joining us from washington is democratic congressmember dennis kucinich. this is his last again congress after serving eight terms. since 1997, dennis kucinich has been a leading progressive voice on capitol hill, into these articles of impeachment against george w. bush, voted against the patriot act, and advocated for ending the war on drugs. dennis kucinich ran for president in 2004 and 2008, down to create a permanent peace. he is former mayor of cleveland, ohio. congressmember, welcome back to "democracy now!" >> thank you. >> your term would be over except you have been called back on sunday, right, to do with the fiscal cliff? >> i have been in washington waiting to see if congress would be called back into session, as it should be. there really is no legitimate reason why the country should be facing serious tax increases for middle-class and also spending cuts that will further slow down the economy. we have made all of the wrong choices. we should be talking about jobs and more people involved in paying taxes. we should be talking about rebuildin

dennis kucinich. you know, i had seen dennis many, many times on television prior to being elected myself, seeing the interviews. dennis was a known leader and political figure in the state of ohio and people told me early on , you know, you don't have to agree with everything that dennis says, but one thing you'll find out about dennis is that he loves the people that he represents. and he represents them well. you can learn a lot from dennis kucinich about constituent services. and in the days since i've been here, one thing i've learned about dennis as well is that he is always a gentleman. and no matter what the issue, no matter what the crisis of the moment might be, dennis would remain calm, would remain poised and the conversations that we've had, again, even though not necessarily agreeing on the issues, but certainly raising very, very valid points and doing so in a manner that befits the office and i want to thank dennis for that. to congresswoman betty sutton, i did not get a chance to work

david: dennis kucinich will your last vote for the u.s. this time out will be for this debt deal? >> i want to see what the deal is. you never commit what your vote will be until you read it. i will say this if the private sector isn't creating jobs, the public sector has a moral obligation to help get america back on its feet. china just, is investing billions of dollars in high-speed rail. what are we doing here in this country? we should be rebuilding america. have more taxpayers and quit putting increased burden on taxpayers. >> then raise the taxes. liz: will we have a deal tonight? >> dennis, raise taxes to pay for it, please. take that position and come out and say raise taxes to pay for it. stop borrowing money to do what you said. liz: representative humans camp will we have a deal? >> no time to finish that. irs moved back withholding tables. there is still a few days. deal that raises taxes increases spending and ignores entitlement reforms i'm a no on any deals. david: no on deals from all three of you guys. wish we had better

i will miss or ron paul and dennis kucinich.f we had locked in the person with the answers for the president it would be ron paul. host: what do you think is long- term impact on congress will be? caller: has changed the dynamic of young people's minds who are waking up to what is going on in washington, d.c. and they see that the republicans and democrats are on the same team and have got us where we are now. they have done a great job. host: woodmere, new york, republican line. caller: i would miss scott brown and the least i would mess is barney frank. host: y scott brown? caller: he was independent thinking even though he was a republican. having elizabeth warren is too much to the left for that state. host: and barney frank? caller: i found him to be very divisive. host: was it is general demeanor or specific policies? caller: i think it was a combination of both. host: what comes to fiscal cliff issues, several agencies within washington, d.c. are planning should the deadline, and go without resolution -- fairfax, va., dem

dennis kucinich and ron paul.dent obama ordered more drone strikes in his first term than president bush did in his combined terms. the strike just last week killed a senior leader in pakistan near the border of afghanistan and the two congress men want president obama to release all the information and the data and detail that he ordered against many terrorists. representative kucinich joins me live. welcome back and nice to see you. >> good to be with you. >> the judiciary did address this, but me why you are challenging the president. >> it's not about challenging the president, but up holding the constitution of the united states. no president has the right to launch missile attacks on another country without congressional approval. no president has the right to take away someone's right to due process of law. they happen to be an american citizen abroad and we asked for the legal justification. that's what we are looking at. three years is a long time to wait. 300 drone strikes is enough time to say to the wh

and dennis kucinich and tom romer -- tim romer, both came to this committee to try to get something done there. it was not all cotton candy and rainbows. people at least were working together to try to reach a reasonable conclusion. here in indiana, as a state legislator, i have seen governor daniels be a get-it-done governor. i remember the first meeting with governor daniels came to our caucus. i had been in the general assembly for two years. some of the members were saying, bir going to balance the budget here in two years or four years. governor daniels walk in the room and said we would balance it in one year. that was the most important leadership decision of his tenure. if we keep that principle in mind -- he had some challenges, but as he has said often, people are fair minded. if you make the right decisions for the right reasons and the results come from that, the politics and campaigning will take care of itself. i think there are a lot of lessons in that for what needs to be done in washington. >> mr. messer, to bring it back to the current fiscal cliff talks -- during the c

