Kucinich calls for universal health care, end to NAFTA
NASHVILLE (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich continued to call for an end to the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization at campaign stops Tuesday in Nashville.
Kucinich, trailing by wide margins in the polls, vowed to stay in the race to advocate for “core Democratic values.”
“I think the president ought to be able to stand up for the truth — even if he’s only 5-6,” the diminutive Kucinich told about 25 supporters at Kijiji Coffee House and Deli.
Corporations should not be allowed to export American jobs to cheaper labor markets abroad because it erodes the standard of living at home, he said.
“When are we going to realize that corporations are in a race to the bottom for wages?” he said. “My first act as president will be to cancel NAFTA.”
At J-J’s Market in Nashville, Kucinich said his presence in the race would force the other Democratic candidates to discuss issues important to working Americans.
“If this is a horse race, we ought to see what’s in the saddlebags before they cross the finish line,” he said.
Kucinich said profit should be taken out of the health care industry by replacing private insurance with a single-payer system. He said Americans now spend about $1.6 trillion a year on health care, but don’t receive universal coverage.
If current spending were devoted to a single-payer system and if profits were eliminated, every American would receive all necessary medical care plus vision, dental, drug and long-term care, he said.
Kucinich also said he would pull U.S. forces out of Iraq and work with the United Nations to secure that country’s future.
He praised Democrat George McGovern, who lost the 1972 presidential election to Richard Nixon, saying McGovern was right to call for bringing the troops home from Vietnam because more than 50,000 died needlessly.
“Haven’t we learned anything from Vietnam?” Kucinich said. “I will establish a Department of Peace that will make nonviolence an organizing principle of our security.”
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