Democratic Underground - Dennis Kucinich's Showdown With the Democratic Leadership

http://www.truthdig.com/interview/item/20061206_dennis_kucinichs_showdown/

Posted on Dec 6, 2006

By Joshua Scheer

...

Kucinich: At this point the Democratic leadership—the speaker and the majority leader and Rahm Emanuel—are all recommending that the Democrats support the appropriation that is going to be brought forward in the spring, for the purposes of the war in Iraq...

Kucinich: I think this is going to be a serious test of the Democratic Party. We were put in power because people expected a new direction in Iraq. It goes without saying that they expect greater transparency and oversight, but they also expect us to do something to bring the troops home. Now, if Congress goes ahead under Democratic leadership and votes to approve what some are now estimating as an additional $160 billion for the war in Iraq, bringing the total for the fiscal year to $230 billion, the Democratic Congress will have bought George Bush’s war. Now, who would buy a used war from this administration?...

Kucinich: The Democrats came to power because of a strong desire on the part of the voters to get out of Iraq. That’s why people voted Democratic. So now, with the Democratic leadership taking a position saying they’re going to approve the supplemental budget in the spring, this could be seen by many as a breach of faith...

Kucinich: People first of all need to know about this. People need to know that there is an attempt by our leadership to support the supplemental, and what the consequences are.... The most difficult part of the challenge is to get members of Congress to understand that they themselves voted for a bill which went into effect on Oct. 1 that appropriated $70 billion, which could be used to bring the troops home. Unfortunately, our leadership is saying they’re supporting the supplemental as a way of supporting the troops. So if we continue to ignore the money that’s there right now to bring the troops home, we’re losing an opportunity to bring the troops home now. People are now saying that they oppose the war, but they’re continuing to fund it in the name of supporting the troops...

Kucinich to make intentions known "shortly"

http://www.cleveland.com/weblogs/openers/index.ssf?/mtlogs/cleve_openers/archives/2006_12.html#212542

Dennis Kucinich fans might be sleepless with anticipation over a possible presidential run, but he's going to make them wait. The Cleveland congressman just released this statement:

"There is much speculation and rumors about my plans for 2008. Shortly, I
will make my intentions known. In the meantime, I am going to continue to
challenge the Administration and Congress to cut off the funds for the war,
bring all our troops home and end the grave misadventure in Iraq."

So when is "shortly," anyway?

"Shortly is shortly," says Kucinich spokesman Doug Gordon. Considering past parsing of "is," that's actually pretty presidential.

Dennis Kucinich's Showdown With the Democratic Leadership [View All]