Seattle, WA: Ralph Nader to Speak Tuesday, October 21
News Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ryan Mehta, 408-348-0681, rmehta@votenader.org (national); Elizabeth Onstad, 701-610-1326, elizabeth@votenader.org (local)
NADER TO HOLD NEWS CONFERENCE AND RALLY IN SEATTLE, WA
WHO: Ralph Nader
WHAT: Press Conference and Rally
WHEN: Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7 and 7:30 p.m., respectively
WHERE: Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave. Seattle, WA 98101
On Tuesday, October 21 at 7 p.m., consumer advocate and presidential candidate Ralph Nader will hold a press conference in Seattle’s Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave., Seattle, WA 98101, followed by a 7:30 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 Washington residents.
Nader/Gonzalez applauds Washington for its plans to raise the state’s minimum wage to $8.55 an hour beginning January, 2009. At $8.07 an hour, the state’s current minimum wage is already the highest in the nation. But while the increase sets brave precedent, the amount is still far below the minimum wage level of 40 years ago when adjusted for inflation which would equate to about $10.00 an hour in today’s dollar value. The minimum wage has been allowed to languish far behind inflation with the demise of union influence. The gap between the wages of working families and wealth of the privileged is widening, even as worker productivity rises. The average worker takes home $517 per week, while the average CEO of the largest companies takes home $155,769 per week. The gap between workers and large companies is now greater than 300-to-1. In 1982 the gap was 42-to-1. Of the over 45 million workers, one in three do not make a living wage, namely under $10.50 an hour gross. This is insufficient for an individual to live on and certainly not enough for a family. Nader/Gonzalez advocates immediately increasing the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour, from its current $6.55 an hour. At $10.00 an hour, this minimum wage would only reach par with the 1968 minimum wage adjusted for inflation.
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.
