In late October, 2003, Mr. Nader

The exercised sovereignty of the people, in our history, has brought forth solutions to the people, the justice they craved, and the futures they desired for their children.

In times past, the naysayers were organized commercial powers whose unbridled greed and authoritarian structures were denounced by Jefferson, Jackson, Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Wilson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

It took a strengthened populace against the "malefactors of great wealth" to overcome these naysayers and abolish slavery, open the vote to women, the unions to workers, the cooperatives to farmers - to temper the large mineowners, industrialists, railroads, and bankers. In this manner, American history surged upward.

Today, there is a compelling necessity for a new strengthening of the people to reform and recover their public elections from the grip of private financing - to rescue our public authorities from the corporate government of big business.

These mass concentrations of power, privilege, wealth, technology, and immunity have placed their rampaging global quest for maximum profits in the way of progress, justice and opportunity for the very millions of workers who made possible these corporate profits but who are falling behind, excluded and expendable.

Their labours have gone unrequited as these unpatriotic corporations abandon our country and shift industries abroad, along with what is left of their allegiance to our country and community.

Corporate crimewave

The dreaded supremacy of corporatism over civil institutions, stomping both conservative and liberal values alike, has broken through any remaining barriers by the two major political parties.

Corporatism has turned federal and state departments and agencies into indentured servants for taxpayer-funded subsidies, budget-busting lucrative contracts, and dwindling law and order against the widely publicized corporate crime wave.

This resistant crimewave has looted and drained trillions of dollars from millions of workers, their pensions, and from small investors.

There has been ample media publicity to such crimes, abuses, and frauds, of these unprecedented self-enrichments of top executives at the expense of their fiduciary duties to their companies and owners.

Has the president supplied the required law enforcement resources for action? Scarcely. He is otherwise preoccupied. Very few of these bosses have been brought to justice and jail.

Lincoln's "new birth of freedom" and "government of the people, by the people, for the people" must indeed not perish from this land.

Only an organized, self-confident people, lifting their expectation levels, and applying their time, energy and talent, can achieve Lincoln's foreshadowed horizons, where freedom from fear, a shift of power, and just solutions can become realities.

Comparing the Republican Lincoln's assurance, in a period of great peril and daily destruction, contrasts with the costly politics of fear peddled daily by the obsessive Republican incumbent of today, George W Bush.

Pluralistic, not duopolistic

Elections should place aspirations in motion. Only in this way will they have meaning for people's lives.

Movements for change come from more voices and choices, more debates and proposals, more organizing and respect for the voters in the electoral arena. At the same time, there ought to be higher levels of responsibility by voters for their own governments.

The civil liberties and their exercise by a pluralistic, not a duopolistic, system of political parties and candidates, regenerate and reanimate a passive electorate, accustomed to betrayal and, in large numbers, not voting.

Movements for change also come from the perceived neglected necessities of the American people in a land of skewed plenty.

These movements embrace a long overdue abolition of cruel poverty in America, the provision of genuine, efficient, honest health care, the illumination of civically-inspired education, and the shift in the burden and uses of taxes away from corporate plunder and cost-transfers to individual taxpayers.

These initiatives for change embrace the conversion to breathable air and clean water, renewable energy, detoxified agriculture, decongesting transportation technologies, the affordability of decent shelter, and the enabling of workers, consumers and communities to organize and shape their political economy.

Presently, global corporations are bent on strategically planning our politics, economy, military expenditures, education, our environment, our culture, even our genetic inheritance. Is it not our responsibility together to shape our own futures within our own deliberative democratic process? In terms of outcomes, which one would you choose?

The Roman Marcus Tullius Cicero once said that "freedom is participation in power". And, more recently, Thomas Jefferson called for more "participators".

Accountable power spells justice for the users of the criminal and civil laws, for the conduct of foreign policies that brilliantly wage peace, not fabricated quagmire wars. We need to lend the hand of appropriate, life-sustaining knowledge and humanity to the impoverished peoples of our Earth.

No more should our government support tyrants and oligarchies which wreak havoc and violence on their defenceless subjects and suppress their creative genius.

Manipulated mirage

This independent candidacy invites citizens who want to work for and demonstrate thoughtful politics that fulfil human possibilities: citizens to assemble together - all ages, classes and backgrounds.

We have a moral imperative to take a stand, help rescue our besieged democracy, and secure our country and its liberties. To restore the sovereignty explicit in the preamble to our Constitution - "we the people," not for sale, can decide to displace the corporate controls that try to make "everything for sale".

