Vote Early and Vote Nader!

Click here for voting sites in Johnson County.

20 REASONS TO VOTE FOR RALPH NADER

1. Ralph Nader is not for sale.  Millions of corporate dollars and twenty-two thousand corporate lobbyists are choking American democracy. Nader is the only candidate running a clean money campaign.  While Bush and Gore rake in millions of dollars in soft money and obligations to special interests, the Nader campaign refuses soft money, corporate contributions or PAC donations.

2. Ralph Nader is a real reformer.  During his 37-year career, he has been the driving force behind landmark pieces of legislation such as the Motor Vehicle Highway Safety Acts, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act and the Freedom of Information Act.

3. Ralph Nader is the only candidate fighting for universal health care coverage now. 46 million Americans do not have health insurance –nearly a 30% increase since 1992. A universal health care system of public payment and private delivery would cut the huge administrative costs which burden American wallets.

4. Ralph Nader vigorously fought the confirmation of extremist Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.  A Senate controlled by Democrats confirmed Scalia and Thomas. Ralph Nader respects and will protect a woman’s right to choose when to have children. Nader will continue to fight for fair, impartial justices.

5. Ralph Nader strives to abolish child poverty in America.  While Western European nations have all but eliminated child poverty, one in five American children lives in poverty.

6. Ralph Nader is the only candidate who supports the repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act, “the chokehold on American labor.”  Nader encourages the growth of trade unions—now at a sixty-year low in the private sector—to protect worker’s rights and safety.

7. Ralph Nader is the only candidate who would withdraw the United States from the WTO and NAFTA and renegotiate all trade agreements to include provisions that safeguard workers, consumers, and the environment.

8. Ralph Nader attacks racial discrimination. Nader would protect people of color by enhancing affirmative action, cracking down on racial profiling, implementing widespread community policing, and terminating the illegal lending patterns of redlining and blockbusting.

9. Ralph Nader opposes the failed War on Drugs. Nader believes that this policy has only amplified street crime and transformed the private prison industry into one of the fastest growing industries in America.  Nader contends that drug addiction should be treated as a health problem.

10. Ralph Nader is against the death penalty.  Bush and Gore are for it.

11. Ralph Nader fights corporate crime and welfare.  Corporate crime kills far more people and costs taxpayers far more money than street crime.  Corporate welfare siphons hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars away from where they are needed to rebuild America’s bridges, schools, health and recreation centers, drinking water systems, mass transit systems and other public facilities.

12. Ralph Nader calls for an end to the economic sanctions on Iraq, which cause the deaths of 5000 children per month according to the American Physicians Taskforce. Unlike military sanctions, economic sanctions actually strengthen the dictatorship in Iraq.

13. Ralph Nader is the only candidate who supports equal rights for gays and lesbians – in the military, in civil unions, in the workplace, and in the marketplace.

14. Ralph Nader protects family farms, “the cultural backbone of America.” Bush and Gore accept large contributions from giant agribusinesses intent on displacing small farmers. Additionally, along with 90% of Americans, Nader supports labeling genetically-engineered food. Gore and Bush oppose labeling.

15. Ralph Nader would cut the swollen military budget. Although the Cold War ended ten years ago, the Republicans and Democrats continue to fund unnecessary gold-plated weapons systems such as the unworkable anti-ballistic missile defense system and the unsafe Osprey fighter.

16. Ralph Nader supports a significant increase in the federal minimum wage and a living wage nationwide. Although the record-breaking economy has doubled in size over the last thirty years, the inflation-adjusted federal minimum wage is currently approximately $2.15 lower than it was in 1968.

17. Ralph Nader would end all commercial logging in our National Forests. The Federal Government subsidizes logging in the National Forests to the tune of 1.2 billion dollars annually, yielding just 3% of the national timber harvest.Nader would use the 1.2 billion to restore those forests for future generations.

18. Ralph Nader would reshape our energy policy to favor clean energy technologies, such as solar and conservation. His push for efficient and clean mass transit systems would not only greatly reduce our dependence on oil, but would reduce transportation costs, pollution levels and traffic accidents.

19. Ralph Nader will protect your privacy. Never before has the privacy of American citizens been under such an invasion, from increased government surveillance to Internet commercial snooping to the sharing of personal medical records without your consent.

20. Every vote for Ralph Nader is a vote towards the creation of a watchdog political party that will empower civic groups and send a clear message to the two major parties: “shape up or shrink down.” If you agree that Ralph Nader is the only presidential candidate capable of reforming politics, vote Nader.  Do you expect your members of Congress to vote their conscience? Shouldn't you

Click here for voting sites in Johnson County.

Click here for UI Students for Nader home page.