Ralph Nader's Statements on
the Issues
Positions are
categorized as Pro, Con, Not Clearly Pro or Con, or None Found.
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| Abortion: |
"Should abortion remain a legal option in
America?" |
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Pro: "I don't think government has the proper role in forcing a woman to have a child or forcing a woman not to have a child. And we've seen that around the world in both areas. This is something that should be privately decided with the family, woman, all the other private factors of it, but we should work toward preventing the necessity of abortion."
Interview on Meet the Press with Tim Russert, May 7, 2000
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| Abortion: |
"Should parental consent be required for pregnant minors to have abortions?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| Character: |
"Is competence more important than honesty in a President?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| China: |
"Is China a threat to the U.S.?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| China: |
"Should the U.S. impose economic sanctions on China as an incentive to improve its human rights policies?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "Consider the irony. Here are U.S. corporations -- pampered for years with lower taxes, de-regulation, and taxpayer subsidies of various kinds -- aggressively turning their backs on America and American workers in favor of production facilities inside a communist dictatorship. A self-described conservative, President George W. Bush is not only silent but is presiding over policies that favor such flight to China and other low-wage, authoritarian regimes.
By bringing these regimes into the World Trade Organization (backed by Clinton and Bush) and by Congress providing China with most-favored nation status, Uncle Sam's hands are quite tied. There is no more tying trade to human rights standards by the United States."
"The China Price," CommonDreams.org, June 21, 2004
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| Cuba: |
"Should the U.S.
continue to support an embargo against Cuba?" |
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Con: "The trade between the United States and Cuba should be the same as it is between the United States and China."
"Ralph Nader Visiting Cuba," Cybercast News Service website, July, 8, 2002
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| Darfur: |
"Should the U.S. send any American forces, with or without the U.N., to the Darfur region of Sudan to stop the genocide?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "We join with the thousands of Americans who are calling on you to intensify your efforts to end the slaughter in Darfur.
This genocide unfolding before our eyes stands in danger of worsening drastically in coming weeks, if African Union peacekeepers are forced out of the area. But the current situation itself is unconscionable. As you know, the UN Security Council has authorized a plan to send a UN force to Darfur, to supplement the African Union presence and transition to a UN operation. U.S. leadership is needed to turn this plan into reality, especially by persuading other nations to back and immediately implement the plan...
When you address the United Nations this coming Tuesday we urge you to set aside your likely agenda to defend the disastrous war and occupation in Iraq, or prepare for perilous military actions against Iran.
Instead, use the opportunity for a nobler purpose -- to exert leadership on the Darfur issue and challenge the international community to act now, before the situation descends into an even worse humanitarian nightmare."
Excerpt of a letter to President George W. Bush, Sep. 15, 2006
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| Death Penalty: |
"Should the
death penalty remain a legal option in America?" |
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Con: "Since I was a law student at Harvard, I have been against the death penalty. It does not deter. It is severely discriminatory against minorities, especially since they're given no competent legal counsel defense in many cases. It's a system that has to be perfect. You cannot execute one innocent person."
"Campaign 2000: Nader and Buchanan Stances on Election Issues," The Daily Texan, Nov. 2, 2000 |
| Economy: |
"Is outsourcing jobs to other countries good for America?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "All this is occurring while the big companies deliver comparatively far less to the economic well-being of the American worker. The CEOs [Chief Executive Officers] are otherwise preoccupied with figuring out how they can outsource more American jobs to China and India, how they can hollow out more communities and ship whole industries to those and other countries, many under authoritarian rule, that promise to keep the CEOs' operations at costs close to serfdom.
Interesting, isn't it, that the CEOs say it is necessary to flee our country - where they were nurtured to their size and profits - in order to keep up with global competition. But they never urge outsourcing their own CEO jobs to hardworking, bilingual executives in the Third World willing to work for less than one-tenth of the U.S. CEOs' pay package."
"Taming the Giant Corporation," Nader.org, May 29, 2007
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| Economy: |
"Should the U.S. include mandatory regulations for labor rights in free trade agreements?" |
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Pro: "Labor Day 2000 should also mark a new resolve to end abuse of trade by corporations under the guise of 'free trade.' Free trade sloganeering has been a means to hide corporate efforts to evade labor and environmental standards and, with the support of dictatorial regimes, to exploit workers throughout the world.
