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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Nader hits Obama, McCain; calls for tax on derivatives

‘Make them pay for their own bailout’

Ralph Nader speaks Tuesday at Boise State University.  (BETSY Z. RUSSELL / The Spokesman-Review)
Betsy Z. Russell Staff writer

BOISE – Consumer advocate Ralph Nader brought his independent presidential campaign to Idaho on Tuesday, sharply criticizing both major party candidates as beholden to corporate interests and calling for a tax on some financial transactions to pay for the financial bailout.

In a press conference and rally at Boise State University, Nader said a 0.1 percent tax on all derivative transactions would raise $500 billion a year. “That would make them pay for their own bailout,” Nader declared to an applauding capacity crowd of about 400, many of them BSU students.

Nader pointed to history, noting that a stock transaction tax was imposed to help finance the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. The United States had a stock transfer tax as recently as 1966.

“This country is being run into the ground by corporate bullies – we’re in the middle of a corporate crime wave,” Nader told the crowd.

He also said he’ll unveil proposals in the next two days to require that in times of war, all able-bodied children and grandchildren of members of Congress, the president and the vice president will automatically be drafted; and that no members of Congress will have health insurance or pensions until all Americans have health insurance and pensions.

Nader is one of five candidates for president on Idaho ballots. The others are Republican John McCain; Democrat Barack Obama; Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin; and Libertarian candidate Bob Barr.

Nader is one of eight candidates for president on Washington ballots.

He said he’s visiting all 50 states as part of his campaign, and Idaho was his 49th; he’s headed to Montana today. Though Nader was critical Tuesday of both McCain and Obama, he reserved most criticism for Obama. Asked why, he said, “Because he’s going to win – he’s your next president.”

Nader said he’s working on plans to organize people in every congressional district in the nation to encourage citizens to push for universal health coverage, a living wage, renewable energy and more.

“Never before have the polls shown nine out of 10 Americans think our country is in decline,” he said. “Isn’t it time for a third political force in our country?”

In 2000, Nader was a write-in candidate for president in Idaho and received 12,292 votes, or 2.5 percent of the total. Those numbers showed “there’s obviously something brewing here in Idaho,” he said.

Third parties, he said, can play a “tugboat role” by pushing major parties toward new positions – and they’ve done so on slavery, votes for women and other issues. “The great social justice movements were not produced by the two major parties,” he said.

Betsy Z. Russell can be reached at (866) 336-2854 or bzrussell@gmail.com.