Patriotic Yardsticks for Unpatriotic Giant Corporations by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
May 16, 2013

Image by DonkeyHotey via Flickr

Why are big, global U.S. corporations so unpatriotic? After all, they were created in the U.S.A., rose to immense profit because of the toil of American workers, are bailed out by American taxpayers whenever they’re in trouble, and are safeguarded abroad by the U.S. military.

Yet these corporate goliaths work their tax lawyers overtime to escape U.S. taxes. Many pay less than you do in federal income taxes. Imagine corporations, like General Electric, have not paid federal income taxes on U.S. profits for years.

Dear President Obama: “By What Authority?” by Bruce Fein and Ralph Nader + Barack Obama’s Notice: Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Yemen

Image by SS&SS via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
May 13, 2013

Dear Mr. President:

As a former lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, you know that the federal government, including the Office of the President, does not enjoy limitless powers.  As President, your powers are limited to those conferred either by the Constitution or federal statutes. 

Law Day, the ABA and Addressing Reality by Ralph Nader

Image by jfantenb via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
May 1, 2013

In case you did not know, May 1 is Law Day! Initiated by the American Bar Association (ABA), established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and made official by Congress in 1961, Law Day was seen as a counterweight to May Day which celebrates the workers of the world within socialist and communist countries.

Don’t Ignore How Others See Us by Ralph Nader + Nader’s Provocative Question

Dandelion Salad

Updated: May 2, 2013

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
April 25, 2013

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

In watching the massive media coverage and the reaction to the brutal bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, the wise poem “To A Louse…” composed in 1785 by the Scottish poet Robert Burns came to me:

“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us/ To see oursels as ithers see us!”

English translation:
“And would some Power the small gift give us/To see ourselves as others see us!”

Barack Obama Is Comfortable with Bush’s Inferno by Ralph Nader + ABA White Papers

Dandelion Salad

Image by World Can’t Wait via Flickr

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
April 19, 2013

George W. Bush is riding high. A megamillionaire, from the taxpayer-subsidized Texas Rangers company, he makes $150,000 to $200,000 per speech, receives a large presidential pension and support facilities and is about to dedicate the $500 million George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on April 25.

Rep. Keith Ellison’s “Inclusive Prosperity Act” by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

Image by Seabeak via Flickr

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
April 17, 2013

Citizens concerned about our national debt and wheeling and dealing on Wall Street should energetically support Rep. Keith Ellison’s (D-Minn.) “Inclusive Prosperity Act.”

The “Inclusive Prosperity Act” would enact a speculation tax that could help shrink our nation’s deficit while safeguarding and reducing runaway speculative trading on Wall Street.

A small financial transaction tax of 0.5 percent or less – depending upon the financial instrument being taxed – could produce hundreds of billions of dollars annually, perhaps as much as $350 billion.

Two Obamas, Two Classes of Children by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
April 11, 2013

Image by watchingfrogsboil via Flickr

An Associated Press photograph brought the horror of little children lying dead outside of their home to an American Audience. At least 10 Afghan children and some of their mothers were struck down by an airstrike on their extended family household by order of President Barack Obama. He probably decided on what his aides describe as the routine weekly “Terror Tuesday” at the White House. On that day, Mr. Obama typically receives the advice about which “militants” should live or die thousands of miles away from drones or aircraft. Even if households far from war zones are often destroyed in clear violation of the laws of war, the president is not deterred.

How Big Corporations Are Unpatriotic by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
March 28, 2013

Image by watchingfrogsboil via Flickr

Many giant profitable U.S. corporations are increasingly abandoning America while draining it at the same time.

General Electric, for example, has paid no federal income taxes for a decade while becoming a net job exporter and fighting its hard-pressed workers who want collective bargaining through unions like the United Electrical Workers Union (UE). GE’s boss, Jeffrey Immelt, makes about $12,400 an hour on an 8-hour day, plus benefits and perks, presiding over this global corporate empire.

Ralph Nader: Income Inequality and The Minimum Wage (HR 1346)

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Dandelion Salad

with Ralph Nader

MOXNEWSd0tC0M·Mar 25, 2013

March 25, 2013 C-SPAN

The Sociocide of Iraq by Bush/Cheney by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

Image by Truthout.org via Flickr

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
March 21, 2013

Ten years ago George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, as war criminals, launched the sociocide of the people of Iraq – replete with embedded television and newspaper reporters chronicling the invasion through the Bush lens. That illegal war of aggression was, of course, based on recognized lies, propaganda and cover-ups that duped or co-opted leading news institutions such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.

It’s time for a raise to $10.50 now! + Getting Congress to End Wage Slavery by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
March 5, 2013

Image by WisconsinJobsNowb via Flickr

The Harkin/Miller bill to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016 (in three years) still does not catch up with the federal minimum wage in 1968, adjusted for inflation, which should be at least $10.50 per hour in 2013.

Since 1968, worker productivity has doubled and all workers have received for this effort is a shrinking minimum wage. In other words, one Walmart worker today does the work that two Walmart workers did in 1968 and receives less pay, inflation adjusted, than either of those workers 45 years ago.

Gasoline Prices, A Challenge to Obama by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
Feb. 28, 2013

Image by funnyliberal via Flickr

Here we go again. A sudden surge in the price of gasoline and heating oil is followed by reported expressions of frustrated despair by hard-pressed consumers in the midst of silence from the oil companies and abdication of responsibility by the elected and appointed officials of federal and state governments.

The price of gasoline is up by about 50 cents in the past month, according to AAA, making the average gallon go for close to $4 per gallon in many parts of the country.

Perils of the Keystone XL Pipeline Confront Obama by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
February 21, 2013

Image by Daniela Kantorova via Flickr

Bill McKibben, a prolific writer and organizer on global warming and climate change, has had a busy year teaching environmentalists not to despair and will soon be learning some lessons himself.

In August 2011, he organized an unprecedented demonstration in front of the White House urging President Obama to deny a permit for the giant Keystone XL pipeline that would haul very dirty tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada down to Texas refineries, largely to be exported.

Unlivable Wages by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
February 15, 2013

Image by detailgroesze via Flickr

How could Barack Obama say, in his State of the Union speech, “let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on earth no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour”?

Back in 2008, Obama campaigned to have a $9.50 per hour minimum wage by 2011. Now he’s settling for $9.00 by 2015! Going backward into the future is the price that poverty groups and labor unions are paying by giving Mr. Obama a free ride last year on this moral imperative. How can leaders of poverty groups and unions accept this back-of-the-hand response to the plight of thirty million workers who make less today than what workers made 45 years ago in 1968, inflation adjusted?

Generalissima Clinton Expanding the Empire by Ralph Nader

Image by Abode of Chaos via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
February 8, 2013

Hillary Clinton has completed her four-year tenure as Secretary of State to the accolades of both Democratic and Republican Congressional champions of the budget-busting “military-industrial complex,” that President Eisenhower warned about in his farewell address. Behind the public relations sheen, the photo-opportunities with groups of poor people in the developing world, an ever more militarized State Department operated under Clinton’s leadership.