Okay Ralph ... there are currently two horrible wars that we started and we are well on our way to starting the third war. Millions of lives are at stake and we are singularly responsible for this madness. So maybe its time we put all else on the backburner and focus are energies on stopping this madness ? What do you think ?

gyptian:

Your point is a good one, but it's all connected. The second to last sentence in Katrina Vanden Heuvel's article, directly above this one, sums up the situation:

"It is a systemic problem for a democracy to link corporate profits and war-making, and it has metastasized as this war has been increasingly privatized (there are now more contractors than soldiers in Iraq)."

The only way to stop the war is to change the system and visa versa.

I agree. The Capitalist Pimp (Thomas Friedmans) classic quote 'iron hand in a velvet glove' sums it up. However changing the system is a long-term solution clearly while preventing the next war is an immediate concern and our general apathy can only be construed as collusion.

Indeed the Wall Street Journal has been in lock step with corporations for decades. The only question about that now, is how much bigger can Rupert Murdoch (owner of Fox News) make his megaphone, now that he is acquring the Wall Stree Journal? Can't get worse, you say? Yes, it can, and it will.

The only, repeat only, antidote to corporation creep is a Democrat in the White House. It doesn't matter which one. But, any Republican there is guaranteed to be no antidote at all.

"The only, repeat only, antidote to corporation creep is a Democrat in the White House. It doesn't matter which one."

All the "front runners" in the "Democratic" Party are Republicans!

Dear Ralph:

Here is an idea that I posted before on Common Dreams. I hope you can reply to it. It accomplishes the same as
Senator Gravel's National Initiative by making people the lawmakers, but in a quick and simple way. I hope it will help you formulate a plan that will cure what ails our government permanently:

Unfettered, corporations and financial institutions of the ruling oligarchy will eventually consume and destroy the world.

To be guided by a captive "free market" and by authoritarian interpretations of the "holy" books is unsustainable to say the least. But the fact is that most Americans believe in our consumerist system that gives us temporary prosperity
even as it turns us into wage slaves and eventually pushes us into bankrupcy. Most still believe that corporations represent the "free market" and that God will provide for our exceptional country.

Progressives find ourselves spinning our wheels when what the majority WANTS is to watch FOX news, commercial laden sports, sitcoms and Britney. It seems that the only way to affect rapid positive change is to please both right and left wings simultaneously, economically, environmentally, educationally and healthwise.

What can progressives do to achieve REAL democracy short of a bloody revolution and the institution of another ruling class to start the vicious circle over again? To forge the kind of government that would be embraced by both the right
and the left? A kind of direct democracy now seen only Switzerland and ironically, in corporate shareholder meetings?

Majority stockholders rule a corporation since each share counts as one vote. But if each shareholder had equal, non-transferable shares of stock in his or her corporation, a one-person-one-vote arrangement and received equal dividends from his or her stock, the result would be a corporate government that is a direct democracy. A corporation where ALL the stockholder rule, not a tiny minority.

We can accomplish this by incorporating We the People into the largest, richest and most powerful corporation against which all others will be forced to compete.

If every American citizen had equal shares in our trillions of dollars worth of our public resources, then these would truly belong to all of us, not ephemerally but in reality. The dividends we would receive from leasing our resources could lift Americans out of poverty and probably make us all rich, with the best environment, education, health services and with lasting peace. A country somewhat like Switzerland that despite having few natural resources, has the highest per capita income in the world, no wars in over 150 years though surrounded by warring nations, no boom and bust economy, few drug problems despite having no WOD, few crime or immigration problems, the best education and health care and a healthy environment, See http://www.ni4d.us/

We the People Inc. could charge broadcasters a realistic fee for the use of our public airwaves, charge the oil companies fairly for drilling rights in public lands and a fair percentage from the oil extracted (like Chavez and Evo do). We could charge the mining industry for a percentage of our minerals extracted and the same for our water resources, fisheries, roads transportation and more. That instead of socializing the costs involved in our self-destruction by the looting of our public treasury, the pillaging of our resources and the use of our young men and women as corporate cannon fodder.

The People Inc. could get rid of unnecessary expenses like the gargantuan Pentagon budget, the Electoral College, the IRS, the Fed, the paid professional politicians that take large corporate bribes to keep us poor. We could make polluters pay, make the banks behave and show Wall Street for what it is, a gambling casino with no regard for life.

