NEWS The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 13, 2004 - 5A Nader aims to pull Kerry in direction NADER Continued from page 1A And the third is rising tuition. And the fourth is the failed war on drugs. TMD: OK. With state appropriations declining severely over the past few decades, how can public universities get the revenue they need while keeping tuition low? RN: I think that requires, first of all, a reordering of the federal budget pri- orities. When you have half of the total federal budget operating expenditures going to the military ... you're going to be starving the education sector. So you've got to develop an intermodal argument; you've got to say less mili- tary, more education ... TMD: You've said your first priority this year is defeating President Bush, while in 2000 you said there were few major differences between Bush and Gore that Gore was willing to fight on. Is Kerry a significantly better candidate than Gore, or is there another reason for your change in priorities? RN: No, Bush is significantly worse, which is different from saying that Kerry is significantly better. Because what we're saying is that Kerry is bad, the Democrats are bad, Bush and the Republicans are worse. Anyway, you always go after the incumbent when the incumbent doesn't perform. TMD: Is there anything about John Kerry that you think sets him far apart from Bush? RN: Yeah, in the following areas. He's not as bad on Social Security, Medicare, civil justice, choice and sepa- ration of church and state. On the other hand, he is going for a big military budget, he supports the Patriot Act, he supports the Iraq war. He's the same on Treasury policy, Fed- eral Reserve policy ... He surrounds himself with some of the worst corporate lobbyists, and they answer to lobbying operations repre- senting pretty crazy corporations. ... Above all, he refuses to believe that a democracy requires a constant shift of power from corporations to labor, con- sumers, small taxpayers. They're being stripped of control. TMD: You've said you will help Kerry in this election, though, by attacking Bush on another front. Does that strategy include avoiding swing states like Florida, as the Green Party is advocating this year? RN: No, because that's not my top priority. My top priority is getting as many votes as possible. But a collateral benefit would be taking Bush apart in ways Kerry won't or can't - Kerry's too indentured to his financiers to do so. And then you can pick it up. He blew Labor Day badly. I mean, Labor Day is the great day to draw a bright line between Democrats and Republicans historically. And Bush made it easy, because he ignored Labor Day. Whereas Kerry should have gone, you know, coast to coast on the issues of pensions being looted by corporate criminals, on the issue of living wage, the issue of better rights to form unions by repealing the Taft-Hartley act, and on the issue of occupational health and safety ... TMD: If you're not worried about taking Kerry votes in swing states, then why do you seem to have no campaign structure in Florida? RN: Why I don't have - oh, no, we're being challenged on the ballot in Florida. TMD: Well, you're being challenged in a lot of states. But according to your website you still have no campaign coordinator in Florida; in California you have three statc\N ide campaign coordi- nators and 33 local coordinators. RN: Yeah. in Florida. because it's the last state we're trying to get on. And we had 12 Democratic law yers today chal- lenging us in court in Tallahassee. So that's what we've been absorbed by. Once we get on it. we can put it in place. TMD: So it has nothing to do with Florida being seen as such a close state? RN: Close states, not-close states - that's not the way we campaign. We campaign in all the states. I've already campaigned in 48 states. TMD: A lot of progressive Demo- crats, who agree with you on most issues, say you would be a more effec- tive agent for change from the inside - that is, as a Paul Wellstone figure, who gets elected to the Senate as a Democrat while remaining to the left of his col- leagues on most issues. Is there a place for people like you in the major parties? RN: There's a place for people like Wellstone, but I'm - I'm basically a builder of citizen groups, and I prefer to be a citizen advocate ... Hope ... that the progressive Democrats will become stronger by taking some of our issues and pushing them and showing that they're f 'peop successful vote-getting issues ... So I think the Democrats, liberal Democrats, have got to look at them- selves and basically say - Look, if it's anybody but Bush. leave Kerry alone. make no demands on Kerry, it's a pre- scription for defeat. Because if you don't pull Kerry in the direction of people issues, corporations are going to pull him more and more in the direction of their issues, and Repub- lican ones. Therefore, he loses.... It's a very interesting pattern of oblivious- ness by otherwise intelligent people on the left. TMD: OK. let's go over some of the other candidates' proposals. Kerry's plan for higher education includes pay- ing four years of college tuition for stu- dents who give two years of national service. RN: I don't know if it's completely paid, is it? TMD: Yeah, well, that's the plan. RN: Yeah, he pays the whole tuition. (Pause) Well, it depends what national service is. (Laughs) Could be the draft. TMD: Well, it's supposed to be work- ing in schools, parks, that sort of thing. RN: The other question is, how well does it pay. (Pause) So it is, in principle, 1e issues' it's something worth considering, yeah. TMD: Michigan Democrats have filed a complaint with the FEC, argu- ing that the Republican Party's effort to gather signatures for your campaign constitutes a contribution in excess of $5,000, which you did not report. What do you say to that charge? RN: Well. we're not - we didn't solicit it. There's no coordination ... and the judge is effectively saying. 