STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Green Party congressional candidate Hank Bardel calls himself the "progressive" alternative in this year's House race.

But the Great Kills resident is pitching a program of tax hikes and increased government spending that might be a turn-off to Staten Island's more right-leaning voters.

And he called President Barack Obama a "conservative Democrat" who hasn't done enough to end the recession.

Bardel said that a 1930s, WPA-style jobs program needs to be created and coupled with a new stimulus package in order to rebuild and repair crumbling bridges, roads, schools and parks.

But how to pay for it?

Bardel said he would look to raise income takes on those making $250,000 a year or more. He said he would also look to raise capital gains and estate takes "on the 1 percent." wealthiest Americans.

When asked how he expected borough voters to respond, Bardel said, "We can't be afraid of the truth. Staten Island voters have to be aware of what we have to do."

Obama, he said, "doesn't confront the issues."

"That's the problem with Obama," he said. "He really is a conservative Democrat. I wouldn't consider him a liberal. He hasn't done enough. That's why we're not out of the recession."

Bardel, a former chairman of the borough Green Party, acknowledged that he's a decided underdog in the race, which features Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) and Democrat Mark Murphy.

But Bardel said that he and other Greens also want to use the campaign to put their issues on the table before voters.

"We want to see how much strength we have on Staten Island," he said.

The party has 240 members on the Island, according to state Board of Elections records.

A retired Parks Department supervisor, Bardel ran for Congress here in 2002, getting 675 votes, or 1 percent of the vote. He has also run for the state Senate and City Council.

Among his other proposals, Bardel said that the U.S. should move toward a single-payer health care system "that would cover all Americans from cradle to grave ... and will be basically Medicare for all."

He also called for increased research into green energy, and said that a revenue-sharing program should be created between the federal government and the states to help local governments pay for teachers, cops and firefighters.

Advance Political Editor Tom Wrobleski writes the Polit Bureau blog. Follow him on Twitter.