Q&A; / Dennis J. Kucinich

Should we have gone to war in Iraq? What would you have done differently?

The war in Iraq was wrong. It has harmed America’s reputation around the world and was a distraction from our efforts to root out global terrorism. Iraq was not an imminent threat to our nation. Iraq was not responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and this administration has failed to prove any connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda.

In addition, we have now learned that the intelligence that led to the war in Iraq may have been misrepresented or manipulated by the Bush administration for political purposes. This only serves to further discredit our nation’s credibility in the international community. I believe that the United States should have supported the international weapons inspectors’ monitoring program and policy of containment.

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How would you try to stop the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran?

It is time for the United States to lead the world toward total nuclear disarmament. That was, and continues to be, the promise of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The United States cannot continue to build new nuclear weapons. Doing so damages our moral authority to ask other nations to disarm.

We must work with the international community to ensure that comprehensive weapons inspections take place in North Korea and Iran. We also must work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to find and dismantle any illegal weapons.

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What will be America’s greatest foreign policy challenge in the next 20 years?

The Bush administration claims the right to launch an unprovoked attack against any nation. This is the “Preemptive War Doctrine” as advocated by this administration. The war in Iraq was an unprovoked attack. It will cost well over $100 billion and more with a military occupation that has no end in sight. Yet, Iraq posed no demonstrated threat to the U.S.

What happens when India and Pakistan, both countries with nuclear capability, decide to follow the U.S. example of preemptive war? I intend to set aside this dangerous doctrine and work cooperatively with the international community to meet the challenges of this complex world without war.

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Should income taxes be cut? If so, how? If not, why not?

The top two income tax rates should be restored to the levels they were at before the 2001 Bush tax cuts. In addition, in the current recession, we have to stimulate demand for goods and services. That is why I also believe we need a temporary payroll tax rebate [that]

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How would you provide health-care coverage to the uninsured?

I have proposed a plan I call “Medicare for All.” It calls for guaranteed full-coverage, best-quality care that covers every American. There will be no more co-payments or premiums. No more inconvenience caused by a health-insurance bureaucracy.

The plan has worked well in other countries, none of which spend as much on health care as does the United States.

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What are the most important steps the federal government can take to invigorate the economy?

Our nation needs a massive public works program to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure. We see the need every day in our cities. Our schools, bridges, sewer and water systems are falling apart.

Repairing and modernizing them will employ millions of unemployed people, inject money into the economy and improve the quality of life. I would also rebate a portion of the payroll taxes that all wage earners pay. That, too, would boost spendable income and stimulate the economy.

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As president would you propose a plan to bring the federal budget into balance by a specific date?

We should have a balanced budget when the economy is recovered. During this recession, we should run deficits to stimulate the economy.

We should not run deficits to increase the military budget or give tax cuts to billionaires, as the Bush administration is now doing. Instead, deficits should finance a massive public works program. We have to cut the ballooning defense budget. We can well afford to do that, since the U.S. spends more on defense than nearly all the nations of the world combined.

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Would you explicitly require that anyone you nominate to the Supreme Court commit to uphold the Roe vs. Wade decision that guaranteed a legal right to abortion?

Yes. I strongly support the decision of the court in Roe vs. Wade and believe that it must be upheld. As president, I would require that my nominees to the Supreme Court support a woman’s right to choose.