From Dennis Kucinich

Ending the war and preventing the next one

I am the only Democratic presidential candidate who campaigned against and voted against the war authorization resolution in 2002 and every supplemental appropriation since. Five years ago, I presented evidence to my colleagues in the House and Senate based on my own intelligence analysis which showed that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction and was not a direct threat to the U.S. or our allies. I shared that analysis with my Congressional colleagues and rallied more than 120 members to vote against the authorization.

The defense offered by other candidates - "If I knew then what I know now" - is a feeble excuse for making the wrong decision when it mattered most to make the right decision. Many of us did know then because we weren't tricked or bullied by the White House. We knew it was wrong, and we knew the consequences. So did you.

But what makes the newfound anti-war claims of some other candidates even more indefensible is that they voted to continue funding the war, year after year, at least until their Presidential campaigns began. It's simply not enough to say you oppose the war now when you continued to fund it time and time again.

Right now, the war is fully funded until early next year. There is more than enough money available to bring all of our troops and equipment home within a few months, but the Congressional leadership is unwilling to challenge the President. My plan, embodied in HR 1234, would end the war, end the occupation, establish an international security and peacekeeping force, begin the process of reconciliation, and provide the kind of support needed for reconstruction.

My target is not 2013. My target is three months after taking office. But in the meantime, we in the Congress, with your support, must use every means at our disposal to force the White House to act now to bring our troops home. And, we must use every means at our disposal to stop the White House from launching a new war on Iran with the same flimsy, deceptive and outright fraudulent claims it used five years ago.

Empowering Constitutional abuses, and ending them

I am the only Democrat running for President who voted against the unconstitutional and illegal U.S.A Patriot Act. The other candidates were wrong then, and various federal court rulings have made that abundantly clear. We can't condone the shredding of our Constitution in the name of "national security." And we can't support leaders, candidates or policies that do. Please cast your vote:

True "universal health care"

I am the only Presidential candidate who supports a truly universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care system to cover all Americans. Every other plan preserves, and in some cases, enhances the role of private, for-profit insurance companies that make their billions by not providing coverage. Forcing Americans to buy private insurance denies the moral obligation of this nation to provide coverage for its citizens. Any scheme that provides subsidies or other financial incentives to for-profit providers to make coverage less expensive or more accessible is just that: a scheme. It further enriches the insurers, at taxpayers' expense, and would still not guarantee full coverage or universal availability.

Michael Moore has endorsed my health care plan (HR 676), as have thousands of physicians, nurses, and labor union members. It's time to catch up to the rest of the industrialized nations and declare that health care is a right, not a commodity that some people can afford and others can't. No other candidate is willing to take on those insurance companies. I am. And I believe that you are, too.

Impeachment

I am only the presidential candidate willing to demand the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. Every pair of DFA eyes reading this e-mail knows that this President and this Vice President have committed serious crimes worthy of impeachment. This it not a personal attack against the Vice President. It is about the sanctity of the Constitution. This democracy must be protected against leaders who have no regard for the Constitution or the rule of law. The mechanism for taking action against such leaders is impeachment. We, the people, have not only the right but the obligation to stop this. HR 333, which I introduced, is the appropriate recourse under the law to hold those leaders accountable and answerable.

My candidacy for President of the United States is about who we are as Americans. It is about who we are as Democrats. It is about who we are as progressives. There are clear distinctions between my friends in this race and me -- major differences on every issue of importance to me and to you.

I stand proudly for my core beliefs. Only if you and others with the courage to hold the Party and its candidates accountable will we be able to make progress on a real agenda for real change in this nation. And by doing what's right, all of us together, we can send a proud and powerful message that we know what - and who - is wrong. And, very simply, we've had enough.

For more information on my record, please visit my website -- I want DFA members to have direct and constant contact with my campaign. I urge you at any time to reach out to our campaign's national field director, Vin Gopal, by e-mailing him at vin.gopal@kucinich.us

Sincerely,

Dennis Kucinich