Quote:Judging by National Journal's congressional vote ratings, however, Kerry and Edwards aren't all that different, at least not when it comes to how they voted on key issues before the Senate last year. The results of the vote ratings show that Kerry was the most liberal senator in 2003, with a composite liberal score of 96.5. But Edwards wasn't far behind: He had a 2003 composite liberal score of 94.5, making him the fourth-most-liberal senator.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0204/022704nj1.htm
Here's the voting record which, though I didn't check every single item, seems to be pretty accurate:
Voting record specifics
John Kerry's Voting History
Sen. Kerry Voted Against B-1 Bomber.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against B-2 Stealth Bomber.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against F-14.
(H. R. 5803, CQ Vote #319: Adopted 80-17: R 37-6; D 43-11, 10/26/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against F-15.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against F-16.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against AV-8B Harrier Vertical Takeoff And Landing Jet Fighters.
(H.R. 2126, CQ Vote #579: Adopted 59-39: R 48-5; D 11-34, 11/16/95, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against AH-64 Apache Helicopters.
(H.R. 2126, CQ Vote #579: Adopted 59-39: R 48-5; D 11-34, 11/16/95, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against Patriot Missiles.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against Aegis Air Defense Cruiser.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against Trident Missile System For U.S. Submarines.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against M-1 Abrams Tanks.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
Sen. Kerry Voted Against Tomahawk Cruise Missile.
(S. 3189, CQ Vote #273: Passed 79-16: R 37-5; D 42-11, 10/15/90, Kerry Voted Nay)
1966: Graduated from Yale University with a Bachelorâs degree. Enlisted in the Navy, becoming an officer.
December 1967 - June 1968: Served on the USS Gridley in the Gulf of Tonkin.
December 1968 - January 1969: Vietnam, serving as swift boat #44 skipper. Fired upon - and killed - soldiers, women and children.
Kerry later said: "It is one of those terrible things, and I'll never forget, ever, the sight of that child, but there was nothing that anybody could have done about it. It was the only instance of that happening."
Blamed the Navy's policies for putting civilians at high risk.
December 2 1968: Wounded in action (arm), earning his first Purple Heart.
January 1969: Joined swift boat #94 in the Mekong Delta.
February 20 1969: Sustained a minor shrapnel wound in his left thigh resulting in his second Purple Heart.
February 28 1969: Earned the Silver Star for killing a retreating and wounded enemy soldier.
March 13 1969: A mine detonated near Kerry's boat, slightly wounding him in the right arm, resulting in his third Purple Heart.
Kerry then requested a transfer to the States citing Navy rules allowing a thrice-wounded soldier to return to the United States.
April 1969: Aide to Rear Admiral Walter F. Schlech, Jr.
January 1970: Kerry traveled the country protesting the war though he was still a Naval officer. He was so caught up in the anti-war movement that he petitioned Admiral Schlech "to tell his boss that his conscientious dictated that he protest the war, that he wanted out of the Navy immediately so that he could run for Congress".
Admiral Schlech consented and Kerry was honorably discharged from the Navy six months early.
1970: Made a bid for Congress in Massachusetts' Third District, but was rejected.
June 1970: Joined Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
September 7 1970: Accepted high profile role in VVAW's Operation 'Rapid American Withdrawal', which called for the vets to walk from Morristown, New Jersey to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
At Valley Forge he was polarized by Hanoi Jane and her rhetoric. They proceeded to Detroit and the Winter Soldier Investigation.
1970: Was quoted by the Harvard Crimson as saying he was "an internationalist who would like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the directive of the United Nations." He hoped to "almost eliminate CIA activity".
January 31 1971 - February 2 1971: Over 125 self-proclaimed Vietnam vets testified at a Detroit Howard Johnson's about wholesale rape, torture and murder they claimed U.S. soldiers had committed in Vietnam. ['Winter Soldier Investigation' with Kerry and Fonda]
April - May 1971: Spearheaded the Washington Spring Offense, the most confrontational of this was "Operation Dewey Canyon III", beginning April 18 1971. Over 1,000 Vietnam vets gathered on the mall in Washington for "a limited incursion into the country of Congress".
April 23 1971: Members of VVAW led by Kerry threw their medals and ribbons over a fence in front of the Capital. The medals he threw were not his own. They now hang on the wall in his office.
Kerry also testified before before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on this day about atrocities he had allegedly seen and heard about.
His testimony:
"Several months ago in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. . . . They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.
They told the stories [that] at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned on the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country."
He stated there never was a communist threat in Vietnam.