As a for profit corporation, We the People could have an administration that works for us all, instead of for other corporations. And we could vote to hire and fire our administration at yearly stockholders meetings according to their performance, just as all other corporations do. We the People Inc. would make major decisions, not oligarchy politicians.

We the People Inc. could decide to do business only with ethical corporations that will not pollute our air, water and land. That would not sacrifice lives for war profiteering and would give us world peace. That would
carry out the democratic will of the People Inc., not of other corporations and financial institutions of the oligarchy.

We could pay our corporate administrators fair salaries from the dividends we accrue. We could buy out many industries to the point that We the People would be the largest, most powerful corporation, working for our collective benefit.

We mostly dislike or even hate corporations for good reason, yet we continue to buy their cars, gas, shop at their mega-stores, watch their tv programs, etc.. Corporations as faceless machines that produce money often work against the
public interest but their economies of scale guarantee that they will stay on their mindless money-making paths until they destroy the planet unless We the People Inc. out-compete and beat them at their own game.

We all want to ORGANIZE! but we don't have the concentrated money-power organization corporations have and are split in different directions. We have lots of organizations, but they're always broke and begging for money because they don't produce any. We can complain loudly and constantly, but as individuals, we are fairly powerless against corporations. That is unless we turn things on their head and organize by incorporating the people and reclaiming our multitrillions in assets and power.

You are the foremost authority on the subject. Please let us know your thoughts on this idea.

Thank you.

"The only, repeat only, antidote to corporation creep is a Democrat in the White House"

I cant believe im reading this !! Sorry Daniel but you,ve probably been away travelling for the last 30 years. There is absolutely no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats in the context of present day politics. Oh .. im sorry there is a small difference .. the Republicans tell you they are gonna screw you and they do ... the Democarts slimily pretend they are on your side and then let the Republicans screw you.

Dear Ralph Nader:
Could this be done? Would it be possible to take out an advertisement showing just how much George Bush costs the average American? You know, a bill, a tab.

Would it be possible to show several different scenarios, including individual cases? For instance, you show a family who's got a parent in the reserves whose been impressed into service for the Iraq war, he or she dies.
How much does it cost?

Bush is so very expensive. He claims to have saved Americans money by lowering taxes. But, what about the added fuel costs for autos and winter heat? What about the extra costs for air tickets due to bogus protection by airports against purported terrorism - which just means a fat, bald headed, guard whose a probably a felon gets to grope women and confiscate harmless luggage.

What about the housing crisis? How much is that going to cost the typical homeowner? How about the rise in electricity rates? What about Enron?

What about those who need to travel or work at some time in Europe, Canada, Japan or Mexico? The dollar is plummeting. Americans now have a third world currency.

Personally, I have never lived during a Presidency outside of Nixon's era, which forced the Vietnam War on the youth of the country, where ONE man in politics has had such an adverse and tangible effect on the finances and general conditions of life of myself and other Americans - on an almost daily basis. Hardly a week goes by where this dangerous moron does not create another costly and problem for average Joe Shmoes and this is usually served up with some assinine snafu.

I wonder if it would not be possible to itemize the cost of the protection money every American is compelled to pay on a daily basis to Bush's regimen of war, terror, security, sweatheart dealing, cronyism, and pension fund raiding.

Yours,
e.

Ralph,

Thank you for your courage and perseverance.

You wrote: "NAM wants more so-called "free trade" agreements without recognizing, at the very least, that there can be no "free trade" with dictatorships like China. Dictatorial, oligarchic regimes determine wages, prevent free trade unions, and otherwise through grease and no-rule-of-law or access to justice, obstruct market-based costs and pricing."

Here, I'm reminded of Naomi Klein's recount in "The Shock Doctrine" of how Milton Friedman's students (the "Chicago Boys") in country after country laid the intellectual foundation for fascism while mouthing ostensibly Liberal ideas about free market economics and "The Freedom to Choose" (to quote the title of Milton Friedman's 1980s PBS mini-series). Fascism, oligarchical capitalism, monopoly capitalism have nothing to do with free markets and "the freedom to choose", except, perhaps, for the monopoly capitalists. As you correctly point out, "there can be no free trade with dictatorships."

What the Bush/Cheney regime have done is create the blueprint and physical infrastructure for implementing a totalitarian state once the next crisis (or "shock") occurs, either in the form of another 9/11, or some kind of economic disaster---"Disaster Capitalism".

