Kucinich to Speak in San Francisco Public Square Monday Morning
The following is a press release from December 14, 2003, by the Kucinich campaign
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Kucinich to Speak in San Francisco Public Square Monday Morning
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 14, 2003
What: Press conference on 25th Anniversary of Dennis Kucinich's refusal to sell Cleveland's power
When: 11:30 a.m. PST, Monday, December 15, 2003.
Where: The plaza at the Embarcadero Center, across from the Ferry Building, San Francisco, Calif.
Democratic Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich is campaigning as the candidate who will stand up to corporate power. Today he released a plan to reform the corporate media, breaking up the conglomerates. His plan to bring US troops home from Iraq involves denying oil profits or no-bid reconstruction contracts to corporations that have contributed to or have ties to the current Administration. Kucinich plans to replace corporate trade agreements like NAFTA and the WTO with fair bilateral agreements protecting workers' rights, human rights, and the environment. And his plan for health coverage is based on removing from the system HMOs, private insurance companies, and the waste and excessive profits that go with them.
Monday, December 15, marks the 25th anniversary of Kucinich's most famous stand against corporate power. Then-Mayor Kucinich kept a campaign promise and refused to sell the Cleveland municipal electric system to a private company, CEI, the predecessor to the infamous Ohio First Energy, which earlier this year sent the nation into the largest blackout in modern history.
Cleveland Magazine offered this summary of Dennis's action 25 years ago: "Kucinich refused to yield to bankers who gave him a choice: Sell the Municipal Light System to the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. or the city will go into default. The mayor said no." When Kucinich refused to sell Muny Light, the banks took the unprecedented step of refusing to roll over the city's debt, as is customary. Instead, they pushed the city into default. It turned out the banks were thoroughly interlocked with CEI, which would have acquired monopoly status by taking over Muny Light. By holding to his campaign promise and putting principle above politics, he lost his re-election bid and his political career was derailed.
Today Kucinich stands vindicated for having confronted the Enron of his day, and for saving the municipal power company. "There is little debate," wrote Cleveland Magazine in May 1996, "over the value of Muny Light today. Now Cleveland Public Power, it is a proven asset to the city that between 1985 and 1995 saved its customers $195,148,520 over what they would have paid CEI." He also preserved hundreds of jobs. When Kucinich re-launched his political career in the mid-1990s, his campaign symbol was a light bulb. "Because he was right!" was his campaign slogan when he won his seat in the state senate in 1994. The slogan that sent him to Washington two years later was "Light Up Congress." In 1998, the Cleveland City Council issued a commendation to Dennis Kucinich for "having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city's municipal electric system."
For more information: http://www.kucinich.us
For Rep. Kucinich's Schedule: http://www.kucinich.us/schedule.htm.
Contact: David Swanson 301-772-0210, cell 202-329-7847, fax 301-772-7293, swanson@kucinich.us
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