Kucinich quizzed on health-care plan
Originally published in NHPrimary.com
Saturday, November 28, 2003
Kucinich quizzed on health-care plan
By HOLLY RAMER The Associated Press
WARNER - While others headed to the malls, Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich spent Friday afternoon at a bookstore that he compared to his campaign: independent and civic-minded.
"There's a connection to community here," he said in a converted barn attached to Main Street BookEnds. "My campaign for president is about restoring the American people's ability to have a government they can call their own."
Several of the questions he faced concerned his single-payer, universal health-care proposal. The Ohio congressman insists removing profit from the health-care equation would free up enough money to ensure that all citizens are covered.
Other candidates want to expand existing programs to make health insurance more accessible, but Kucinich said a more dramatic overhaul is needed.
"They're selling insurance," he said. "I'm running to be chief executive, not an insurance salesman."
He also criticized his opponents for dismissing his plan as impractical. Critics say Congress never would pass a single-payer system, but Kucinich said if elected, he'd urge voters to send him a new Congress ready for change.
"Think about it: you're running for president of the United States, and you're already caving into insurance companies. What's next? Caving into arms manufacturers? Caving into polluters?" he said. "I'm unbought and unbossed. I'm nobody's boy."
Just as he is focused on health care, not health insurance, Kucinich said he offers clear choices on other key issues. While some of the other Democrats want to fix trade agreements, Kucinich wants to cancel them. While others disagree on how long American troops should remain in Iraq, Kucinich says they never should have been deployed and should be removed as soon as possible.
"My candidacy gives the people of this country a real alternative," he said. "It's not trimming around the edges as some candidates would do."
The latest poll shows Kucinich at 3 percent in New Hampshire, which holds the first binding primary Jan. 27. Though Howard Dean holds a wide lead, Kucinich remains hopeful.
"There are some people who say the election in New Hampshire is over, don't even go there," he said. "I disagree. I think people have an open mind. Even as they're going into the polls, they're thinking 'Is there another way?' "
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