'they're yours; you have to take them.' (Laughs) The thing is a real tangle. ... I mean, this one is the most complicated of all legal tangles. TMD: Do you feel any hesitation or regret accepting petition signatures gathered by Republicans? RN: Well, we've rejected them all. And then we find ourselves in this mias- ma in Michigan. ... In Michigan, we're saying, look, we want to be the Reform Party candidate. And the judge looks at it, and he has sees two reform parties, and he says, well, I can't make a deci- sion on which of these groups is the reform party. But, well, you have to make one, you have to look at the two and you have to decide ... He punted it. And now it's a tangle. State security efforts go high tech, but lack training efforts LANSING (AP) - Michigan State Police have a robot that can investigate the scene of a terrorist threat without putting one of their officers at risk. They have a helicopter that can beam live images of a natural or man-made disaster back to decision-makers planning a tactical strike or an evacuation route. They soon could have a "smart truck" that can be outfitted with chemical weapon detectors, lasers and wireless commu- nication equipment to track and strike suspected terrorists. But Michigan's homeland security program doesn't have much money to hire people or train them to use the counter- terrorism equipment. That's where Michigan's homeland security efforts stand three years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "The big need is "I can't give an exact dol- lar figure on what we need," the world of ter said Col. Tadarial Sturdivant, director of the Michigan State change all the t Police and the state's home- k land security efforts. "But it's know what the never enough.' . going to be. It's State police highlighted their homeland security program for that keeps us o the media last week during a demonstration at the state's Emergency Operations Center. Thanks largely to federal homeland-security funding, Merc Michigan has made strides witl new disaster response and anti-terrorism equipment. The focus has been on pre- paring first responders, primarily police and fire depart- ments, to quickly deal with possible terrorist events. . The state has 15 regional response team networks across Michigan. The alliance of local fire department, police and medical agencies can respond to a disaster anywhere in the state within two hours. "We will gain strength and numbers as we move forward," said Michigan State Police Sgt. Chris Kelenske, the state's regional response team network coordinator. The state also has some high-tech tools for the war on ter- rorism. Michigan State Police First Lt. Shawn Stallworth runs a robot with more capabilities than he's allowed to tell the public. The easy-to-see advantages include wheels to run on concrete and grass, and conveyers to climb stairs and negotiate rough terrain. The robot is remote-controlled and includes a camera. Stallworth can send it to investigate a bomb threat scene or a disaster area to let officers know what they're up against before they advance. The robot also can disarm some threats. "You don't have to expose someone, and that's important," Stallworth said. More than 100 Michigan communities split up about $62 million in federal homeland security grants for this fiscal year. Much of the money has been allocated to big cities and to borders, the places that may be the most likely terrorist targets. The funds primarily have been used to buy new equip- ment ranging from communications networks to bomb squad trucks to chemical masks. Money for local Michigan communities has increased in s the training. In rorism, things time. We don't next event is the training in top of that." - Dave Harper Chief of training for the dian Township Fire Dept. recent years, but barely begins to cover the $1.5 billion in equipment needs local police and fire agencies documented in a statewide survey last year. The grants allowed Lansing area fire departments to buy a decontamination unit used to treat victims and responders in a suspected chemical or bio- logical attack. The equipment includes personal protection suits and a tent outfitted with a . shower to decontaminate victims or responders at a sus- pected attack site. The equipment is welcome, but there are equally impor- tant needs, public safety officials said. "The big need is the training," said Dave Harper, chief of training for the Meridian Township Fire Department in Ing- ham County. "In the world of terrorism, things change all the time. We don't know what the next event is going to be. It's the training that keeps us on top of that." States have argued that the total amount of money allo- cated by Congress isn't enough to cover their needs. A final vote on the $32 billion federal Homeland Security appropriations bill for fiscal 2005 is expected this week. So far, the Senate has rebuffed efforts to add more money for emergency workers, railroads and port security. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat, says first respond- ers need more financial help from the federal government. She wants Congress to add more money to the bill. "Because I represent Michigan - a state with a long international border - I feel a special obligation to the people of my state and nation to press this issue," Stabenow said in a news release. State lawmakers play key role a in voting WASHINGTON (AP) - Eight Michigan lawmakers from both parties voted last week to overturn new Bush administration rules on overtime pay. Michigan's six Democrats voted for an amendment to overturn the overtime rules. Reps. Fred Upton of St. Joseph and Thaddeus McCotter of Livonia were among the 22 Republicans who also supported the amendment. The amendment passed by. a 223 to 193 vote Thursday. "Congress has sent a strong mes- sage to the Bush Administration: Don't mess with the hard-earned pay of America's workers," said Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Menominee). Democrats and the Bush adminis- tration have disagreed sharply over the effects of the overtime regula- tions. Democrats say the rules would jeopardize overtime protections for 6 million people. But the Labor Department insists that the rules would allow 1.3 million workers who earn less than $23,660 a year to be eligible for overtime, while about 107,000 white-collar workers making $100,000 or more could lose eligibility. The amendment was added tn a down overtime plan billion in federal subsidies to banks that provide loans to students. The amendment passed on a 413 to 3 vote. Kildee said the loophole is pro- viding some lenders with a feder- ally guaranteed 9.5 percent rate of return, even though other student loan lenders are guaranteed only a 3.5 percent rate of return. The loophole was written into the law during in 1980, when interest rates were high, and was supposed to be phased out by 1993. "Instead of giving unjustified and excessive subsidies to lenders, we should be subsidizing our students directly by increasing student loan programs and Pell Grants so that more students can afford to go to college," Kildee said.