Kucinich: Why Is It We Have Finite Resources for Health Care but Unlimited Money for War?

[bigtree]

WASHINGTON - November 6 - Following a statement on the Floor of the House of Representative, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement:


"Why is it we have finite resources for health care but unlimited money for war?

"The inequities in our economy are piling up: trillions for war, trillions for Wall Street and tens of billions for the insurance companies. Banks and other corporations are sitting on piles of cash of taxpayer's money while firing workers, cutting pay and denying small businesses money to survive.

"People are losing their homes, their jobs, their health, their investments, their retirement security; yet there is unlimited money for war, Wall Street and insurance companies, but very little money for jobs on Main Street.

"Unlimited money to blow up things in Iraq and Afghanistan, and relatively little money to build things in the US.

"The Administration may soon bring to Congress a request for an additional $50 billion for war. I can tell you that a Democratic version of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is no more acceptable than a Republican version of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Trillions for war and Wall Street, billions for insurance companies... When we were promised change, we weren't thinking that we give a dollar and get back two cents."


read: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/11/06-3



Dennis and wife at the National Mall anti-occupation protest in 2007

[jesus_of_suburbia]

1. Dennis is right, of course. nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. "Trillions for war and Wall Street, billions for insurance companies..". Just a coincidence.

New boss meet the real bosses...and cave.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

49. THE MIDDLEMEN NEED MORE CASH

[C_Lawyer09]

127. Flying under the radar

Were the media not bought and paid for (owned by five or six companies)there would be much more awareness of the our problems foundation. But aside from that, let me ask you this question: Were there solid opposition to NAFTA and/or CAFTA as it was being championed by the Clinton admin?

[redqueen]

3. Because of the ignorant-ass electorate.

They love warmongers. They don't like "socialists" (as defined for them by the M$M, of course).

[Subdivisions]

4. Because our "freedoms" are worth defending. Our health, on the other hand, is not. n/t

[AndyA]

5. Once again, Dennis Kucinich seems to be the lone voice of sanity in Congress.

Too bad we don't have 49 more just like him.

[bdamomma]

8. we could use some more Dennis and Graysons.

[tblue]

20. 49 more and a president.

I don't hear Obama making this argument.

[peace frog]

42. As usual, Obama is AWOL on the subject

and as usual Kucinich is spot-on.

[pundaint]

46. He's not AWOL he's playing three dimensional chess.

Can't wait until he decides to play "Leadership for the promised Change!"

[Dinger]

80. Exatly (nt)

[timtom]

125. Let me step in here and make a prediction.

I haven't read any farther than right here. So far, so good. I'm a Kucinich man all the way.

However, please consider this thread, especially my skirmish with a couple of DK deniers. It should prove to be quite enlightening.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6912454

My prediction: Someone will pop up on this thread and invoke one of the following, re DK: "cuckoo," "woowoo," or "nutcase."

[Laelth]

6. k&r for the Honorable Dennis Kucinich who is right, as usual. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[ljm2002]

7. There he goes again...

...speaking the truth out loud.

[fascisthunter]

9. because our criminal government

work for Wall Street and see our soldiers as minions for the wealthy. Both sides of the aisle are made up of enabling, bribed and corrupt representatives who have no loyalty to America itself, but to their careers and those that fund their campaigns.

[RandomThoughts]

10. Both wars and the fight against health care have a common goal for some people.

Unfortunately some people want to lower the population. And they want the criteria for who has families and children to be who can make money in business. If you fit a criteria you get good health care, if you do not then you don't get health care. Many groups like that idea because they want population to be lower for groups not of there own group.

Same thing with wars in many areas. I don't think any of the attempts over the generations to control who can afford to have families, or who lives and who dies is good, nor has man ever been able to make those decisions correctly.

The selection criteria in that situation is based on who can earn money, which is not always the best method to determine a better society, but it seems some are always working to control society.

[Hydra]

111. Spot on

Eugenics in action- you aren't party of the wealthy crony circle? Aren't willing to work endlessly for slave wages? Not willing to bow to their every whim? Your head is on the chopping block, as is probably the rest of your family.

