Toledo, OH: Ralph Nader Oct 30
News Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ryan Mehta, 202-471-5833, rmehta@votenader.org (national); Tyler Endsley 415-902-9250 (local)
RALPH NADER TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE AND RALLY IN TOLEDO, OH THURSDAY, OCT 30
WHO: Ralph Nader
WHAT: Press Conference and Rally
WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 30 at 7:30 and 8 p.m., respectively
WHERE: University of Toledo, Doermann Theatre/University Hall, 2801 West Bancroft St. Toledo, OH 43606 (press conference in board room)
On Thursday, October 30 at 7:30 p.m., consumer advocate and independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader will hold a press conference in the board room of the University of Toledo, University Hall, 2801 West Bancroft St. Toledo, OH 43606. At 8 p.m., following the press conference, Mr. Nader will hold a rally in the Doermann Theatre. 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 Ohio residents.
The Nader/Gonzalez campaign stands in solidarity with the DHL workers in Wilmington whose jobs are being threatened by the vicious currents of corporate globalization. DHL’s parent company, Deutsche Post World Net (DPWN), is in the midst of a deal with United Parcel Service (UPS) which would allow UPS to take over their regional operations. If the agreement is finalized, DHL shipping operations would be transferred to a UPS facility in Kentucky and force the closure of DHL’s Wilmington hub. Also threatened by the deal are employees of Airborne Express, and its offshoot ABX Air, which was acquired by DHL in 2003 to transfer shipments. Shutting down the hub, which is Wilmington’s largest employer, would cost between 8,000 and 10,000 workers their jobs.
This proposed deal will severely impact the local community including the following consequences identified by the Save Ohio Jobs coalition:
- One out of every three households in Wilmington, Ohio has a family member employed by ABX Air or DHL
- The closure of the Wilmington hub translates to the immediate loss of 10,000 ABX, ASTAR Air Cargo and DHL jobs
- As the seismic effects of this closure roll through Wilmington, the city may lose up to 30,000 jobs as more businesses are forced to close
- According to the regional economic task force, 18 businesses may be forced to relocate due to the proposed agreement
- The task force also estimates the total short-term economic impact would be over half a billion dollars
Although McCain expressed sympathy for the workers during a recent campaign stop in Wilmington, the Cleveland Plain Dealer revealed in August that McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, was previously a Deutsche Post World Net lobbyist and was paid $185,000 to help secure DHL’s 2003 acquisition of Airborne Express. The company also paid Davis $405,000 for other work.
In ballot access news, Nader/Gonzalez applauds Ohio’s Sixth Circuit for its 3-0 decision yesterday that found the Democrats responsible for violating Mr. Nader’s 1st Amendment rights by excluding several hundred signatures collected by the 2004 Nader/Camejo presidential campaign in an effort to gain ballot access in the state four years ago. Specifically, the judges ruled that an Ohio state law requiring petitioners to be both residents of Ohio, and registered to vote in the state, is in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Because several of the campaign’s signature gatherers in 2004 were out of state residents, the Democrats challenged Nader/Camejo ticket in alleging the campaign had engaged in "massive election fraud," a charge which has now been repudiated.
The Nader/Gonzalez campaign won another victory earlier this year in Pennsylvania when 12 members or employees of the Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus were indicted for a number of charges including criminal conspiracy, theft and conflict of interest. A Grand Jury convened by Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett found that state employees, using taxpayer money and time, invested "a staggering number of man-hours" to keep the Nader/Camejo ticket off the ballot during the 2004 general election.
Last month, Mr. Nader wrote to the US Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Election Commission urging state-by-state investigations similar to the one conducted in Pennsylvania. Nader/Gonzalez calls for basic changes to state ballot access laws and rules that continue to threaten the tenets of democracy. By restricting candidates’ rights and setting extreme thresholds for ballot initiatives, the rights and choices of citizens — both voters and candidates — are violated.
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 Wall Street securities derivatives tax to pay for the Washington bailout of Wall Street;
- an end to the corporate welfare and corporate crime waves that have resulted in millions losing pensions, savings and jobs and squandered tax dollars;
- a major public works jobs program to repair America’s schools, clinics, public transit, bridges, drinking water & sewage treatment systems paid for by reducing the bloated, wasteful military budget and ending corporate subsidies; 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 despite being excluded from the presidential debates,* 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.
*National polls since 2000 have a majority of Americans wanting Ralph Nader on these debates.
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