Presidential candidates go beyond the two-party system

Which presidential candidate most reflects your values: George W. Bush, John Kerry, Ralph Nader, David Cobb or Michael Badnarik? Consider the background, education, public and military service, and their positions on several issues of major importance to the citizens of the United States of America, and then decide.

RALPH NADER Age 70, Independent, was born in Connecticut to Lebanese immigrants. He earned a BA from Princeton University in 1955, graduating magna cum laude and earned a Juris Doctorate from Harvard University in 1958. He subsequently served in the Army in 1959. He has been a life-long advocate, author and lecturer on consumer rights, civil rights, justice, politics, etc., has written over 26 books, and founded or helped to establish over a hundred organizations for the public good. These include the Center for Study of Responsive Law, the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), the Center for Auto Safety, Public Citizen, Clean Water Action Project, the Disability Rights Center, the Pension Rights Center and the Project for Corporate Responsibility, to name a few.

DAVID COBB Age 41, Green Party, was born and raised in Texas, graduated from public high school, worked in construction until enrolling at the University of Houston where he earned a BA in Political Science in 1990, followed by a Juris Doctorate in 1993. He achieved recognition for his writing and advocacy skills, including honors for outstanding achievement from the Public Interest Law Organization and the Legal Aid Clinic. He served as a public interest attorney for Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, has been working with the Program on Corporations Law & Democracy since 1998 and is currently serving on the board of directors of the Union Community Fund-Houston.

MICHAEL BADNARIK Age 50, Libertarian Party, was born and raised in Indiana. He originally enrolled in Indiana University as a Marine Biologist with hopes of sailing the seas with Jacques Cousteau, but changed his major to something he considered more practical, earning a BS in Chemistry in 1977. His professional career has been in Software programming, systems administration and training in technology. He was an instructor with the American Red Cross from 1972-1982 and a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America from 1982-1997.

THE ECONOMY NADER supports: raising minimum wage to a living wage; local labor-intensive public works; increasing taxes on undesirable or unhealthy conditions and behaviors; decreasing taxes on basic necessities; ending poverty and near-poverty; redirecting funding from military programs toward public work projects, sustainable energy, etc.

COBB supports: shifting funds from the military-industrial complex, towards solving public issues; shifting business philosophies from profit-centric mega-corporations, toward community oriented institutions that emphasize the needs, rights and values of individuals and communities at least as much as profits; raising minimum wage to a living wage; bilateral fair trade agreements; withdrawing from NAFTA, CAFTA and similar trade agreements.

BADNARIK supports: governmental de-regulation; ensuring a balanced budget; ending deficit spending. HOMELAND / NATIONAL SECURITY, JUSTICE AND CIVIL LIBERTIES NADER supports: foreign policies promoting global security, peace, arms control and an end to nuclear weapons; expanding the fight on disease, poverty, hunger, illiteracy, deforestation; promoting peace, labor standards and democratic institutions; strengthening consumer protection laws; increasing civil rights to pursue legal action on economic grievances and wrongful injuries; expanding tort system to internalize the costs of misconduct; increasing safety standards; repealing the Patriot Act and similar legislation.

COBB supports: foreign policies promoting non-violence, cooperation, diplomacy, respect for the democratic process and the protection of human rights and the environment; ending dependence on foreign oil and support of repressive governments; reducing military bases abroad; ending U.S. support of Israel's occupation; repealing the Patriot Act; protecting reproductive rights; ensuring marriage equality for lesbians and gays; enforcing treaties with Native American nations; overhauling the criminal justice system to address racism and class bias; developing a more humane criminal sanction system; ending private, for-profit prison systems.

BADNARIK supports: military policy based solely on national defense; ending American military occupations; foreign policies promoting honest friendship with other nations and ending interference in the internal affairs of other nations and the conflicts between nations; ending immigration restrictions; repealing the Patriot Act and similar legislation; eliminating agencies or activities and prosecuting individuals that violate Constitutional rights.

HEALTHCARE NADER and COBB support: replacing the market-based healthcare system with a government-financed, single-payer plan that maintains delivery by private non-profits and allows free choice of providers. BADNARIK supports: reducing or eliminating healthcare regulation; limiting malpractice awards based on strict liability; tax credits for those who establish Health Savings Accounts for themselves and their families, Medicare recipients and those in need.

THE ENVIRONMENT NADER supports: prioritizing environmental protection in energy, trade, industrial, agricultural, transportation, development and land use policies; fully funding the Estuaries Restoration Act; expanding the Coastal Barrier Resources Act and the Land and Water Conservation Fund; enforcing the Clean Water Act.