Nader talks 3rd parties, raising minimum wage at Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Three weeks before Election Day, a presidential candidate in the last four elections makes a stop at Purdue University.

Ralph Nader spoke to a crowd of about 200 people on the topic of "Corporatism and Social Class".  He also signed copies of his new book called "The Seventeen Solutions".

One of his targeted advocacy issues is raising the current $7.25 minimum wage.  He said there are 30 million Americans who make less than $10 an hour.  Nader said the minimum wage should be at least that much if it kept up with inflation for the last 40 years.  He said with so many Americans making that amount, it makes it a winning issue for Democrats in this election.

In a meeting with members of the press beforehand, he advocated for a third major political party.  He thinks in four years, more Americans might be willing to vote for one.

"I think it's going to be broken by another (Ross) Perot," Nader said.  "I think another billionaire will come along and push it into a three-way race.  Michael Bloomberg could have done it this year if he wanted to.  And there are a few billionaires who are sort of itching to get in.  I think by 2016 we'll have that kind of three-way race."

News 18 also asked him why he keeps traveling the country as an outspoken critic of the current political system.  He didn't take long to answer.

"'Justice, the great work of human beings on earth', Senator Daniel Webster told us in the 1840s," Nader said.  "And how easy it is to achieve it if people aren't feeling powerless and organize themselves as voters, workers, consumers, small tax payers.  We've done it in the '60s and '70s."