A few things strike me. I still hear Obama referred to as a "do-nothing-senator". You'd think people would look this information up before making a complete fool of themselves and try to bolster support for McCain by comparing Senate records.. Lets look at this, shall we?
I was looking at John McCain's Committee membership and see he is a member of only the Committee and subcommittees on Armed Services, Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and he's a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs.
If John McCain is running for president...
Why isn't he a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs??
That's a pretty important Committee. Barack Obama is a member.
Why isn't McCain a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs?? Obama is.
Why isn't McCain a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, or the subcommittees on either European Affairs, African Affairs, East Asian Affairs or Pacific Affairs? Guess who is? Yep, Barack Obama.
McCain has sponsored 537 bills since 1993, a rate of 35.8 bills a year.
Obama has sponsored 136 bills since 2005, a rate of 45.3 bills a year.
McCain has co-sponsored 1232 bills since 1993, a rate of 82.13 bills a year.
Obama has co-sponsored 659 bills since 2005, a rate of 219 bills a year.
Barack Obama missed 301 of 1282 roll call votes (23%) since Jan 6, 2005
John McCain missed 733 of 4099 roll call votes (18%) since Feb 4, 1993
Both of these percentages are quite high, but a look at the missed votes by month for both candidates (<a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=300071&tab=votes" target="blank">McCain</a>, <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=400629&tab=votes" target="blank">Obama</a>) clearly indicates that their presidential campaign has driven them both to miss more than a majority of votes since 2007. It is staggering to note that when you add up McCain's missed votes since Obama took a seat in the Senate, McCain has missed 39.7% of roll call votes.
And with that in mind,
John McCain has sponsored 38 pieces of legislation this term.
Barack Obama has sponsored 129 pieces of legislation this term.
Call Obama a do-nothing Senator one more time, McCain. I love watching you try to keep a straight face while you try to detract the country from how you fall short miserably.
source - www.govtrack.us.
Is Barack Obama just a new kid on the block, or is John McCain the Ultimate Insider and a Manchurian Candidate?
Judge for Yourself...at Pride Rock: http://forums.delphiforums.com/tmiorneedtoknow/messages?msg=3455.1
Yes folks, it's time for me to bring another DailyKos diary to your attention...
But I'll copy the meat of the story (list of Obama's legislative efforts) here so you all have it handy for a reference, it is important and worthwhile, and I know the original author does not mind me doing that if it helps with campaign efforts. As he says in his piece: "The issue is that ordinary people are being told that Obama has a thin resume and has accomplished very little in his Senate career." We need to have the facts at hand to counter that when we see it or hear it.
Having said that, there is more than this list available at the link... I highly recommend reading the original for the cleverness, humor, and the "edited" cartoon from an old Highlights magazine ;-)
How many of you remember Goofus and Gallant, hmmmm? Yeah, I'm that old.
Your homework assignment is on the other side of the fold...
Okey-Dokey. Here are links to two different blogs that take a look at Senator Obama’s senate record. One of them goes a step further and examines both Clinton and Obama with regards to their Senate performance and compares their approach to solutions for America’s challenges. First, the links are:
Blog #1. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/20/201332/807/36/458633
Blog #2. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/21/164117/783/290/461422
I just thought I'd send out a reminder to folks to check out the "know the facts" section under "Learn" on this (the Obama) website. I hadn't checked it myself in a while and realized today that there is some great information there on Obama's record in the Senate that I had been looking for previously. I knew a lot but was once again amazed at the breadth of this man's accomplishments and his excellent forthought. It lists them by topic and has some information about each so it's great info for convincing undecided voters. There is also some good info on the same page about Hillary's hypocracy and selective memory regarding Blackwater and other contractors.
So to quote a woman I called today in Indiana, "We've just got to get this man elected."
In a (mostly) light-hearted article appearing in today's NY Times the authors offer a few details regarding Barack Obama's legislative efforts during his first term.
ALL OF US who support Barack Obama for President must share these details in response to the question "What has he really accomplished?" so that we can overcome this objection that threatens to derail his candidacy. Hillary Clinton will amplify this question in the Democratic Race, and John McCain will most certainly echo the question in the general election.
In brief, please be prepared to share the following details with those who question his preparedness:
> As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Barack Obama joined with senior Republican colleague Richard G. Lugar to visit Russia and other nuclear states to assess the security of nuclear weapons - and later to pass legislation to reduce stockpiles of conventional weapons.
"(Senator Obama) sought out senior colleagues, traveling to Russia with Senator Richard G. Lugar, Republican of Indiana, an advocate of nuclear disarmament."
> Senator Obama joined with Republican Senator Tom Coburn to oversee the development of a publicly accessible and *searchable* database that allows citizens to track government spending - and thus spotlight the pork-barrel spending secured by members of Congress.
" He worked with Senator Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma and one of the most conservative in the chamber, to establish a public database to examine government spending after Hurricane Katrina."
