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EMUJeff
February 28th, 2008, 9:55 pm
As the 2008 primaries heat up here is some info on one of the candidates. This is not an endorsement, but a starting point for research.An educated electorate is the only defense against tyranny. Happy voting!
This information comes from Wikipedia.com
EMUJeff

Ralph Nader was born in Winsted, Connecticut. His parents, Nathra and Rose Nader, were Lebanese immigrants. Rose and Nathra Nader's native language is Arabic, and Ralph has spoken it since childhood.
Nathra Nader was employed in a textile mill, and at one point owned a bakery and restaurant where he engaged customers in political discourse.
Nader graduated from Princeton University in 1955 and Harvard Law School in 1958. He served in the United States Army for six months in 1959, then began work as a lawyer in Hartford, Connecticut. Between 1961 and 1963, he was a Professor of History and Government at the University of Hartford. In 1964, Nader moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked for Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He also advised a United States Senate subcommittee on car safety. In the early 1980s, Nader spearheaded a powerful lobby against FDA approval of mass-scale experimentation of artificial lens implants. Nader also served as a faculty member at The American University Washington College of Law.
In 1999 an NYU panel of eminent journalists ranked Nader's book Unsafe At Any Speed no. 38 among the top 100 pieces of journalism of the 20th century. In 1990 Life Magazine, and again in 1999 Time Magazine, named Nader one of the 100 most influential Americans of the 20th Century. In its Dec 2006 article on the "100 most influential Americans" in history, in which its ten invited historians voted Nader 96th, The Atlantic Monthly stated: "He made the cars we drive safer; thirty years later, he made George W. Bush the president."
In 1971, Nader founded the non-governmental organization (NGO) Public Citizen as an umbrella organization for these projects. Today, Public Citizen has over 140,000 members and scores of researchers investigating Congressional, health, environmental, economic and other issues. Their work is credited with facilitating the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and prompting the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
In the 1970's and 1980's Nader was a key leader in the anti-nuclear power movement. "By 1976, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who later became allied with the environmental movement 'stood as the titular head of opposition to nuclear energy'" He advocates the complete elimination of nuclear energy in favor of solar, tidal, wind and geothermal, citing environmental, worker safety, migrant labor, national security, disaster preparedness, foreign policy, government accountability and democratic governance issues to bolster his position.
In February 2007, Nader criticized Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton as "a panderer and a flatterer." Asked on CNN Late Edition news program if he would run in 2008, Nader replied, "It's really too early to say...." Asked during a radio appearance to describe the former First Lady, Nader said, "Flatters, panders, coasting, front-runner, looking for a coronation ... She has no political fortitude." Some Greens started a campaign to draft Nader as their party's 2008 presidential candidate.
In June 2007, Nader said, "You know the two parties are still converging — they don't even debate the military budget anymore. I really think there needs to be more competition from outside the two parties." Nader participated in the Green Party presidential debates in San Francisco on January 13, 2008, though not as an announced candidate. On January 30, 2008, he formed an exploratory committee for another possible run at the presidency, telling CNN he would run again if he could raise the necessary funds.
On February 24, 2008, Nader announced his 2008 presidential bid on Meet the Press. On February 28, 2008, Nader named former San Francisco Board of Supervisors president Matt Gonzalez as his running mate for the 2008 Presidential Election.

cranston36
February 28th, 2008, 10:46 pm
Ralph Nader's interference in the present election cycle is a result of his vanity.

LPTaxpayer
February 29th, 2008, 1:17 pm
Wonder how many more Independant Candidates will show up after the two major conventions are in the past. I heard that the Independant Parties are working on their plans. (This is only what I heard from others..nothing in writing.)

EMUJeff
February 29th, 2008, 2:09 pm
I will open up a Cynthia McKinney thread later today since the Green Party seems to have selected her for their candidate. If anyone knows of another parties choice or someone hears from Bloomberg please PM me and I will get one up and running for them.
This years gonna be a barn burner.
EMUJeff

Harrison
February 29th, 2008, 2:43 pm
I saw on the news yesterday that Bloomberg isn't running.

