Twenty-eight years ago today, 31-year-old Dennis Kucinich, then the youngest-ever mayor of a major American city, famously pushed Cleveland into economic default rather than capitulate to the demands of a group of bankers eager to gobble up the city's power plant.

The six-term Ohio congressman and 2004 presidential candidate, who has been one of Congress' most vocal and longstanding opponents of the Iraq war, tells Truthdig why he again has his sights set on the Oval Office:

Rep. Kucinch spoke with Truthdig research editor Joshua Scheer*.

TRUTHDIG: What made you...

In an interview with Truthdig research editor Joshua Scheer*, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) criticizes the leadership of his own party for announcing Tuesday that it would support a massive increase in spending for the Iraq war.

Originally posted at Truthdig.com

Truthdig: What was the upshot of [Tuesday's] Democratic caucus...

Nikki Keddie, one of the nation's leading Middle East scholars, argues that despite Western stereotypes, women in many Middle Eastern countries are making great strides in terms of civil liberties and legal rights. But America's disastrous occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan threaten to undo much of the progress.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich speaks with Truthdig contributor Joshua Scheer* about the state of healthcare in America, his bill with Rep. John Conyers to provide universal coverage and why progress is inevitable.

Edited Transcript:

Truthdig: What kind of healthcare [do] congressmen get--what kind of healthcare do you have?

Kucinich: Well,...

In an interview with Truthdig contributor Joshua Scheer,* Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) reacts to Rep. John Murtha's failed bid for House majority leader, and explains why cutting off funding for the Iraq war is the only way to truly protect American troops.

Edited Transcript:

TRUTHDIG: With [Steny] Hoyer being...

In an original Truthdig interview, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), the potential next chair of the Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, calls for congressional hearings into how and why America invaded Iraq, and demands "accountability" for those who led America into a "war based...