Mitt Romney did not invent predatory capitalism. It’s been around for a while.

Predatory capitalism was already alive and well in 1978, in Cleveland. That was when the One Percent who controlled the banks, and pretty much everything else of value, decided that they wanted to steal the local power company from the people of Cleveland.

By way of background, Cleveland Public Power was founded by the Mayor of Cleveland, more than a century ago. It provides the people of Cleveland with electricity -- without the price gouging, poor service, pollution and monopolization for which Big Energy seems to strive.

The One Percent didn’t like that idea at all. So they invested in a private company called Cleveland Electric Illuminating. They wanted to steal Cleveland Public Power from the people, and then jack up the rates, and make lots and lots of money.

They then issued this ultimatum:
(1) hand over the assets of Cleveland Public Power to us, or
(2) we will pull the plug on Cleveland.

By which they meant that they would boycott the City of Cleveland’s bonds as they came due, and drive the City into bankruptcy.

Which they then did. The One Percent forced the City of Cleveland into bankruptcy.

But they didn’t anticipate one thing. What the 32-year-old, first-term Mayor of Cleveland would say.

That was Dennis Kucinich. And Dennis said no.

No matter what the banks said, Dennis said no.

No matter what the City Council said, Dennis said no.

No matter what the bankruptcy court said, Dennis said no.

A newspaper on December 22, 1978 quoted Dennis as follows: “They are maneuvering to offer the city terms so bad that we will feel pressured to beg.” And Dennis would not beg.

No. Just no.

And Dennis paid a price for that. The “Boy Mayor of Cleveland” went down to defeat that year. The One Percent made sure of that. But the people of Cleveland kept their power company.

Twenty years later, the Cleveland City Council honored Dennis Kucinich for having the “courage and foresight” to stand up to the banks, for the sake of the people. They calculated that Dennis had saved the people of Cleveland $195 million in one decade alone. And Cleveland elected Dennis Kucinich to Congress.

Let me tell you something. There is not one person in a hundred -- Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, male or female, white, black, red or brown -- who would have the courage to do what Dennis Kucinich did. For the good of the people.

That’s why we need Dennis Kucinich in Congress.

Thanks to Republican gerrymandering in Ohio, Dennis is facing the fight of his career. His election is on March 6. And absentee ballots in his district will be mailed out next Tuesday.

Dennis needs your help. He needs to contact thousands of absentee voters, and that costs money. If you helped him before, then help again. If you didn’t help him before, then help now. Please click on this special ActBlue link, and make a contribution to Dennis Kucinich’s campaign today.

Because Dennis has guts. And that’s what we need in our leaders.

Courage,


Alan Grayson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sinito#Kucinich_assassination_plot

These aforementioned reasons propelled mob boss, James Licavoli, with the advice of Lonardo to order a hit on Kucinich in 1978. In face of some opposition by lower level associates, Sinito stubbornly defended Licavoli's decision and it was then decided to use the services of an outsider professional hitman, since using local associates for the job would only trace all the way back to them.[8]

Sinito’s uncle Joey Maxim, who worked in an Atlantic City casino helped him make contact with a contract killer. However, the supposed contract killer was, in fact, an undercover Maryland State Police officer using the name Gene, who specialized in posing as a contract killer. The two met in the Atlantic City casino where Maxim worked. Gene walked into the casino’s lounge where he’d been told to meet Sinito. During the meeting, Sinito introduced himself only as Tommy and successfully hired Gene for the Assassination plot. Gene was initially paid $25,000 for his services. After the meeting, Gene informed Cleveland Police who soon made the connection to Sinito, after checking the police records.[8]

Several bizarre plans were discussed. One was to kill Kucinich as he left Tony’s Diner on West 117th and Lorain Avenue. Gene would perch on an outside steel fire escape across the street, armed with a sniper rifle and shoot Kucinich when he came out of the diner. A second plan was to shoot Kucinich as he marched down Euclid Avenue in the 1979 Columbus Day Parade. But the hit didn't happen because an ulcer inside Kunicich's stomach burst before the event and the mayor was rushed to the hospital. The assassination plot continued for three long years, and never came into fruition.[8]

The Columbus Day Parade. Cleveland, 1978.


