US Rep Kucinich - Citizens Unite for a Constitutional Amendment

Citizens Unite for a Constitutional Amendment

Dear Friend,

Overturn Citizens United: Sign the petition today to support H.J. Res 100. Let us change our campaign financing system so that we can truly claim to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Two years ago today, in the Citizens United decision, the Supreme Court opened the doors of our electoral process and democracy to shadowy, undisclosed, unlimited corporate spending in our elections. In his dissent Justice Stevens remarked "The Court's ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation."

It has undermined our democracy. Citizens United allowed more money to be spent in 2010 than any prior midterm election, and will allow even more money to be spent in 2012 than any prior presidential election.

The funding of our electoral contests has a direct effect on who controls our political process. Corporations are overwhelming our political system with massive contributions leading directly to corporate control of the government. A government truly responsive to the public interest requires public financing of the political process.

To save our democracy, we shall turn to the document that established it. This week, I introduced a Constitutional Amendment which would require that all federal campaigns be financed exclusively by public funds and prohibit expenditures from every other source.

My amendment, H.J. Res. 100, would change the way we finance the elections of our Presidents, Senators and Representatives. It is our chance to return the government to the control of the people.

Sign and share the petition today to support H.J. Res 100. Let us change our campaign financing system so that we can truly claim to be a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Our Constitutional Amendment, H.J. Res 100 would also prohibit independent expenditures on behalf of or against any candidate to further protect our democratic process from private influence, while safeguarding our First Amendment rights.

Public financing of federal elections is critical to the restoration of our American democracy. How we fund our elections is not an academic argument. Progress on every important issue in American society today - economic, social and political - will not be achieved until we use the vehicle of a Constitutional Amendment to gain public control of the financing of campaigns. We cannot wait. We must declare and enshrine the public interest: Please sign the petition today.

The problems we face right now are too serious to allow our government to keep drifting towards a plutocracy. We must begin NOW the long, difficult process of amending the Constitution. The Constitution is a living, breathing document and it is up to us to claim its power to deal with the threat which Citizens United brings to our government, our nation and our way of life.

Courage,


Dennis J. Kucinich

US Rep Kucinich - The Seattle Declaration

Dear Friend,

Click here to view video.

I gave a speech in Seattle this past weekend, at Hempfest, the text of which appears and video of which is available, which spoke to a new civic activism sweeping the world, the American tradition of activism. Please read the speech.

Let's use this moment to circulate the speech far and wide about the need for a new activism in the United States.

Thank you

Dennis Kucinich

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Hello Seattle.

On this day, in this place of great beauty we celebrate the beauty of nature. The wondrous nature of each other. Our presence here binds us as a community. It empowers us. It strengthens us. We become most visible, en mass. We extend our reach. We sense new possibilities. And the creative spark which births action can usher in a new world.

Open America! Show yourself! Mass action! This is why, and how, recent movements for freedom in Tunisia and Egypt gained momentum. This is how Gandhi's march to the sea cast off the British Empire. This is how America's suffragettes gained for women the right to vote. This is how Dr. Martin Luther King's March on Washington became a pivotal moment in the history of the civil rights movement.

People became visible. They went to the streets. They linked arms. They marched. They sang: "We Shall Overcome". They walked the uplit path of social and economic justice. They marched to glory, not for themselves, but for generations to come.

We gather in a common determination for change. A sense of commonality of purpose awakens. An awareness grows. The moment arrives to exercise a new commitment to cast off an old order of things. This same awareness brought America's founders to put in writing a Declaration of Independence to proclaim "A New Order Follows". Today it is not a financial deficit that will bring America down, it is a deficit of public action. When people discover what happens when one person determines to make a difference and then merges with the many like-minded, new possibilities unfold.

Seattle, you understand this. Because in 1999, tens of thousands of citizen activists, including Teamsters and "Turtles", coursed through nearby streets on behalf of social and economic justice. They marched. They chanted. They sang: We Shall Overcome, and Solidarity Forever!" They spoke of Union. Acting in unity their presence was felt.

