Peter Lewis | GOTV Field Coordinator | Chicago |
David Peyton | GOTV Field Coordinator | Chicago |
Brandon Vezmar | GOTV Field Coordinator | Chicago |
Robert Tracy | State Coordinator | Elmhurst |
Maggie Bergen | Community Contact | - |
Holly Abbasi | Community Contact | Chicago |
John Alan | Community Contact | Chicago |
Richard Bartell | Community Contact | Chicago |
William Bounds | Community Contact | Chicago |
Bernie Brown | Community Contact | Chicago |
Bernard Davis | Community Contact | Chicago |
Michael Doyle | Community Contact | Chicago |
Dave Fakras | Community Contact | Chicago |
Peter J. | Community Contact | Chicago |
Marc Johnson | Community Contact | Chicago |
Arsalan Khan | Community Contact | Chicago |
Lucas Kramer | Community Contact | Chicago |
Tracy Mclellan | Community Contact | Chicago |
Bob Radycki | Community Contact | Chicago |
Autumn Reidy-Har | Community Contact | Chicago |
Marie Wohaldo | Community Contact | Chicago |
Eric Leezy | Community Contact | Collinsville |
Don Jarvis | Community Contact | Crystal Lake |
Vicky Grizzoffi | Community Contact | Galena |
David Anderson | Community Contact | Godfrey |
Omar Zayed | Community Contact | Hickory Hills |
Patrick Clark | Community Contact | Lansing |
Kathleen Carlson | Community Contact | Naperville |
Carol Gruwell | Community Contact | New Berlin |
Moonyeen Carlyle | Community Contact | Oak Park |
Philip Blake | Community Contact | Pekin |
Francene Mcclintock | Community Contact | Peoria |
Merle Hofmann | Community Contact | Quincy |
Michael Henderson | Community Contact | Troy |
Matthew Kracht | Community Contact | Urbana |
Will Andrews | Campus Organizer, Chicago Theological Seminary | Hyde Park |
Kevin Gosztola | Campus Organizer, Columbia College Chicago | Chicago |
KC Ryan | Campus Organizer, Lewis University | Romeoville |
Peter Lewis | Campus Organizer, Loyola University | Chicago |
Christian Larson | Campus Organizer, Northern Illinois University | DeKalb |
Pavan Krishnamurthy | Campus Organizer, Northwestern University | Evanston |
Luke Kramer | Campus Organizer, Rockford College | Rockford |
Jason Pierce | Campus Organizer, Southern Illinois University Carbondale | Carbondale |
Stephen Kielbasa | Campus Organizer, Southwestern Illinois College | Belleville |
Suman Som | Campus Organizer, University of Chicago | Hyde Park |
Josue DeLeon | Campus Organizer, University of Illinois - Chicago | Chicago |
Jessica Metro | Campus Organizer, University of Illinois, U-C | Urbana-Champaign |
News Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Marc Abizeid, 831-818-7736, marcabizeid@votenader.org
(Washington); Kevin Gunnerson 312- 339-5127, Robert Tracy 630-484-1555
(Chicago)
Nader And Gonzalez Campaign
in Illinois...
Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader and Vice Presidential
Candidate Matt Gonzalez will host a news conference on Saturday, Sept.
6, at 7 p.m., in the Glass Conference Room, Vittum Theater, 1012 North
Noble St., Chicago, IL 60642. Following the news conference, Mr. Nader
and Mr. Gonzalez will hold a campaign rally at 7:30 p.m., also at the
Vittum Theater. For details, call Kevin Gunnerson 312-339-5127, Robert
Tracy 630-484-1555.
The theme of the Chicago rally, "Open the Debates," reflects the
Nader/Gonzalez Campaign's call for inclusive, democratic Presidential
debates. Right now, they are limited to the candidates from the two
corporate parties. The debates are controlled by the so-called
Commission on Presidential Debates, a private corporation which was
created by the Democratic and Republican Parties in 1987, which Walter
Cronkite called an "unconscionable fraud" because the CPD format
"defies meaningful discourse."
In addition, the candidates will speak about the growing,
multifarious crisis Illinois residents confront, starting with a
tanking economy, increasing environmental pollution and a health care
system broken beyond repair.
A report by the Congressional Joint Economic Committee paints a bleak
picture of the Illinois economy. It states that during the 2005-2006
period, 1.4 million residents were living below the poverty line, an
increase of 10.2 percent over 1999-2000; an average of 1.8 million
Illinois residents--13.9 percent of the state's population--had no
health insurance; and, in 2005, the average inflation-adjusted health
care premium for family coverage in Illinois was $10,919, a 29.2
percent increase from 2000.
While Obama and McCain offer health care plans that would enrich
private insurance companies at the expense of tax payers, the
Nader/Gonzalez Campaign favors a Canadian-style public health insurance
system with private delivery and free choice of hospital and doctor.
All twelve metropolitan areas in Illinois posted over-the-year
unemployment rate increases, according to data released by the U.S.
Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department
of Employment Security. Seven metropolitan areas recorded their highest
unemployment rates on record for the month of July (since 1990):
Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana, Kankakee-Bradley, Lake-Kenosha,
Rockford, Springfield, and the Illinois section of St. Louis. The metro
areas that reported the largest unemployment rate increases were
Rockford (+2.9 points to 9.0 percent), Kankakee-Bradley (+2.4 points to
8.6 percent), Chicago-Naperville-Joliet (+2.1 points to 7.5 percent),
and the Illinois section of St. Louis (+2.1 points to 8.1 percent).
According to the Economic Policy Institute, as of 2004, the United
States had lost 1 million job opportunities due to the affect of NAFTA
on the economy. Illinois alone had a net loss of 47,701 jobs attributed
to NAFTA. Nader/Gonzalez would withdraw and renegotiate NAFTA and the
World Trade Organization (WTO).
According to the Environmental Law and Policy Center, "The most recent
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency report on Illinois waters
disclosed that 46 percent of the stream miles and almost 70 percent of
the lake acres in Illinois do not meet the "fishable and swimmable"
goals of the Clean Water Act."