Question for Kerry supporters

[jkenn19]

I hope you all feel like this is an honest question. I heard on a call in show the other day, that Sen. Kerry has only introduced a couple bills in all the years he has been in office. Does it make sense that the more ideas he had as a senator, could be an indication of what kind of ideas he would have as a president?

Now I will say I am registered Republican, but I am not thrilled with Bush, or either party for that matter.
I get sick of the idea that there is right side and wrong side. The 20% far right and 20% far left disturb me greatly. I am truly ready for a third party that consists of the 60% of population who can see merits in both sides of an argument, and make a sensible decision that will benefit the most people.

 

[DanJ]

Well; here's Kerry's reply on his debunker. Brings up some good points I think:


FACT: John Kerry has a distinguished legislative record. He and John McCain negotiated an agreement with Vietnam to provide a full accounting for POW-MIAs. He wrote the first bill reducing acid rain. He has repeatedly led the charge in protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling. He has passed legislation that shut down money laundering activities of terrorists and drug traffickers.

President Clinton Praised Kerry for Putting 100,000 Cops on the Street ? ?When we tried to get past six years of talking tough on crime but nothing happening, rhetoric and rhetoric and rhetoric and no action, to put 100,000 police on the street, to ban deadly assault weapons to pass the Brady bill, the other side, [the Republicans] led the fight against it. But John Kerry helped us pass the toughest, smartest, best crime bill this country has seen in many a day, and the crime rate has gone down for four years in a row. John Kerry was on the right side of history.? [Public Papers of the President: Fall River, MA; 8/28/96]

Democratic Leader Tom Daschle Says Kerry Knows How to Get the Legislative Job Done in the Senate - Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle had kind words for John Kerry?s work on Campaign Finance Reform when he asked Kerry to chair the Democratic Steering Committee: "From our teen-smoking bill to HMO reform and Campaign Finance Reform, John Kerry has demonstrated that he clearly knows how to get the job done. He is a valued and trusted member of our leadership team, and I am pleased he has accepted another term as Chairman of the Steering and Coordination Committee." [Daschle Press Release, 11/19/98]

Even Dr. Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader Says Kerry?s Global AIDS Legislation is a ?Huge Step Forward?: ??The Kerry-Frist bill is a huge step forward,? said [current Majority Leader Bill] Frist. ?It further validates U.S. leadership in the global effort to end devastation many countries face in the fight against HIV/AIDS?.? [Office of Senator Frist, press release 7/12/02]

58 bills and resolutions John Kerry has sponsored over the years have passed the U.S. Senate. Countless others have been improved because of his work, including the Clean Air Act, the Children?s Health Insurance Program and the COPS program.

The number of bills that bear your name is a poor measure of legislative accomplishment. For example, Ted Kennedy, who most would acknowledge as the most accomplished Democratic Senator in a generation, has had just 9 bills signed into law in 10 years. Of the more than 400 bills Kennedy sponsored in 108th, 105th and 104th Congresses none were signed into law. And Bill Frist, the Republican Majority Leader, has sponsored 88 bills in the 108th Congress and zero have become law. In the 107th Congress, Frist sponsored 52 bills and 1 became law. It was a bill to authorize and urge the President to promote democracy in Zimbabwe.

 

[Todd33]

Kerry isn't Bush. Good enough for me. I would vote for Gary Coleman before Bush.

 

[jkenn19]

DanJ -
Thanks for the response, I guess the only question I would have is concerning the measure of accomplishment, and part of that points to partisan politics. When you say Kennedy and Frist have sponsored bills and few have been signed into law, doesn't that kind of say they were throwing stuff out there that were targeted at their agendas, and not necessarily for the common good? Like I said, on both sides of the spectrum.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: jkenn19
DanJ -
Thanks for the response, I guess the only question I would have is concerning the measure of accomplishment, and part of that points to partisan politics. When you say Kennedy and Frist have sponsored bills and few have been signed into law, doesn't that kind of say they were throwing stuff out there that were targeted at their agendas, and not necessarily for the common good? Like I said, on both sides of the spectrum.

Or shot down by the opposing the party because *they* thought it didn't fit *their* agenda.


There are two sides to that supposition.

 

[jkenn19]

Conjur -
Yes - that is true, but why would you introduce a bill that you know has very little chance of passing, because of your agenda or their agenda?
Compared that to talking to other members on both sides, to arrive at a consensus opinion that would likely pass? That's what upsets me more than anything else, the lack of compromises to achieve the best possible solution. The I'm right, you are not right, mentality.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: jkenn19
Conjur -
Yes - that is true, but why would you introduce a bill that you know has very little chance of passing, because of your agenda or their agenda?

1) Because one truly believes in something and wants to represent their constituents
2) Expose the partisanship of the opposing party.

Compared that to talking to other members on both sides, to arrive at a consensus opinion that would likely pass? That's what upsets me more than anything else, the lack of compromises to achieve the best possible solution. The I'm right, you are not right, mentality.

Good point there. But, not every bill has a compromised solution available, eh? I'm sure many do but I doubt all do.

We're seeing a change right now. The Republican party is fracturing over ideals. When the Democratic party was in an unorganized mess just four short years ago, it wasn't really over ideals. It was over who would best represent the party. Perhaps McAuliffe (sp?) just isn't a good manager. The difference in the Republican party is that Bush and the neocons are taking the party down an authoritarian, big-deficit, big-spending path. The conservatives are beginning to distance themselves and become critical of that path. It is those who can truly question their own party, no matter who the leader is, that should be respected.

As I've said many times up here before:

No one political party is ever 100% right and no one political party is ever 100% wrong. The blind followers on each side are the ignorant ones.

(Note my quote of eigen's in my sig, too.)

 

[Arsynic]

I want him to sponsor the "No Flip Flop Bill".

 

[Fingolfin269]

I could be way off base with this comment. Isn't it true that Frist's numbers are kind of bloated because of his position as majority leader?

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Arsynic
I want him to sponsor the "No Flip Flop Bill".

That would force Bush to resign!