The Seattle WTO protests shined light upon the World Trade Organization's workings. Seattlites, union members and trade activists helped spark a world-wide awareness that trade agreements must have enforceable workers' rights, human rights and environmental quality principles. You identified the child labor, slave labor and prison labor that was driving international corporate profits. While the cause of justice in our trade agreements has yet to be served, you, Seattle brought it forward. You nurtured it. You kept it alive.

Large, intentional gatherings can be a catalyst for dramatic change. But only if we are prepared, as George Bernard Shaw wrote, "to dream things that never were and ask: 'Why not?' Let us dream about the America we want. And let us give our dreams firmament.

Let our dreams, our thoughts, become words. Let our words become deeds. Let our deeds bring action. Let our actions build a new America and a new world.

Seattle, you shook the world once, can you shake it again? Will you?

Are you prepared to declare and demand, here and now that it is time that the United States brings an end to the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya?

Are you prepared to demand our troops be brought home?

Are you prepared to demand America end our world-wide military presence?

Are you prepared to demand America must lead the world in the abolition of nuclear weapons?

Are you prepared to demand the Patriot Act must be repealed?

Are you prepared to demand that government spying, eavesdropping, and wiretapping of law abiding citizens must end?

That our sisters' Right to Privacy be protected and decisions about women's reproductive health be between a woman and her doctor?

Are you prepared to demand that our brothers and sisters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered have equal rights, including the right to marry?

Are you prepared to demand we decriminalize and legalize marijuana, demand hospitalization not incarceration for those with drug problems?

Are you prepared to demand Not-for-profit Health Care for All?

Education for All?

Retirement Security for All?

Jobs for All?

Are you prepared to rescue our federal government from corporate interests by calling for a constitutional amendment which establishes only public financing of federal elections?

Are you prepared to rescue our planet, to protect our air, water, and land from further exploitation by demanding an end to drilling the earth, fracking the earth, cracking the earth, and end to poisoning the seas and the skies with carbon based energies, and a rapid transition to an environmentally friendly, socially responsible green economy?

This day, here and now, you have now voiced the Seattle Declaration. Let the sound of your voice be heard far and wide. Let your affirmations give birth to new actions, a new nation and a new world. Let your voice cause America to march. Let your voice cause America to sing. Let your voice cause America to seek new freedoms. Let your voice cause America to seek a newer world. Ours is a restless quest for freedom. We know wars make us less free. Fear makes us less free. Social and economic insecurity makes us less free. If it is for freedom's sake we gather, so then let it be for freedom's sake that we act!

Our individual desire for change carries extraordinary power to become more than we are. Better than we are. Forged in the human heart, ignited by love and passion for transformation, our common unity, our common purpose and our common action carry the power to change everything. This is the power of human unity. This is the power of our Oneness. Feel it. Own it. Act upon it

Thank you Seattle.

US Rep Kucinich - Obama: Social Security Is Not a Political Pawn

Dear Friend

President Obama has -- against all promises -- just put Social Security cuts on the table.

This is not a compromise. It's caving to the corporate special interests who want to keep their handouts while dismantling Social Security. We need to stand up and tell President Obama that Social Security is not a political pawn -- it's a lifeline for millions of seniors.

Click here to sign our petition, and ask everyone you know to do the same.

The most unbelievable part of this debate, is that Social Security has nothing -- zip, zilch, nada -- to do with the current deficit. The program can pay 100% of its benefits through 2037 without any changes. It has a $2.6 trillion surplus.

So why the proposed cuts? The more money that can be built into Social Security's cash flow surplus, the more money the government can borrow from the surplus to use for tax cuts, spending, or reducing the deficit. We cannot accept this. Money paid into Social Security isn't the government's money to play with. They're the benefits that our seniors paid for and depend on. Social Security must be protected.

President Obama's turn on Social Security cuts is wrong for many reasons. It's leading some Americans to incorrectly believe that Social Security is to blame for the debt crisis. It's unjust to threaten the benefits that millions of Americans depend on.