Trade policies should be based on 'pulling standards' up around the world, not on 'pulling down' our standards. Labor, joined by environmentalists and human rights advocates, should make clear the differences between the corporate managed trade and what is truly 'fair trade' that provides decent protections for workers and the environment."
"The Real Strength of the Economy: A Labor Agenda for Workers," The Progress Report website (accessed Apr. 9, 2008)
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| Economy: |
"Has the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) had an overall benefit for the U.S.?" |
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Con: "WTO [World Trade Organization] and NAFTA are systems of transnational forms of autocratic governance that subordinate our own courts and our own regulatory agencies and health, environment, labor, and consumer standards."
"Ralph Nader on International Trade, NAFTA, and the WTO," PBS Now, YouTube video (accessed Apr. 9, 2008)
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| Education: |
"Has the No Child Left Behind Act been effective at improving public education?" |
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Con: "And they say we are going to leave no child behind and these corporate consulting firms in Washington, they want to sell more of these hyper-muliple-choice standardized tests in order to avoid a broader, more personal appraisal of the multiple intelligence of young children. And so they get [George W.] Bush to say 'leave no child behind.' And he doesn't fund it, number one, and he is forcing these tests on these children and forcing the teachers to teach to the test and envelope these schools in rigid, bureaucratic, unfunded anxiety on stupid tests that should be thrown into San Francisco Bay."
Speech at a Nader-Camejo 2004 campaign rally, San Francisco, CA, July 16, 2004
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| Education: |
"Is the
increasing cost of college and university tuition pricing America's
middle class out of higher education?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "...[O]verall what we should do is, public universities should move toward lower and lower tuitions until we have it like high school. Australia and New Zealand, for years -- you go to the university in Sydney, I don't know what it is now, but ten years ago you paid about $150 in student fees, and that was it."
"Nader: Outsourcing, Military Draft Major Issues for Students," The Michigan Daily, Sep. 13, 2004 |
| Education: |
"Should the federal government fund school voucher programs?" |
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Con: "Vouchers unacceptably erode the democratic foundation of public education and the role of public education in establishing our democratic foundations."
"Major Players: The 2000 Presidential Candidates," Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University website (accessed Apr. 9, 2008)
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| Election Reform: |
"Should voter
verified paper audit trails (VVPAT) be mandatory in
elections?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "New Hampshire has a Secretary of State that’s been there for many years, very non-partisan, very professional. And they have a paper trail. And one of the things that we proved in New Hampshire as—people who want more detail can go to our web site votenader.org—is that the system worked there because there was a paper trail. But in Maryland and other states where there was not a paper trail, there’s no way to make that kind of quick parallel connections"
"Ralph Nader on the Ohio Recount," Democracy Now! website, Dec. 14, 2004
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| Election Reform: |
"Should there be restrictions on campaign contributions?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "The promise of getting rid of soft money is important, but of course that money will find other ways to express itself. So there'll be certain groups that will no longer be able to gorge themselves on business and other contributions as much as before, like the national political parties, but the state political parties may benefit as a result."
"Ralph Nader Believes in You," Flagpole, Apr. 10, 2002
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| Election Reform: |
"Should the election campaigns of candidates for public office be publicly financed?" |
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Pro: "Campaign finance reform means that your votes should not be stifled by cash register politics. A lot of problems will move towards solution if we can get the boulders called political action committees and private money and get public elections financed publicly."
"Newsmaker: Ralph Nader," Newshour with Jim Lehrer, June 30, 2000
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| Energy: |
"Should drilling
for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) be
allowed?" |
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Con: "No drilling in ANWR, the Arctic refuge. What we should do is nail the corporate executives in Detroit to liberate their engineers so they can improve fuel efficiency. One mile per gallon over the entire range of motor vehicle production will save more fuel than anything that can be gotten five, 10 years from now from the Arctic refuge."
News Conference, National Press Club, Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2004
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| Energy: |
"Should the U.S. tap into its emergency oil reserves to help bring down the price of gasoline?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "Mr. Gore's too-little, too-late call for releasing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to reduce heating-oil prices was primarily a political ploy. The reserve was established for national security/emergency objectives, not for helping a candidate whose long record of receiving oil industry political money and caving in to Big Oil has become an embarassment."
Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender, 2002
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| Environment: |
"Should the U.S.
ratify an international environmental agreement (such as the Kyoto
Protocol) that mandates reductions in carbon
emissions?" |
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Pro: "Q: Many argue that the U.S. shouldn't commit to a global greenhouse-gas reduction target that doesn't involve China and India. Do you agree with this? How would you bring them to the table?
