Reply #76: He stood up to the energy companies [View All]

From "Muslims for Kucinich":

One of the claims you may hear from opponents of Kucinich (unfortunately, not all of them are Republicans) is that while he was mayor of Cleveland, he drove the city into bankruptcy.

Cleveland did have to declare bankruptcy during Kucinich's tenure, but to imply that it was due to mismangement by Kucinich is so distant from the truth that it qualifies as a lie.

Cleveland's debts were largely due to its publicly-owned electric utility, Muny Light. And Muny Light's debts were largely due to the illegal actions of its privately-owned rival, Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI). CEI deliberately rigged electric grid interconnections so that Muny Light would suffer power failures. Once Muny Light was deeply enough into the red, CEI prepared to swoop in. First, it attempted to buy Muny Light outright. Then it worked with six Cleveland banks it had very close relationships with. The banks told the city of Cleveland that they would call in its debts unless the city sold Muny Light to CEI.

It was a dirty game, and Dennis Kucinich refused to play it. He refused to sell Muny Light and the banks made good on their threat. You can read all about it here, along with many other examples of corporate malfeasance by CEI. The stories are all too familiar after Enron. If you wish that politicians would stand up to corporations like Enron, Dennis Kucinich should be your man.
http://www.muhajabah.com/muslims4kucinich/archives/006288.php