Justice Party Pgh is now Progressive Pgh

Previously we were known as Justice Party of Pittsburgh, a small 3rd party running to be part of the national Justice Party. You can see the JP platform here: http://www.justicepartyusa.org/platform

But in short, it relies on three pillars: Social Justice, Economic Justice, and Environmental Justice. We need to do more to give opportunities to people stuck in the cycle of poverty, often through no fault of their own, but rather an unjust system that makes it extremely difficult to get out once you fall into poverty. We need to do more protect our environment for future generations, and see that polluters are met with swift justice for their actions against humanity and the planet.

As a party "insider", some of the untold story is that Justice Party was meant to be an "anti-party party" -- a banner for others to run under without loyalty to a particular party, but rather loyalty to ideals.

I still strongly advocate for these pillars and ideas, and as such consider myself a Progressive. I don't like to be affiliated with a particular party, but rather with ideas.

The national JP was a bit too ambitious at a time of deep polarization and party loyalty, and so I think was unable to gain the foothold it needed. However, with the 2016 elections creeping closer, we're seeing finally signs of a break in our political system that as been stagnant basically since the Reagan era. The Republicans are fracturing due to the nomination of Donald Trump, and the Democrats are also showing great strain between your more moderate-conservative traditional Democrats as personified by Hillary Clinton, and your strongly progressive-wing Democrats whom have united behind Bernie Sanders. I kind of expect both parties to split, seeing an unprecedented rise of not one but TWO third parties this election (likely Libertarians and Greens).

Ultimately, I believe to get real Progressive change and break free from this conservative-dominated era started by Reagan, we need to be unyielding in our support of true Progressives, regardless of party affiliation. Not all Democrats are Progressive; some of them are downright conservative! Likewise, we can find some allies among Republicans whom are loyal to the old-style Progressive Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt. And of course, we should reach out to our 3rd party Progressives in parties like the Green Party. Together, if we shed our loyalty to parties that have long forgotten the people, we can build a new progressive movement that truly gets things done for everyone.

I will continue to advocate the progressive ideals of Justice. But as the national and state JP are basically dead at this point, it feels funny to continue using the Justice Party Pittsburgh name. So I'm changing the name to continue as Progressive Pittsburgh!

Please join me as I discuss important topics that affect local, state and national politics. I don't claim to know all answers, but I hope to provide an interesting prospective on things, and I hope to engage in civil conversations and debates with others -- and together, we can learn from each other to build that true Progressive future for Pittsburgh and beyond.