[Nader]: You bring them to the table by restricting imports of badly emitting greenhouse-gas technologies. Then you devise an international treaty where you analyze very carefully which countries really need aid in this area, which countries don't need aid, and you proceed accordingly. You have a deliberative process under an international body with a global goal of restricting greenhouse gases and acid rain and other things."
"Nader on the Record," Grist website, Mar. 19, 2008
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| Environment: |
"Should the federal government mandate an increase in fuel efficiency standards for automobiles?" |
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Pro: "...[T]he average fleet efficiency levels in new vehicles have slipped to the lowest level since 1980.
So, here we are in 2004, almost twenty years later, and the standard is at the same pitifully low 27.5 mpg level for passenger cars and 20.7 mpg for light trucks and vans. Well it is time for a little introspection. Is the price of gasoline so low consumers don't mind driving gas guzzlers? The Department of Energy says the retail price gasoline in the United States is $1.78. At this price even the least frugal consumers have a real incentive to want fuel efficient automobiles...
Congress should require the CAFE [Corporate Average Fuel Economy] standard be raised to at least 45 mpg for cars and 35 mpg for light trucks, to be phased in over five years. The auto industry has had almost 20 years to gear up for this schedule, given their bragging about their Research & Development programs. Consumers will save money at the pump, the air we breathe will be cleaner, and the amount of oil we import will decrease...We can start brightening our energy future by strengthening our fuel efficiency standards - even Detroit has had enough lead time to catch up with Tokyo."
"Spinning Wheels - Our Continual Refusal to Raise CAFE Standards," CommonDreams.org, Apr. 12, 2004
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| Environment: |
"Are humans substantially responsible for global climate change today?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "The very things we should do for the family pocketbook, more fuel-efficient cars, more solar energy, more fuel-efficient appliances, lighting, air conditioning systems, will also reduce the contribution to global warming."
"Ralph Nader Proposing a Green Party to Take on Global Warming -- The "Spoiler" Candidate Speaks During the 2000 Election," Vimeo website (accessed Apr. 9, 2008)
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| Gun Control: |
"Are more
federal regulations on guns and ammunition needed?" |
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Pro: "First of all, you have two constituencies that have rights. You have people who are killed or injured with guns and you have law-abiding people who want to use certain kinds of guns for self-defense. How do you blend the two? First of all, make sure the weapons are designed safely with trigger locks. ... Two, strong law enforcement so that they're not falling into the hands of the criminal element. Three, you look at a weapon the way you look at a car. You've got to know how to handle it. You should be licensed. ... And four, there are certain weapons that should be banned. If you do all that, both interests will be protected."
"Nader Q and A," Scripps Howard News Service website, June 24, 2000
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| Health Care: |
"Should all
Americans have a right to government or employer subsidized basic
health care?" |
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Pro: "Amy Goodman: I want to end with healthcare, I think one of the critical issues of the day that is so rarely explained. If there was a healthcare system in this country that you designed, what would it look like?
Ralph Nader: Well, it would look like full Medicare for everybody, whereby the government is the payer."
Interview with Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!, July 9, 2007
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| Health Care: |
"Should Americans be allowed to purchase their prescription drugs from other countries?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| Immigration: |
"Are illegal immigrants a net gain to the U.S. economy?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "...[T]hey are working, they are having their taxes withheld, they are performing a valuable service, even though they are illegally here..."
"Ralph Nader: Conservatively Speaking," The American Conservative, June 21, 2004
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| Immigration: |
"Should illegal aliens receive any of the rights or benefits that lawful permanent residents enjoy?" |
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Pro: "[Pat Buchanan]: Should illegal aliens be entitled to social-welfare benefits, even though they are not citizens and broke into the country?
[Ralph Nader]: I think they should be given all the fair-labor standards and all the rights and benefits of American workers, and if this country doesn't like that, maybe they will do something about the immigration laws.
[Pat Buchanan]: Should they be entitled to get driver's licenses?
[Ralph Nader]: Yes, in order to reduce hazards on the highway. If you have people who are driving illegally, there are going to be more crashes, and more people are going to be killed."
"Ralph Nader: Conservatively Speaking," The American Conservative, June 21, 2004
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| Immigration: |
"Should the U.S.
build a physical barrier, such as a fence, along the U.S.-Mexico
border?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| Iran: |
"Should the U.S.
use military force against Iran if Iran does not dismantle its
nuclear program?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "Ralph Nader believes the US must stop saber rattling and take up Iran's serious proposal in 2003 to negotiate all outstanding issues between the US and Iran."