Let us never forget - especially at this time in history - that the first president - and one of the founding members of N.A.M. - was George W. Bush's great-grandfather. This is one very important fact!

Gyptian,

I, too, would have liked Nader in the White House, but he couldn't get there. Neither can any other third party candidate--not in our lifetimes anyway. I very well know Democrats are fence-riders on lots of things.
I also know I'll like Hillary's Supreme Court picks better than we're gonna like Giuliani's or Thompson's.
I do believe Democrats are better, if only slightly better, than Republicans, and I know that only one or the other of those parties is going to live at 1600 Pennsylvania. Please help. Knocking them all as if we're intellectually "above it all" is gonna get us Rudolph, the speechmaker or Fred, the actor.

Daniel David

"Having read just about all these advertiser-friendly diatribes, I have yet to discern any data to back up their flood of declamations about "frivolous" litigation and "wild" awards."

If the insurance industry can bamboozle the majority of MDs with "lawsuit abuse" assertions without producing enough factual evidence to justify the outrageous increases in medical liablility premiums, NAM must have figured it was time for them to join the (highly questionable) assertions team and reap some of those bamboozle benefits.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the coming war in Iran are directly related to Free Trade.

We now export weapons, jobs and dollars in return for importing manufactured goods and oil, and even food. We produce little for domestic consumption except food, drugs, gasoline made from imported oil, entertainment and weapons.

To increase production of weapons and profits for the weapons industry, we need wars. To increase profits for Big Oil, we need higher oil prices which they use to increase gasoline prices beyond what the oil price increase justifies, and we need to secure oil resources, which our wars are doing.

Drug prices are kept artificially high with government protection, and food industry profits increased by lack of regulation resulting in unsafe food. It's more complex than that but you get the idea.

ezeflyers idea of a corporation owned by the people is interesting. The government is the people so it would be a government corporation which loses money since our resources are pretty much depleted and we spend more than we would take in. If we seize the profitable corporations and run them ourselves, well, that is communism.

I would suggest that the main issue with Free Trade, is that American companies have moved production and jobs outside the US. Much of that production is sent back to us for our consumption, earning them more profits. But a lot is also consumed abroad, but instead of being exported from the US, it is being exported from China. The profits these American international companies earn overseas is not taxable unless they bring it back to the US. And they don't do this too much since they are not investing a lot in the US. Bush had to bribe them to repatriate their profits when in 2004 we lowered the tax rate to 5% for profit earned in previous years that is brought back.

Essentially our most precious resource is the corporate resource that supplies high paying jobs, and it is moving out of America w/o any penalty or compensation to the working class. As a nation we become poorer, and others become richer.

My idea is this. Any American company with international sales or profits over 10% overseas is partially nationalized. Five percent of their equity is given the the American People Corporation (APC) as a Free Trade Tax. This gives the people a stake in the jobs these companies move abroad.
The nations corporate resources were built in a partnership of the capitalists and working class, and are being depleted by Free Trade since they are moving abroad and not paying taxes on their profits earned overseas.

In a way, you may consider that the capitalists have broken up the marriage with the working class. Two hundred years of marriage, and the working class is fat, old, dumb and overpaid so we get left as the capitalist goes for the young and cheap working class elsewhere. The capitalists contribution to the APC is alimony. No fault divorce, only instead of 50%, it's 5%. Never happen, but it should.

gyptian,

Well, I guess you're not gonna help the Democrats.
Given realities as they are, as opposed to how we'd like them to be, I can't figure out who it is that you're really gonna help at all. That's how Republicans like us,...mad, ranting, confused, and utterly irrelevant in their political arena---and, it does, of course, remain THEIR arena.

"gonna get us Rudolph, the speechmaker or Fred, the actor"

This is exactly the argument used in the past (even recent past) by the Democrats. They cannot fool us anymore. Is it really that difficult to filibuster the Senate and put your friggin foot down to end the war ? its not. However the Democ-RATS would rather play politics and sit on the fence till somehow they get elected by default. The only phrase that comes to mind is 'spineless cowards'.

gyptian -- "the Republicans tell you they are gonna screw you and they do … the Democarts slimily pretend they are on your side and then let the Republicans screw you."
That has always been my sentiment, exactly.