It is later found that Al Hubbard, the man who appeared with Kerry on national television in 1971 to corroborate the allegations of atrocities committed by U.S. soldiers and Executive Director of Vietnam Vets Against the War, had fabricated his record! Hubbard had not only lied about his rank, he had never served in Vietnam, had no Purple Heart or Vietnamese Service Ribbon.
"Burkett's book documents false testimonies and reveals that many of the men who worked with VVAW and other anti-war groups who had alleged war atrocities during the Vietnam War had either lied about their background or had claims that were unverifiable."
The VVAW never distanced itself from Hubbard.
âIn 1970 at West Point Vice President Agnew said âsome glamorize the criminal misfits of society while our best men die in Asian rice paddies to preserve the freedom which most of those misfits abuse,â and this was used as a rallying point for our effort in Vietnam. But for us, as boys in Asia whom the country was supposed to support, his statement is a terrible distortion from which we can only draw a very deep sense of revulsion, and hence the anger of some of the men who are here in Washington today. It is a distortion because we in no way consider ourselves the best men of this country â¦.â
Sen. John McCain revealed that his North Vietnamese captors had used reports of Kerry-led protests to taunt him and his fellow prisoners. Retired General George S. Patton III angrily noted that Kerryâs actions had âgiven aid and comfort to the enemy.â
May 1971: Arrested in Lexington, Mass with hundreds of other antiwar protestors.
1976: Graduated from Boston College Law School and worked as an Assistant DA in Middlesex County from 1977 to 1979, attorney from 1979 to 1982.
1982: Elected Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor.
1980's: Kerry sat on the board of a radical liberal group "Jobs with Peace Campaign" whose main objective was to "develop public support for cutting the defense budget".
1984: Elected to the U.S. Senate.
1990: Re-elected to the Senate.
1991: Voted against committing U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf War.
1992: Head of a Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs. He visited Vietnam and became convinced they were not holding American POW's. His and John McCain's 1993 report stated that American POW's were left alive in Vietnam after the war but felt none were still alive. They made no attempt to identify those left behind. Was quoted as saying: âPresident Bush should reward Vietnam within a month for itâs increased cooperation in accounting for American MIAâsâ.
In a 1993 column, Sydney Schanberg wrote:
âHighly credible information has been surfacing in recent days which indicates the headlines you have been reading about a âbreakthroughâ in Hanoiâs cooperation on the POW/MIA issue are part of a carefully scripted performance. Sen. John F. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, is one of the key figures pushing for normalization. Kerry is currently on a visit to Vietnam where he has been doing two things:
(1) praising the Vietnamese effusively for granting access to their war archives and
(2) telling the press that there's no believable evidence to back up the stories of live POWs still being held.
Ironically, that very kind of live-POW evidence has been brought to Kerry's own committee on a regular basis over the past year, and he has repeatedly sought to impeach its value.â
The nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity:
"Kerry's participation in the Committee became controversial in December 1992 when Hanoi announced that it had awarded Colliers International, a Boston-based real estate company, an exclusive deal to develop its commercial real estate potentially worth billions. Stuart Forbes, the CEO of Colliers, is Kerry's cousin."
The deal was reportedly worth $905 million.
1993: Voted to reduce the defense spending levels for weapons projects by $8.8 billion. (Senate Congressional Resolution 106)
May 19 1994: Kerry spoke on the Senate floor against linking China's Most Favored Nation trade status to it's human rights record. âChina is the strongest military power in Asia. We need China's cooperation. We cannot afford to adopt a cold-war kind of policy that merely excludes and pushes China away.
Limiting China's MFN status would make us a bit player in a production of enormous proportions. We possess no stick, including MFN, which can force China to embrace internationally recognized human rights and freedoms.â
1994: Proposed a bill to slash the budget of our intelligence agencies by $1.5 billion - and freeze spending for two major intelligence programs - the National Foreign Intelligence Program and Tactical Intelligence Program. (S.1826) [Did not make it to vote]
(HR-2076) Voted to cut $80 million from the FBI budget.
1996: Re-elected to the Senate.
1996: Voted yes to Senate Congressional Resolution 13, [rejected] that would have frozen defense spending for seven years and transfered the 34.8 billion in savings to education and job training.
2.29.1996: Introduced Senate 1580, a bill to slash DOD funding by 6.5 billion. Never came to a vote.
5.1.1997: Addressed the Senate, saying:
"Now that the [Cold War] struggle is over, why is it that our vast intelligence apparatus continues to grow even as Government resources for new and essential priorities fall far short of what is necessary?"