Meanwhile, as you say, the birth rate goes down for the undesirables...in time, only the people they want to live will do so, simply because the climate they created will eventually get everyone they don't like. All the while, they cover it all in smoke and mirrors and claim that there is no other way things could be.

I'd almost say it was clever, their control masterful...but really, how hard is it to kill people who won't fight back?

[Dulcinea]

11. Wars make money for defense contractors.

Health care doesn't.

[BlueMTexpat]

104. Ding, ding, ding!

We have a winner!

:hi:

[C_Lawyer09]

129. And...

There is a 50% revolving door between those exiting the halls of congress and K Street.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. I've been asking that since 1965.

[Desertrose]

16. Me too. It makes no sense.....

except that it enriches the bank accounts of the few on the backs of the many.

[Webster Green]

110. Me three!

Since about 1965. That was when I went to Viet Nam. The experience turned me into one of them goddamn hippies. :hippie:

Dennis Rocks! He was my first choice for president for two election cycles, and got my vote in those primaries.

[Echo In Light]

13. Good question. Grim answer.

K&R for DK!

[Solly Mack]

14. K&R

[SammyWinstonJack]

15. Money to kill people but no money to help people.

USA USA USA :patriot: :puke:

[ramapo]

17. A very concise synopsis

Basically we are a very FU'd society.

[salguine]

18. I wish Kucinich were President.

[FiveGoodMen]

32. If only!

[Peggy Day]

99. Me too! nt

[bamacrat]

19. Shocker, Dennis has it right.

Does bring up a good point that no one seems to want to talk about though. We have no problem spending enough money to do Universal Single Payer Healthcare two or three times over, yet money to help people oh that will bring us closer to socialism. What a shitty bunch of people running this country.

[HippieCowgirl]

21. Because health care money isn't being used to further enrich wealthy white men. Duh. (nt)

[Telly Savalas]

70. Actually it is.

Unless all hospital systems, physicians groups, pharmaceutical companies, and medical equipment suppliers were converted to non-profit agencies while I was at work today and I missed it.

The US already spends more money per capita on health care than any other nation in the world. The issue isn't finding more money for health care, but rather making sure that the money we currently spend is being used efficiently to give everybody the care they need.

[Uncle Joe]

22. Because the mentality that believes in war, usury and blood money profit is the same mentality

that is more likely to believe in using bribery as a means to get their ends.

Thanks for the thread, bigtree.

[Raineyb]

23. That's an extremely good question.

Unfortunately, we will not get anywhere near a good answer for that question.

[ieoeja]

24. Because stuff is more important than people.

I have the following two items:

- a dead car
- a dead person

If you had to store one of these in your garage for a month, which would you prefer? The dead car! Which proves we want stuff more than we want people. And wars help us obtain or protect stuff.

[Greyhound]

25. Correct as usual.

:kick: & R

[underseasurveyor]

26. {{{Love him}}}

And the beautiful Elizabeth too :loveya:

[Orwellian_Ghost]

27. What does this say about the US economy as a whole?

What does this say about the entirety of the US political body?

Quite matter of factly what we are being told every single day the political body is:

"We have money for matters that benefit big business and these matters are detrimental to you the people. That's the way we will be running things and we don't care what you say, do or think."

What they are telling us is that there is no problem finding the money for the Merchants of Death but there is no money for Life.

http://www.phillywrl.net/index_files/Merchants_of_Death_logo.jfif

[Echo In Light]

29. And so basically, it boils down to how The People *choose* to react/respond

Hence the need for the enormous propaganda effort to shape the public mind's perception in accordance w/the aims and goals of the vested interests running the show.

[Le Taz Hot]

113. Enter the Partisans.

On BOTH sides. They're such useful tools.

[Bluenorthwest]

28. Speak it Dennis!

The man who should be in charge. Face it, he is far more courageous, as well spoken without a staff of writers larger than Leno's, and he is simply not a bigot like some other politicians.

