Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Dennis Kucinich and More

 Flying Debris has mocked Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh) in the past and likely will do so in the future so it seems reasonable to also offer an invaluable history of the Kucinich years in Cleveland. At age 31 Mr. Kucinich became the youngest mayor of a big city in America and within months the citizens of Cleveland attempted (unsuccessfully) to recall him, Kucinich survived by a few hundred votes. While Mayor Mr. Kucinich appointed a twenty-one year old sophomore co-ed from Cleveland State as Police Superintendent and appointed a twenty-four year old former Merrill Lynch stockbroker (9 months) as Finance Chief and the city literally went bankrupt. All of that and more can be found in this long but interesting article from the Cleveland Scene.

 I have long disagreed with the analysis that says that the city of Cleveland gained hundreds of millions of dollars by it's decision to hold onto the city-owned electrical company. I like to point out that the city government's economic collapse caused people to flee the city and that the bankruptcy increased costs that the city had to pay in subsequent years. I do however agree that those problems were the fault of Mr. Kucinich and his caustic style rather than the fault of a city owned utility, per se. Although the one in Cleveland was not well run and had been hemorrhaging money for decades.

Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs.