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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (7533)	3/15/2004 10:42:02 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

But surely Kerry has a better record than Bush had or even has. Better record at what? At voting for other peoples idea, programs, proposals, maybe. But what has he done in the realm of leadership where he has been in sole charge? I went to his Senate website to look at the bills he has sponsored. kerry.senate.gov In case you don't want to read the whole litany, I'll give you my impression. This doesn't look like the Senate activities of Presidential timber. I know that there's a lot of housekeeping that needs to be done in the Senate, but this legislative activity does not impress. (A bill requiring that actual gold be used in the Medal of Honor? Give me a break.) And when you look at what he actually accomplished, the list is quite short, and not impressive. I went back to his 107th Senate activity, since the 108th is still underway (and besides, he's skipped out on most of it to campaign for the Presidency) to see whether, during his last full active term in the Senate, he had gotten any significant bills actually passed. Granted, he's a Democrat, but still if he were President he would have to work with both parties, so where is the evidence that he can get bipartisan action within the Senate? Can you see anything in this record that suggests that here is man ready to exert dymanic bipartisan leadership with innovative programs to get the country moving in a new direction? If so, show me. I, frankly, didn't find it. Take a look at what he has accomplished. Of the 71 (as I counted them, though I may have missed one or two) bills he sponsored, three got enacted into law. 23. S.856 : A bill to reauthorize the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, and for other purposes. Reauthorizing a program is nice, but it's hardly creative lawmaking. 36. S.1609 : A bill to amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Metacomet-Monadnock-Mattabesett Trail extending through western Massachusetts and central Connecticut as a national historic trail. Pork for Massachusetts. 8. S.2428 : A bill to amend the National Sea Grant College Program Act. Seems to mostly be a reauthorization. This is hardly Presidential level work. That's the total of the legislation he sponsored in the 107th Congress that actually made it into law. What's interesting is the number of bills he sponsored that went nowhere that were trying to suspend temporarily the duties on various products: filament yarn, high-performance loudspeakers, parts used in the manufacture of high-performance loudspeakers, "a certain chemical used in industrial coatings formulation," " a certain chemical used in industrial coatings formulation," etc. Without research, these frankly look like sops to lobbyists in exchange for camaign contributions, so they can tell their employers "look, I got the bill introduced, but unfortunately we couldn't get enough interest to get it passed." Special interest money at work. Resolutions are passed just by the Senate, not also by the house and President. of Senate Resolutions he sponsored, he got these approved: S.RES.65 : A resolution honoring Neil L. Rudenstine, President of Harvard University. Wow. 6. S.RES.123 : A resolution amending the Standing Rules of the Senate to change the name of the Committee on Small Business to the "Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship". Double wow. 7. S.RES.180 : A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the policy of the United States at the 17th Regular Meeting of the International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in Murcia, Spain. Okay. 8. S.RES.216 : A resolution to honor Milton D. Stewart for his years of service in the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. More Wow. 9. S.RES.264 : A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that small business participation is vital to the defense of our Nation, and that Federal, State, and local governments should aggressively seek out and purchase innovative technologies and services from American small businesses to help in homeland defense and the fight against terrorism. Okay. That one is nice. His sense of the Senate on the whaling commission did NOT get passed. 10. S.RES.267 : A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the policy of the United States at the 54th Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission. There are lots more resolutions, none of them of any signifcance to the country as far as I could tell, though I admit I timed out at one point.