[krabigirl]

30. I ask myself this every day. Fuck the wingnuts. All of them.

[C_Lawyer09]

130. Yes, O.K. Gotcha

But I think it is also helpful to acknowledge that part (not half) but part of this systematic undoing is attributable also to Democrats that have sold out to lobbying firms versus a constituency. I've liked much of what I've read today, but something that it seems like is missing is any criticism of "our" party. Yes selling out to corporate good/greed over the citizen over time is more attributable to the Republicans, but I feel many of our leaders as Democrats are on a slippery slope, and/or sliding.

[bigtree]

31. .

[debbierlus]

33. He is right. Plain and simple.

[ooglymoogly]

34. Word up; This man always speaks truth to lies...but alas, thanx to corporate media,

is never heard. Keep it up Dennis and you just may, one day, win the presidency in a landslide.

[change_notfinetuning]

35. If Obama decides to send more troops to Afghanistan, you won't hear many

people asking, "Can we afford it?" But when it comes to health care, education or anything else that matters to and will benefit the average American, that's the first thing you'll hear, and it will become like a mantra.

We need to work harder at making peace and friends abroad, and taking care of people, here at home, not Big Business which cares only about this quarter's profits, and never about the people it puts out of work and the toll it takes on the employees, their families and the nation. We need leaders who actually deal with and solve our problems, and not just play footsie with their sugar daddy lobbyists.

Imagine what we could have accomplished at home, and the example we could have set for the entire world, if only we hadn't squandered those trillions of dollars and all of that good will on ill-advised, self-defeating wars. Unfortunately, we spend most of our time, effort and resources on feeding the greed on Wall Street and making endless enemies around the world. We're not on the wrong track; we've derailed.

[dana_b]

36. he may get some hell for this

"When we were promised change, we weren't thinking that we give a dollar and get back two cents."


but he's right!! Until these folks running our government take a good long look at themselves and see that their greed is wrong and that the death and destruction as a result of their greed is heinous, we are screwed. Whether it be the members of congress who do it or the President who placates them, it is wrong and immoral.

[pundaint]

44. Yeah, like that's going to happen

Except for about ten or so incumbents, all of Congress has preservation of power as its first objective. Until the People withhold that power from Congresspersons who act against our interests, they will continue to serve their most demanding constituency - corporations. Because we the People are the second in line, gradual change will always be divergent from out best interests.

We have demonstrated, for over two decades a willingness to return incumbents who serve corporations first while lying about having the People's interests at heart. These people are corrupt, and we don't have the leverage to rehabilitate them.

Our country was founded on governance with the consent of the governed. The majority of us do not consent to Health Insurance Companies continued degradation of our national health to serve their profits, and we certainly don't consent to being forced to pay insurance companies a dollar for 70 cents worth of healthcare. All we need to do is translate that lack of consent into lack of support at the polls.

Vote these bastards out in 2010, if it doesn't work, in 2012 do it again. WE can bring about real change in 3 years, or we can argue about fine tuning the screwing Pelosi, Obama, Reid, Bohner, Wilson, Bachman, health insurers, big pharma et al are providing us, for the next century.

We have the resources, technology and constitution to recalibrate our priorities and lead the world in a good way again, all we are lacking is Leadership advocating the People's interest.

[nightrain]

37. knr. correct as usual

[BennyD]

38. Brilliant!!! I asked a co-worker this question and his smarmy remark was

"If we don't spend money on the war defending freedom, then the war will come over here. And if it comes over hear, you won't have a need for health insurance because you'll be dead."

At that point I just turned and walked away. Can't reason with people like that.

[Enthusiast]

60. Zactly

"At that point I just turned and walked away. Can't reason with people like that."

No you can't, they have "indoctrinated".

[flvegan]

39. As usual, Dennis is dead on.

Unfortunately, he's the only one really saying it.

[Joe Fields]

40. The lone, sane voice in the wilderness.

D.K., I love you, man!

[NikolaC]

41. K&R

Dennis is right, again. We are useful in so far as they need us to vote for them, but that is where the loyalty and humanity ends. After they are in office we are no longer their constituents, large corporations and lobbyists are. I would LOVE to be wrong, but they just keep proving Dennis right.

