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Long before Barack Obama or Nancy Pelosi began talking up health care reform as a top priority for the Democratic Party, Congress and America, Dennis Kucinich was doing so.

Portrait, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, 04/03/09. (photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Portrait, Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich, 04/03/09. (photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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+10 # REESORT 2010-03-09 21:26
If Kucinich had his way, we would not be fighting two undeclared and unnecessary wars and might have a better health care reform plan.
Starting over is not a plan.
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+8 # Margery Coffey 2010-03-09 22:02
As a "granny" who has elected to both have surgery and take pain pills in dealing with breast cancer I can only say that you think you have health coverage until you need it. Medicare is flawed. If Kucinich is not listened to, you will have a lot of dead folks whose relatives are left with sky high medical bills even after their surgery and or pain pills. The current bill is a corporate profits and people lose document. Without single payer it is simply a corporate give-away which seemingly is the only thing our corporate government can come up with as a solution. If you think this is a good deal you will love the climate bill that corporations will dictate to the spineless congress GOP & Dems alike. It is not a change that I can believe in.
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+11 # Barry Finnerty 2010-03-09 23:36
Dennis Kucinich is not a radical to me. He is (almost) the only person in government that is saying what I want to hear, which is: Allowing these heartless corporations to run health care as a for-profit business is IMMORAL and WRONG and it shows the world exactly how corrupt and greedy America really is. America NEEDS a European style all-inclusive health care system. Time to get the PROFITEERS OUT OF THE HEALTH CARE BUSINESS!
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+7 # hettiemae 2010-03-10 02:32
If Dennis Kucinich doesn't support the bill, then I don't either because I trust him. The only time I questioned his judgment was when he threw his support behind candidate Obama. I thought then and I think now that Obama works for the banks and corporations. Why else would he have the lobbyists on his White House staff?
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+8 # Norman P Whitzell 2010-03-10 05:12
Our Congress people are incapable of representing their constituents because they owe their souls and re-election campaign funds to the Corporate Store. All congress people are not guilty, Kucinich is one, Grayson another. To ask that the elected Representatives of the People do what is best for their constituents is a no brainer, but unfortunately, health care companies and their lobbiest can spend any amount of money deemed necessary to sway the collective thought of mindless sheepies. We failed in our education system to produce critical thinkers and analytical skills, when we see people objecting over a plan which will benefit themselves and their families. Stupid is as stupid gets. This is a Forest Gump moment in our history.
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+5 # Kurt 2010-03-10 06:27
His consistent positiuon on real health care reform makes me admire Dennis Kucinich all the more!
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+3 # Esam W Nader 2010-03-10 07:54
It is time for Dennis Kucinich and the other true progressives to exit this corrupt Democratic party and join together with the Greens to creat a third party.
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-2 # Lucy 2010-03-10 09:14
Dennis Kucinich and Ralph Nader for that matter are living on Fantasy Island. I'm all for universal healthcare. I want a single payer system. We all want worldwide peace and a safe environment. We're not gonna' get it. At least not yet. Social Security didn't start out as the great plan that it is today. Vote for the plan and then let's all work really hard to make it better. Good grief they can barely pass it the way it is. reality bites.
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0 # Day Waterbury 2010-03-10 19:41
I think people are abusing the 'Good Comment'/'Poor Comment' functionality to simply mean 'I Agree'/'I Disagree'.

I don't agree with Lucy that incremental change is the way to go, or even that this bill represents incremental change in the right direction. In fact, I believe the opposite is true in both cases. First, we need radical change now. Second, we need that change to be in the right direction, which is certainly not by providing a bailout to insurance companies and compelling people who can't afford it to purchase bad-faith "insurance" policies from deceitful hucksters. I don't believe for a second that this ill-conceived and ill-intentioned bill will be fixed later. It will do what they want, secure the power of the insurance companies and criminalize the dissent of those who would rather not buy their snake oil.

