Portland, OR - Nader to Hold News Conference and Rally
News Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ryan Mehta, 408-348-0681, rmehta@votenader.org (national); Greg Kafoury, 971-563-4139, kafoury@kafourymcdougal.com (local)
NADER TO HOLD NEWS CONFERENCE AND RALLY IN PORTLAND, OR
WHO: Ralph Nader
WHAT: Press Conference and Rally
WHEN: Monday, Oct. 20, at 7:15 and 7:30 p.m., respectively
WHERE: Bagdad Theatre and Pub, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214
On Monday, October 20 at 7:15 p.m., consumer advocate and presidential candidate Ralph Nader will hold a press conference at the Bagdad Theatre and Pub, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214, followed by a 1:30 p.m. rally. Mr. Nader will speak on a variety of topics including the economic crisis, the fraudulent Commission on Presidential Debates which excludes alternative voices from participating, and other pressing issues especially pertinent to Oregon residents.
Nader/Gonzalez laments news of the closure of a German-owned Daimler plant in Portland. Giant corporations, whether American or foreign, feel little or no sympathy for the workers and communities they harm when they make profit-driven decisions to move jobs oversees or into poorer countries where they exploit lax worker and environmental protection laws. The closure is set for 2010 when the company’s contract expires and will result in the laying off of about 900 workers represented by a number of unions including the Teamsters, Machinists and others.
While news of the plant’s closure rightly inspires a sense of powerlessness, Nader/Gonzalez is encouraged by plans to construct new solar panels on 328,000 square feet of a warehouse in northeast Portland. The solar project, which is the largest of its kind in the Northwest, will produce 1.1 megawatts of electricity for local customers by December which is enough to power about 800 homes.
Nader/Gonzalez supports bringing jobs back to communities by investing in clean, sustainable projects such as solar and wind, and in needed local labor-intensive public works to improve and rebuild infrastructure, fully fund education and redirect large bureaucratic and fraudulent health expenditures toward preventive health care. Of all places, Portland, which recently topped a list of the Greenest Cities in the world by Popular Science Magazine and is widely considered to be the most bicycle friendly city in North America, has clearly proven its openness and ability to accomplish just that while setting an example for others.
Mr. Nader will also address other critical issues the major party candidates have taken "off the table" that the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign has put on the table, including:
- a comprehensive, six-month negotiated military and corporate withdrawal date from Iraq;
- a single-payer, private delivery, free-choice public health insurance system for all;
- a living wage and repeal of the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act;
- a no-nuke, solar-based energy policy supported by renewable, sustainable, energy-efficient sources;
- a carbon tax to deter global warming and a securities derivatives tax to pay for the Washington bailout of Wall Street;
- an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime that has resulted in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered tax dollars; and,
- more direct democracy reflecting the preamble to our constitution which starts with "we the people," and not "we the corporations."
About Ralph Nader
Attorney, author, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has been named by Time Magazine one of the "100 Most Influential Americans in the 20th Century." For more than four decades he has exposed problems and organized millions of citizens into more than 100 public interest groups advocating solutions. He led the movement to establish the Motor Vehicle Safety Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and was instrumental in enacting the Safe Drinking Water Act,, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and countless other pieces of important consumer legislation. Because of Ralph Nader we drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments. Nader graduated from Princeton University and received an LL.B from Harvard Law School.
About the Nader/Gonzalez Campaign
The Nader/Gonzalez independent presidential candidacy will be on the ballot in 45 states, is polling at 5-6 percent nationally, and a recent Time/CNN poll shows Ralph Nader polling 8 percent in New Mexico, 7 percent in Colorado, 7 percent in Pennsylvania, and 6 percent in Nevada — all key battleground states.
For more information on the Nader/Gonzalez campaign, visit: votenader.org.