[digidigido]

43. He didn't make a statement, He asked a question... the question no other rep

has the balls to ask

[Stumbler]

45. I love you Dennis! Keep up the fight!

On a similar rant, no money for schools, but plenty for prisons.
No bankruptcy for the unemployed, but plenty of options for millionaires.
No rights for potheads, but plenty for pharma-popping ditto-heads.

Once again, I'll be backing your 2012 presidential run, even if you don't run. We need you to lead!

[John Q. Citizen]

47. There are still some willing to ask the hard questions.

[winyanstaz]

48. Again..Dennis nails it right..and asks the right questions too.

[bvar22]

50. !

K&R
:patriot:

[malaise]

51. He's right

Go Dennis!

[2Design]

52. my point exactly - if they don't have money for our health care WE don't have money for theirs n/t

[republicansarewhores]

53. We have the power to get their attention by shaming them.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6944762

RAW

[Paper Roses]

54. This man has courage to speak for us.

Too bad the rest in Washington don't listen.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

55. And that has been my unchanging question since about 1965

Americans don't like to admit it, but we are the new Rome, and not in a good way.

[closeupready]

56. Because war brings us peace and safety, and

health care leads to death and ruin. :sarcasm:

[Truth2Tell]

57. K to the friggin' R. nt

[YOY]

58. Dammit Dennis! Health Care isn't a right! Killin 'sand N****s is!

(That's sarcasm folks....)

[Enthusiast]

59. I love Dennis!

[Enthusiast]

61. Really, what Dennis is saying

is in the minds of most Americans. They just don't have a way of expressing it. The M$M pretends this doesn't exist. I would bet over 65% of the American people would agree with Dennis on this.

[Sunnyshine]

62. K&R -That is the question for the ages. Same as it ever was. DK knows this and so do we.

The answer for America is to pay no mind to these silly insignificant details. You will submit and like it. Royally fecking us endlessly.

[McCamy Taylor]

63. Because health care for all will break the budget but military spending is supposed to be good for

the economy. If you use Karl Rove's THE MATH, that is.

:rofl:

[katty]

64. yes, DK I have been wondering myself for DECADES!! thanks!!

[Kermitt Gribble]

65. Answer: Our govt is owned

almost entirely by corporate interests. Has there been a just 'war' since WWII? Ike warned us this was happening. Nobody payed attention and now it's not just limited to the 'Military' Industrial Congressional Complex. The genie is out of the bottle and it's not going back in peaceably.

Thank you, Dennis for being the only one asking the right questions.

K&R

[Brigid]

66. I can no longer remember the first time I wondered this, but . . .

I have yet to get a satisfactory answer, except that it is a matter of priorities. Ours have been completely out of whack for decades.

[treestar]

67. I agree with that and have challenged the right wingers multitudes of times

whenever they whine that the stimulus creates a deficit. Wars cause us to go into debt every time. But they never have a problem with it then.

[shanti]

68. they want us to die?

:shrug: that's what it appears on the surface.

[earth mom]

69. The kicker is that it's OUR MONEY they are squandering.

:grr:

[chill_wind]

94. You got it. Corporate Welfare. Socialism-- for the rich and the blood-sucking RUTHLESS.

Because we know who is getting rich from our perpetual warfare. And we know who is being bled dry.

[earth mom]

124. Maybe we should all stop paying our taxes en masse. No money = No money for war. nt

[spanone]

71. question for the ages.

[Norwood]

72. Great question, would love to have our Republican friends come up with an answer.

[patrice]

73. God wants us to kill anyone who isn't "Christian" and then get sick and die as early as possible.

:sarcasm:

[earcandle]

96. I had to stop for this one!

LOLOLOLO

Eddie Izzard  on Ear Candle Radio right now. 

[bertman]

74. I LOVE that guy!!

RECOMMEND WITH GREAT PLEASURE.

[lib2DaBone]

75. $52 BILLION sailed thru CONgress for Homeland Security...

No Problem.. George W. Bush Lives on.....

