Heartland Presidential Forum: Dennis Kucinich

As I posted earlier, I was unable to attend the Heartland Presidential Forum due to the winter weather that is hitting the area. So I am sitting comfortably at home and will be blogging from my couch.

Dennis Kucinich takes the stage. He is really stressing his plan for a single payer, not for profit health care system. The crowd is on board with the idea.

The first question is from a woman from Marshalltown, who is asking about the immigration raids that took place almost a year ago. The woman tells the story about a man with 5 kids ,whose wife never came home that day. Kucinich answers the question in Spanish. He says there is no illegal human beings. We need a president who understands that when NAFTA was passed, wages collapsed and people began to cross the border. Says we need to provide a path for citizenship, so people can be reunited with their families. He supports the Dream Act and providing a living wage.

Kucinich is asked about the economy. He lays out his economic plan that includes full employment, a not-for-profit health care system, education for all from age 3 to college, renegotiate all our trade agreements, support the rights of workers to organize, protect the environment. These trade agreements were made to make it a race to the bottom in terms of environmental standards, wages, and worker safety.

The next group of community leaders ask about pollution from factory farms in Iowa and from oil and gas companies in Wyoming. Kucinich says he never understands why oil, gas, and mining companies even get the right to drill on federal land. If they aren't responsible citizens, then take the rights away. We need to get off of foreign oil. He would have a Transportation Dept. that focuses on mass transit. We can create millions of jobs by focusing on new technologies that use less energy and lowers our carbon footprint.

A former teacher from Des Moines says she would teach her students about a government for the people, by the people. Now she feels that has been stolen by big money interests. She asks about public funding for elections. Kucinich says we need a constitutional amendment that overturns Buckley v. Veleo. If we want public elections then we need public funding, if we want private elections then we need private elections.

Here is more information on Kucinich's appearance.