Voice Your Support For Kerry Here

http://www.factcheck.org/article.aspx?docID=155

For the record, the body-armor money amounted to just over 1/3 of 1 percent of the $87 billion supplemental bill that Kerry opposed.
Announcer: And what does Kerry say now?
Kerry: I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it
Kerry was referring to a measure he co-sponsored that would have provided the $87 billion while also temporarily reversing Bush's tax cuts for those making $400,000 a year or more. That measure was rejected 57-42.


http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0316.html


Kerry Was a Lead Sponsor of the Amendment to Fund Our Nation's Troops in Iraq Through Rescinding the Bush Tax Cut for the Wealthy: "The people who ordered up this war are the ones who ought to finance its aftermath. Yet when the Senate had a chance to vote on Oct. 2 for an amendment that would pay the postwar costs by temporarily reducing the tax cut for the wealthiest slice of Americans -- the less than 1 percent who $400,000 a year -- it was rejected, 57-42." [Broder, 10/12/03; 108th Congress S.Amdt. 1796]

Bush-Cheney False Claims:

Announcer: "Body armor for troops in combat."

Background voice of roll call vote: "Mr. Kerry"

Announcer: "No."

The Real Record:
Under Bush, Body Armor For Troops In Short Supply: Body armor that protects Reserve and National Guardsmen is in short supply in Iraq. According to the United Press International, "getting shot at in Iraq sometimes wait for new bulletproof body armor while active duty Army soldiers get it first, according to Reserve and Guard soldiers. Waiting for Interceptor body armor adds to concern among Reserve and Guard troops that they are treated like second-class citizens, even when it comes to lifesaving equipment. They say the treatment is unfair because enemy bullets make no distinction between Reserve and active duty." The armor can make a difference between life and death. The armor "is dramatically reducing the kind of torso injuries that have killed soldiers on the battlefield in wars past." [UPI, 12/3/03; Washington Post, 12/4/03]

Bush-Cheney False Claims:

Announcer: "Higher combat pay"

Background voice of roll call vote: "Mr. Kerry"

Announcer: "No."

The Real Record:

Under Bush, Soldiers Underpaid Or Overpaid And Forced To Return Money: A General Accounting Office study states that some activated Army National Guard soldiers saw delays of up to three months in their pay while others were overpaid an average of $48,000 and told later they had to pay it back. In case studies, GAO said, 34 Colorado soldiers were overpaid an average $48,000. Assistant Army Secretary Sandra Pack, in a letter to Rep. Christopher Shays, said the problems showed the Pentagon has not lived up to its commitment to the soldiers. And she said the department is "taking concrete steps" to ensure that service members receive accurate and timely pay. A majority of Guard members in a California military police unit saw three-month delays in their pay. [Associated Press, 11/12/2003]

Kerry Was the First to Point Out the Fact that the Bush Cheney White House Favored Halliburton Profits Over Protection of U.S. Troops: "Halliburton is guilty of shameful war-profiteering, and they need to be held accountable. It's dead wrong that Halliburton is bilking American taxpayers by overcharging the government $61 million for fuel while our troops on the frontlines are underfunded, overextended, and some have literally been left to buy their own body armor. Think about what $61 million could buy for our troops in need rather than lining the pockets of Halliburton executives. The Bush Administration should be ashamed that they bent over backwards for their biggest contributors while leaving American troops in danger. We need to get our priorities back in order. As president, I will fight the special interests, not coddle them, and I will make sure that no American soldier ever goes without the equipment they need to do their job." - John Kerry.

