Dennis Kucinich's conversation with the Washington Post

[no name no slogan]

Read it here.

Most notably, this conversation clarifies many of DK's so-called "controversial" positions (single-payer, US out of Iraq, "the Nader Question", etc.).

No fancy spin, just straight talk from an honest candidate who has idealism AND workable solutions to what ails this country.

Enjoy :D

[MuseRider]

1. Thanks

I missed this and was hoping there would be a transcript.

[redqueen]

2. Straight talk.

That's how Kucinich would beat * in a landslide.

It's sad how many people's eyes glaze over when policy wonks start going on about details. His ability to get to the heart of an issue and deal with it plainly, wihtout mincing words, I think makes him the best candidate of the 9. :7

[no name no slogan]

3. Exactly

There was an article in The Nation about this a few weeks back, comparing DK's straightforward and succinct platform statements with those of the other candidates, Edwards in particular.

The author pointed out the Edwards' entire platform was sixty-eight pages long. Compare that to DK's, which can fit on a double-sided sheet of paper.

Part of the reason his position paper is so small is that his solutions are straightforward: instead of tinkering with our existing healthcare insurance system, he would scrap it and make a new, single-payer system. Instead of saying how he'd reduce our military "commitment" to Iraq, he'd get the UN in first, and then get the US out. Instead of "fixing" NAFTA and the WTO, he'd withdraw us from them and write new, better agreements that protect workers and jobs as well as corporations.

Even though his positions are succinct, they are by no means simplistic. They are just plain common sense WORKABLE solutions to the big problems our country is facing. Maybe that makes it easier for others to dismiss him, but after years and years of "policy wonks" who are too worried about stepping on the Repubs toes, it's refreshing to hear a candidate who says exactly what he wants to do, and how he'll do it.

[GreenArrow]

4. "just plain common sense WORKABLE solutions..."

EXACTLY! It drives me crazy when I hear people prattling on about DK's idealism. It's great that he's so idealistic, they'll tell you, but we a more "pragmatic" approach. Dennis' ideas ARE pragmatic. All the other candidates, excepting Sharpton and Braun, are offering the same old impractical shit.

[a_lil_wall_fly]

5. Very true

But to go to single pay system in one step; I forsee some big hurdles...Lawyers, Big HMO, Big Pharma's.
Thou DK ideas on the subject are good and solid.

[no name no slogan]

11. Thankfully it's not one big step

He details the schedule at his campaign website (www.kucinich.us). It would be a phased-in plan over the course of ten years, so it wouldn't be a huge shock for most folks.

Once businesses see how much cheaper his plan would be for them, I could see them getting behind it. That's how Canada got its plan-- business no longer wanted to pay the huge costs of medical insurance, and turned to the government for help. That's already starting to happen in this country: many small- to medium- businesses are paying 15% of their annual budgets for medical insurance.

His plan in eminently practical, and very workable. We already have universal coverage for veterans in this country through the VA, and everyone over 65 is covered by medicare. The infrastructure is in place-- we don't even need to create another bureaucracy, since we already have it.

As DK has said before, "we're already paying for universal coverage-- we're just not getting it."

:D

[snoochie]

12. Thanks for the link

In the chat he mentions the bill he authored, the United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act).

I agree about his plainspokenness, he impresses the hell out of me. So many politicians talk about things in such a vague way that they're really not saying much at all, just trying to say things you want to hear without giving any details or forming any concrete plans.

I get suspicious when I hear things like 'I'm going to look at that', 'That needs to be reviewed', etc...

[xJlM]

6. I hate WP's online registration thing

It always gives my browser a hard time because I won't let it load a bunch of third-party cookies, plus it doesn't seem to want to work with Linux. And there's no newspaper out there worth compromising my convictions for.

[no name no slogan]

9. Yeah that reg is pretty lame, considering it's only for targeting ads

I block most 3rd party cookies and ActiveX controls out of habit-- mainly because I'm running Win2k at work and I don't want to be the guy who spreads the latest worm to the whole damned office.

One of those Linux users, huh? What are you, anti-capitalist or something??? Do you want to put guys like me out of work??????? How will [email protected] survive without your licensing fees? ;)

FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm a web developer by day and have done work on almost every platform, using all kinds of tools: Windows, Linux, many Unixes, even played with BeOS (*sigh*). They all have their strengths, and their weaknesses. I'm a big FreeBSD fan, but I really like Mandrake Linux and Mac OSX. :D

[xJlM]

14. Linux all the way

Mandrake is wonderfully more workable than Windoze, and I never have to worry about downloading the latest patch or how the patch before that messed three other applications up.

I've used one Apple, eight years ago, and I wasn't impressed with it. It was an old Performa, probably on the level of a 386. Maybe I'll give them a try someday, if i ever get tired of Linux. That's doubtful, though, since it seems like there's always something more I can learn.

[LWolf]

7. I'm enjoying.

Real, workable solutions. Do Americans want them?

I love the sig line, especially since I'm in a THREE WEEK NIGHTMARE OF MORE TESTING, OVER AND ABOVE THE YEARLY REQUIRED TESTING, JUST TO PROVE TO THE NCLB POLICE THAT WE VALUE TESTING ABOVE ALL. Scheduled every quarter.

:puke:

[GreenPartyVoter]

8. Thanks for sharing that

I love what this man stands for.

[MrSoundAndVision]

10. Let's work together

and build a network of grass roots support. DAMN we need to change this country by supporting Kucinich!

http://www.kucinich.us

and for some audio/video try http://www.kucinichwatch.com

[genius]

13. Dennis's ideas are very mainstream. It's just candidates who are

afraid of what will happen if the people learn the truth who are pretending he is out of the mainstream.

[goodhue]

15. common sense

Straight talk makes common sense. Unfiltered DK is refreshing, honest and forthright. Now about that filter . . .

[The Sushi Bandit]

16. Great Article!!