Presidential candidate talks to NPRC group
Originally published in the Billings Gazette
Presidential candidate talks to NPRC group
By LORNA THACKERAY
Of The Gazette Staff
During a brief campaign stop in Billings Saturday, Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich blasted U.S. policies in Iraq, advocated withdrawal from NAFTA and the World Trade Organization and decried the concentration of agriculture in the hands of a few corporations.
The congressman from Cleveland, Ohio, may not be one of the front-runners in the race for the Democratic nomination, but the 250-plus people gathered at the Sheraton Hotel for the annual meeting of the Northern Plains Resource Council seemed well acquainted with his populist ideas.
Kucinich was received with a standing ovation and whoops of approval from council members. Although the nonprofit organization cannot endorse candidates, its members applauded the congressman at almost every point in his half-hour-long speech.
He said he arrived in Billings this afternoon running on about a half hour of sleep. The U.S. House debate on Medicare drug benefits didn't end until 6 Saturday morning, and Kucinich said he raced from the House to the airport for his flight to Billings. He was originally scheduled as Northern Plain's keynote banquet speaker Saturday night, but because of commitments in California, had to reschedule his appearance for the afternoon.
Kucinich began his oration discussing the fate of family farms in an economy that concentrates the wealth and power in a few large companies. A disconnect with the land has resulted as agribusiness becomes an "extractive" system, he said.
"It's what you can pull out of the land today," the candidate said.
There is little thought to long-term consequences for the environment, the economy or the very fabric of American democracy, he said.
Crushing the family farm has resulted in a serious blow to the economy, he said. Every dollar earned on a family farm turns over seven times, he said. The money keeps moving through the economy. Kucinich told the group, which included many family farmers and ranchers, that there is a link between decreased competition in agricultural markets and the budget deficit.
He called the consolidation of agribusiness in a few corporations an illegal restraint of trade. The candidate also declared that personal freedom is affected.
"When wealth gets concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, that's bad for democracy," he said.
The only way to reverse the trend, he said, is to start enforcing anti-trust laws. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission seem uninterested in interfering with agribusiness, he said.
Kucinich said that would change under his administration. He said he would also seek review of every joint venture and merger that threatens to continue the consolidation of power.
Trade practices also play a role in the decline of the family farm, he said.
Farmers were promised when NAFTA was approved that their products would find new worldwide markets, he said.
"But it hasn't worked."
They were told the World Trade Organization would do the same, but that didn't work either, he said. The WTO, coupled with NAFTA, has resulted in the decline of American manufacturing as well as the family farm, according to the candidate.
"The whole world wants access to our markets," Kucinich said. "But they don't want to buy anything from us."
Instead of helping sell American products internationally, the U.S. gave up its ability to establish rules of trade, Kucinich said. With its market clout, the U.S. could insist that goods be produced in an environmentally safe manner and that workers and producers are treated fairly, the congressman said. It could also demand that the products countries seek to import aren't made by child labor, slave labor or prison labor, he said.
Both NAFTA and the WTO contain clauses that provide for U.S. withdrawal with six months notice.
"My first act as president will be to take pen in hand and sign that notification of withdrawal from NAFTA and WTO," he said.
Sustained applause greeted that announcement.
The crowd also loudly applauded his arguments that the United States should not have attacked Iraq, and that the conflict should be quickly be placed in the hands of the United Nations. It was in response to a question about international policy that Kucinich gave his most impassioned remarks of the day.
The United States entered the war without any solid proof that Iraq presented a threat, he said, adding that the situation has made the world less safe. He said America needs to stop acting unilaterally and start working within the world community to deal with terrorist and threats to international security.
If other countries recognized a shift in U.S. policy, the United Nations might be more willing to participate by sending troops to secure Iraq. He recommended that the United Nations take over the Iraqi oil industry and the government until the Iraqis themselves are ready to take control.
"Frankly, I believe that's the only way we're going to get our troops out of there," he said. "The way America becomes safer, is to work within the world community."
The conflict in Iraq is escalating under current policy, according to Kuchinich, who said it was starting to remind him of Vietnam.
As president, the candidate promised that he would work to ensure the security of the country by advocating the abolishment of all nuclear weapons.
"These weapons don't protect us anymore," he said. "They are a threat. As the U.S. joins the world community, we will have security. We will have morale authority. The path we are on now is very, very dangerous."
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