Kerry Has Always Been a Strong Supporter of Men & Women in Uniform: John Kerry has worked to support the men and women who defend the United States. Kerry knows what it is like to serve the country in uniform that is why he has strongly supported military pay raises and increased housing, education and retirement benefits for the men and women of the Armed Services. Kerry voted for the "Soldiers', Sailors', Airmen's and Marines' Bill of Rights Act" which authorized $46 billion over ten years to create a 4.8% pay raise for members of the military. The Act also authorized additional pay, retirement, education, savings, and health benefits. In 2000, Kerry voted for the McCain amendment to provide a further $28 million to service members for an additional allowance to military families who are eligible for food stamps?-a problem John Kerry wants to end. Kerry was a cosponsor of John McCain's Troops-to-Teachers Program Improvement Act which would provide stipends to members of the military who have recently retired or been discharged and are interested in becoming teachers. As recently as 2002, John Kerry voted for another pay raise for the men and women in the Armed Services. The 2002 vote provided "$10.4 billion for military construction and family housing" and "authorizes a new special compensation program which provides significantly enhanced compensation for military retirees with 20 or more years of service who incurred a qualifying combat-related disability." [106th Congress, S.4 & S. 389; Office of Senator John Warner; Senate Roll Call Vote 1990 # 214;1999 #26; 2000 # 61; 2002 #239]

Bush-Cheney False Claims:

Announcer: "And better healthcare for reservists and their families"

Background voice of roll call vote: "Mr. Kerry"

Announcer: "No."

Announcer: "Wrong on defense."

The Real Record:

Bush Decided To Cut Health Benefits For Middle Income Veterans: On January 16, 2003, the Bush Administration announced it would cut access to health care benefits for 160,000 middle-income veterans due to budget constraints. [Associated Press, 1/16/03;

A Quarter Of A Million Veterans Are Forced To Wait Months Before They Can See A VA Doctor For The First Time: At least 230,000 veterans are being forced to wait over six months for their initial visit to a doctor at the Veterans Administration (VA). In some parts of the country veterans are waiting nearly two years for those visits. The "Independent Budget," an analysis of the VA budget provided by veterans groups, has said "The Department of Veterans Affairs health care system is in critical condition." [Air Force Magazine, 10/02; http://www.pva.org/independentbudget/pdf/IB_04excsum.pdf]

Bush-Cheney's Denial of Active Duty Pay and Health Benefits: In other cases, injured solders were denied active duty pay and medical benefits. [Associated Press, 11/12/2003]

Kerry is a Strong Supporter of America's Military; Has Supported More Than $4.4 Trillion in Defense Spending & Voted for "Largest Increase in Defense Spending Since the Early 1980's": John Kerry is a strong supporter of the U.S. Armed Services and has consistently worked to ensure the military has the best equipment and training possible. In 2002, John Kerry voted for a large increase in the defense budget. This increase provided more than $355 billion for the Defense Department for 2003, an increase of $21 billion over 2002. This measure includes $71.5 billion for procurement programs such as $4 billion for the Air Force's F-22 fighter jets, $3.5 billion for the Joint Strike Fighter and $279.3 million for an E-8C Joint Stars (JSTARS) aircraft. Kerry's vote also funded a 4.1% pay increase for military personnel, $160 million for the B-1 Bomber Defense System Upgrade, $1.5 billion for a new attack submarine, more than $630 million for Army and Navy variants of the Blackhawk helicopter, $3.2 billion for additional C-17 transports, $900 million for R&D of the Comanche helicopter and more than $800 million for Trident Submarine conversion. The current chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John Warner (R-VA) stated: "The defense spending increase for FY03 is the largest increase in defense spending since the early 1980's-reflecting the importance of defending the homeland and winning the global war against terrorism [2002, Senate Roll Call Vote # 239; Websites of U.S. Senators Warner, Daschle, Dodd accessed 7/25/03]

Kerry is Working to Ensure the U.S. America's Military Remains the Best in the World: John Kerry is working to ensure the United States maintains the best equipped and best trained military in the world. Kerry has called for a strong national security plan base upon technological advancement to combat terror across the globe. John Kerry was a key part of the group which determined that, "A strong, technologically superior defense is the foundation for US global leadership. The US must speed up the ?'revolution in military affairs' that uses our technological advantage to project force in many different contingencies involving uncertain and rapidly changing security threats -- including terrorism and information warfare." Additionally, Kerry set the ambitious goal of creating a "modernized military equipped to deal with emerging threats to security, such as terrorism, information warfare, weapons of mass destruction, and destabilizing regional conflicts." In order to maintain the U.S. military's dominance into the 21st Century, Kerry would later say, "We must provide the training, equipment and technology that allow our Armed Forces to successfully meet the daunting security challenges of the 21st Century." [Dem. Leadership Council 8/1/00; Website of the U.S. Senator John Kerry; accessed 7/1/03]