EMUJeff
February 29th, 2008, 4:14 pm
Here are some postions Mr. Nader has taken in the recent past. More complete text of his positions on any of these issues is available at http://www.ontheissues.org/Ralph_Nader.htm
EMUJeff

Half of federal budget is now military spending. (Jan 2008)
Jobs lost may not be replaced by new ones. (Jul 2003)
47 million full-time workers make less than $10 an hour. (Oct 2000)
Use surplus to rebuild country & provide for communal needs. (Oct 2000)
Supports NOW's agenda on Reproductive Rights. (Feb 2008)
Supports stem cell research. (Feb 2008)
If Roe is reversed, decision just reverts to the states. (Sep 2002)
Ban desecration of the Constitution; not flag desecration. (Jan 2008)
Patriot Act associated with abuse of Muslim's civil rights. (Nov 2004)
Get rid of gay discrimination fully, not halfway. (Jul 2004)
Nader supports gay marriage; but gay groups support Gore. (Nov 2000)
Equal gay rights, including civil union. (Oct 2000)
Washington DC is corporate-occupied territory. (Feb 2008)
Obama & McCain differ, but neither takes on corporations. (Feb 2008)
Corporations have too much control over people's lives. (Jan 2008)
Corporations control government; that defines fascism. (Jan 2008)
Instrumental in food safety laws as well as auto safety. (Feb 2008)
Auto safety devices are simple & cheap; but take years. (Oct 2000)
Safety regulation works; but Auto Safety Agency sold out. (Oct 2000)
Instrumental in Consumer Product Safety Act and related laws. (Feb 2008)
Help for ordinary people should replace corporate welfare. (Sep 2000)
Scrutinize even “good” corporate welfare which helps public. (Oct 2000)
Corporate welfare is a function of political corruption. (Oct 2000)
S&L bailout helped bankers & hurt consumers. (Oct 2000)
Rules needed for examining & challenging corporate welfare. (Oct 2000)
Opposed 1996 expansion of the federal death penalty. (Feb 2008)
Crime in the suites worse than crime in the streets. (Sep 2002)
Decreasing unemployment reduces crime; not enforcement. (Aug 2000)
Death penalty does not deter. (Aug 2000)
The drug war has failed, despite $50B annually. (Feb 2008)
Rehabilitation, not incarceration. (Jul 2004)
Women targeted by tobacco and alcohol companies. (Feb 2003)
Abandon standardized testing; focus on teaching civic skills. (Oct 2000)
Invest in K-12 education; that will reduce poverty. (Jun 2000)
It is time to break our addiction to fossil fuels. (Feb 2008)
End subsidies of entrenched oil, nuclear, & coal interests. (Feb 2008)
US lags behind Europe & Japan in renewable energy. (Oct 2004)
Instrumental in establishing EPA, CAA, and CWA. (Feb 2008)
Charge agribusiness for water; stop charging more to people. (Oct 2000)
Mining companies get free mines for campaign contributions. (Oct 2000)
More & more family functions are outsourced to corporations. (Feb 2007)
Corporations are commercializing the world of the child. (Jul 2004)
Democracy needs youth’s energy & participation. (Jun 2000)
US should be the world's humanitarian superpower. (Feb 2008)
Corporate activity destroys the third world. (Jul 2004)
Redefine national purpose to solve Third World scourges. (Jun 2000)
In anti-globalization book, "The Case Against Free Trade". (Feb 2008)
WTO makes trade supreme over labor, environment & consumers. (Feb 2008)
Free trade isn't win-win: we're exporting jobs. (Jul 2003)
Globalization is a betrayal of workers and environment. (Nov 2000)
Seattle sparked movement to question corporate globalization. (Feb 2000)
“Battle of Seattle” convinced president to reconsider WTO. (Dec 1999)
Government become unresponsive to citizen groups in 1979. (Feb 2008)
