Kotos for Congress
 
 WORKING FOR YOU IN DISTRICT 2 - MICHIGAN

CONTRIBUTE

the Bay Window

a student publication of Muskegon Community College

Page One, 28 June 2004, Volume 3 Issue 10

Kimon Kotos running for Congress

By Derek Fish and Nick McClellan

The Bay Window

            This November, our district will decide on whether or not to re-elect Republican Congressman Pete Hoekstra to the U.S. House of Representatives.  Kimon Kotos will be the Democratic challenger running against the 12 year Republican incumbent, and although his name is not widely known, Kotos is no stranger to the political scene.  He has been involved in local, state, and national politics since he was a young boy.

            Mr. Kotos decided to become politically active at the age of 11, after the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy.  Kotos’ politics and general outlook on life have been greatly influenced by the work and leadership of President Kennedy.  He became politically motivated and maintained the will to stay positive by working for change in Robert Kennedy’s presidential campaign.

            Kotos would hitchhike to various communities showing videos of the Kennedys and talk to people about their views.  In the years after the assassination of Robert Kennedy, Kotos made a personal commitment to ensure the Kennedys’ legacy of volunteerism, charity and grass-roots efforts would not be soon forgotten.  Since 1964, Kotos has been diligently campaigning and organizing for the people and values in which he believes.

            In meeting Mr. Kotos, one should be prepared to schedule a block of time, since he has an inordinate amount of knowledge in virtually all subjects.  Kotos can be seen walking around the campus carrying pamphlets filled with various statistics ready to educate anyone who will listen.  He has spent time in MCC classrooms as well as with student groups like the Philosophy Club.  When he is not educating students to the importance of politics, he is traveling across the various counties in the Second Congressional District meeting potential constituents and organizations like the Sierra Club and the Lake Michigan Federation.

            Over the years, Kotos has spent time working on various campaigns that are too numerous to list, but has gained experience working as the National Field Director for Dennis Kucinich.  He is seeking the endorsement of what he calls his “natural supporters”, such as unions and teachers.  In his run for Congress, Kotos has met with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and says they are excited about his campaign, and that he is very close to securing an endorsement from both of them.

            The election in November will pit a Democratic grassroots activist against a well entrenched, extremely well-funded Republican candidate.  Kotos, who disagrees with the direction in which our nation has been heading, often states his disagreement with the current administration.

            “We have to turn this country around; this election is a referendum on Bush, and Hoekstra is very much part of the Bush Agenda.”

            One of the major policies the two candidates differ on is the issue of so-called “free-trade” and globalization.  Congressman Hoekstra has been a very adamant and strong supporter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  NAFTA is a trade agreement that went into effect on January 1, 1994, and was designed to eliminate the economic tariffs between the United States, Canada and Mexico.  The stated goal of NAFTA is to open up Mexican and Canadian markets to U.S. products, but unfortunately quite a different phenomenon has occurred.

            A significant number of U.S. companies have packed up and relocated to Mexico, including many companies in Western Michigan.  Lifesavers, Johnson Controls and Electrolux have all sought the cheap labor and significantly relaxed environmental standards that other countries offer.  Kotos believes the shift of American companies to Mexico and elsewhere has placed a tremendous strain on the economy and job market in Michigan.  This is one of the reasons Kotos is opposed to NAFTA and other “free trade” agreements.

            “One of the things that inspired me the most is the failure of leadership by Hoekstra to represent Western Michigan while we’re going through such troubled times.  He [Hoekstra] hasn’t taken it on.  I'm going to try to work with the companies and make sure they stay here because we need to protect these jobs."  If elected, Kotos promises he would fight to protect the West Michigan economy by creating “barriers” that would make things extremely difficult for businesses to relocate to Mexico.  He also advocates giving businesses more incentives to stay in Michigan, thus keeping intact the jobs that our communities depend upon.

            Education is another issue where the candidates do not see eye-to-eye.  Congressman Hoekstra voted for and heavily supported President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Act”.  The NCLB Act requires public schools to maintain a certain score level on standardized tests, in order to be eligible to receive federal funding.  According to Kotos, this policy is based on a flawed theory.  The act punishes schools that are not able to attain high test scores, rather than giving the lower-testing schools the money they need to achieve their goals.

            “It’s kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy, and this is just one way that the Republicans are undermining public schools,” Kotos said.  Since schools with low test scores are not able to receive federal aid, many are forced to close their doors permanently.  A substantial amount of school closings has led to school overcrowding and an increase in the number of students per classroom.  Kimon Kotos advocates fully funding public schools so that every student may have a real opportunity to succeed.

            In this election year the most important issue affecting the nation is the war in Iraq.  Pete Hoekstra has stood by the Bush administration’s decision for war since the very beginning.  In a recent speech given at the MCC campus, Hoekstra, like many other government officials, cited the major reason why he supported the invasion – Saddam was rebuilding his nuclear weapons program.

            Hoekstra then quoted the now infamous Bush administration line, “We cannot wait for the smoking gun to appear in the form of a mushroom cloud”.  This would have been a very plausible reason to invade, if it had indeed been true.  Unfortunately for Hoekstra and the Bush administration, evidence of any of these claims has yet to be found.

            Kotos has always been very much against Operation Iraqi Freedom.  He believes we went to war under a false pretext.  Kotos emphasizes that the U.S. went to war in Iraq because of two main reasons: oil and Iraq’s strategic location in the Middle East.  Kimon Kotos has been a long time critic of foreign policy, and was even suspended from his high school for encouraging students not to register for the draft during the Vietnam War.  He also protested the U.S. bombing in Cambodia in 1970 at UC Berkeley.

            Kotos is looking to be available to all of his potential constituents and represent them in their issues.  He concludes that the bottom line in this election is that people will be voting for hope and opportunity.  He seeks to challenge the status quo by introducing progressive policies.  If the people of the second district believe that the Bush administration has turned back the clock on the progress this country has made during the last 40 years, then they need to vote for Kotos.  However, if one is content with the current spectrum of policies at home and abroad, then a vote for Hoekstra would be the ticket.

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