Monday, January 5, 2004

Candidate Spotlight: Dennis Kucinich

Kucinich fighting for workers on the trail

Representative Dennis Kucinich is a different kind of Presidential candidate, and it's not surprising given how he grew up: one of seven children, living itinerantly, and sometimes in a car. He emerged from his childhood a vegan with a strong spirituality. He's a tireless supporter of social and economic justice, human rights, sustainable living practices, peace and disarmament, and protecting our environment. The consummate idealist, Kucinich possesses the practicality and ambition to get himself elected to the House of Representatives.

In a pack of candidates that seem difficult to differentiate between, Kucinich's new-agey, hard-left platform stands out. Though political realists have mocked some of his proposals, let's remember that this is the Primary, the one opportunity democrats have to openly debate the merits of new ideas. And Kucinich, the fiery Representative from Cleveland, Ohio, definitely gives us a lot to consider.

A sampling of Kucinich's positions and proposals:

Universal Health Insurance
The Kucinich plan is enhanced 'Medicare for All' -- a universal, single-payer system of national health insurance, carefully phased in over 10 years. It addresses everyone's needs, including the 40 million Americans without coverage and those paying exorbitant rates for health insurance. This approach to healthcare emphasizes patient choice, and puts doctors and patients in control of the system, not insurance companies. Coverage will be more complete than private insurance plans, encourage prevention and include prescription drugs.

Public financing of campaigns
Getting rid of soft money was good, he says. But, pointing to the fact that only a very small percentage of the voting age population is capable of contributing the maximum contribution of $2000 to a political campaign, Kucinich says the system is still too skewed in favor of the wealthy.

On Iraq
"The Administration led America into a war based on false pretenses. Even as the President declares an end to combat, there is no credible evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction -- weapons that, according to the Administration, posed an immediate and imminent threat to our nation and our allies, and could not be eliminated through international weapons inspectors."

"The Administration, with its policy in Iraq, has isolated the United States from the international community and threatens to make our country less safe not more safe."

Department of Peace
"Its work in violence control will be to support disarmament, treaties, peaceful coexistence and peaceful consensus building. Its focus on economic and political justice will examine and enhance resource distribution, human and economic rights and strengthen democratic values."

Affirmative Action
"Affirmative action is necessary, affirmative action is right, and affirmative action must be preserved… the only other nation where minority segregation indices routinely exceed those reported in the United States was the Union of South Africa under apartheid."

Media Reform
In addition to requiring free air time for political campaigns, Kucinich will create a greater diversity of viewpoints in the media by breaking up the major media conglomerates, encouraging competition and quality, as well as diversity. Kucinich will place new caps on media ownership and would ban the granting of exceptions to those caps. Kucinich will limit the number of media outlets one corporation can own in a given medium, such as radio, print, or television. He will strictly prohibit cross-ownership and vertical integration.

On the Environment
I will initiate a "Global Green Deal" for renewable energy, to provide jobs at home, increase our independence from foreign oil, and aid developing nations with cheap, dependable, renewable energy technologies like wind and solar. A clean environment, a sustainable economy, and an intact ozone layer are not luxuries, but necessities for our planet's future.

(Kucinich has been endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters)

Decriminalization of Marijuana
"The rationale for continuing this draconian policy of marijuana prohibition is unclear. Statistical evidence shows that marijuana use follows a pattern very similar to that of alcohol. Most marijuana users do so responsibly, in a safe, recreational context. These people lead normal, productive lives-pursuing careers, raising families, and participating in civic life."

Trade, Cuba, and International Agreements
Kucinich also would like to repeal NAFTA and withdraw from the World Trade Organization, "replacing them with bilateral trade agreements..." He would normalize economic relations with Cuba, and ratify numerous international treaties including the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the International Criminal Court, and several treaties involving reducing and regulating weapons programs.

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Critics have scoffed at Mr. Kucinich's desire to create a Department of Peace, thinking it absurd. But why is it any less absurd than creating a missile defense system in space? We should be willing to contemplate an evolution in conflict resolution that goes beyond established war-game dogma. Each new situation presents unique challenges. With the help of intelligence, a Department of Peace could research a variety of new strategies for applying innovative nonviolent techniques with the goal of preventing war.

However, Mr. Kucinich departs from reality in his prescription for complete dissolution of our nuclear deterrent. While the specter of nuclear conflict is horrible, the world is a dangerous, often evil place. America, given its role as world superpower, must possess a nuclear deterrent for the foreseeable future. More practically, we should question the need for a missile defense system. Given the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war, one can now conceive of an America, once protected by missile defense, contemplating pre-emptive nuclear strikes. That is frightening.

Kucinich also foolishly calls for an immediate pull-out of U.S. troops from Iraq. While the war was launched for suspect reasons, we nevertheless do not want to create an opening for some new tyrant to take over in Saddam's stead.

On other issues, Kucinich is on the cutting edge. It's long overdue that America get over its foolish obsession with so-called 'private' health care - and paranoia of government-run health care - and provide every American with health insurance. While we are supposed to be terrified of government-run health care, don't we have a government-run military? Don't we like to pride ourselves on the fact that it is best in the world? Meanwhile, our current expensive and convoluted health care system leaves 40 million Americans without health insurance.

Kucinich's proposal for media reform is worthy of discussion, though he presents his idea with Orwellian overtones. What he essentially proposes is greater competition in the media marketplace. Most Americans would probably agree there, since only a handful of huge media conglomerates control the vast majority of TV, radio, newspapers, and movie studios. But Kucinich comes out sounding like a trust-buster, saying he will break up the big media companies.

Instead, how about we just tighten the FCC's media ownership regulations and increase funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)? We might also pass a law preventing any organization that accepts CPB funds from accepting national paid advertising - thereby increasing the independence of publicly-funded media.

Last, I really like Kucinich's "Global Green Deal" phrase. The future is high technology and smart technology, and part of being smart is using energy efficiently and tapping renewable energy sources.

While Mr. Kucinich is not a contender for the nomination, he has waged a serious campaign, has more spunk than John Kerry, and given the extent of his ambition and his comeback history - after being defeated in a re-election bid for Mayor of Cleveland and spending some time out of politics, he has had a successful political career - he will likely "reinvent" himself after this campaign. There is a good chance we will see him running for higher office again someday - if not in Ohio, then perhaps in that quirky California. Maybe he will go up against Governor Gropenegger.

~ David M. Fine

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