Don't blame Ralph!

I was watching Ralph Nader yesterday on one of Sunday's political programs giving a talk, an excellent talk, on the various ways we can improve our political lives when the person watching with me commented that a friend, a liberal, hated Nader, blaming him for Bush Junior's presidency.  This is not the first time I've heard this said, nor will it be the last. It's a ridiculous accusation. Nader didn't elect George Bush, nor in fact did the American people. The Supreme Court gave the presidency to Bush, but even if Bush had won with any legitimacy (he didn't), it would have nothing to do with Nader. Our country needs  at least one other viable party and perhaps more (although not more than 100 as they have in Italy). There certainly are differences between the two parties and all liberals (or they're misnaming themselves) prefer Democratic policies over Republican, but the line between the two parties is too often indistinguishable, particularly in their respective support for financial institutions.

As Nader pointed out yesterday on taxes, there are many ways we can tax fairly and at the same time reduce the deficit without imposing hardship on the poor and middle classes. Tax derivative trading, at 1/2 of 1 percent, for example. It would bring in hundreds of billions without causing any hardship. Yet derivative trading is not taxed at all. In fact stock trades of all kinds are not taxed. In most states when we go into a store to purchase food or clothing, we pay taxes, in some states as high as 8 or 9%, so why do we not tax other types of exchanges. An obvious answer, the influence of corporations on Congress. I don't want to short change Nader or his speech, in which he had solutions for so many of our problems. It wasn't all about tax policy, but of his proposals that one stuck out from the rest.

Yet President Obama, a Democrat, has never proposed anything of its kind and never will, because like Republicans he's tightly aligned with those who benefit from our loose financial regulations.  Remember, he appointed Timothy Geithner as his treasury secretary.  And then there's his appointment of GE's chief officer Jeff Immelt to his jobs council. That's the same GE CEO that outsources  a large percentage of GE manufacturing jobs to China and other third-world countries.  Of course I know why GE does so (to any Republicans reading here) because third-world countries have fewer regulations and pay lower wages.  But unlike Republicans I think life is about so much more than money.

Anyway,  I wander. Back to Ralph.  He's not running this year, but the Green Party does have a candidate and I will vote Green as I have done so often in the past.  And I'd like to point out to those who live in safe blue states like New York, that if you have any interest in supporting Green Party policies and would like to see their candidates on the debate stage in future years, it's the number of votes the party gets in a general election that gets them on the ballot, on the debate stage, and federal funding in future elections.

Of course, I want Obama to win, if anyone is thinking otherwise. A world with Mitt Romney as president is too unbearable to think about.  I notice that a friend is offering her small apartment in Assisi for under 600 Euros a month, and a better rent for longer stays.  If any of you live in a "purple state," please vote, and vote Obama.  I prefer New York to Assisi.

And tonight, the last debate.  As before I won't watch--too painful, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that Obama doesn't fall sleep again.