Please sign this petition, spread it around, and tell your friends, family, and neighbors to join you.

Social Security is the cornerstone of social and economic justice in America. This is our time to stand-up and speak out.

With respect,

Dennis Kucinich

US Rep Kucinich - Challenging the President on War Powers

Dear Friend

Today, I joined with nine other Members of Congress from both parties in filing a lawsuit in federal court against President Barack Obama that challenges his decision to take us to war in Libya without Congressional approval.

The President has a legal obligation to obtain Congress's authorization before leading our country into war as required by Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution and the War Powers Act. Since the President failed to do this before ordering our armed forces into action in Libya, we believe the law was violated and we have asked the courts to protect the American people and one of our founding principles: separation of powers. This is about more than party politics or whether you support or oppose our President's policy in Libya - it's about protecting our constitution and the rule of law.

Click below to watch the Press Conference, then sign the petition to stop this war and help grow our movement.

Click here to watch the press conference video.

Recently, I asked for your help in contacting Members of Congress to demand that they stand with us to end the war in Libya and defend the Constitution. As more and more members of both parties join me in demanding action, it's clear that your voices are being heard in Washington. No President has the power to unilaterally take us to war - and that message is increasingly resonating across the country and in both parties in Congress. Let's keep up the pressure.

Click here to watch the video, then forward this email to your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers right now and ask them to join us in saying no to the war in Libya.

This war is illegal, unjust, misguided and not affordable while so many Americans are suffering in this economy. Together, we can end it.

With respect and optimism,


Dennis Kucinich

Kucinich - Regarding Settlement of Dental Injury Law Suit

Dear Friend,

Though I would prefer to focus your attention on my work dealing with the profoundly important issues that face our nation, such as job creation, getting the economy back on track, and ending the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - it seems that some are more interested in discussing my personal dental issues. Given the degree of public interest you should know some details:

This injury required nearly two years, three dental surgeries, and a substantial amount of money to rectify.

The legal action you have heard about was filed due to the severity, expense and duration of the dental injury, the complications which followed and which still persist.  I wanted to resolve this matter without filing a lawsuit. The events below involved numerous dental visits, more than are detailed in this summary.The dental injury set in motion a chain of dental and medical events.

When I bit into the olive pit, (unbeknown to me at the time), upon impact the tooth split in half,  vertically through the crown and the tooth, below the level of the bone. Externally there was no evidence of a break. This was not about aesthetics. The internal structure of the tooth was rendered nonrestorable.Although the pain was excruciating, I shook it off and  I went right back to work.   

This tooth is a key tooth which anchored my upper bridgework. The injured tooth and the bone above it became infected. I took a course of antibiotics for the infection, had an adverse reaction to the antibiotics which caused me to have an intestinal obstruction and emergency medical intervention.

Later, my dentist referred me to a specialist who informed me that the damaged tooth had to be removed.  A third dentist removed the tooth and I was fitted for a temporary partial. I waited for the bone to heal. An implant was placed, but it failed. Many months later still a second implant succeeded. My bridgework had to be completely reconfigured, a new partial was designed, so this injury did not affect only one tooth, but rather involved six (6) replacement teeth as well.     A new crown with a new precision attachment was engineered and put in place. To clarify, no dental expenses were covered by any health plan, nor did I have dental insurance that covered the injury, which, until it was resolved, affected my ability to chew food properly.

The clamor for information about this incident requires that I provide at least this much information. I would have liked to provide such details sooner but did not want it said that I was trying the case in the media. So that is why I declined any interviews about the matter.The parties have exchanged information and after some investigation and discussion have resolved the matter for an amount all parties believe reflects the actual out-of-pocket expenses related to this incident. The terms of the settlement are confidential; however, I feel that the defendants have responded fairly and reasonably. I don't want to have to make another dental visit for a very long time, and will be making no further comment on this matter.

Thank you very much.