>> you had dennis kucinich on. and the 10 million unemployed people.o we get people employed and get jobs? there are no easy answers to that. i think this budget issue -- whatever's going to happen with the fiscal cliff, you know in the next three or four years, we will have five or six more showdowns. so that will beleaguer the president. he needs to do break-out things in foreign affair, improving relations between the united states and china. trading relationships that are more favorable to the u.s. he may raise the specter of climate issue. it is not a good one when you are running for office. but it may look good in history, 50 years from now. trying to, you know, post sandy, how do you get your hand on working on this problem in a global way? i think you will see him use executive orders more and more. i doubt you will get the outstanding legislative second-term agend a. there is too much gridlock. he wants to get obamacare if place. he cannot afford in history to have that thwarted, his signature domestic achievement. >> shannon: we can't read t

dennis kucinich couldn't be in any basketball match.aldo rivera a great santa because all coming up at the top of the hour. we have great music and news by the numbers. >>> don't go away and don't miss it. >> living in a california apartment complex launching a campaign to save christmas. earlier this week managers of a los angeles building asked any one to take out christmas trees visible in the areas because they were considered religious symbols. they decorated their tree with a sign. no response from the new manager. >> motor trend magazine voting the ram 13400 truck of the year. the truck was praised for the air suspension choice avengeance variety of triple levels and towing capability. it's the first time the ram has not been referenced with the dodge. >> it is time for our holiday wish list. we are getting gift ideas from the holiday season it's all about the men in our lives. editor thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> you want your guys to smell good. this is an of the month subscription service they send y

ruppersberger: i have yield to the gentleman from ohio, dennis kucinich. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio is recognized for two minutes. mr. kucinich: i thank my friend and i want to thank both my friends, the chair and the ranking member, for the work that they do on intelligence. you make a commitment to this country, and i think the country's in good hands because of your work. but i want to raise a question and we've had some of these conversations between ourselves . i'm very concerned about the shift that's occurred in our national security policy where the central intelligence agency has increasingly played a very powerful paramilitary role with the execution of drone strikes. numerous studies have indicated that there are many innocent civilians being killed by drone strikes. there is lack of accountability here. there have been studies that suggest, for example, in yemen, that drone strikes are stirring up anti-american sentiment to the point where al qaeda is being empowered. we really have to ask of the c.i.a., but even more than

dennis kucinich blasted a potential compromise measure called a chain to cpi. >> sanders' inevitably turn to cheaper alternatives. if they like state but can afford it, they turn to something cheaper, like cat food. the less you pay for food, the less benefits you get. the chain cpi benefit cut will change aging seniors to a party of choices, a lower standard of living with cheaper products. the chained cpi formula does not take into account seniors rising health-care costs. there is no justification to cut security benefits. no to throwing seniors off the fiscal cliff. no to a cat food christmas. >> police in egypt have fired tear gas canisters today in alexandria as supporters and opponents of president mohammed morsi clashed a day before the final stage of voting on a controversial draft constitution. the two sides hurled stones at each other during a rally called by islamists who support the constitution. morsi's opponents have called for voting against the document. at least eight people died in clashes leading up to the first day of voting on december 15 when a 57% majority bac

. >> democratic congressmember dennis kucinich. >> we spent trillions on more, to wage violence thousands of miles away, and we become anesthetized to the wilds of or against millions of innocent women, men, and children are brought. it is no wonder we are grappling with domestic violence. and as and if we took a fraction of those drilling we use for war and use it to deal directly with the root causes of domestic violence, spousal abuse, child abuse, violence in school, gang violence, racial violence, violence against immigrants, violence against gays. if we did that and look at the root causes, we would not be arguing about spending money for war. we need to look at the issue of violence in america. >> that concludes our look back at 2012. if you would like a copy of today's broadcast, go to our website, democracynow.org. democracy now! is produced by an extraordinary group of people. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. email your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693, new york, ny 10013. ma

