Posted on 12/05/2003 11:16:22 AM PST by yonif
MILWAUKEE -- Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich said Thursday that abolishing tariffs on steel products hurts domestic steel producers without benefiting manufacturers.
President Bush earlier Thursday scrapped import tariffs he had imposed last year to help the battered U.S. steel industry.
Imposing the protective tariffs won the president support from domestic steel producers, but the tariffs angered steel-consuming industries in such states as Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.
Kucinich cited an International Trade Commission report that found abolishing tariffs wouldn't lower steel prices for steel-consuming manufacturers.
He also said protecting domestic steel producers would save steel consumers the transportation cost of importing their steel from foreign businesses.
"Far from having an adverse effect, the tariffs have a positive effect," Kucinich said.
The Ohio congressman, who ranks behind most Democratic candidates in state and national polls, met with national religious leaders in Milwaukee to encourage voter registration.
The event was sponsored by the Gamaliel Foundation, a multidenominational coalition of religious people. About 1,000 people attended from around the Midwest to kick off the organization's "Rolling Thunder" campaign to educate voters.
After a long day of campaigning in Michigan, Kucinich gave a short but rousing speech to the fired-up audience.
"Never was it more important to be an activist in America," he said. "Let the people hear the rolling thunder."
Kucinich has been a consistent critic of Bush's policy in Iraq and has accused other Democrats of wavering in their opposition to the war.
He reiterated his position Thursday night, saying the United States should withdraw from Iraq and let the United Nations administer and rebuild the country.
"We are being told that we only have money for the Pentagon but not for the socio-economic needs of the people," he told the audience. "It is our obligation to change the priorities."
Kucinich also drew a distinction between himself and the other eight Democratic candidates for president, saying he was the only one with a plan to end U.S. occupation of Iraq.
After his speech, Kucinich signed autographs and posed for photographs with supporters, including students from Marquette University.
I hate to differ with the good Komrad, but his "plan" is the same as all the other rat plans: total US defeat.
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