The condition of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is that the people must rule, not as a manipulated mirage, but as an authentic coming together of a strong citizenry - from the neighbourhoods to the national capital - to end the chronic material and spiritual deprivations that our people should no longer have to suffer.

Our campaign, in novel, serious and light-hearted ways, means to advance this procession of well-being along through all the states and to galvanize civic and political energies long beyond November 2004.

The unceasing enlightenment of humankind requires sensitive humans to enlist in a marathon, not a sprint. May there be a decent tolerance for the release of these creative individual and community energies inside an electoral system sadly known more for its straitjackets than for its wings.

The focus on the fundamental requirement for broader distribution of power, initiative, and opportunity to forge a resourceful society should be the touchstone of this election year and its campaigns.

We owe at least the prospect of possibilities to the generations that follow us. We owe the same today to the young people of America as they ponder and prepare for their leadership obligations.

Nader defies Democrat criticism

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader reacted with defiance on Monday to the barrage of criticism that met his decision to make a third run for the presidency.

On morning TV he insisted US voters should be given "more voices and choices", deriding the Democrats as "too cautious and unimaginative".

Mr Nader later laid out his campaign platform in a sweeping speech.

Leading Democrats have piled on more pressure, calling his decision "counterproductive" and "unfortunate".

President George W Bush is due to set out his own campaign stump in a speech later on Monday.

His re-election drive will get underway in earnest on 4 March, when a multimillion advertising campaign kicks off.

'Not just spectators'

Mr Nader, who ran for the White House in 1996 and 2000, was forced to remain on the defensive on Monday.

On Sunday, he said accusations that he was a "spoiler" were "contemptuous".

Many Democrats blame Mr Nader for drawing crucial votes away from their presidential candidate in 2000, Al Gore, who lost by just a few hundred votes.

"We've got to give people more voices and choices," he told ABC's Good Morning America early on Monday.

"And let me tell you, with 100 million people not voting, we've got to give them... more exciting involvement and participation so they're not just spectators watching candidates parade in front of them with emotional slogans."

Mr Nader referred to accusations of sabotaging efforts to unite Mr Bush's opponents in getting Mr Bush out of the White House.

"I'd go after Bush even more vigorously... in ways that the Democrats can't possibly do because they're too cautious and too unimaginative," he said.

But even Mr Nader's old allies have called on him not to stand.

But Mr Nader pressed ahead on Monday, spelling out his political vision in a speech that marked the inauguration of his campaign.

Again, Mr Nader decried the two-party system, and called for a "broader distribution of power, initiative and opportunity".
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Whistleblower hopeful for new party
Another man of Principle Steps Forward, in Europe.

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The Dutchman and famous whistleblower Paul van Buitenen has said that little has changed in the Commission since the late 1990s when the then Brussels executive fell due to fraud and mismanagement.

"Nothing has really changed and one wonders what this Commission has been doing the past five years", says Mr van Buitenen in an interview with the EUobserver.

The Dutchman on Friday unveiled ‘Europa Transparant’ his bid to clean up the EU by way of this summer’s European elections.

As European Commission assistant auditor, Mr van Buitenen became famous in 1998 for blowing the whistle on fraud and mismanagement inside the EU institutions, which ultimately led to the fall of the Santer Commission in spring 1999.

"Not only the Commission, but also the other institutions, such as the Parliament need a drastic shake-up", said the founder of the new list.

"I hope to achieve transparency and accountability in Europe and to bring Europe back to its citizens", he declared.

"This may sound familiar, but now Europe belongs to the elite that has its lobby mechanisms and networks in place. This has nothing to do anymore with basic democracy, as we know it in our member states".

The new party ‘Europa Transparant’ was registered with the Dutch authorities last Friday (20 February) and Mr van Buitenen hopes the list will achieve a significant number of votes.

"One or two seats will not do. I suppose a minimum of three - and I am hoping for six - would mean that we have to get almost a quarter of the votes in the Netherlands".

The Netherlands will have 27 seats in the new European Parliament after enlargement.

Not a traditional party
Explaining why he has decided to move from one European institution to become a fully-fledged politician, the Dutchman said: "I do not intend to become a politician. Our movement’s ultimate goal is to dissolve itself once the goals are achieved or taken on board by the traditional parties".

Practically this also means that the party will not fall along traditional left or right political lines.

"My movement will be a one-issue movement and not a traditional party. We will not be traditional politicians, but will be more like activists that fight for an accountable and transparent Europe that belongs to its citizens.