Also Lucy, the comment about Dennis and Ralph was not nice. We should try to be nice. It makes it easier to dialog with one another.
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+6 # A Butler 2010-03-10 11:38
Although the hope is that passing this bill will allow for amending it later, it won't. What we'll get is what we'll be stuck with. I don not understand why Medicare can't be extended downward to include everyone. I hear the cries of "socialism" but do all those who shout "socialism" refuse to collect their own Medicare, or will they turn it down when they reach 65? And claiming Medicare is broke, let me remind people how many funds have been raided from Medicare to pay for other expenses. Cancel the insurance that congressmen get. Thenwe'll see real action.
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+2 # J Campbell 2010-03-10 15:17
At this point, it seems as if the Democrats are trying to just pass a bill, any bill. Mandating that the uninsured must purchase insurance from private companies is oppressive and just plain wrong. The very idea is ludicrous, and the fact that it's in the bill after Obama's campaign rhetoric about a public option, is just offensive. Unemployment is widespread, cost of living increasing while wages are stagnant...what does it solve to tell the uninsured to, you know, just buy insurance. duh! Maybe the congress will take on the hideously disproportionat e distribution of wealth in this country next by telling us to just stop being poor!
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+3 # MalleusMaleficarum 2010-03-10 16:52
Kucinich is dead right - this bill is not reform. Governor Howard Dean urged the defeat of this bill in December. Progressive Democrats of America are opposed to this bill. A Mandate is a huge burden on the poorest Americans - basically a tax on the poor - or fines on people who cannot afford health insurance. This is appalling. The bill should die, or include Kucinich's proposal for state approved single payer systems and a buy-in to Medicare as Dean recommended.
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+3 # Frank 2010-03-10 19:04
I agree 100%.....Kucinich and Dean must keep on fighting and informing for the only real option....Medicare for all or(State level single payer).I am a Vet and have had excellent care from the V.A. system. If not for this, my wife and I would have been homeless and bankrupt. Just what is the objection to socialized healthcare. Healthcare for profit, war for profit, is obscene. Why can't we have two systems. Let the people chose to opt in on or opt out of the for profit system. WE need to start rewarding truth and kindness and cooperation. Come together and not apart.
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+2 # Day Waterbury 2010-03-10 18:26
I do not want the current bill passed, not as is, and not with a few minor adjustments. I want a moratorium on legislation altogether. I can't recall a single piece of good legislation coming out of our so-called Congress in all the years I've been paying attention. Good bills have been proposed by champions like Kucinich, Conyers, and others, but they are always voted down. Many bad bills have been passed. Often, if a bill is of any value whatsoever it will be strongly tainted by many bad riders before it is passed. I want the flood of bad legislation to stop.
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+2 # Day Waterbury 2010-03-10 18:34
We need to hold a Constitutional Convention, abolish the electoral college, get instant runoff, proportional representation, and a real parliamentary system up at once. Nothing short of a major overhaul of our now-much-adulterated Constitution, a dissolution of the current government, and the establishment of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people will solve the problems facing us. As important as health care reform is, the most pressing issue is in fact electoral reform, which very few (but thankfully more and more) people are talking about.
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+2 # Day Waterbury 2010-03-10 19:16
A systemic problem requires a systemic solution; we can't expect to elect the right people, or get the right laws passed in the context of this broken/malignant system. Right now, and now more than ever, the big money of the richest 1% is calling the shots and what we have more than anything else is a morbid spectacle. If we want out of that we have to stop lending our energy to it and pretending that these are real battles that can actually be won. They cannot. Nothing short of total reform will do it. And total reform is flatly out-of-bounds in the context of the current system. So the current system needs to be tossed out entirely before we even begin. The way to do that is with a Constitutional Convention.
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+2 # Day Waterbury 2010-03-10 19:24
We cannot afford to continue allowing undemocratic elections to be won by pluralities. We cannot afford to continue allowing the a handful of media outlets and the "Republican" and "Democrat" wings of the Corporate/Fascist Party to control who we see in the televised debates; it's a no-brainer that we should see every candidate who's on the ballot; and equal time on the publicly owned airwaves for all. And shorter election cycles so we can discuss the issues, cast our votes and get back to work, because believe me, there's a lot of work to be done, and all this political squabbling is dividing us when we need to unify to meet huge challenges like climate change, population density, cultural transformation/upheaval, etc. This is a time of great opportunity...but only if we meet challenges with intelligence.
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