-Caveat Lector-

http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/prime/1031-112.html


Ralph Nader Open Letter to Democratic Party
U.S. Newswire
31 Oct 10:55

Open Letter to the Democratic Party from Ralph Nader
To: National Desk
Contact: Ralph Nader, 202-387-8030

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is the
text of an open letter from Ralph Nader to the Democratic Party:

The Democrats should have an easy time winning control of the
House of Representatives and the Senate in next week's election.
Recession is deepening, unemployment is rising, and corporate
corruption headlines are proliferating. Health care costs, drug
prices and the number of Americans without health care coverage are
all increasing. Median household incomes are falling. Corporate
crime has heavily depleted 401Ks and other pension losses.

These should all help the Democrats win against the
corporate-indentured Republicans marinated in corporate cash, soft
on corporate and environmental crimes and demonstrably anti-labor.

Why then is the overall contest for Party control of Congress
too close to call? Because Democrats are not clearly, relentlessly
and aggressively emphasizing these fundamental issues to
distinguish themselves from the Republicans. Why? Are they unaware,
neglectful or torpid? No, their chronic ambiguity flows from being
largely indentured to the same monied commercial interests as the
Republicans.

So Governor Shaheen of New Hampshire, running for the U.S.
Senate, refers to corporate crime as "corporate mismanagement" and
other Democratic candidates are allowing the Republicans to blur
key poll-tested issues like prescription drug benefits, tax cuts
for the super wealthy, and corporate crime enforcement.

Voters want to know whose side candidates are on in their daily
struggles as workers, consumers, patients, small taxpayers and
savers on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the giant
corporations that pay forcontrol of our government in order to get
all the goodies that come out of the hides of working families.
Fairness is the great issue in American politics, stupid!

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Democrats won election after
election by conveying one singularly clear impression - that the
Republican Party was beholden to the wealthy and the Democratic
Party represented the working people. Karl Rove, in the Bush White
House, understands this history. That is why he is engaged in the
"blur and spur" strategy of fuzzing the hot-button issues to
portray the Republicans as fighters for ordinary Americans, instead
of the big businesses which own them. This is also why the
Republicans are using the spur of the drumbeats of war to distract
the country away from pressing domestic necessities,
injustices and hazards.

By a margin of nearly two to one the American people do not want
a war against Iraq that involves an invasion, American casualties
and essentially having the United States go it alone. Not when
rigorous UN inspectors can go to Iraq first.

Even more Americans would join these citizens if the mass media
relayed the facts about how boxed in the militarily-weakened
dictator of Iraq is, surrounded by more powerful enemies (Iran,
Turkey, Israel), two-thirds of his country out of his rigid control
(no fly zones), deterred, contained and under 24-hour satellite
surveillance.

More voters would be anti-war if there was greater media
discussion about the likelihood of awful civilian casualties and
sickness among the innocent children and adults of Iraq. Voters
would also be anti-war if Americans were given the facts about the
opposition to the touted conduct of this war from inside the
Pentagon, among retired military officers and other experts who
believe the risks of undermining the effort against terrorism, of
generating a boomerang of domestic terrorism around theworld and an
endemic civil war in Iraq (where the U.S. stays as expensive
occupier) are not worth toppling the government of Iraq by a
unilateral invasion.

When a group of Gulf War veterans had a news conference at the
National Press Club in Washington on October 24 to point out some
of these consequences (which included conditions, leading to the
sickness of 128,000 Gulf War veterans in 1991) the media did not
show up. (For their statements, see
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org).

The "cakewalk" view of the planned war widely espoused by the
circle of chickenhawks surrounding George W. Bush is obscuring
serious public debate about another possible outcome -- diverse
human and economic consequences adverse to U.S. and global security
during and after the war is over.

The Democrats can still raise their voices for the people in the
next few days before November 5, if they understand that waffling
rarely wins campaigns. The people want it straight talk and real
action.


http://www.usnewswire.com
-0-
/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
10/31 10:55

Copyright 2002, U.S. Newswire

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