Partisan Number 26

Each presidential candidate is permitted a short statement on the website of the California Secretary of State. This is the text submitted by Ralph Nader; it was reproduced and published in Partisan issue no. 26, printed September 2008.

Corporate control of government, with wasteful spending and sweetheart deals, has taken the power away from average Americans. Power must be returned to the people, whose needs should be met before corporations.

Our campaign and the Peace and Freedom Party propose a national, single-payer health care system for all; free college education; and repair of the crumbling infrastructure of our cities and schools, increasing jobs and quality of life. Eliminate WTO and NAFTA, which drain jobs, and sharply increase the minimum wage.

Tax such things as pollution, Wall Street securities speculation, and excessive corporate executive pay, instead of taxing labor. Eliminate all payroll taxes up to $50,000. Crack down on corporate crime. Cut the bloated military budget, with total corporate and military withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, and support real peace in the Middle East.

Stop money control of politics with full public financing of elections. Defend voter and candidate rights with an election day federal holiday, nationwide same-day voter registration, and fair ballot access laws for all parties in every state.

To solve the energy crisis, we must invest in renewable wind and solar energy, and adopt a carbon pollution tax, while halting fossil fuel subsidies.

End attacks on civil liberties like the PATRIOT act and the "war on drugs." Abolish the death penalty and end private prisons. A free society must ensure that all Americans enjoy full and equal rights, socially, legally, and politically.