Robin
January 31st, 2008, 9:24 pm
This is interesting. According to the News Herald, Dennis Kucinich was in Southgate the other day. He talked to the war protestors that gather on Fort.
Did he bring his wife? Was Flash there?
http://www.thenewsherald.com/stories/011608/loc_20080116013.shtml
*Kucinich: Takes his message to people on street*
By Anne Sullivan, The News-Herald
PUBLISHED: January 16, 2008
SOUTHGATE — Not all Democratic candidates for president boycotted Michigan's primary election yesterday.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio stopped in Southgate on Saturday to do some campaigning.
Kucinich is one of four Democratic candidates whose name appeared on Michigan's ballot yesterday. Others are New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel. Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who has pulled out of the race, also appeared on the ballot.
The Democratic National Committee, upset with Michigan for moving its primary to January, has said it will strip the state party of its delegates at the national Democratic convention this summer.
State party leaders say, however, that they expect their delegates will be seated, and if they are not, they will take it to the floor of the convention for a fight.
After the state party moved the date of the primary, the Democratic National Committee asked candidates not to campaign in Michigan, a step some say has hurt the state financially.
Kucinich, an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq, ignored the request not to campaign and stopped this weekend along Fort Street, where the Wyandotte Democrat Club has sponsored an anti-war protest each Saturday since May.
The hourlong picket started as a small group on the other side of the street at an empty lot in Wyandotte, said Pam Emery, secretary of the Wyandotte Democratic Club.
Then, when construction began on the empty lot, the group moved across the street and set up pickets in front of a vacant building.
The weekend before the presidential primary, the regular crowd of about two dozen swelled to about 125 to 150.
Along with the anti-war signs, other political signs, including "Kucinich for President, Strength through Peace," lined the west side of Fort Street in front of a closed doughnut shop.
A van of supporters of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards parked near the pickets with a "Vote uncommitted" banner across the windshield. Edwards and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama are among the Democrats whose names were not on the ballot. Some of their supporters were asking Democrats to vote yesterday for "uncommitted" if their candidate's name was not on the ballot.
Kucinich spoke about the war, the economy and jobs as he stood on a parking bumper in front of the closed business.
"I want to thank each and every one of you for your commitment to peace ... in a time of public apathy for the war," he said.
He told the crowd he has been against the war since the beginning nearly five years ago and is the only candidate who has continuously voted against funding it.
"It's not credible to say you oppose the war and vote to give money (to fund the war)," he said.
"When you vote on Tuesday, you can send a message that Kucinich is right on the war. It's time to bring (the troops) home."
He also told the crowd that he opposes going to war with Iran and sending more troops to Afghanistan.
"It's time to take care of things at home," he said.
The congressman said he knows what it's like to struggle in life.
"My dad was a truck driver," he said. "When I grew up, we never owned a home. We lived in 21 different places.
"I know what it means to have a roof over your head, clothes on your back. I understand that.
"My house, I bought in 1971 with my wife. It's 1,674 square feet, a frame two-story house.
"You need a president who comes from the people, stands with the people and can speak with the people. Give me your vote and I will give you your country."
He has a plan to move the country forward.
"It's time to rebuild the infrastructure," he said, "the automobile, steel and shipbuilding industries, and aerospace, and give good-paying jobs a chance.
"As I go across the country, the No. 1 domestic issue is insurance. Forty-six million people don't have (health care) insurance and 50 million are underinsured.
"They cannot afford to spend $700 to $1,000 a month for health care. It's more than rent or a mortgage payment. Who can afford that? GM and Ford can't."
Kucinich said it is a crime in a democratic society when people can't afford health insurance. Adding a government-supported health care plan is not the answer, he said.
He proposes a single-payer, not-for-profit company with no co-pays and no deductibles for clients.
"I'm asked, 'How can we pay for that?' I say, 'We already are paying for it. We (spend) $2.3 trillion on health care; $1 of every $3 is raked off the top by the insurance companies."
He said health care has a 33 percent overhead, high salaries and advertising costs, and that money could be spent providing care to people.
If elected president, Kucinich said the first thing he'd do is cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement, passed in 1993 during the Clinton administration.
"Ross Perot was right when he said America would lose jobs (with NAFTA)," Kucinich said. "The corporations took the jobs out of the country because they want cheap labor. Our whole industrial base is lost. We have to turn this around.
"America's future is going to be decided in places like Ohio and Michigan, where the infrastructure is eroding."
In addition to having no health care insurance, there is high unemployment in states such as Michigan and Ohio, he said.
"People lose their jobs, health care and their homes," Kucinich said. "This is one of the most serious economic times we've been in since the Depression. People are afraid right now."
It's not right that American families are going broke while insurance companies are getting rich, he said.
"When you elect a president, you have to select someone with the wisdom to know what to do," he said. "There's no question I'm not sending young men and women to war."
Morgan Cooper, 9, of Trenton was at the protest with her father, Gary Cooper, and listened to Kucinich.
"I was really interested in what he was saying, and how he wants to bring back the country," she said. "The war should be stopped because a lot of people are getting killed from it.
"I think he really wants to stop the war and I want a better president than Bush."
Vietnam veteran Jim Pacesky, 58, of Dearborn Heights has been coming every Saturday with a friend to protest the war in Southgate.
"I like the way he talks and what he says makes a lot of sense," Pacesky said after listening to Kucinich on Saturday.
Pacesky voted by absentee ballot and declined to say who got his support.