Yesterday, I told you how Dennis Kucinich single-handedly saved Cleveland’s public utility from a takeover by the banks. Even though it cost him a job he loved, being Mayor of Cleveland.

But I neglected to mention that Dennis’s courage could have cost him more than his job. It almost cost him his life.

When Dennis Kucinich refused to turn over Cleveland Public Power to the One Percent, they decided to kill Dennis. Not kill Dennis’s political career. Kill Dennis.

You don’t have to take my word for it. You can read the chilling account in the Cleveland Free Times cover story, which includes quotes from the police interview with the hit man.

The plan was to shoot Dennis in the head, during the Columbus Day Parade. The Cleveland Cosa Nostra brought in a professional hit man from Maryland to do the hit. The hit man bought an untraceable rifle, and came to Cleveland.

Why didn’t the hit man kill Dennis? Because on Columbus Day, an ulcer in Dennis’s stomach burst. Dennis spent that day in the hospital, not in the parade. Or the morgue.

The hit man then staked out Tony’s Diner, an old rail car converted into a greasy spoon restaurant, on the corner of Lorain Avenue and West 117th. Dennis liked to eat breakfast there.

But then the banks found that they could force the City of Cleveland into bankruptcy, and force Dennis Kucinich out of office. So the hit was called off.

(By the way, of the thousands of people who have served as mayor in the United States, only three have been assassinated. Mayor Carter Harrison of Chicago, the hero of the Haymarket Riots, was killed by a disgruntled office seeker. Mayor Anton Cermak, also of Chicago, was killed by a bullet intended for FDR. And, as you may recall, San Francisco Supervisor Dan White killed Mayor George Moscone, and Harvey Milk.)

In order to save Cleveland’s municipal power company, Dennis Kucinich stuck his neck out so far that the banks and the Mafia tried to kill him. For the people of Cleveland, Dennis put his life on the line.

If the One Percent is so angry at you that they want to take you out, and they’re willing to enlist the Mafia to do it, then you are doing one heckuva good job for The People.

So I’m asking you again, as I did yesterday. Please do whatever you can do to help Dennis Kucinich, before the absentee ballots get mailed out in his district next Tuesday. And click here to do it.

Because Dennis Kucinich is a hero. A real-life hero.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

CONGRESSMAN BARNEY FRANK FOR DENNIS KUCINICH IN OHIO’S NEW NINTH

Dear Friend,

I am pleased to express my support for Dennis Kucinich’s re-nomination/re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Dennis and I have worked closely on a number of issues. I am very appreciative of his strong support for an end to discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. And, we have been the most active in the House in arguing for a cause that is now getting the recognition it deserves – substantially reducing America’s military activity across the world, far beyond what is needed for our own defense, so that we can reduce our deficit in a responsible way without inflicting severe cuts on things that improve the quality of our lives.

Legislative bodies are very particular places, because members of a legislative body are not in a position to give each other orders, but are influential only to the extent to which they are respected by their colleagues. Dennis Kucinich is very much in the category of those who you can respect, not because he courts personal popularity, but because his fierce devotion to principle and his unbending integrity on the issues gets him the respect of virtually all of those with whom he serves. In a time when it is common for people to be suspect of the motives of elected officials, and to feel that they are too narrowly focused on their own self-interest, Dennis Kucinich’s unwavering determination to do what he thinks is right for the broad public good earns him a hearing from even those who disagree with him on broad issues.

I do not myself agree with Dennis on all issues, but I am proud to say that he and I have worked together on a broad range of the important matters coming before us, and I believe his is a voice that it is very important to keep in the House. I do not by this mean in any way to denigrate Congresswoman Kaptur. This is not a case where supporters of progressive principles have to choose between two people who both fall short of our ideals. It is, however, in my judgment a situation in which there is one candidate who has brought an extraordinary set of qualities to the House.

Dennis Kucinich’s presence in our national legislature is a very important example of how public policy ought to be addressed. I hope that the country – and progressives – can continue to benefit from that for years to come.

Congressman Barney Frank