Saturday, September 4, 2021

Interview With Ex-Congressman & Author Dennis Kucinich

 

1. What motivated you to write your book, to force you from taking an idea or experience and turning it into a book?   I have been working on this book for many years, intensively for the past three years.  It's a big book, with a long trajectory.  It is heavily documented, so it took time. Literally years.

2. What is it about and who is it for? Government works.  The question is, who is it working for?  Generally, city government works for interest groups of which the people have no knowledge.  Tax dollars are often misspent and given away to those whose only credentials come from contributing large amounts of money to political campaigns.   This is how the system works, but I never played the game.  There is often massive, behind-the-scenes corruption and the public never finds out because interest groups heavily influence or control who the people elect. People often pay unnecessarily high taxes and are often unaware how the money is being spent.  I was witness to massive waste, fraud and abuse at all levels of government, especially so during the time CEI and the banks were trying to force me to sell Muny Light. Sometimes government is a racket.

3. What do you hope the reader will be left with after reading it? Political change and  solutions should state at the local level.   Government in Cleveland was totally controlled by corporate interests who used that control to pollute the air and the water and to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.  Higher taxes, higher utility rates and poor public services resulted from this corruption.

4. What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers? Government in Cleveland was totally controlled by corporate interests who used that control to pollute the air and the water and to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.  Higher taxes, higher utility rates and poor public services resulted from this corruption.

5. What trends in the book world do you see -- and where do you think the book publishing industry is heading? The City controlled Muny Light.  CEI wanted it.  The private utility trapped the mayor with allied financial advisers  who convinced him to expand the city payroll and use the proceeds of the sale to balance the city budget and to pay off a bill for power from the private utility.  Keep in mind CEI constantly undermined Muny Light's ability to make power.   They worked behind the scene to block repairs to the city's generators, stopped the city from accessing power from any other company but CEI and then charged the city triple the amount for power which they sold to Muny Light.  This was dirty pool all the way and the mayor who preceded me had no clue what was going on.  No other public official wanted to take the risk and step forward. The book points out that many of the blackouts were deliberately caused by CEI to try to establish a reason why the public should agree to the sale of Muny Light.  CEI’s sabotage of Muny is documented and was revealed in investigations by federal agencies.

6. What challenges did you overcome to write this book?  I never came to rely on material comfort.  It was foreign to us.  I did not need anything from anyone.  I devoted myself to my constituents.  Also, there is a strong spiritual component here: I can't be bought.  Period.  I know the difference between right and wrong.  I do not rely on the material world for joy or satisfaction.  It's about spirit and soul, ethics and doing the right thing.    

7. If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? It’s spiritually inspiring. Here’s a sampling:

Reporter Mel Martin: “Why do you think these people would want to do the Mayor in?”

Hit Man: “We can’t buy Kucinich.  That’s what I was told.  We can’t buy Kucinich.  He was cut from a different cloth, and they didn’t know where he was coming from, what angle he was coming from, and so we had to go different ways with him. You can’t get any more serious than that.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Dennis Kucinich is an author and statesman, serving 16 years in the US Congress and was twice a candidate for President.  During his term as Cleveland Mayor (1977-1979) the Fraternal Order of Eagles recognized him as "The Outstanding Public Official in America."  In recent years the Washington Post Magazine called Kucinich "the future of American politics."  "Ahead of his time," declared Rolling Stone Magazine.  Gore Vidal called Kucinich's writing "as good as Theodore Dreiser's."  Ralph Nader favorably compares Kucinich's writing with the legendary muckraking journalist, Lincoln Steffens.  The Division of Light and Power melds Kucinich's writing excellence with undisputable documentary power and the moral code of a leader who cannot be corrupted. For more info, please see: Politics Today - Powerful News, Powerful Opinions https://kucinich.us

 

Need Book PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com He is available to help authors promote their story, sell their book, and grow their brand. He has 30 years of experience in helping thousands of authors in all genres.

 

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About Brian Feinblum

Brian Feinblum should be followed on Twitter @theprexpert. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America. For more information, please consult: linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum. 

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