More... (http://lincolnparkforums.com/showthread.php?t=15521&goto=newpost)
Did he bring his wife? Was Flash there?
http://www.thenewsherald.com/stories/011608/loc_20080116013.shtml
*Kucinich: Takes his message to people on street*
By Anne Sullivan, The News-Herald
PUBLISHED: January 16, 2008
SOUTHGATE — Not all Democratic candidates for president boycotted Michigan's primary election yesterday.
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio stopped in Southgate on Saturday to do some campaigning.
Kucinich is one of four Democratic candidates whose name appeared on Michigan's ballot yesterday. Others are New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel. Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who has pulled out of the race, also appeared on the ballot.
The Democratic National Committee, upset with Michigan for moving its primary to January, has said it will strip the state party of its delegates at the national Democratic convention this summer.
State party leaders say, however, that they expect their delegates will be seated, and if they are not, they will take it to the floor of the convention for a fight.
After the state party moved the date of the primary, the Democratic National Committee asked candidates not to campaign in Michigan, a step some say has hurt the state financially.
Kucinich, an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq, ignored the request not to campaign and stopped this weekend along Fort Street, where the Wyandotte Democrat Club has sponsored an anti-war protest each Saturday since May.
The hourlong picket started as a small group on the other side of the street at an empty lot in Wyandotte, said Pam Emery, secretary of the Wyandotte Democratic Club.
Then, when construction began on the empty lot, the group moved across the street and set up pickets in front of a vacant building.
The weekend before the presidential primary, the regular crowd of about two dozen swelled to about 125 to 150.
Along with the anti-war signs, other political signs, including "Kucinich for President, Strength through Peace," lined the west side of Fort Street in front of a closed doughnut shop.
A van of supporters of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards parked near the pickets with a "Vote uncommitted" banner across the windshield. Edwards and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama are among the Democrats whose names were not on the ballot. Some of their supporters were asking Democrats to vote yesterday for "uncommitted" if their candidate's name was not on the ballot.
Kucinich spoke about the war, the economy and jobs as he stood on a parking bumper in front of the closed business.
"I want to thank each and every one of you for your commitment to peace ... in a time of public apathy for the war," he said.
He told the crowd he has been against the war since the beginning nearly five years ago and is the only candidate who has continuously voted against funding it.
"It's not credible to say you oppose the war and vote to give money (to fund the war)," he said.
"When you vote on Tuesday, you can send a message that Kucinich is right on the war. It's time to bring (the troops) home."
He also told the crowd that he opposes going to war with Iran and sending more troops to Afghanistan.
"It's time to take care of things at home," he said.
The congressman said he knows what it's like to struggle in life.
"My dad was a truck driver," he said. "When I grew up, we never owned a home. We lived in 21 different places.
"I know what it means to have a roof over your head, clothes on your back. I understand that.
"My house, I bought in 1971 with my wife. It's 1,674 square feet, a frame two-story house.
"You need a president who comes from the people, stands with the people and can speak with the people. Give me your vote and I will give you your country."
He has a plan to move the country forward.
"It's time to rebuild the infrastructure," he said, "the automobile, steel and shipbuilding industries, and aerospace, and give good-paying jobs a chance.
"As I go across the country, the No. 1 domestic issue is insurance. Forty-six million people don't have (health care) insurance and 50 million are underinsured.
"They cannot afford to spend $700 to $1,000 a month for health care. It's more than rent or a mortgage payment. Who can afford that? GM and Ford can't."
Kucinich said it is a crime in a democratic society when people can't afford health insurance. Adding a government-supported health care plan is not the answer, he said.
He proposes a single-payer, not-for-profit company with no co-pays and no deductibles for clients.
"I'm asked, 'How can we pay for that?' I say, 'We already are paying for it. We (spend) $2.3 trillion on health care; $1 of every $3 is raked off the top by the insurance companies."
He said health care has a 33 percent overhead, high salaries and advertising costs, and that money could be spent providing care to people.
If elected president, Kucinich said the first thing he'd do is cancel the North American Free Trade Agreement, passed in 1993 during the Clinton administration.
"Ross Perot was right when he said America would lose jobs (with NAFTA)," Kucinich said. "The corporations took the jobs out of the country because they want cheap labor. Our whole industrial base is lost. We have to turn this around.
"America's future is going to be decided in places like Ohio and Michigan, where the infrastructure is eroding."
In addition to having no health care insurance, there is high unemployment in states such as Michigan and Ohio, he said.
"People lose their jobs, health care and their homes," Kucinich said. "This is one of the most serious economic times we've been in since the Depression. People are afraid right now."
It's not right that American families are going broke while insurance companies are getting rich, he said.
"When you elect a president, you have to select someone with the wisdom to know what to do," he said. "There's no question I'm not sending young men and women to war."
Morgan Cooper, 9, of Trenton was at the protest with her father, Gary Cooper, and listened to Kucinich.
"I was really interested in what he was saying, and how he wants to bring back the country," she said. "The war should be stopped because a lot of people are getting killed from it.
"I think he really wants to stop the war and I want a better president than Bush."
Vietnam veteran Jim Pacesky, 58, of Dearborn Heights has been coming every Saturday with a friend to protest the war in Southgate.
"I like the way he talks and what he says makes a lot of sense," Pacesky said after listening to Kucinich on Saturday.
Pacesky voted by absentee ballot and declined to say who got his support.
More... (http://lincolnparkforums.com/showthread.php?t=15521&goto=newpost)