Cooney draws support at College Dems meeting

By Jack Christensen
Western Herald

(Aaron Ulrich / Western Herald) Democratic candidate Don Cooney answers questions from Western Michigan University College Democrat members Monday night in the Bernhard Center.

Don Cooney, the Democratic candidate for U.S. House of Representative in Michigan’s 6th congressional district, spoke at Monday’s College Democrats meeting.

Cooney, who is also an associate professor of social work at Western Michigan University, is active in many social justice organizations and serves as a Kalamazoo City Commissioner.

As no stranger to the university, he entered the meeting with responding cheers from the group of about a dozen students.

“We are on the verge of making history … by electing Obama, Levin and me,” Cooney said.

Cooney said that despite a friendship with incumbent Republican candidate Fred Upton, he has chosen to run in the upcoming election because he disagrees with many of Upton’s stances on key issues, especially since 2000.

Upton has held his position for 20 years, according to Upton’s Web site at house.gov. Though Republican, Upton has consistently portrayed himself as a moderate.

Cooney refuted Upton’s claims of being a moderate. He said that Upton has “changed” as a candidate since 2000. Cooney cited Upton’s voting history as evidence. Upton has voted to pass 90 percent of President Bush’s proposals, Cooney said.

“Upton has voted for every piece of legislation that has gotten us where we are,” Cooney said.

He criticized Upton for not protesting bills that allowed torture of suspected terrorists and for his support of the Iraq War.

Cooney called the War in Iraq “the most tragic foreign policy mistake in U.S. history” and says that in March of 2002 he visited Upton in his office, urging him not to vote for the war.

Those who voted in favor of the Iraq War should be held accountable for their decision, he said. Cooney’s policies eschew militarism. He believes that America should favor diplomacy over military action.

“We need policies based on rejoining the national community … [to] isolate terrorists rather than start wars that encourage and justify [terroristic behavior],” he said.

“We should declare that we’re leaving [Iraq],”he said, acknowledging that the country has been destroyed since the invasion in 2002. He said that the U.S. should “bring in an international committee to find a resolution [to Iraq’s internal conflicts].”

He lamented the fact that $15 million is poured into Iraq every hour. Cooney also said that money is needed here in the U.S. Cooney said that the Iraq War and the war on terrorism are “not sustainable.”

He said that the military should be in place to protect us but stressed that our military intelligence organizations should be improved. Cooney said too much money is spent on the military, especially in regards to the development of new weapons technologies.

Cooney told the College Democrats that he wishes to reduce America’s arsenal of nuclear weapons and to close many of our military bases in foreign nations. He said that he also wishes to put an end to mercenary employment by the military.

Cooney called for a reform of the healthcare system. He said that 25 percent of healthcare costs currently go towards superfluous administrative costs.

“We need a healthcare system like Canada’s,” he said.

Cooney called America’s use of 25 percent of the world’s resources “selfish” and “unsustainable” and said that Americans must “change the way we live.”

He added that America must adopt a new energy plan that reduces dependence on foreign oil and also curbs environmentally destructive forms of energy production. He called global warming “the biggest issue in history.”

Cooney said that America needs a new energy plan of “man on the moon” proportions. He believes that public transportation should be a cornerstone piece of any such plans.

His plans for energy reform go hand in hand with his plans to revitalize the American economy. Cooney wants to “put people back to work” through investments in infrastructure that include fixing roads, bridges and building environmentally friendly energy plants.

Cooney hopes efforts to improve American infrastructure will create “green collar” jobs. He said that such goals would improve America for future generations as well as create more jobs for the time being.

“When we win [the election], it will be the greatest upset in American history. I want to move this country in a positive direction,” Cooney said in his closing statement.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Oct 28 2008. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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