He added that the nation needs to fund the U.N. peacekeeping effort and completely pay for the reconstruction of Iraq’s infrastructure and for reparations to those Iraqis that lost family members in the war.

He did, however, criticize the United Nations—and the Bush administration—for not taking a more active stance on the current crisis in Haiti.

Domestically, Kucinich said that Republicans could be inflating the national deficit so that they have an excuse to cut social programs.

Kucinich, who called for the resignation of Fed Chair Alan Greenspan earlier yesterday, emphasized the importance of social programs in the United States. Kucinich took issue with Greenspan’s recommendation to cut Social Security benefits, made at a hearing before the House Budget Committee yesterday, and blamed the Fed chair for not opposing White House fiscal policy.

In his speech, Kucinich said the United States needed more social services, not fewer.

He advocated for universal health and child care, tuition-free college education and the creation of a government job programs similar to those created during the Great Depression.

Kucinich said he would fund these programs by eliminating tax cuts for the wealthy.

—Staff writer Alan J. Tabak can be reached at tabak@fas.harvard.edu.