Kucinich campaign visits Osky; Ohio rep says he's only true Democrat in race
Originally published in the Oskaloosa Herald
Kucinich campaign visits Osky; Ohio rep says he's only true Democrat in race
By SALLY FINDER-KOZIOL - The Oskaloosa Herald 08/19/2003
Tasos was one of eight stops Kucinich made Monday as part of his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Each individual in the herd of political creatures trampling across Iowa this summer looks pretty much the same to Dennis Kucinich.
They look a lot like Republicans.
"Candidates are trying to blur the difference between Democrats and Republicans," said Kucinich, one of a large field of hopefuls seeking the Democratic nomination for president. "I say we've gotta ask, 'what do you stand for?'
"I don't beat around the bush," the Ohio congressman continued, addressing an Oskaloosa group at Tasos' Monday afternoon. "I'm independent enough to speak up about what's going on in the nation."
And what's going on, Kucinich said, is a lot of fear and corporate greed.
"I want to lift the country up out of the doldrums of fear, out of the economic doldrums," Kucinich said. "We need to reclaim our country from the corporate interests. The government ought to exist for the people, not for corporations."
First on Kucinich's corporate hit list are companies involved in the health care insurance and prescription drug industry, which he said are making millions while Americans are paying more and getting less for their health care dollar - or going without health care insurance altogether.
Kucinich wants to establish a universal health care system with a single-payer plan. The system would be publicly financed and privately delivered - and would cover everything from dental care to prescription drugs, long-term care to mental health care for every American. That includes veterans, Kucinich said, who recently have been facing government funding cutbacks.
"A doctor in this race says we can't have national health care," Kucinich said. "I say it's time for a second opinion. How can any Democrat run for president and say our current system is OK?"
Another thing that's not OK, Kucinich said is North American Free Trade Agreement.
"My first day in office, the first thing I would do is cancel NAFTA and WTO," he said. "We've got a problem with trade, my friends."
The current trade agreements have made multinational corporations rich while hurting U.S. workers and the environment, Kucinich explained.
"We need to go back to bilateral trade," he said. "Any country that wants to do business with us should have to respect workers."
U.S. workers should also get respect from their own government, Kucinich added, saying he would put millions of Americans back to work with WPA-type jobs. Highways, railroads and other infrastructure could be rebuilt by workers who are now on the unemployment line.
"But we have to rebuild Iraq first," interjected a man from the audience.
"Of course, first things first," Kucinich replied with a laugh.
But, he said, putting jokes aside, U.S. action in Iraq and other Pentagon spending is a big concern.
"We spend more on the Pentagon than all nations of the world spend on defense," Kucinich said. "The government is capitalizing on fear and increasing the Pentagon budget while at the same time our schools are falling in, we have homeless people in the streets and people are dying before they can get into a hospital because they have no health care coverage.
"I would want to see the Pentagon budget cut by $60 billion and put every dollar of that money back into education," Kucinich said, sparking applause from the crowd, led by members of his entourage.
The federal government currently spends only 2.9 percent of its budget on education, which Kucinich would boost as part of his plan for guaranteed quality education, pre-kindergarten through college. He would earmark money currently spent on defense to decrease class sizes, increase teachers' salaries, renovate decaying facilities and provide hands-on job training for those not going to college.
But, Kucinich said, this can only happen if America stops living in fear.
"There's the perception that it's a dangerous world," Kucinich said, "But, in fact, the bombing of Iraq made America less safe. We have to work with the world community - we can't be the world's policeman."
The Ohio Democrat, who voted in the House against the war in Iraq, said that he saw no evidence of weapons of mass destruction and no need for a pre-emptive strike.
"I will defend this country if it's under attack," Kucinich said, "but with Iraq, we should've let the U.N. handle it."
The action in Iraq has drained money from U.S. coffers and built on the mindset of fear that has produced legislation such as the Patriot Act, which Kucinich opposed. He said the government must not be allowed, without probable cause or warrant, to snoop on our communications, medical records, library records and student records.
"We don't need the FBI going to the library to find out what you're reading," he said. "The concern should be that people can read.
"The government is not responding to the interests of the people," Kucinich emphasized. "If we're fearful, we'll let the government do whatever they want. If we're courageous, we can make America whatever we want."
About Dennis Kucinich
U.S. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, D-Ohio, first came to national prominence in 1977, when he was elected mayor of Cleveland at age 31; the youngest person ever elected to lead a major American city. In 1978, Cleveland's banks demanded that he sell the city's 70-year-old municipally owned electric system to its private competitor, in which the banks had a financial interest, as a precondition of extending credit to city government. Kucinich refused to sell Muny Light, and the Cleveland banks plunged the city into default for a mere $15 million. Kucinich lost his re-election bid in 1979.
Fifteen years later, in 1996, Kucinich made his first step toward a political comeback, winning election to the Ohio Senate on the strength of the expansion of the city's light system, which provides low-cost power to almost half the residents of Cleveland.
Kucinich, 56, is now seeking the Democratic nomination for president. In addition to universal health care, withdrawal from NAFTA and WTO, balance between workers and corporations, guaranteed quality education for pre-K through college, and privacy rights, he supports full Social Security benefits at age 65, a woman's right to choose, restored rural communities nd family farms, and environmental renewal and clean energy.
His campaign has garnered support from the likes of actor Ed Asner, who appeared with Kucinich at a large rally Sunday in Burlington, and Willie Nelson, who is planning a Labor Day fund-raising concert in Des Moines for the presidential hopeful.
For more information, visit the Kucinich Web site at www.kucinich.us.
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