http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/07/21/kucinich-takes-on-both-parties-candidates/Kucinich Takes on Both Parties’ Candidates
Steve Smith of the AFL-CIO Media Affairs Department joined union members in Ohio for the seventh AFL-CIO town hall forum for 2008 presidential candidates.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich is known for his biting criticism of the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress on the war in Iraq, the economy and trade policy. However, today at a Working Families Vote 2008 AFL-CIO town hall meeting in Columbus, Ohio, Kucinich went after the Democratic presidential candidates with equal vigor, attacking (without mentioning names) both parties’ presidential hopefuls for their ties to corporate America, health care proposals and positions on the Iraq War.
Speaking about health care, Kucinich told an audience of union members and their families at the Pipefitters and Plumbers Local 189 that he is “the only candidate in this race who says it time to end
system.” Kucinich went on to chide members of both parties for supporting free trade agreements such as NAFTA that have decimated American manufacturing.
“This campaign has to be about what we need to do to have good jobs in this state and around the country and that means overturning NAFTA,” Kucinich said to loud applause. “As a candidate, I bring to this race a demonstrated commitment to working families not just in this campaign but over the course of a lifetime.
“Kucinich said he is the only candidate in the race with a plan to deliver health care to every single American by ending the for-profit insurance industry. He also touted his plan for revitalizing the manufacturing sector by creating millions of new jobs through public works, much as President Franklin Roosevelt did with the New Deal.
Over the course of the 90 minute town hall, Kucinich took questions from members representing a number of unions including the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers, United Steelworkers, AFSCME and others. Jean Tome,a member of the AFL-CIO’s community affiliate, Working America, is one of more than 45 million Americans without health care coverage. Though she is employed, the health care offered through her job costs too much for her to afford as a single mother, she told Kucinich.
FULL story at link.