1999: Supported Senate Bill 2057: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999. Amendment would have transferred 329 million from the DOD to the Veterans Affairs Department for veteran's health care programs. Defeated.
2001: Blocked (HR-2833) the "Vietnam Human Rights Act".
9.23.2001: Hypocritically questioned the quality, effectiveness and scope of our intelligence agencies after Sept. 11.
"...and the tragedy is, at the moment, that the single most important weapon for the United States of America is intelligence... we are weakest, frankly, in that particular area. So it's going to take us time to be able to build up here to do this properly."
2002: Re-elected to the Senate.
10.11.2002: Voted Yes on the Iraq War Resolution.
1.24.2004: The League of Conservation Voters endorses Kerry for President, saying: "John Kerry is a man whose unparalleled record on environmental issues has earned him an extraordinary lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters, and he is clearly the strongest environmentalist in the field,â said Deb Callahan, president of LCV. âJohn Kerry understands that the American people need a president who will never roll over to corporate contributors at the expense of the health and safety of the public." This is ironic considering Kerry's ties to the Forbes and Heinz companies.
Where he stands:
Terrorism:
"The war on terror will involve the military now and then, but will primarily be an intelligence gathering, law enforcement operation".
Responding to President Bush's speech on the threat of terrorism:
"I think there has been an exaggeration... They are misleading Americans in a profound way."
Voted against: B-1 bomber, B-2 stealth bomber, Apache helicopter, Patriot missile system, F-15, F-14A, F-14D, AV-8B Harrier and the Trident missile system.
Stated that he would make cutbacks to the M1 Abrams tank, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, the Tomahawk cruise missile and the F-16 jet.
Voted with the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence 100 percent of the time.
Voted with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence 100 percent of the time.
Received an F from the National Rifle Association in 2002.
Received an F from Gun Owners of American for the 108th Congress.
Opposes the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (H.R. 1036 / S. 659), which grants gun manufacturers, distributors and dealers immunity from lawsuits. The measure passed the House and has the support of 55 senators. The Senate is expected to consider the measure in 2004.
Voted in favor of an amendment to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (S. 1607), commonly known as the assault weapons ban. President Clinton signed the bill into law in 1994.
Voted in favor the Brady Bill (H.R. 1025 / S. 414), which required a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases and established a national instant criminal background check system. President Clinton signed the bill into law in 1993.
âI don't want to be the candidate of the NRA in this country. I don't think the Democratic Party should be the candidacy of the NRA. And when I was fighting to ban assault weapons in 1992 and '93, Howard Dean was appealing to the NRA for their endorsement, and he got it. He's been endorsed more times by the NRA than the NEA.â
- Democratic presidential debate in Boston, Nov. 4, 2003
Kerry has voted with Liberal activists groups including Enviro/Animal rights [domestic terrorist] groups 95% of the time in the last three Congresses. [Yet has been photographed driving an SUV]
Kerry Voted for the 7 Largest Reductions in Defense and Military Spending For our National Security.
Voted for Federal funding of abortions
Against Partial Birth Ban
Against Parental notices for minors
Voted against 1991 Gulf War
Voted against Shareholders Rights.
Against Clone ban
Against Educational Savings Accounts
Against Balance Budget amendment
Against Balancing Budget
Against Tort reform
Source Materials:
Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry
Is John Kerry the New Democrat Golden Boy? By Barbara Stock
The League of Conservation Voters
Taxidermy.net
Newsmax
ChronWatch
posted by P at 2:25 PM
On the Issues â" John Kerryâs Campaign Promises
These positions are taken directly from
www.johnkerry.com and are not changed in any way; I simply filtered out the posturing common to any candidate.
If these are things you look for in a President, then by all means vote for Mr. Kerry. If you are undecided, please feel free to read between the lines and see, in my opinion, a Socialist mind at work. ~prb
âI'm asking every American to be a Citizen Soldier again committed to leaving no American behind."â
ECONOMY
Taxes:
Will roll back the tax cuts implemented under the present administration.
Investors:
âKerry will curb late-trading and market-timing abuses by fully prosecuting Wall Street insiders that steal from American investors.â
Manufacturing:
New tax breaks to manufacturers who produce goods and create jobs in the U.S. âReliefâ for manufacturers that provide quality health care and retirement. Will enforce trade laws, invest in research, give tax incentives.
State Tax Relief:
Will create a new Federal âState Tax Relief and Education Fundâ that will help states so they donât have to make cuts in education or health care. This includes $10 billion.
Tax breaks:
Only for middle class families, in the form of tax âcreditsâ on health care and college tuition.
