Why is DK often criticized for going bankrupt?

[Magical]

Why is DK often criticized for going bankrupt as mayor, when his decision has had a huge longterm benifit to the city of Cleveland? It seems that most people haven't read all of the details. I think this is just another attempt to make him look fiscally irresposible. I want to know why it's such a large negetive for him to many people on DU.

If you haven't read the full and untainted story I suggest you think before you post.:think: :think: :think: :think:

[JohnKleeb]

1. I dont know magical

he got a ciation from the city for doing so a few years back and it was a brilliant stand.

[liberalhistorian]

2. I agree, I live near Cleveland and was thirteen years

old when all of that was happening. I remember how he was being roasted left and right for his decision not to sell the municipal power plant since the city wasn't in good financial shape. But he knew it was the right thing to do and he stuck to his guns, he was barely in his thirties at that time. The city was in bad financial shape before he took office due to the actions, or inaction, of his predecessor; it wasn't entirely his fault. He may not have handled it the best way he could have, but look at how young he was and how many years ago that was!

[Magical]

3. Ooops!

I forgot to mention in my original post that: "The city was in bad financial shape before he took office..."

[JohnKleeb]

4. I guess so

but I know for fact your city council gave him a citation.

[XanaDUer]

5. I think he really scares rupubs

a fiscally sound socialist Dem.

Why, think of all the ideas he could put in the heads of the proles...like healthcare, etc.

I love Dennis K. and Kerry. What a ticket that would make!

[JohnKleeb]

6. Kerry/Kucinich? I like that

glad to see thats it not just Kucinich supporters here giving him props. You think Kerry would consider that?

[Magical]

7. Me too!

DU has recently become like a bunch of fueding political kingdoms, and that's a real downer when people start to bite each others heads off left and right.

[JohnKleeb]

11. those two are my number 1 and two picks

I like DK but lets put the experienced senator at the top of the ticket. I really wouldnt mind that I would prefer Kerry/Kucinich to Dean/Kucinich mainly that Kerry is more fitting for Kucinich than Dean and I will be honest despite some of his votes I like Kerry better than Dean.

[BushHasGotToGo]

8. His city went bankrupt. How is he fiscally conservative?

Let's put it this way. Dennis Kucinich is no Howard Dean.

[Magical]

9. Why is Dean...

in your eyes fiscially conservative? Also, I never said Dennis was fiscially conservative, I just think he should be forgiven for a realitively minor, and outdated mistake.

You sound like a person that abides by the rule: people vote their pocketbooks. No offense.:spank:

[JohnKleeb]

10. Actually I think he made a principled decision

the resources of a city or town, or whatever are the people's not a corporation. If anything Kucinich is what I like, someone who likes new programs, that really can change things.
I could accept Kerry/Kucinich really./

[Tinoire]

12. Thanks Magical! Truth is he didn't cave in to Cleveland's Enron!

IN CLEVELAND, HE CHALLENGED THE ENRON OF HIS DAY
A shortened version of this letter, headlined "Cleveland Hero," ran in the Washington Post, 5/14/03

When George Will dismisses Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) as "the only presidential candidate to have presided over the bankruptcy of a major American city," besides being factually wrong -- Cleveland defaulted on bank loans but was not bankrupt -- he is dismissing 25 years of history and much scrutiny of that event. And he insults the Cleveland-area voters who keep re-electing Kucinich to Congress and who know that by defending the city-owned power company, their former mayor saved them hundreds of millions of dollars on their electric bills.

Kucinich was elected Cleveland's mayor on a pledge not to sell Muny Light to a private utility. Knowing it would derail his political career, he held to that pledge in the face of threats from banks interlocked with the private utility that would have gained monopoly status by buying Muny. Today, he stands vindicated in the eyes of voters for having confronted the Enron of his day, and his campaign symbol in five winning elections since 1994 has been a light bulb. In 1998, the Cleveland City Council commended Rep. Kucinich for "having the courage and foresight to refuse to sell the city's municipal electric system."

Our country needs a President who stands up to -- and not with -- today's Enrons.

http://thespiritoffreedom.com/responses_media.htm

-----------------------
In 1977, he was elected mayor and inherited a giant mess. A previous administration had misspent tens of millions in bond funds, and the banks came to the young mayor in a power play, saying that unless he agreed to sell MUNY Light, the city’s municipal electric utility, the banks would call in the loans and send the city into default. “They were trying to blackmail me,” said Kucinich. Despite enormous pressure to sell the utility, Kucinich refused, and Cleveland went bankrupt. Everyone thought the boy mayor’s political career was over. Even he thought that.

But Kucinich prevailed. Even his harshest critics today admit that history has vindicated him, that he was right to refuse to sell MUNY Light. After a long hiatus, Kucinich returned to politics, first as a senator and then as a congressman. From Washington, D.C., he’s led successful crusades for his district. He has kept hospitals open, saved a steel mill and changed rail traffic in Ohio neighborhoods.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0609-09.htm

---

During his term, local banks demanded the city sell its light company to a private company. Kucinich refused and Cleveland went bankrupt.

The incident resulted in Kucinich losing his bid for re-election in 1979.

Years later, the event made Kucinich popular in Cleveland again. In 1998, the Cleveland City Council honored Kucinich for his decision, crediting him with saving Cleveland residents almost $200 million over a 10-year period.

http://www.thesunlink.com/redesign/2003-07-16/local/203533.shtml

[ShaneGR]

13. I can tell you why, I'm from Cleveland

"Why is DK often criticized for going bankrupt as mayor, when his decision has had a huge longterm benifit to the city of Cleveland?"

While they like to point to the electrical plant as some kind of crowning achievement the effects of bankruptcy were immense to the city of Cleveland. When a city goes bankrupt all of the services it would normally be able to offer are drastically affected.

For example, the public school system in Cleveland lost millions of dollars in funding due to the loss of funding as a result of the bankruptcy. Those school systems, particularly on the East side, are still not recovered.

Also, when the city initially declared bankruptcy, dozens of large companies based in downtown Cleveland, were informed that the city could no longer afford to offer them the tax incentives they had been initially offered in exchange for setting up shop in the first place. Most left. Downtown Cleveland circa 1980 to 1994 are a true testament to this problem.

Did I mention the cuts the police force was faced with?

The problems were MANY.

[donco6]

14. It was a rather brilliant financial move.

It turned Cleveland around, for sure.

Let's just say if he got the nod, I'd be an enthusiastic supporter.