[theFrankFactor]

76. Hurmph, Purist!

So, how 'bout that Health Care bill? Dems, really using their influence and drivin' a hard bargain huh? Nancy and Harry really drivin' it home! And then there's ole' Max Bauchie-boo, dedicated Democrat!

FUCKIN' DISGUSTING! Dennis and a hand full are painted as radical Communists while corporate ball-licking Democrats are excused BY DEMOCRATS!

[ThomCat]

77. We need a few hundred more like Kucinich.

And we need people to get out of their ivory towers where only the M$M can tell them who is a good politician, and finally realize that Kucinich is one of the very few who really, consistently represent vast majority of the citizens of the US.

[mia]

78. Because the arms dealers rule the world.

Think about it.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

79. I don't think we would be at war if there weren't Republicans

Republicans are the cause of war. They keep breathing dwon the necks of congress.

[Mari333]

81. amen dennis knr. because we are a country of adolescent cretins. nt

[earcandle]

82. Yea, Dennis! Here is another song for you and your wife!

Haystack

[DesertRat]

83. k&r

[Vidar]

84. K&R

[NoSheep]

85. I just got email from pda that Kucinich and Conyers want single payer amendment out

Is this enough zig-zag behavior to make you crazy? WTF? I swear I just do not understand what these people are doing.

[silver10]

86. You go, boy!

[babydollhead]

87. kick

[BrklynLiberal]

88. THE question of the century..

[Pryderi]

89. Riches are consistent with godliness n/t

[DissedByBush]

90. If we were in a real war fighting for our existence

It would make sense. What use is prioritizing health care when the Japanese or Germans are going to invade us, killing tens of millions?

Other than that we love to spend trillions on nation-building and helping out every country except ourselves.

[winyanstaz]

91. and now the pentagon is demanding another 50 billion?

[Bushknew]

92. In a parallel universe, where people have common sense Dennis is POTUS. This one is too F'ed up

[chill_wind]

93. Cost of the War(s )Tradeoffs: Health Care for **269,705,508** People for One Year

That's right.

Taxpayers in the United States will pay $915.1 billion for total Iraq and Afghanistan war spending since 2001. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

269,705,508 People with Health Care for One Year

http://www.nationalpriorities.org/tradeoffs?location_type=1&state=888&program=585&tradeoff_item_item=286&submit_tradeoffs=Get+Trade+Off

Pres Obama used to carry around stats from that link above ( nationalpriorities.org ) on a talking points cheat sheet in his pocket.

During the campaign.


It's been my DU sig line for more than 5 years. Keep preaching it, DK. Keep preachin it. Fuckers.

[Roland99]

95. $750 Billion PER YEAR for Defense. Freakin' madness.

[paparush]

108. $750 Billion is just the figure in the published budget.

You KNOW there are billions more funneled in "top secret" and "eyes only" channels that the general public never sees or hears about.

[C_Lawyer09]

133. Less

Forty percent plus the repetetive supplementals plus the opaque and unaccountable CIA budget

[earcandle]

97. Out of here.. lets go.

[juno jones]

98. K&R! n/t

[Mithreal]

100. But we do have unlimited money for health care as long as

it isn't used directly for health care.

[TheWebHead]

101. healthcare is a recurring cost

and Democrats in most congressional districts, and about every senator running statewide, are afraid to appear weak on defense.

[Rhiannon12866]

102. K&R. Thank you, Dennis!

He's been repeating a similar message since 2003... :patriot:

[Pooka Fey]

103. Dennis Kucinich is SO my hero. K&R

:loveya:

[Zix]

105. Essentially it's because war's cool, sexy and macho and being nice to people is for pussies.

Helping people is insufficiently masculine. Blowing up kids and ganging up on tiny nations with a miniscule fraction of your military power is infinitely more manly and proper.

The whole thing is nothing but self-worship and self-obsession. It's nothing whatever to do with keeping anybody safe.

[pokercat999]

106. Dennis should have been President. Sure the one we got is

prettier, a good family man, fantastic speaker and all around nice guy. As the manager of our country....not so much.

