Kucinich wants new direction for America
Originally published in the Iowa State Daily
Kucinich wants new direction for America
By Jennifer Martin
Daily Staff Writer
September 03, 2003
Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich campaigned on campus Tuesday and promised that if elected, he would take America in a new direction toward peace, jobs and justice.
Kucinich, who is campaigning under the slogan of "The Progressive Vision," said this presidential campaign presents not just something new, but the possibility of reclaiming what the Founding Fathers had in mind for this country.
Quoting playwright and essayist George Bernard Shaw, Kucinich asked, "Why not peace, education and jobs for all?"
Kucinich, who spoke to a crowd of approximately 125 in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union, said the Pentagon and the Department of Defense's budgets and policies are being driven by a fear of war and terrorism. He said he intends to implement a plan that would bring peace to the United States.
"Americans should reject the lies that brought us into Iraq," he said. "America shouldn't be a home to fear."
Kucinich questioned whether America was any safer, even with the amount of money being spent on defense.
"We can't be secure by being an aggressor of the world," he said.
Carlie Tartakov, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, said she supports Kucinich's platform."[Kucinich] is one of the few candidates in either party that truly represents the difference between what our country needs and what others are telling us," Tartakov said.
Chris Williams, freshman in journalism and communication, said he didn't agree with Kucinich.
"I didn't really buy into his new world plan because he says that we need a peaceful world, but we still have countries threatening us every day," Williams said. "He thinks we should just ignore that."
Williams also said he didn't believe the country is being driven by fear.
"He talked about how the nation is so scared, but we have terrorists running planes into buildings," Williams said. "What does he want us to do?"
Tartakov said she would support any candidate who is better than President Bush. "[But] better than Bush is not enough," Tartakov said. "Kucinich is campaigning to convince the country that the biggest defense department doesn't need to get bigger."
Kucinich said, if elected, he plans to reduce the defense budget by 15 percent.
"This [reduction] will signal it's time to start paying attention to social issues," he said.
Universal kindergarten and childcare and a national health care program are two issues Kucinich plans to address as president.
"It is time to get profit out of health care," he said.
With the rising prices of health care, Kucinich said he wondered how most Americans pay for their medical costs. He said health care for profit will exclude more and more people because most of the money going into the program goes toward salaries, stock options and paper shuffling.
Kucinich's health care plan calls for a single-payer, not-for-profit system under Medicare.
"We either have health care for profit or health care for people -- make a choice," he said.
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