Happy Birthday Ralph Nader

“…there’s never a doubt, just who’s pulling the strings.”
-Sandie Shaw

Today is Ralph Nader’s 74th birthday. Best wishes, Ralph! I HOPE against all hopelessly impossible odds that your campaign can and will positively influence Obama and his corporate backers as it looks like after last night’s debate, Hillz is goin’ down, down…

I watched part of the debate between Our Lady of the Pink, Hillary, and the Man in Black, last night, and it became clear to me that the more I watch Hillary, the more she reminds me A LOT of the dean of girls at my former high school and that Barry, by comparison, just seems nicer... But enough about superficial observations as it’s substance we are after, yes?

Unfortunately, this Siamese twin, otherwise known as HilBama, once again failed to separate themselves at the hip from each other and their corporate masters, predictably avoiding meaningful conversation on issues that affect the majority in this country. How horribly boring is that?

Here I tuned into the beauty contest fully expecting my Democratic candidates to have a substantive conversation about (among so many other things) all that toxic crap we are supposed to eat and get sick or die from courtesy an out to lunch FDA that has been bought off by corrupt corporate elites and all HilBama could do was basically admit (Hillary did a candid and honest job here) that they are NOT in fact running for Congress but for President and that means they have to do what their corporate masters tell them to do.

After watching this debate, I got the sense that Hillary really and truly actually believes all this ruse about the GREAT LABOR SHORTAGE MYTH that has been systematically pounded by greedy corporate elites from Google, Oracle, Microsoft etc. and PR media outlets in their struggle to drive down wages and eliminate jobs for our citizens here while Barry may actually question it. Now, I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be a hoot if Obama turned out to be the skunk at the garden party on this issue or that I believe he has the cahones to stand up to the Sand Hill Road Klan, but check out the very subtle distinctions in rhetoric between the two candidate’s positions from their respective websites described in this Ephraim Schwartz Infoworld article below:

Hillary: "I also want to reaffirm my commitment to the H-1B visa program and to increase the current cap. Foreign skilled workers contribute greatly to our technological development. That is well understood in Silicon Valley."

Barrack: "We can do better than that and go a long way toward meeting industry’s need for skilled workers with Americans. Until we have achieved that, I will support a temporary increase in the H-1B visa program as a stopgap measure until we can reform our immigration system comprehensively."

For Hillary to actually believe this propaganda is to in essence “ease her pain’ by personally profiting from these gatekeepers on this race to the trough, whereas with Barry, I’m not so sure that he might not get it. Whether he gives a hoot is the question.

I especially like Barry’s “We can do better…” pitch that hints at “change” although for anyone to take him seriously on this issue (among others), he is going to have to be specific about what jobs (low end, minimum wage, “green jobs”) he is talking about as “legal immigration” is the crux of the issue that is driving down wages and eliminating white collar jobs.

Rinse and repeat: “We do NOT have a white collar labor shortage.”

Turn on any progressive radio station in the SF bay area and you will hear advertisements about the dire state of nursing and how there is a “nursing shortage.” I have a couple of friends who are R.N.s who haven’t worked in the field for over ten years as they describe how the pay is too lousy for the less than optimal working conditions created by bloated hospital administrative management hellbent to drive down wages in this field via immigration.

For anyone who questions just how determined a few greedy corporate elites are in driving down white collar wages, here is a must read article:

Proof There's No Nursing Shortage

Who is demanding that these candidates supply answers to questions? Questions like who exactly is backing Obama and what is he getting out of it? When insulated, fabulously wealthy regulators like Alan Greenspan get away with telling white collar workers that earning a whopping eighty grand a year may be “too much money” while costs of living soar and when liberal organizations that are funded by the same corporate elites backing the candidates, where are the investigative journalists to tell us who they are? More important, where is the “progressive” voice behind the Democrats to unite and make them accountable?

So far, it looks like the birthday boy, Mr. Nader, takes the cake here as his is the only voice who dares to step away from the Kool-Aid stand and this time around, I truly HOPE Nader’s campaign does what it has always set out to do: to wake up the majority by addressing issues that underscore the welfare of citizens and not corporations.

-2Truthy