[G_j]

107. a Democratic version of the wars is no more acceptable than a Republican version of the wars

:thumbsup:

[TankLV]

109. That's what I'd like to know!!!

I don't EVER want ANYBODY to ask, complain, or otherwise question about the "COST" of HEALTHCARE!!!

These CHICKENHAWK COWARDS ALWAYS find money to fund ILLEGAL WARS OF CHOICE BASED ON LIES, and TAX BREAKS FOR THE RICH - ALWAYS!!!

Why don't Democrats EVER call them on this shit?!!! THAT'S what makes be steaming mad...!!!

[Overseas]

112. K&R. Dennis asks my questions to our legislators.

Billions for Wall Street and War without flinching

so why do we flinch when our citizens need the basic human right of medical care without bankruptcy that so many other countries have?

I am glad we have Dennis to continue speaking for us.

So many other leaders seem to cave under the Republican right wing pressure to be sure to deny the citizens care they need because it could give them a sense of that monster the right wing is trying to crush-- Good Government.

If citizens were able to see the doctor and get treatment when they needed it without fear of the cost, they might believe that government can do some good things, like citizens in other countries do. Some of them pay more taxes but they look at their free/low cost health care and free public education through university or trade school and say, "well, we get some good things out of paying taxes, so we don't mind."

If we dare to raise taxes on the ultra-rich, the top 10%, and get something as positive as freedom from the terror of medical bankruptcy, then their precious "Taxes Bad!" motto could fall by the wayside. And that "taxes bad" ideology has been so useful to them. Right now it feels that way-- taxes bad, because even as we pay out a lot, our money goes toward war profiteering and financial sector gambling debts while our infrastructure is allowed to crumble around us. That reinforces the Taxes Bad mythology for the hard right.

If our taxes gave us health security and a jobs program to address the years of deferred maintenance projects in our infrastructure and national parks, we might feel better about paying taxes and the government in general.

The change I believed in was the potential for President Obama and the Democrats to go all FDR on the right wingers. They've demonized FDR for so long because he made good government work for the people. He knew, after the last Great Depression engendered by right wing plutocratic rule, that we the people needed jobs, jobs, jobs and put millions of citizens back to work doing good things for our physical and cultural infrastructure. The Democrats have the opportunity to push for strong jobs programs right now, with our nation having paid off a large chunk of the predatory loan bundle gambling debts of the finance sector. We don't want the finance sector to push right along to get more of our tax dollars to bail out their Derivative Gambles without getting even freedom from medical terror or a green jobs program first.

Furthermore, if we could only prosecute war profiteering more vigorously, and expose the fact that privatization has been a grand failure, we could save ourselves a lot more money in our military budgets.

But hey, Dennis said he had seen a flying object he could not identify, so forget about him, folks.

[Honeycombe8]

114. I'm tired of hearing him whining. He doesn't offer real solutions to anything...

that I can tell. Just whine, whine, whine. He's just like the Republicans; what he's complaining about is different, but the results are the same: nothing.

This latest message of his...well, others have been saying this on TV for months. He finally picked up on it.

Sometimes I think he talks just to hear himself talking. I guess he views himself as more of an agitator than a legislator. That's fine, as long as people recognize him for what he is: an agitator, but not part of real solutions. He agitates for things that he knows will not be done. So I guess his answer (does he listen for answers?) is that nothing should be done.

He's right about this money thing, of course. It's not HIS argument, but the people whose argument he has taken up are correct. Still...I never hear him speaking of ways to solve anything. Just demands for things he knows will not happen. But that's a better way to get on TV, I guess.

[spanone]

115. whining or telling the truth. guess it's all about your perspective.

[Honeycombe8]

116. I didn't say he was lying. You can do both: whine and tell the truth. That doesn't solve anything

though. I prefer legislators who legislate. We have plenty of whiners. Nader comes to mind.

[Greyhound]

117. "that I can tell" is easily overcome.

http://kucinich.house.gov/DomesticPolicySubcommittee/">Here is his Congressional page with some info, but I think you can get http://economy.kucinich.us/index.php">more details of his solutions here.