College:
New âCollege Opportunity Tax Creditâ which provides a credit for each year of college on the first $4000. of tuition. It will provide 100% of the first $1000. and 50% of the rest.
Corporate America:
Will stop corporations from having bank accounts in foreign countries.
Fiscal discipline in Washington:
Will implement the McCain-Kerry commission on corporate welfare to undermine the special interest groups.
Earned Legalization:
Allow undocumented immigrants to legalize their status if they have been in the U.S. and can pass certain criteria.
Economic Opportunity for Women:
Defends affirmative action, helping women-owned businesses in government contracting and making venture capital available to women entrepreneurs.
AGRICULTURE
Supports improvements to the 2002 Farm Bill and higher funding for conservation programs, development grant programs and the Farmerâs Market Nutrition Programs for Seniors and WIC.
Would fund research into renewable fuels.
Supports a ban on packer ownership of livestock, limits on subsidies to larger farming operations and has voted to limit the proliferation of animal confinements.
Supports proposal making low-interest loans available to rural small businesses adversely affected by drought.
Proposed increased funding for community health centers.
Introduced the Nurse Reinvestment Act.
Advocates Federal policies to bring broadband technology to rural communities.
Would fund conservation projects such as the Wetlands Reserve Program and the Conservation Reserve Program.
Would provide Federal funding to help rural communities provide clean drinking water and proper waste disposal.
CIVIL RIGHTS
Would preserve Affirmative Action, Title IX
Strong supporter of election reform law passed in 2003
Supports expanding the hate crime law.
Co-sponser of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act.
Would prohibit racial profiling
[These positions earned Mr. Kerry a 100% rating from the NAACP and the Human Rights Campaign.]
CHILDDREN:
Head Start:
Will fully fund the Head Start program with the âNational Education Trust Fundâ.
Health Insurance:
The Federal government will pick up the full cost of more than 20 million children enrolled in Medicaid if states agree to: (1) expand childrenâs coverage to 300 percent of poverty and enroll these kids; (2) expand coverage to families up to 200 of poverty; and (3) assure childless adults below poverty have health care coverage.
After School care:
Will fully fund the â21st Century Community Learning Centerâ program to ensure that all children have a safe place to go after school.
Child Abuse:
Fully support programs like âChild Abuse Prevention and Treatment Actâ and expand the Federal child welfare program to include prevention services.
Job Training:
Supports and will expand the YouthBuld program for job training, education and service programs for young people as well as their parents.
âKids Safetyâ at the FDA:
Proposed a new âKidâs Safety Effortâ at the FDA that would require testing prescriptions used for children and would require any food containing a major allergen to be labeled clearly.
Children with Disabilities:
Would fully fund the âIndividuals with Disabilities Education Act.
PUBLIC SAFETY:
Will fight to preserve and strengthen the assault weapons ban.
Will close the âgun show loopholeâ.
Will require that all handguns be sold with a child safety lock.
Will continue to support and will expand the COPS program.
âCreating a new Army of Patriotsâ - NATIONAL SERVICE:
Mandatory community service for high school students as a requirement for graduation.
Students can earn the equivalent of a four year public college tuition in exchange for two years of service.
Seniors would earn up to $2,000 tax free yearly for 10 hours a week service.
Would create a new Community Defense Service of volunteers.
Would put 13 to 17 year old to work in the community in exchange for a $500. grant to their college.
Advocates a major expansion of the Peace Corps.
Would recruit more Americans into the military by adequately funding the ROTC scholarship program and âmodernizingâ GI benefits.
SENIORS:
Cites vague promises but no concrete programs.
HOMELAND SECURITY:
Should be central mission of the National Guard.
Expand âAmericorpsâ and make Homeland Security itâs core mission.
Create new âCommunity Defense Serviceâ comprised of normal Americans, like the Civil Defense program during WWII.
Calling on the private sector to bring technological innovations to the War on Terrorism.
Wants to create a totally independent Intelligence capability that focuses explicitly on domestic intelligence and does not rely on other agencies.
Would connect the nationâs public health systems with a real time detection system. This would pool confidential patient data as well as pharmacy usage across the country to alert public health officials.
Wants to improve port security, bridges and tunnels, but does not state how.
TRADE:
Would use the âfull force of the World Trade Organization to take on countries that are manipulating their currency to undermine U.S. exports.â
IRAQ:
Would ask the UN for a proposal to transfer responsibility to the UN for governance and transfer of sovereignty to Iraq.
Immediately lay out a concrete plan for the transfer of power to the Iraqi people.