Civic engagement fights corporate-government fascism. (Oct 2004)
$13M for "educational" party conventions wastes tax dollars. (Jul 2004)
The two parties are proxies for corporate government. (Jul 2004)
No PAC money, no commercial donations; only individuals. (Feb 2008)
Public funding of campaigns would fight corporate control. (Feb 2008)
Green Party does not take PAC, soft, or corporate cash. (Oct 2000)
For fair ballot access and fair debate access. (Feb 2008)
Instant Runoff Voting makes all votes count. (Jan 2008)
Support Brady Bill & thoughtful gun control. (Jun 2000)
For single-payer; all major candidates oppose it. (Feb 2008)
Billing fraud and abuse costs $200B. (Feb 2008)
Single-payer health care plan over for-profit care. (Feb 2008)
3.5% payroll tax to fund universal healthcare. (Sep 2002)
A wasteful defense is a weak defense. (Feb 2008)
Hold Bush accountable for torture & illegal war. (Feb 2008)
Solving Palestinian-Israeli conflict would reduce terrorism. (Feb 2008)
End secret detentions & restore civil liberties. (Feb 2008)
Bush should apologize for failing our troops. (Nov 2006)
Address immigration as part of worldwide economic justice. (Feb 2008)
H1B visas in US cause "brain drain" in Third World. (Feb 2008)
Don’t criminalize the border; but no open border either. (Oct 2000)
Taft-Hartley keeps workers defenseless against globalization. (Feb 2008)
Supports a living wage of at least $10 an hour. (Feb 2008)
Living wage spreads economic expansion to reach all areas. (Oct 2000)
Repeal Taft-Hartley; strengthen unions. (Oct 2000)
Unions struggle even in heart of union country. (Sep 2000)
Organize to give the president some backbone. (Feb 2008)
The two parties steal elections & can't even count the votes. (Feb 2008)
The only true aging is the erosion of one's ideals. (Feb 2008)
Hillary is a panderer; Obama is too abstract & general. (Feb 2008)
Bloomberg run would add to debate, but not stop a Nader run. (Feb 2008)
The "money horse race" is unhealthy, rancid politics. (Feb 2007)
Running because 61% think both major parties are failing. (Feb 2008)
Two parties have been converging; both flunk for the future. (Feb 2008)
Ready for Democratic lawsuits against ballot access. (Feb 2008)
Raised to challenge preconceptions and reject conformity. (Jan 2007)
Had "a lucky choice of parents" who passed down traditions. (Jan 2007)
Gore responsible for 2000 election; Bush responsible since. (Feb 2008)
Democrats should landslide Republicans in 2008. (Feb 2008)
Social Security is solid; pending bankruptcy is nonsense. (Sep 2000)
Pensions controlled by people, not banks or insurers. (Feb 2000)
End perverse incentives that reward Wall Street speculators. (Feb 2008)
Stop tax cuts and start dealing with real problems. (Jun 2003)
Tax code loopholes benefit corporate donors & cost taxpayers. (Oct 2000)
TV immersion deprives children of exposure to nature. (Jan 2007)
FCC is hapless agent in media regulation. (May 2003)
The media needs more diversity and competition. (May 2003)
FCC gave away $70B in airwave licenses to large corporations. (Oct 2000)
Rapid and responsible withdrawal of US military from Iraq. (Feb 2008)
Stop saber rattling against Iran; start negotiating. (Feb 2008)
Bush should never have invaded Iraq. (Nov 2006)
Responsible six-month withdrawal from Iraq occupation. (Jul 2004)
Charity work is good; but politics addresses root causes. (Oct 2000)
Attack corporate welfare kings, not poor welfare queens. (Oct 2000)
Limit executive compensation to 30-to-1 over lowest pay. (Oct 2000)
Severe shortage in affordable housing. (Jun 2003)
14M families spend half of their income on housing. (Jun 2003)