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Again a presidential candidate, Nader decries major partiesBy Mila Koumpilova, The ForumPublished Sunday, October 12, 2008FARGORalph Nader, the four-time presidential candidate, is back on the campaign trail and at his angriest.At a Saturday night North Dakota State University rally attended by about 300 people, Nader put forth a wide-ranging indictment of election season ills, from the major-party candidates’ cushy relationship with corporate America to his exclusion from televised debates to the apathy of voters.In the deeply unpopular recent $700 billion government bailout of the financial industry, Nader found a perfect example of why he’s continuing to run amid accusations of being a spoiler: In his view, neither major party pays attention to voter wishes.“King George IV has the Democratic Party on his side along with the Republicans, and he doesn’t fear the American people,” Nader said, referring to George W. Bush.Nader, along with running mate Matt Gonzales, is on the ballot as an independent candidate in 45 states, including Minnesota and North Dakota.Nader spoke of a variety of proposals he said set him starkly apart from both major-party presidential contenders: a swift, six-month withdrawal from Iraq, a single-payer public health care system, an opposition to nuclear energy, and a carbon-emissions tax to deter global warming.John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, he dubbed a “Bush clone.” He derided Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s talk of “hope” and “change” as vague slogan-mongering.Nader also criticized North Dakota Sens. Byron Dorgan, whom he deemed “one of the best senators in the U.S. Senate,” and Kent Conrad for failing to push for legislation legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp.Nader appeared undaunted by his limited success at the polls. In 2004, he drew a little more than 1 percent of votes in North Dakota and less than 1 percent in Minnesota.“I’m not going to give up,” he vowed to loud applause. “I’m not going to let our government be hijacked by a much of corporate and political gangsters.”He drew applause when he complained he had yet again been excluded from the nationally televised debates.In a news conference before the rally, Nader introduced Colleen Donley, a supporter from New York Mills, Minn., and her 9-year-old son, Adam. Adam came back from school with an assignment to research Obama or McCain and pick a candidate. Donley visited the Web site of curriculum provider Scholastic and checked out the “Meet the Candidates” section.“You only have two people to meet,” said Donley, “Barack Obama and John McCain.”Added Nader, “Our country obstructs voters and third-party candidates more than any other Western democracy.”A somewhat-irate Nader brushed aside the suggestion that his runs detract votes from Democratic candidates.“We all have an equal right to run for office,” he said. “Nobody asks Obama, ‘Are you concerned that you’ll take votes away from McCain?’ ”But some of Nader’s most pointed jabs were at American voters, who he said have fallen prey to their own apathy and low expectations of elected officials. He warned the young people in the crowd that when their grandchildren ask them what they did while “the country was falling apart,” they should have a better answer than updating their Facebook profiles.---The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
JUST EXTRA POLISH. I DO SOME WORK WITH EXCELL SO I KEEP THE CAPS LOCK ON :-P
Carl Mumm, Grand Forks, letter: Consider Ralph Nader this timeCarl Mumm, Grand Forks HeraldPublished Wednesday, October 15, 2008GRAND FORKS — In a recent speech at North Dakota State University, Ralph Nader proved he is still the champion of the people. Meanwhile, Barack Obama and John McCain spout empty rhetoric and pander to corporations.Both Obama and McCain will increase military spending. Obama insists on a military “solution” in Afghanistan. Nader would bring our troops home from both Iraq and Afghanistan and would cut the military budget.Obama and McCain voted for the Wall Street bailout. Nader vows to crack down on corporate crime and corporate welfare. To eliminate the massive lobbying effort on behalf of corporations in Congress, Nader would end “corporate personhood,” a bizarre Supreme Court ruling from the 1890s that gave these behemoths the rights of living, breathing citizens.Neither Obama nor McCain support a single-payer universal health care plan. Obama insists on including insurance companies in the equation — companies that make billions by denying claims, randomly capping coverage, increasing co-payments and removing coverage for pre-existing conditions.Unlike Obama and McCain, Nader takes no money from insurance companies for his campaign. Free from their influence, Nader would remove insurance companies from the middle, providing $350 billion in administrative savings to pay for the system.McCain and Obama say “clean coal” exists, even though such technologies do not. Democrats and Republicans have been in the pocket of both the coal and nuclear power industries for decades, and so neither candidate would dare regulate let alone eliminate those industries.Nader wants to phase out these dirty and dangerous energy sources in favor of conservation (something rarely discussed) and sustainable alternatives such as solar, wind and geothermal.If you are anti-war, were against the bailout, want to remove Congress from the corporate feeding trough, believe that every American deserves full health care and want a responsible energy policy that just might save the planet, consider voting for Nader on Nov. 4.Carl Mumm
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