[Toasterlad]

123. Please Don't Burst the Bubble of Centrist Ignorance.

It leaves a rancid smell that lingers for days. And they still won't change their tune. They'll just keep their fingers in their ears and yell "LALALALALALAOBAMALALALALALALAPONYLALALALALALALWHININGLLALA" until you leave or they pass out.

[Greyhound]

135. Do you suppose they might rather rant about a lack of solutions than

find that there are solutions they aren't being allowed to consider or even hear about?

[bigtree]

119. It's not his job to come up with a 'solution' to Afghanistan

The congressman is reduced to approving or rejecting the money the WH requests for their Afghanistan deployments because Congress has already decided to concede their own constitutional responsibility to determine the length or scope of the occupation through the power of the purse (their primary lever in controlling these deployments). It is the congressman's absolute responsibility to 'advise and consent' the WH as they conduct operations and request even more money to continue.

The congressman has, in fact, been clear and constructive in his criticisms. Responding to the president's Afghanistan initiative in March:

Rep. Kucinich: President Obama has laid out a thoughtful plan for Afghanistan in a precarious situation left by the previous administration. We cannot ignore the concerns of our own national security nor the moral imperative to help the Afghan people.

Still, our very presence in Afghanistan continues to be problematic. A heavy military hand has proved to be counterproductive. We have already learned that Pakistani and Afghan Taliban forces have united to meet the increased American military presence, putting our troops at greater risk. Instead, we must work to help tribal coalitions to unite themselves as opposed to forcing a false unity.

As President Obama's plan takes shape, it must carefully balance the imperative to withdraw with the need to help the Afghan people. The ultimate goal must be to bring our troops home safely -- and soon.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032702842_pf.html

[C_Lawyer09]

132. Shift priority from Afghanistan to Pakistan

Smaller footprint, more pressure on Pakistani politics less presence in Afghanistan, more resources and supervision toward the training of and shifting responsibility and nuke security to Pakistani's. Or meanwhile let Africa devolve into an unfixable terrorist state.

[newspeak]

121. yeah, he's whining (sarcasm)

The man has always been on the side of labor rights and health rights. His argument is correct. If we had not jumped in to war, we'd have the money for health care and our infrastructure. Instead, we get to spend our tax dollars on "the war machine corporations." Who, by the way, do a half assed job serving our military. Since * privatized the service of the military, so his buddies could make a windfall of cash, our money has been put in the hands of the "few."

I'm for Dennis, and I'll vote for him again, if he runs. He speaks the truth, and he's always been for mainstreet.

[timtom]

126. Here's one!

They didn't invoke one of the memes I predicted, but I forgot to add the "whining" meme.

Hmmm. I don't see any of the other "usual gang of idiots" chirping in.

Now that I've had my say,

GO, DENNIS! (and Grayson and Kaptur, too.)

[upi402]

134. please go to your room

and don't come out to your computer until you are sober, lol!

YOU DON'T HEAR HIS SOLUTIONS BECAUSE THEY BAN HIM FROM THE "democratic" DEBATES, AND THE MEDIA!
You think it's whining because they cast him in that light on the media and in the former Democratic Party (corporatists light).


Please please please, inform yourself. This is not a joke. Corporate elites in both parties don't want him to get heard.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

118. Dennis is a leftist troublemaker and non-conformist politician. Too bad there aren't more like him.

[slipslidingaway]

120. knr nt

[gtar100]

122. That is *the* question.

The answer from conservatives reveals just how fearful and cowardly they are. They don't just hate liberals, they hate the world they live and breath in. If they'd stop screwing people over, maybe other people wouldn't be so angry with them.

[Blue_Tires]

128. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

i know, i know...

[upi402]

131. What kind of Salvador Dali acid trip am I on here?

Kucinich wasn't allowed in the nomination debates inside the DEMOCRATIC party????

and THIS guy was a lunatic lefty????

Well, we can't have statements like this inflaming the doughy and un indoctrinated I guess.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

136. Hey Kooch, how much did the government spend on Medicare last year?

Hint: More than it spent on Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

137. Bumping