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<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Note: parenthetical
sentences are when I have inserted material from another part of the
talk <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">in an effort to improve flow.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">It's easier than we think
to turn the country around. People are demoralized, cynical, <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">helpless--but there is a national consensus on simple things that
could be done. (There <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">are so many problems we don't deserve, and
solutions are available.)</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Hundreds of thousands died
needlessly, in cars that could kill you in a 15 mph crash, <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">before the
need<font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> </font>for auto safety was recognized. Auto seat belts, padded dashboards, and <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">head restraints
had been designed long before. He went up against GM armed with the <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">facts, he did not exaggerated corporate power, and he never
considered that he might not <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">win. Corporations want to control their business environment: government, consumers, <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">labor, academia.
Strategic donations to<font style="font-size: 12pt;" size="3"> </font>Caltech and MIT prevented them from
investigating <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">auto safety--he saw that when he wrote "Unsafe at
Any Speed." </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">45,000 Americans die every
year because they didn't get health treatment in time. We <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">suffer
under a "draconian conglomeration of ignorance, arrogance,
stupidity, and cruelty." </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">A mere 1% of Americans has the power <font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">to </font>mount a congressional watchdog campaign <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">to steer Congress into
directions the majority of Americans support, such as establishing <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">health <font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"></font>care and raising minimum wage, law and order against corporate
crime, and removing <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">the perverse incentives and complexity of current
tax policy. Before we tax labor let's tax <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">things we don't like:
speculation, pollution, corporate crime, addictive products.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Americans dislike wars
against countries that are no threat. 70% want out of Afghanistan.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">
Half the country opposed the Iraq war despite the propaganda machine,
and the majority <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">considers the military budget inflated and full of
waste and fraud. When one Trident missile <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">warhead can destroy 200
cities, why are we building more submarines? Aircraft carriers</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> cost
$15 billion apiece. We have 13. Our nearest rival, Italy, has 2.
Remember Eisenhower's <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">"Cross of Iron" speech. Congress
should have skin in the war game: draft congressional</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> family members
first. </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">We need civic training in
the schools. Physical education is being dropped even while kids <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">get
fatter and more diabetic, watching violent TV while munching junk
food. See the book <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">"Stop Teaching our Children to Kill". </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">Civil liberties abuses
continue indefinite detention, warrantless searches.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">To deflate knee-jerk
anti-regulatory dogma, just ask the ideologue if automobile safety <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">should be left to market reaction. The Justice Department
prosecutes few environmental <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">crimes and employs only 78 environmental
lawyers. Three years after the financial crisis</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> no perpetrator has
been jailed. A bank robber turned down a wad of cash and took only <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">$100, turned himself in the next day, and got 15 years. Corporations
don't face three</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> strikes provisions or probation. Hundreds of
Savings and Loan executives were jailed in</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> the 80s. Enron executives
were jailed. </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Government procurement can
stimulate innovation. The GSA buys 40,000 cars a year.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> Nader asked
them to specify airbags. GM and Chrysler refused to bid. Ford bid
on 5000 units. </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Half of us don't vote.
Legislators flatter, fool, and flummox us. And they don't use the
word <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">"posterity" any more. To be effective citizen
advocates we need training: learn the rules, <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">learn to lobby, to hold
press conferences, do FOIA requests, and fight burnout. (Never</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">
before has Nader seen more pessimism, demoralization, more stupid
elected officials who <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">have sold their power. 25% of Congress would
support Nader's agenda today.) </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">If you can guarantee an
audience of 300 you can summon representatives to a panel on any <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">issue you like--such as limiting corporate power. In Boehner's home
district there was no <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Democratic opposition candidate. A district
has 650,000 people. A congressional watchdog <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">group needs 1000 people
volunteering 200 hours each a year. 1% of the American people <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">can
turn Congress around, making our nation is a humanitarian superpower
instead of the</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> military empire. (If enough people will it, it will
happen. The level of dedication demanded</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> is comparable to the effort
in participating in a serious bird watchers club.) </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Every progressive movement
has been funded by rich people. "Power concedes nothing</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> without
a demand", said Frederick Douglas We have two parties dialing
for the same <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">commercial dollars. (Maybe some billionaire will turn
it into a three-way race. ) Book: "Only <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">the Superrich can
Save Us." Soros could have quadrupled the number of military
who <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">personnel who argued against the Iraq war had he donated $200
million. The Re-open <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Our Courts movement opposes tort reform and
hopes to make legal justice available to <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">poor people. Buffett is
worth 55 billion. For a billion we could reform the tax system.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">Four Excuses for
Abandoning Civic Duty:</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">1. I don't have time</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">2. If I do have time, I
don't know what to do or how, and don't know the rules</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">3. If I have time and
know the rules, I'm afraid I'll get in trouble at work</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">4. If I have time and
know the rules, and not afraid I'll get in trouble at work, then <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">I'll
claim there's no point because nothing will happen</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">That's the ultimate
surrender. </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">The values of fair play
and the golden rules are cross-cultural, global unifiers. </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">The duopoly has excluded
third parties from debate. The differences between the two <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">major
parties on foreign policy, corporate policy, and civil liberties are
minimal. <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">(Democrats filed dozens of lawsuits to keep Nader off the
ballot.)</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Democrats are not allowed
to discuss the $10/hour minimum wage. It would jumpstart</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> the economy.
Obama has given 18 tax breaks to small business. 2/3 of all
low-wage</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> workers work for 50 corporations.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Dealing with partisanship:
go straight to the people, barnstorm with a 10 part agenda, <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">and
partisanship melts away.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Obama on single-payer:
"It's not practical" means he was not willing to oppose
the <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">insurers. The Canadian healthcare system costs $4500 per capita
per year, and its</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> legal text is 13 pages. Obamacare costs $8500 per
year per person and its text is <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">1500 pages. </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">Obama is
conflict-averse--afraid to take on the corporations. We can change
the <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">situation through civic engagement. The initiative process
began in Idaho when <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">railroad barons had bought the legislature. We
need campaign finance reform.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> Proposition 37 (GMO labeling) and
Proposition 30 (tax plan) deserve yes votes.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">(Over the years more than
100 special-purpose groups have spun off from</font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3"> Nader's organization.)
</font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">(It's dismaying how much
brain power in Silicon Valley goes into trivial gadgets.)</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">Questions:</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">About what in his career
has he changed his mind? The draft. The founding fathers <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">opposed
the concept of a professional army. We have surrendered to the <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">militarization of foreign policy.</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">What questions would he
ask the debating candidates? How to shift power from <br></font></p><p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font style="font-size:12pt" size="3">the few to
many?</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">His father once said "the
only way to lose your job in government is to do your job."</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">Nader.org </font>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><font size="3">Essentialinformation.org</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0in"><br>
</p>
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