Daniel David, progressives aren't voting for "Least Worst Hillary" unless the Demoks do their job. The Demoks must remove all US troops from Iraq and impeach chimp/buckshot by election day 2008 or progressives are voting Nader.

Daniel David, Bullcrap. Are you off of your cotton-pickin' mind?

Did you take a reality hike for the last 100 years?

Did the Dems send you? Are you perhaps a spy from the Democratic Party?

I think the Democrats have spies from the Right everywhere.
Even in the highest positions, because the Right can do it so easy. Send someone that leans a little Left but pay them every month and after they leave.

A few big talkers can change things.

Think of Gore/Liebermen...and where Liebermen is today.
Liebermen was foisted on Gore, why?.
He wasn't the best choice.

Maybe it would have turned out better if it was, Gore/Clinton (Clinton could not have run for President again, but there was nothing to stop him from being Vice-President).Clinton would not have been condescending in the Debates, the way Liebermen was.

Now the rush to Hillary. The Right wants to run against Hillary. Why?

I hate to say it but there are a lot of people that will never vote for a Woman for President, maybe in another 50 years but not now.
The same goes for a Black. So a Hillary/Obama ticket would be no-go from the first day.

Oh, they would talk it up, and make nice. But when the rubber hit the road the Democrats would lose, again.

We need a Reason/Reality Ticket. Someone who will get the country back to Reality, soon. Otherwise we will have a Depression that will make the Great Depression look like a summer picnic and Fours Un-winnable Wars (Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and TWOT) to boot.

daniel ...
Whoever i help will never 'win'. You are missing the point ... to me the republicans and democrats are identical twins. There is no 'us' and 'them'.

MimiC said:

"ezeflyers idea of a corporation owned by the people is interesting. The government is the people so it would be a government corporation which loses money since our resources are pretty much depleted and we spend more than we would take in. If we seize the profitable corporations and run them ourselves, well, that is communism."

You are correct in that a government corporation (a non-profit) loses money. That is why We the People has to be a for-profit corporation. We the People's resources are being stolen, destroyed, depleted and used gratuitously by other corporations of the oligarchy not only without paying us fair dividends for their use, but saddling us with their costs.

We own trillions of dollars worth of assets that are being stolen by other corporations in collusion with our non-representatives. We need to have our assets in our own hands in the form of dividend-paying stocks, not in eloquent words.

As a for-profit corporation, the People Inc. could no more seize any other corporation than GM could seize Ford. We could buy out other corporations if they would profit the People Inc., or we could lease to them our resources for a fair rent. In any case, the People Inc. would be operating as any other for-profit corporation except that there will be no majority stockholders and our non-transferable shares will be distributed equally to all American citizens.

Thanks for your critique.

Democrats are the most dangerous type of Republicans: they pretend to be on your side.

RUN RALPH RUN.

I voted straight-line democratic in all areas last election to fight bush, but I supported Ralph financially with $100 because I felt he was the only candidate raising important dialog, and that he was driving the issues.

They Democrats betrayed my trust. Boy, did I screw up wasting my vote on the Democrats. I will never vote for another Democrat again for the rest of my life, no matter what.

I learned my lesson the hard way.

You vote for the best man for the job, not the one you think can win or the lesser of the evils.

I cannot escape the conclusion that the only hope of proper governance from here on out is with third parties that haven't yet been contaminated by corporate communism.

Those phucking CEO's own our public government, our roads, our air, our food, our public transport.... they own our phucking souls!

Rebel!

Throw your wooden shoes into the gears of the wall street machinery and REBEL!

Four years of Bush 1, 8 years of Clinton 1, 8 years of Bush 2 and now, possibly 8 years of Clinton 2..Why do we keep punishing ourselves? VOTE YOUR CONSCIENCE. If ever there was a time for a third party, it's now. Now or never as far as I can see. Ralph, please get in the race! Get Michael Moore as your running mate...or Cindy.

Johnco: "I hate to say it but there are a lot of people that will never vote for a Woman for President, maybe in another 50 years but not now. The same goes for a Black. So a Hillary/Obama ticket would be no-go from the first day."

Something tells me you loved saying this. This is a universalism, a right-wing mantra, that's repeated every so often to try and knock marginalized people back into line. It's the equivalent of other peculiar sayings designed to uphold the status quo like: "Americans are by and large conservative, America is fundementally a Christian nation," and "God, guts, and guns are what make this country great."

