Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich

 

 

A look Back…

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dennis Kucinich is the eldest of seven children.  His family struggled financially, moving often and by the time Kucinich was 17, he had lived in 21 different places.  Some of his early jobs included being a hospital orderly, newspaper copy boy, teacher, consultant, television analyst and author.  He  graduated with a Bachelor of Arts & Masters in Speech Communications and quickly moved into politics.  By the age of 23 he was elected to Cleveland’s City Council and by 31 he held the office of Mayor.  Kucinich was met with scrutiny and disappointment when Cleveland’s banks demanded he sell the city’s 70 year-old municipally-owned electric system to a private competitor (banks were interlocked with the private utility CEI and had a financial interest).  The banks used this  as a precondition of extending credit to the city government.  After refusing to sell, the banks took the unprecedented step of refusing to roll over the city’s debt, pushing it into default.  Putting principle above politics cost him a  re-election bid and temporarily derailed his political career.  But Kucinich perservered.  Today, Cleveland Public Power is an asset to the city that has saved customers $195,148,520 over what they would have paid to CEI.  Kucinich has since served as Ohio State Senator is serving his seventh term in Congress.  He has received many honors  as a champion of clean air, clean water and an unspoiled earth. and has been an official U.S. delegate to the United Nations on Climate Change .  

Elected to Congress in 1996, Dennis Kucinich has been a tireless advocate for worker rights, civil rights and human rights.  Kucinich has authored legislation to create a national health care system, preserve Social Security, lower the costs of drugs, provide economic development through infrastructure improvements, abolish the death penalty, provide prekindergarten to 3 thru 5 year olds, create a Department of Peace, regulate genetically engineered foods, repeal the USA PATRIOT Act and provide tax relief to working class families.  He is the chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a member of the Education and Labor Committee.  

ST:  One word. Healthcare.  

DK:  Fifty million Americans have no health insurance.  Another fifty million are under insured.  It’s long past time we realized the fundamental purpose of forming a nation which was to provide for the general welfare of the people.  The United States must do what every other industrialized nation has done—guarantee health as a basic right to a democratic society.  I’m co-author of a bill (HR676) with Congressman John Conyers that would provide a universal, single parent, not-for-profit health care system and everyone would be covered.  It’s time to do it.

ST:  How can citizens get active?

DK:  The bill Mr. Conyers and I worked on had 91 members supporting it.  If you are for  our bill (HR676) contact your Congress person because they need to hear from the people.  Citizens should be able to communicate with Congress members about their health care needs.  This is a fundamental need in a democratic society.

ST:  When President Obama was in L.A. for the town meeting, the topics on most minds were finances and unemployment.

DK:  Certainly the President, with the Stimulus Package, is trying to move in the right direction.  But we need more.  A real effort must be made to rebuild America and the government has an obligation to restore the American dream by helping people save their homes, creating jobs, providing healthcare for all, protecting peoples investments, retirement security and making certain that our children have a decent education.  These are the fundamental purposes of nationhood.  Massive amounts of mo-ney are being spent to prop up the economy.  Unfortunately certain interest groups are gaining in this crisis, and greed is threatening to capsize our government.  We need to close ranks as Americans—all for one and one for all,  in a spirit of solidarity for the purposes of helping America through this grim economic period. 

ST:  Do you see a turn on the horizon?

DK:  It will turn around, but it can’t unless we bring runaway financial machines, who recklessly spent investors money, demanded hundreds of billions of dollars from the taxpayers without any accountability and insist arrogantly they have the first call on taxpayer resources, under control.  We need to hold these institutions to accountability and oversight—that is very important.  We need to look at those who have been entrusted with levels of power in the economy, how they function, where they failed.  We must be ready with broad reforms.  We cannot do this ever again.  The future of this country is being squandered by un-enlightened individuals and institutions who have focused only on their own self interests, and in doing so have been greedily rejecting the American public’s interests.  

ST:  What are your thoughts on AIG?

DK:  I voted against the first two TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) bills.  I didn’t think that the government had any business rescuing private sector businesses that rely on markets and investors.  That’s something the government should not have gotten involved in.  But now we are involved and have an obligation to see how that money is spent.   It’s not simply that AIG gave bonuses to employees involved in the disastrous economic policies that forced a new measurement on the condition of our economy; worse is that when they received bail- out funds they sent those funds to some of the same people who were TARP recipients and to other countries.  The reason for the bailout was to revive the American economy.  No one said this was a global bailout, yet it is turning into that.  American taxpayers are not a bottomless source of money for interest groups.  Many questions remain unanswered about who is getting money, why are they getting money and how does this benefit the economy.  America has made a transition from industrial capitalism to finance capitalism to crony capitalism.  People are taking care of their friends and Americans are getting hurt to the tune of not ‘B’ for billions, but ‘T’ for trillions of dollars.  As Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, I’m determined to bring to light institutions on Wall Street and those in government who have not lived up to their responsibilities.  Name names, bring forth information and show the American people where their money is really going.  Let the people decide if their government is acting in their interests or not.