Voters are expected from every side of the political fence as well as from both the pro- and anti- Europe camp.

"We intend to form our own coalition if possible where we can set the agenda. We do not come to participate in trying to follow the system in everything (waiting for useless answers, negotiating one minute of speaking time, trying to obtain the making of a toothless report), we will determine our own priorities and intend to change the system. Only in the bodies that will play a part in the necessary reforms, such as the Budget Control Committee and the committee of presidents, do we intend to participate actively", said the Dutchman.

Ten candidates already
"I have been thinking a long time about this step, I could have done it already in 1999, but then I was less prepared".

The new list already has about 10 serious candidates but is aiming for at least 15.

"I prefer to have experienced candidates with a relevant background in justice, police, whistle blowing, information research, than to have just publicly known figures. The persons that are confirmed have the relevant experience. One of them is Cees Schaap, a former police commissioner, public prosecutor and director of forensic services in a major Audit firm. He will be high on the list", said Mr van Buitenen.

A shake up
Mr van Buitenen admits that his new party will not be well received everywhere. "I suppose the establishment will be sceptical or even negative about my plans".

He adds: "They could be right, because I want to achieve a drastic change of culture: transparency instead of secret networks, accountability instead of uncontrolled spending and representative of the citizens instead of minding your own personal or networks’ interests. Not only the Commission, but also the other institutions, such as the Parliament need a drastic shake-up."

This is also the theme of a book he is writing as part of his election campaign. "It is the story of my five years following the fall of the former Santer Commission [in 1999]".

"I take the reader through the alleys of the Commission and present insight on what actually happens inside, behind the facade of the theatre reforms that the Prodi/Kinnock Commission presents to the outside world. The message coming from this story will be clear: nothing has really changed and one wonders what this Commission has been doing the past five years"

Paul Van Buitenen Back in Rue Montoyer - A locked Door away from Neil Kinnock

The famous Dutchman and EU whistleblower Paul van Buitenen has returned to office, working since 16 September in the DG for Personnel and Administration under Commissioner Neil Kinnock in Brussels.

The return was not prompted by a rueful Mr Kinnock wanting to get to the roots of mismanagement and fraud inside the European institutions, but simply by the fact that Mr van Buitenen’s one-year long personal leave has come to an end.

The Dutchman is now installed on the same floor as Mr Kinnock himself, in the DG for Personnel and Administration in Rue Montoyer at the heart of the EU institutions in Brussels - but a locked door stops any unwanted access between the two offices.

Mr van Buitenen's new task will be to look after staff policy executions in EU agencies.

Resignation of the entire European Commision
Mr van Buitenen left the Commission on 15 September 2002 for personal reasons, and worked during the past year for the Dutch police in his hometown, Breda, in the Netherlands.

As European Commission assistant auditor, he became famous in 1998 for blowing the whistle on fraud and mismanagement inside the European Union Institutions.

He worked as an assistant financial controller under the then European Commissioner Anita Gradin, but started co-operating closely with the European Parliament’s Wise Men ad-hoc committee in shedding light on financial irregularities in the European Commission.

This eventually led to the resignation of the Santer Commission in 1999.

Suspended
Mr van Buitenen was suspended from his job as assistant financial controller in December 1998 and was transferred to another job inside the European Commission - looking after EU Institutional buildings. In spring 2000, he accepted another job with the European Commission in Luxembourg.

He wrote the bestseller 'Blowing the Whistle: One man's fight against fraud in the European Commission' for which he was awarded 'European of the Year' by the Reader's Digest magazine and he also received a number of other international awards and was knighted by the Dutch Queen.

Colleagues inside the European Commission gave him their indirect support and recognition in the form of election in the Staff Union Elections in November 1999.

234-page famous report
In March 2001, he was called back to Brussels. In July and August 2001 Mr van Buitenen wrote a 234-page famous report about fraud and mismanagement inside the EU institutions. The European Commission granted him two months off duty to enable him to write the report. Some 5000 pages of documents were annexed to this report, which has never been published.

The EUobserver has learned that Eurostat was mentioned as just one among the many cases revealed in the report, and, only as one of the minor ones. Commissioner Kinnock received a copy of this report on 6 September 2001.

The report prompted OLAF, the European Anti-Fraud Office, to re-launch already existing investigations into the Eurostat affair, culminating on Thursday last week (25 September) with European Commission President Romano Prodi being questioned on Eurostat by European Parliament political leaders.