Only John Kerry Will Ensure Military Reservists Have Health Care: John Kerry supports access to TRICARE for military reservists. This will improve the readiness of reservists called to active duty and provide for the care of their loved ones without the current disruptions that often occur when a reservist is called to active duty. For families that do not live near a TRICARE provider, have children or special medical needs, it may be impractical to use TRICARE provider. In these cases, Kerry supports allowing reservist families to keep their civilian insurance through paid for COBRA payments. [JohnKerry.com; 108th Congress, S.Amdt. 1269 & S.Amdt. 1816; 2003 #81]

Kerry Authors Plan to Help Reservists & Their Small Business Employers: John Kerry is the author of the Small Business Military Reservist Tax Credit Act to provide tax credits for small businesses to coping with employees called into active duty and help self-employed military reservists when they are called up. "This tax credit is critical to immediately help the families of reservists while they serve our nation, and to help struggling small business owners keep their small businesses running after the loss of a reservist employee to military service," Kerry said when he introduced the legislation in the Senate. [108th Congress, S. 1585; U.S. Senate Small Business Committee press release, 9/9/03]

Since Kucinich was a non-starter, I believe that most people who preferred a Republican administration (myself included), wanted to face Dean since he was considered the easiest to defeat.

I think that they were actually afraid of Dean and that's why they went whole hog to portray him as a freak up front. They spread the word that Bush wanted Dean to win and Democrats ran to Kerry.

I will be voting for Kerry/Edwards because I really don't want to spend the next 4 years in a drunken stupor!

Can't agree Duck. From the start, both Democrats and Republicans felt that the real battle was for the votes of the undecided centrists. Those were the voters for whom Dean (and of course Kucinich) had the least appeal.

Says them. Centrists always go for the maverick, as they did with McCain. Dean wasn't as left as some people would have you believe, and anyone who bothered to look at his record as governor would know that.

Kerry, Kerry, Kerry, Kerry. It is sad that an honest and intelligent man like Kerry has to deal with the disgusting political tactics of Karl Rove and George Bush. I'm afraid he will lose unless he picks up the aggression in criticizing Bush, as well as immediately answering the myriad charges and allegations the Bush team and their rightwing media operatives endlessly toss at him.

I wonder if Nader will return those Republican donations after the election? Certainly those Repubs will demand a refund if Bush loses.

Revel:

Thank you SO much for spelling out the reasons for Kerry's vote. It's amazing how this has been completely overlooked in the media.

Like my old pappy used to say, "The truth matters. Don't let the Republicans tell you otherwise."

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John Kerry opines:



Now there's an intelligent response.

It's not an intelligent response, but it was a predictable one.

Was George Bush's recanting of the WMD claims not the biggest flip flop of them all.

Oh that's right he didn't recant. He was simply mistaken.

I guess that's not a flip flop, just a flop.

I thought I was on a tuna boat when the catch was being hauled in.

Bumper Sticker Insubordination
A Kerry fan gets fired, and then hired, for her politics.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2106714/

Now, there's a man of integrity, standing up for the little guy (gal)!!!

I got an Idea Gang! Let's rename this thread "Misery Loves Company & Sour Grapes"!

That's a great story squinney

chuckster I will take your word, being the resident expert on misery loving company....I just looked at about 100 of your posts and failed to find one that was not confrontational, sarcastic and/or adversarial.

Therefore if you say a thread deals in misery or sour grapes, I must bow to your expertise. You are an ideed an expert at your specialty and I salute you for it.

Thanks for contributing.

Meanwhile I believe Kerry to be a better candidate because I feel that on his worse day he will be better than bush on his best.

Let's rename it, Ugly thoughts come from Republicans, like a great snail crawling atop a delicate flower.