Statement of Ralph Nader on the Election

November 7, 2012

The “democracy gap” in our politics and elections spells a deep sense of powerlessness by people who drop out, do not vote, or listlessly vote for the ‘least worst’ every four years and then wonder why after every cycle the ‘least worst’ gets worse. People need to be “Expert Voters” and “Expert Citizens.”

The important work of our democracy does not end on election day, rather it begins anew once the votes are counted.

A civic agenda that starts to end the corporate domination of our country should:

* End ballot access obstructionism
* Open up the Presidential debates
* Public financing of campaigns
* Raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour
* Adopt single payer national health insurance
* Launch a nationwide public works and repair program
* Cut the huge, bloated, wasteful military budget
* Retire nuclear power, expand Renewable Energy to deal with climate change
* Crackdown on corporate crime and corporate welfare
* Adopt a carbon pollution tax and end tax escapes for corporations and the wealthy
* Reverse U.S. policy in the Middle East
* Repeal the Taft-Hartley anti-union law
* Adopt a Wall Street securities speculation tax
* End corporate personhood
* Defend, Restore and Strengthen the Civil Justice System