> Finally, Barack Obama showed "real guts" by joining Senator Russ Feingold to propose *and* pass legislation designed to curb the influence of special interests in Washington through meaningful ethics reform.
"His most important accomplishment was his push for ethics reform. Party leaders named him their point person in 2006, and when the Democrats assumed the majority in Congress in January 2007, Mr. Obama and Mr. Feingold, a longtime Democratic proponent of ethics reform, proposed curtailing meals and gifts from lobbyists, restricting the use of corporate planes and requiring lobbyists who bundle donations to disclose individual donors."
The full article appears in The New York Times for Sunday March 9, 2008:
U.S. / POLITICS | March 9, 2008 The Long Run: Obama in Senate: Star Power, Minor Role By KATE ZERNIKE and JEFF ZELENY In Barack Obama’s time in the Senate, there are two competing elements: his celebrity and the realities of the job he was elected to do.
An excellent page regarding BHO's state senate record.....
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/29/us/politics/20070730_OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html
My other Blog:
http://mentalshift.blogspot.com/
Keep it fired up!
Obama '08
Neither was "Grassroots Mom" at DailyKOS. So she did her homework, and found out that hype isn't necessary to believe in Change.
Read her extraordinarily well-researched article here: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/20/201332/807/36/458633
Hillary led in the African American community until two weeks ago when she said Martin Luther King and Barack Obama were just talkers and dreamers- not doers. "It took a president." she said.Today she said- "I'm a work horse, not a show horse." But what are the facts?
I've gotten sick of this criticism so I did some research- seems as if there are two horses working. One a little better than the other: Hillary Clinton has sponsored 350 bills since Jan 22, 2001, of which 304 haven't made it out of committee (Very Poor) and 2 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Clinton has co-sponsored 1706 bills during the same time period (Average, relative to peers). Source: www.Govtrack.com Barack Obama has sponsored 129 bills since Jan 4, 2005, of which 120 haven't made it out of committee (Average) and 1 were successfully enacted (Average, relative to peers). Obama has co-sponsored 529 bills during the same time period (Average, relative to peers). Source: www.Govtrack.com
Hillary sits on 12 committees:
Member, Senate Committee on Armed Services Member, Subcommittee on AirlandMember, Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and CapabilitiesMember, Subcommittee on Readiness and Management SupportMember, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Chairman, Subcommittee on Superfund and Environmental HealthMember, Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear SafetyMember, Subcommittee on Transportation and InfrastructureMember, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Member, Subcommittee on Children and FamiliesMember, Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace SafetyMember, Senate Special Committee on Aging
Barack sits on 13 committees:
Member, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman, Subcommittee on European AffairsMember, Subcommittee on African AffairsMember, Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific AffairsMember, Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs and International Environmental ProtectionMember, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Member, Subcommittee on Children and FamiliesMember, Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace SafetyMember, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Member, Subcommittee on Ad Hoc Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and IntegrationMember, Subcommittee on InvestigationsMember, Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International SecurityMember, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Don't believe the hype, Barack Obama is a strong candidate with a strong record.He has worked hard for all of his constituents. Regardless of race or gender. In Illinois: Sponsored 233 bills pertaining to Health Care Sponsored 125 bills pertaining to Poverty and Public assistance Sponsored 112 bills pertaining to Crime, Corrections and the Death Penalty Sponsored 97 bills pertaining to Economy, Business and Finance Sponsored 62 bills pertaining to Education Sponsored 60 bills pertaining to Civil and Human Rights Civil Rights Lawyer, Community Activist, Professor of Constitutional Law... More than 800 bills sponsored in 8 years in Illinois, passing tough Legislation on the Death Penalty, Video taped Interrogations, Health Care, Racial Profiling, Job Skills Training, Campaign Finance Reform, Privacy for Sexual Assault Victims etc...
The man deserves some respect.
Black, White, Latino, Asian, Homosexual, Straight, Male, Female, Republican, Democrat, Independent, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Agnostic and Athiest.This and many more make up the Obama Coalition for Change.Tired of Politics as usual. Tired of divide, mislead and conquer.
We are for reaching out to those unlike ourselves in order to create the power needed to transform the nation. We, like Barack, are working hard to manifest a new reality.
We value Truth and Integrity.We are for Unity. Barack Obama 08!
ETHICS AND LOBBYING REFORM
Throughout his political career, Barack Obama has been a leader in fighting for open and honest government. During his first year as an Illinois State Senator, he helped lead the fight to pass Illinois' first ethics reform bill in 25 years as a U.S. Senator, he has spearheaded the effort to clean up Washington in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal.
Senator Obama is one of the authors of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (S. 2180). The bill would lengthen the cooling off period to two years for lawmakers and staff who seek to become lobbyists, and it would require immediate disclosure as soon as any job negotiations begin. The bill would open conference committee meetings to the public and require that all bills be posted on the Internet for 24 hours before they can be voted on by the Senate. Finally, the bill would end all lobbyist-funded gifts, meals, and travel and strengthen the Senate office that monitors lobbyist disclosure forms.