"Presidential Candidate Questionnaire," National Green Party website, Apr. 7, 2007
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| Iraq: |
"Was it a mistake to attack Iraq in 2003?" |
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Pro: "There will likely be no apologies from Bush/Cheney for putting U.S. soldiers into a fabricated war-quagmire – a disastrous, costly boomeranging invasion."
"President Bush Owes Troops an Apology," The World Can't Wait website (accessed Apr. 10, 2008)
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| Iraq: |
"Has the war in
Iraq made America safer?" |
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Con: "The truth many Americans want to hear from the President, but are very unlikely to hear, is that the war and occupation of Iraq was not based on available intelligence, that our continued presence in Iraq is counterproductive to the safety of Iraqis and the United States, and that a responsible withdrawal from Iraq – of both U.S. military and corporate interests – with continued humanitarian and economic support is the most likely way to bring stability and democracy to the country."
"A Guide to the President's Speech," cowritten with Kevin B. Zeese, LewRockwell website, June 28, 2005
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| Iraq: |
"Should the U.S.
set a timetable for troop withdrawal in Iraq?" |
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Pro: "Under my proposal there would be an international peacekeeping force, and the withdrawal would be a smart withdrawal during which there are internationally supervised elections. We would have both military and corporate withdrawal because the Iraqi people see the corporations are beginning to take over their economy, including their oil resources. And we would continue humanitarian assistance until the Iraqi people get on their feet. We would bring to the forefront during the election autonomies for Kurds, Sunnis, and Shi’ites. So this would not be like a withdrawal in Vietnam where we just barely got out with the helicopters."
"Ralph Nader: Conservatively Speaking," The American Conservative, June 21, 2004
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| Israel: |
"Should Israel continue to receive the current level of military and economic aid from the U.S.?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "I'm saying that the United States gives a lot of aid to Israel, economic aid, military aid, has great sway with the Israeli government."
"2004 Presidential Candidates' Views on the Middle East," Jewish Virtual Library website (accesed Apr. 10, 2008)
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| Israel-Palestinian Conflict: |
"Should the U.S. allow Hamas to join future Israeli-Palestinian negotiations?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "Hamas, which was created with the support of Israel and the U.S. government years ago to counter the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), has repeatedly offered cease-fire proposals."
"Gaza Under Seige," Nader.org website, Mar. 7, 2008
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| Israeli Palestinian Conflict: |
"Should there be an independent Palestinian state?" |
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Pro: "[Flagpole]: What should happen to bring stability to the Middle East?
[Ralph Nader]: A Palestinian state, East Jerusalem as the capital, no colonies, some restitution for land and homes taken."
"Ralph Nader Believes in You," Flagpole, Apr. 10, 2002
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| Kosovo: |
"Should the U.S. have supported Kosovo’s independence?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| Marriage: |
"Should there be
a Constitutional amendment or federal law defining marriage as only
between a man and a woman?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: [Pat Buchanan]: Should homosexuals have the same right in law to form marriages and receive marriage licenses from the state as men and women?
[Ralph Nader]: Yes, and if you had that, you wouldn’t have to use the word 'marriage.' The reason 'gay marriage' is used is because state laws connect certain benefits with that word. As a lesbian leader was quoted saying in the New York Times a few weeks ago, the issue is not the word 'marriage.' The word is 'equality.'
"Ralph Nader: Conservatively Speaking," The American Conservative, June 21, 2004 |
| Marriage: |
"Should an
affair outside of marriage disqualify a candidate for public
office?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008. |
| Medical Marijuana: |
"Should
marijuana be a medical option?" |
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Pro: "[R]esearch has shown marijuana to be a safe and effective medicine for controlling nausea associated with cancer therapy, reducing the eye pressure for patients with glaucoma, and reducing muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, para- and quadriplegia."
Interview with the Drug War Chronicle, Oct. 8, 2004
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| Medical Marijuana: |
"Should the federal government stop raids against people for using medical marijuana in states where medical marijuana use is legal?" |
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Pro: "The criminal prosecution of patients for medical marijuana must end immediately, and marijuana must be treated as a medicine for the seriously ill. The current cruel, unjust policy perpetuated and enforced by the Bush Administration prevents Americans who suffer from debilitating illnesses from experiencing the relief of medicinal cannabis."
