I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.

- Abraham Lincoln

Big business is not dangerous because it is big, but because its bigness is an unwholesome inflation created by privileges and exemptions which it ought not to enjoy.

- Woodrow Wilson

The citizens of the United States must control the mighty commercial forces which they themselves called into being.

- Theodore Roosevelt

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.

- Dwight Eisenhower

I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society but the people themselves - and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion.

- Thomas Jefferson

The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Civics Quiz

Which of the following candidates for President of the United States best reflects values expressed above?

a) John McCain

b) Hillary Clinton

c) Barack Obama

d) Ralph Nader

The answer?

d) Ralph Nader

As the Democrats bicker over the meaning of bitterness, Ralph Nader is traveling to all 50 states to challenge head-on the abusive, corrupting, corrosive corporate power that is undermining our democracy.

In this momentous election year, the Nader/Gonzalez campaign has launched an historic challenge to the corporate two-party duopoly.

The first phase is well under way - getting Nader/Gonzalez on the ballot in states across the country.

Today, Ralph travels to the Land of Lincoln - Illinois.

We need your help now to fuel our ballot access campaign in Illinois.

Vote now for Ralph Nader by giving as generously as you can to this effort to challenge corporate power and the two-party duopoly.