Kerry Might Well Pause, Listen to Nader by William Raspberry, Houston Chronicle via CommonDreams, May 10, 2004 Ralph Nader, according to many who say they used to admire him, has become the self-centered star whose press clippings have gone to his head, the dog in the manger, the skunk at the Democratic garden party... ...ending corporate welfare is one of 10 elements of what Nader is certain would be a winning campaign. "Democrats would like it, but so would lots of conservatives, liberals and progressives who don't like the way wealth is being redistributed in this country." Here are some other ideas on Nader's list: * Support a living wage. Kerry should propose a living wage -- and act as though he means it. Huge numbers of Americans -- 10 million households -- earn less than $10,000 a year. Those workers would be substantially better off if the minimum wage had simply been indexed for inflation -- "like congressional salaries" -- over the last 35 years. * Go after corporate crime. "This would attract a lot of conservatives to his cause -- certainly as many as there are Reagan Democrats. I'm talking about people whose 401(k)s have been destroyed by what Enron and the others have done through corporate greed." * Repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. The prospective yield turns out to be "almost exactly what the American Society of Civil Engineers said last year it would take to restore America's deteriorating infrastructure" -- roads and bridges, schools, libraries, water and sewer systems, public buildings. "Everybody could get behind this, from labor unions to the Rotary, from workers to the corporate suppliers. And the best part is that it would create thousands of good-paying jobs that can't be outsourced to China." * Protect the poor. Low-income Americans have no legal protection for many of their ordinary transactions -- either because the appropriate legislation hasn't been enacted or because of "a congealed lawlessness that goes unprosecuted." Nader's list includes check-cashing businesses for people who don't have access to bank accounts, tax-refund loans at usurious rates, rent-to-own schemes, dumping of tainted meat and shoddy merchandise in inner-city outlets, bank redlining and all manner of predatory lending. "Democrats should flock to this issue, and the Republican blur machine couldn't do a thing about it... ...As for the war in Iraq: Kerry needs to set a date for withdrawal of American troops and American companies... IT'S ALL AT: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0510-12.htm "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher.
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