transparency in both the assessment and appeals processes and will base assessments on current market values.
Bob Chew, candidate for U.S. Senate, said he strongly favors balancing the federal budget and reducing federal debt. Chew said this will take a combination of revenue increases and spending cuts, including entitlement spending.
The Social Security trustees project that the Social Security trust fund, which pays for retirement and survivors benefits, will be depleted in late 2032. If Congress does not act, continuing program income would be enough to pay about 78% of scheduled benefits, effectively reducing payments by about 22%. That deadline would fall during the next U.S. senator’s six-year term.
Healthcare in the U.S., which is nearly twice as expensive per person as in other developed countries, needs to be reduced too, Chew said. “Some interest groups will need to take a haircut. But to solve this problem, we need real courage for real solutions. Voters need to be told the truth and let them decide.”
Chew stated money in politics must be curtailed, referencing the power of political action committees, or PACs. “We must do something about Citizens United. PACs don’t support independents.”
On a range of other policies, Chew supports nuclear power, a secure southern border and a path towards permanent residence for undocumented persons who haven’t committed serious crimes.
For more information on the Colorado Forward Party and its candidates, listen to the Surveyor podcast featuring the party and its candidates.
The podcast cited in the final line of the article is available at https://berthoudsurveyor.com/podcast/.