dennis kucinich joins us live. is the president disingenius to blame it all on the republicans.ed and isn't it his responsibility to fix the fiscal cliff. >> i am not in favor of simpson-bowles but we should not put brinkmanship over the 16.4 federal budget limit we shouldn't play brinkmanship. we have to find a way to work together. we need to lower the tones and we are going in a season of peace on earth and good thing to practice that in washington. >> gretchen: you are not going to be there so what should they do now. >> the fiscal cliff is a metaphor. build a bridge with jobbings. you will have a jobs report that comes out and shows not enough jobs are create to move the economy fard forward. if we have a fisl cliff deal that results in government spending cut, are likelyy to see deleverage that causes unemployment go up and tax revenue. we need more taxpayers and not just talk about raising more taxes. jobs are a central problem that we are not discussing. >> gretchen: wait a minute. you are saying we shouldn't have a discussion of cutting spending because that does not cr

don payne who served 20 years this committee and did so with great dignity and tell kildee and dennis kucinich won't be with us on the subcommittee there. mr. cody is retiring to mr. kucinich going on. judy becker would not be here. it's been a great pleasure to serve a thoughtless member denigrate china. i want to passmy congratulations on to them, to wish everyone a merry christmas. and jason ault meyer. i forgot my friend jason also. he was on and then off and then back on. he did serve. we appreciate his service. i wish everyone a merry christmas. we can go on and on. anyway, we may have to get a whole list to read. anyway, merry christmas, we are adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] samaj [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

payne who served 20 years on this committee and did so with great dignity and tell kildee and dennis kucinichwon't be with us on the subcommittee there. mr. cody is retiring to mr. kucinich going on. judy becker would not be here. it's been a great pleasure to serve a thoughtless member denigrate china. i want to pass my congratulations on to them, to wish everyone a merry christmas. and jason ault meyer. i forgot my friend jason also. he was on and then off and then back on. he did serve. we appreciate his service. i wish everyone a merry christmas. we can go on and on. anyway, we may have to get a whole list to read. anyway, merry christmas, we are adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] samaj [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> if you work for them, he did sometimes generous, sometimes overbearing, sometimes almost cool boss who didn't to apologize, which meant of his age and class, you know, they're not going to apologize for a young private secretary typist and he had a way of turning the tables and his version of an apo

from the service of steve latourette, who occupies the speaker's chair today, representatives dennis kucinich, betty sutton and steve augsrya. i want to thank steve latourette for his leadership and guidance in congress. i have had a privilege to working with my colleagues in support of our fellow buckeyes and americans. their service will not end with this congress. their innovative ideas and selfless service will be felt long after they leave the people's house. i look forward to their future roles as ohioans committed to advancing the interests of our communities, our state and our great country. mr. speaker, i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentlelady from california, the minority leader, ms. pelosi, for five minutes. ms. pells: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i -- ms. pelosi: thank you very much, mr. speaker. i'm glad that our speaker has brought the fiscal challenges to this floor. it's been long overdue. we have been calling on the speaker to bring forth middle-income tax cut now for a very long time. in

dennis kucinich had a bill a while back, h.r. 2990, the need bill. are you familiar with that? >> can't say i am. >> national employment emergency defense. the key thing is that it would recreate u.s. money and not federal reserve notes where money would be created not as debt like it is now but money would come in to existence debt-free. the government would resume its prerogative of creating its own currency unit. so to really get rid of debt you need to get rid of the very source of debt. has that ever come up? >> i'm not familiar with it. at the heart of the problem, though, is that the federal government is spending more money than it's bringing in. and you look at the president keeps talking about the tax rates as they were in the clinton administration. i would enencourage him to look at what the spending was in the clinton administration. and we've seen almost a doubling of the debt under this administration and the projections are trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. we have a spending problem and that has to be addressed. this is our moment. to do it. a

place will not be as good as it has been without steve latourette, jean schmidt, steve austria, dennis kucinich and betty sutton. mr. speaker, it has been great knowing these folks. i'm pretty sure that all of them we will see again in one capacity or another. i know steve, that we will see you and jen and emma soon, and mr. speaker, with that, i think our hour's up. we have no more speakers. it's been a pleasure. it's been a privilege and honor to serve with all five of these men and women. and i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. under the speaker's announced policy of january 5, 2011, the gentleman from california, mr. garamendi, is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. garamendi: mr. speaker, thank you for the opportunity. we're going to spend a good portion of this hour talking about something that is on everybody's mind, the fiscal cliff. oh my goodness, the fiscal cliff is now just -- wow, 20 days away. so what are we going to do? some have suggested that we really have to deal with entitlements.