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he is a true progressive Democrat, an honest man with strong views about the importance of helping all people and a voting record to match. He is also a man with a long history of winning elections against the odds and of garnering support from people who normally vote Republican. Dennis grew up poor and has worked at a variety of jobs since he was a teenager as well as earning two college degrees along the way. In an interview with Studs Terkel years ago, Dennis (then the "Boy Mayor" of Cleveland) explained how his experiences helped him to realize at an early age that there was something wrong with the system because it's a myth that people who work hard always get ahead. I heard a reporter from the Cleveland Plain Dealer remark on a television show that Dennis Kucinich returns to Cleveland almost every weekend and attends many weddings, funerals, and other events in his district, which shows the high priority he places on the people he serves. The reporter also described him as both a serious man and a man with a great sense of humor, a very gregarious man. The DUers who have met him in person have described him as having a real presence, being a passionate and inspiring speaker, and giving his complete attention to a person when speaking with them one on one.
To explain his views, and my support of them, I am going to briefly explain his Ten Top Issues and many of the "smaller" issues that fit into those categories. (You can read a lot more at http:www.kucinich.us)
Kucinich's insistence on labeling genetic food is one of the "smaller" issues and a major reason I became interested in him as a candidate. I believe that American have a right to be told if their food is genetically modified (at present you can assume that you are eating GM foods but identifying which foods are and which foods aren't is very difficult and the foods industry resists labeling.)
Universal health care is something Dennis Kucinich sees as essential for America and so he has made this his #1 issue.
Protecting the Social Security benefits owed to workers and rolling back the retirement age from 67 to 65 is Kucinich's #2 issue.
Fair trade is Kucinich's #3 issue and he proposes repealing NAFTA and the WTO and replacing them with fair trade agreements.
Making the changes that Dennis Kucinich has promised in these three areas would benefit all Americans immeasurably and can be achieved without bankrupting businesses or the government. He also wants to "Restore a balance between workers and corporations (Issue #6), including
Defending workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively
Reversing tax cuts that benefit the already well-to-do
Reinstituting the estate tax
Kucinich also calls for "living wages, not minimum wages", guaranteed quality education, pre-K through college (Issue #7), and plans to restore rural communities and family farms, (Issue # 9) which he would do by
breaking up agricultural monopolies
assuring fair prices for farmers
He also promises strong USDA enforcement of tough new food safety laws, in line with his proposals for environmental renewal and clean energy (Issue #10), which include
toughening environmental enforcement
supporting the Kyoto Treaty on global climate change
reducing oil dependence
spurring investment in alternative energy sources
My favorite sentences in his proposals about the environment are: "Globally, the U.S. will become a leader in sustainable energy production and a partner with developing nations in providing inexpensive, local, renewable energy technologies."
and
"The right to know (for example, when food is genetically engineered) will supercede corporate secrecy."
Kucinich also calls (Issue #5) for protection of right-to-choose, privacy, and civil rights, including
Repeal of the Patriot Act (Issue #4)
Drug policy emphasizing treatment over criminalization.
An end to capital punishment
and much more, including a pledge that "Only those who agree to uphold Roe v. Wade will be nominated for the Supreme Court."
I have left the commitment Dennis Kucinich has to renewed peace and diplomacy (Issue #8) until last because I want DUers to understand how strongly committed he is on these issues.
Kucinich is not a pacifist but he believes that most wars can be avoided, which is why he has proposed a Department of Peace. This is not a new issue for him; he has been lobbying for it for years. He would also raise the salaries of military personnel and commit more money for veterans' benefits. He would cut funding for weapons programs that are inefficient, like the "missile shield" that doesn't work but, if funded, will be a gigantic cash cow for the defense industry) and put that money into taking care of our fellow citizens who serve in the military.
Like almost all of us at DU, Kucinich opposed the invasion of Iraq. As many of us did, he participated in protests, just as he has participated in union marches, anti-globalization demonstrations, and other progressive causes.
Kucinich spoke publicly against the war against Iraq from the very beginning, led the House Progressive Caucus in voting against it last fall, and has continued to speak out on a regular basis, even on the very day Bush* ordered the invasion. He supports the welfare of our troops and wants to bring them home now, calling for the US to immediately begin planning an exit strategy with the UN that would replace our troops with UN peacekeepers. American businesses would be prohibited from profiting from Iraq's reconstruction. In his efforts to end the war and occupation/ guerilla war in Iraq, Kucinich has sued Bush* and introduced resolutions and amendments to bills.
Unless you are already a Kucinich supporter, you have probably learned several things about Dennis Kucinich in this post and perhaps you are surprised that he has been so actively speaking out against the war on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives as well as other venues. The media don't give him much coverage at all and I believe this is yet one more indication of how the American media don't want change in the status quo. The media serve their corporate owners and sponsors, who have a vested interest in not letting the voters develop an interest in a candidate who really wants to turn the government around and make it serve all the people, rather than a small minority of the people who have wealth and power.
We can elect Dennis Kucinich, and a new, more progressive Congress to work with him, next year, just as Americans elected FDR and a new Congress to change the country's direction and get us out of the Great Depression. We won't have "homeland security" as long as we continue to throw our military might around -- we need a president who "works well with others." We won't have prosperity as long as the laws are set up to allow jobs to be exported by companies that are still operating here (and quite possibly banking offshore!) We won't have health or prosperity as long as the laws are set up to allow those in government to steal from Social Security, pass tax laws to enrich those who are already rich, bail out irresponsible corporations who have not maintained their company's infrastructure as they should have, and allow health insurance corporations to make huge profits and drive up the cost of medical care by requiring huge amounts of paperwork. We need a president who is committed to helping everyone enjoy a decent quality of life.
We need a strong progressive president to make this country strong and prosperous again.
We need Dennis Kucinich.
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