Interview with the Drug War Chronicle, Oct. 8, 2004
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| National Service: |
"Should the U.S. institute a military draft?" |
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Con: "...I'm helping to push the Democrats toward opposing a military draft..."
Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Oct. 15, 2004
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| National Service: |
"Should openly gay people be allowed to serve in the U.S. military?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "Its really interesting, gay people want to serve in the military, they want to engage in civil unions, or marriage, and they want to adopt kids. If they werent gay, people would say, well, that's really good to do."
Meet the Press with Tim Russert, Aug. 6, 2000
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| Presidential Power: |
"Should the U.S. President's powers be expanded to include a line item veto?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| Religion: |
"Should federal
funds be given to faith-based (religious) organizations and
initiatives?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| Religion: |
"Should a
candidate's religion matter to voters?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| Social Security: |
"Should Social
Security be privatized?" |
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Con: "The various Social Security privatization schemes, full and partial, would cost both the 'social' -- that is the public, cooperative, societal -- element of the program and 'security' -- the rock-solid income guarantee afforded by the system. It should be rejected."
Speech at the "Saving Social Security From the Privatization Threat" Conference, Rayburn House Office Building, Jan. 21, 1999
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| Stem Cells: |
"Should the
federal government fund embryonic stem cell research?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "Ralph Nader supports stem cell research.
Through two organizations Nader created, the Center for the Study of Responsive Law in 1968 and the Consumer Project on
Technology in 1995, he has contributed to efforts to insure stem cell research advances developed with public money are
made available to the public and not held back by corporate or university patent holders."
"Presidential Candidate Questionnaire," National Green Party website, Apr. 7, 2007
[Editor's Note: Although Nader is Pro funding stem cell research, ProCon.org was unable to find his position on embryonic stem cell research specifically. ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.]
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| Taxes: |
"Should the Bush
tax cuts be made permanent?" |
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Con: "Bush's tax cut plan shows he also has problems with 'the vision thing.'
President Bush may not realize it, but moderate and liberal members of Congress could save him a lot of grief if they voted down or sharply modified the administration's proposal for a massive tax cut.
Fueled by the excess of campaign promises, the president's $1.6 trillion tax cut threatens to return the nation to the dark days of growing deficits, higher interest rates, and tightfisted public-investment policies which leave no room for dealing with the nation's most pressing social and economic problems."
"Tax Fraud," The Progress Report website (accessed Apr. 10, 2008)
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| Turkey: |
"Should Turkey be able to enter Iraq or other countries unilaterally in search of its enemies?" |
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None Found: ProCon.org emailed the Nader campaign on Mar. 26, 2008 with this question. We had not received a reply or found a position as of Apr. 11, 2008.
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| U.S. Constitution: |
"Should the U.S.
Constitution and Bill of Rights be altered or updated in any
way?" |
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Pro: "So the key here is a constitutional amendment...that decides that the sovereignty of the people has to be supreme over the power of the corporations who must be our servants, not our masters."
"Ralph Nader on International Trade, NAFTA, and the WTO," Now interview, YouTube video (accessed Apr. 10, 2008)
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| War on Terror: |
"Should
interrogation techniques that some consider torture, such as
waterboarding, be a legal option?" |
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|
Not Clearly Pro or Con: "So long as the lawyers and their bar associations in America do not challenge the advancing dictatorial powers of George W. Bush, so long as citizen groups, labor unions and libertarians, conservatives and liberals avoid uniting together, these constitutional crimes against due process, probable cause, habeas corpus, together with torture and indefinite imprisonment at the whim of the Executive branch, will worsen and erode American jurisprudence with serious consequences for both the nation's security and its liberties."
"Torturer-in-Chief," Counterpunch website, Sep. 30-Oct. 1, 2006
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| War on Terror: |
"Should the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba be closed?" |
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Not Clearly Pro or Con: "As both military attorneys and civilian pro bono attorneys for those imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have declared - the vast majority of the nearly 700 'detainees' were innocent from the get-go, victims of bounty hunters in Afghanistan and neighboring countries who 'sold' them for cash to intermediaries who turned them over to the U.S. military for transfer to Cuba. All these 'catches' made George W. Bush look like he was really rounding up all those evil terrorists - like cab drivers, British tourists of Pakistani descent and so forth."
"Whitehouse on a Rampage Against the Constitution," Counterpunch website, Sep. 30-Oct. 1, 2006
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