Johnco,
Your argument is that of a "green girl." It's best not to tout what you hear from TV, AM radio, and your co-workers on this blog. We know a puling neophyte when we read one.

ruthru I don't want a "Green Girl", I want Reason and Reality. Neither of which you will find on TV.
Reason would not have lead us into Iraq in the first place and reality would have got us out in 2003 if we got in.
The Right goes along with Bush because he is a Republican and they think he "means well". Give it enough time and Democracy will take over and Iraq will be a Shining Light for the rest of the Middle East.
It won't happen, trying to turn a tribal, Muslim area into America at the point of a Gun will never work. All real Democracies work from the ground up, not the top down.
The Kabuki Dance we have going on in politics in the U.S. is our suicide. We should just remove all American personnel from Iraq as quickly as possible. It really would only take a few months. Then let the Iraqis figure out what's next.
Putting up Hillary/Obama on the ticket will only mean the Right wins by default and America goes farther down the road a true World War...

Thank you Ralph for your paying close attention to what is happening in our country.

We should get out of the WTO and other corporate out-sourcing/trade agreements. The Indian gov't is having trouble ratifying portions of their trade agreement with us because it loses national control over national resources. Hmmm... are we losing control of our national resources, our people, our productivity and ingenuity?

Ralph, can't we overturn the "money=free speech" ruling and the ruling that corporations are citizens? I'm afraid without those fundamental changes, we will be a facist state instead of an "of the people, by the people, for the people" democracy.

What seems to be missing in dicussion is how the american banking system can be changed

God Bless Ralph Nader.

George Seldes wrote about 'NAM' in his classic book, 'NEVER TIRE OF PROTESTING'.

Read it folks!

gyptian, mookie, rtdrury, johnco,

Maybe some blog places are indeed infiltrated up to the chin with spies, counterspies, counter-counterspies, ad infinitum. Not me, folks. I'd like the least-worst Hillary just fine, because she is indeed least worst.
So is Obama, So is Edwards, So is Kucinich. And I AM interested in "winning", because losing is a painful thing for the lower 2/3 of the real people in our country. I would have liked Ralph Nader very, very well as president. But there is simply no progress in progressive if you cannot elect a candidate. And there is a lot of damage to be sustained if we elect Giuliani or Thompson. This is all more than academic to me, or I wouldn't bother banging the keyboard.

Ralph, some months ago I heard you say in an interview, when asked if you run in 08, that you would only seriously consider it if Hillary was nominated. Seems we may be close to that unfortunate reality. So, are you practicing your campaign speeches? Some polls indicate that 50 to 60% of Americans think it's time for a third party. Let's try it again, to hell with the naysayers.

"The only, repeat only, antidote to corporation creep is a Democrat in the White House."--Daniel David

If there was an award given for the dumbest comments ever written on this site, Daniel David would surely be a finalist for it.

A world built on the ecomomic model of Milton Friedman's,laisse-Faire captilism. Every man for himself and every child on his own.Empty,cold and without compassion,all for profit.
How sad that is!
My only hope is that things run in cycles and Lassie-Faire captilism, as had it's day and will soon be coming to an end..Coming to end because of it's greed in the form of credit derivatives.485 trillion in credit derivatives and only 60 trillion in world GDP to back it up.
The injection of liquidity by the Fed can only ease the pain,a bandaid on a trainwreck.
One of the world's leading experts on credit derivatives Das recently said in an interview, "Massive levels of debt underlying the world economic system are about to unwind in a profound and persistent way".
So, perhaps we who have compassion in our heart who's blood runs red not green will soon see this madness come to an end.
Perhaps Milton Friedman's ideas, can be put rest for good.

Thank you, Ralph, for all your efforts to educate this nation about the Republicrats.
In the last election I voted for the lesser of two "evils". You were correct, all I got was "evil". I never felt my votes for you were wasted. Never again will I waste my vote by voting for another Republicrat,.

To Josh Miles:

Thanks. I don't get nominated much for awards, even the "dumbest comment" award.

But I didn't see YOUR posted antidote to "corporation creep" problem. Hey, sure, Nader. But not you together with all the king's horses can elect Nader.
Not in 2000, not in 2004, not ever.
He's agreat guy who has brought much insight to America, and only a Democrat is going to get elected and come anywhere near following Mr. Nader's ideas.

Daniel David