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Letters to the Editor
September Letters: Presidential Policies and Election
Tax Cut for Whom? And Nader 2000 Leaders United To Defeat Bush
By Jane Goldhamer, and Studs Terkel, et. al.
Posted on Sep 21, 2004 |
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Dear West By Northwest:
I have been following the discussion about the presidential campaign in our local/statewide paper: Here is my perspective on one contributor and the issues. David Reinhard's take on the Republican convention in the Sept. 5th issue of The Oregonian is right on the button in describing Bush's agenda for the next four years: "reforming and simplifiying the tax code" (read "flat tax," where the rich don't pay more than the poor); "revamping Social Security" (replacing it with private investments--for those who have money to invest and can afford to lose on bad investments); "expanding health savings accounts" (you set aside your extra money for health care instead of having health insurance). The one thing mentioned that wasn't loaded in favor of the rich was job training, but I suspect it's like some of the promises he made in 2000, after which he slashed spending for the social programs he'd pretended to favor.
Reinhard contradicted himself when he claimed, "Unlike Democrats, GOP delegates were more enthusiastic about their candidate than apoplectic about the other party's guy." Well, okay, they got Zell Miller, a confused Democrat who likens GWB to FDR, to do the loud apoplectic bit. I understand he was scary. The moderate minority, dusted off and paraded out for this show, were all sweetness and reason--although David Broder claims that "the major speakers sliced and diced John Kerry."
Reinhard airily dismisses "a few social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage" as inconvenient issues that scarcely dent GOP unity--the issues that were played down in this convention of moderates, but are major ones with fervent right-wing support that the party listens to.
What does this portend? Ominously, alternate delegate Darrell Fuller is quoted as saying, "...you don't know if the terrorists will attack here or abroad, and you don't know what the impact on the election would be." Oh, yes we do. And it's just possible that those charged with guarding against terrorist attacks might be a little more relaxed as the election draws nearer. What could be better for a Bush victory?
Another danger we must be braced for is "malfunctioning" voting machines with no back-up records. Urge your friends in states with voting machines to vote early, by mail-in absentee paper ballots!
Jane Goldhamer
Beaverton, Oregon
Dear West By Northwest.org:
We, the undersigned, were selected by Ralph Nader to be members of
his 113-person national "Nader 2000 Citizens Committee." This year,
we urge support for Kerry/Edwards in all "swing states," even while
we strongly disagree with Kerry's policies on Iraq and other issues.
For people seeking progressive social change in the United States,
removing George W. Bush from office should be the top priority in the
2004 presidential election. Progressive votes for John Kerry in swing
states may prove decisive in attaining this vital goal. (For updated
list of signers, see Vote 2 Stop Bush.)
* David Barsamian, Author, Radio Interviewer
* Juliette Beck, California Citizens for Fair Trade
* Herbert Bernstein, Professor of Physics at Hampshire College
* Thomas Berry, Author, Dream of the Earth
* Wendell Berry, Farmer and Writer
* Norman Birnbaum, Author and Educator
* Grace Lee Boggs, Detroit Activist and Writer
* Blase Bonpane, Office of the Americas
* Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas
* Eric Brakken, Former Staffer, United Students Against Sweatshops
* Ira Byock, Palliative Care Physician, Author of Dying Well
* Edgar Cahn, Founder of Time Banking
* John Cavanagh, Director of Institute for Policy Studies
* Noam Chomsky, Author and Professor at MIT
* Steve Cobble, Strategist, Jackson '88, Nader '00, Kucinich '04
* Ben Cohen, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry's
* Peter Coyote, Actor and Writer
* Ronnie Cummins, Director of Organic Consumers Association
* Herman Daly, Professor at University of Maryland
* Iris DeMent, Musician/Songwriter
* Phil Donahue, Former Talk Show Host
* Mark Dowie, Journalist, Former Editor/Publisher of Mother Jones
* Barbara Dudley, Former President, Greenpeace and National
Lawyers Guild
* Ronnie Dugger, Co-founder of Alliance for Democracy
* Troy Duster, Professor at New York University
* Barbara Ehrenreich, Political Essayist and Social Critic
* Richard Falk, Center of International Studies, Princeton
University
* Jim Goodman, Organic Dairy Farmer
* Rebecca Goodman, Organic Dairy Farmer
* Doris (Granny D) Haddock, Senate Candidate, Reform Activist
* Paul Hawken, Author, Economist
* Randy Hayes, Founder, Rainforest Action Network and Director of
Sustainability, City of Oakland
* Jim Hightower, Author and Commentator
* Wes Jackson, The Land Institute
* David Kairys, Law Professor at Temple University and Author
* Ynestra King, Ecofeminist Writer/Activist
* John Kinsman, Family Farm Defenders
* Philip M. Klasky, Co-director, Bay Area Nuclear Waste Coalition
* David Korten, Author of When Corporations Rule the World
* Frances Korten, Director of Positive Futures Network
* Saul Landau, California State Polytechnic University
* Rabbi Michael Lerner, The Tikkun Community
* Theodore Lowi, Political Scientist, Author
* Howard Lyman, Former Rancher, Vegetarian Activist
* Joanna Macy, Author and Scholar
* Jerry Mander, President of International Forum on Globalization
* Manning Marable, Institute for Research in African American
Studies, Columbia
* Redwood Mary, Plight of the Redwoods Campaign
* Robert McChesney, Professor, University of Illinois
* Carolyn Merchant, Professor of Environmental History, University
of California-Berkeley
* Peter Montague, Environmental Research Foundation
* Gus Newport, Former Mayor of Berkeley, California
* Ruth Ozeki, Novelist
* Frances Fox Piven, City University of New York
* Bonnie Raitt, Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter
* Sheldon Rampton, Co-author of Banana Republicans
* Marcus Raskin, Author
* Tim Robbins
* Vicki Robin, New Road Map Foundation
* Susan Sarandon, Actor and Activist
* John Schaeffer, Founder of Real Goods Trading Company
* Michelle Shocked, Musician
* John Stauber, Co-author of Banana Republicans
* Andrew Strauss, Professor at Widener University School of Law
* Charlotte Talberth, Max and Anna Levinson Foundation
* Meredith Tax, Writer and Human Rights Activist
* Studs Terkel, Author, Oral Historian
* Tom Tomorrow, Cartoonist
* Sarah van Gelder, Editor of YES! Magazine
* Eddie Vedder, Musician, Pearl Jam
* Harvey Wasserman, Author of Harvey Wasserman's History of the US
* Cornel West, Professor, Author of Democracy Matters
* Sheldon Wolin, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University
* Howard Zinn, Historian and Author
Other prominent Nader 2000 supporters endorsing this statement:
* Medea Benjamin, Code Pink
* Jackson Browne
* Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry's Co-founder
* Bob Harris, Author
* Norman Solomon, Columnist
© Copyright 2000-2004 by West By Northwest.org
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