John Kerry's Achievements

[complain jane]

Ok I hope I don't get in trouble for this but I'm posting a post I read on another message board, because it's such a fantastic, well-put-together post I thought it would help some here form responses to the righties' misinformation on Kerry's record.

Someone worked their butt off to put this information together, let's make the most of it.

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Kerry's Achievements

Ok, so my curiosity is inspired by what you said. I did a search under John Kerry; Legislation Authored, Legislation Sponsored by John Kerry. Most of my sources are from http://www.senate.govhttp://www.gpoaccess.gov/multidb.html , http://www.gpoaccess.gov/multidb.html , http://kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/issues/legislation.html# , so they are part of public records. I only spent a few hours doing this so I’m sure many efforts he’s made as a Senator are not included. Many of his bills are bi-partisan also. The list is pretty impressive really.

Legislation Sponsored, Co- Sponsored by John Kerry :
108th congress- 48 bills sponsored, 423 co-sponsored
107th congress- 146 bills sponsored, 467 co-sponsored
106th congress-63 bills sponsored, 473 co-sponsored
105th congress-40 bills sponsored, 268 co-sponsored
104th congress-92 bills sponsored, 233 co-sponsored

for specify bills sponsored by senators go to- http://thomas.loc.gov/ , http://www.gpoaccess.gov/multidb.html
http://kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/issues/legislation.html#

Legislation Authored/ Co-Authored by John Kerry :
I found 26 instances of Legislation Authored by Kerry, in my quick search:

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease....id=144-05252004
-- Kerry Wrote Parts of the Patriot Act to Crack Down on Terrorism
1. Kerry authored money laundering provisions in the PATRIOT Act. He believes those provisions should be strengthened to include non-bank institutions and increase funding for information gathering and sharing.-- Kerry spoke in favor of applying the same laws against terrorists we use against crime

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease....id=164-05112004
2. Kerry Wrote Legislation to Extend Health Insurance to Needy Children; Voted for Additional Funding to Expand the Program. In 1996, Kerry wrote the "Healthy Children, Family Assistance Health Insurance Program" to allow "families who do not qualify for Medicaid, but who are financially unable to purchase private insurance, to be given government subsidies to purchase private coverage for their children. 'This is a serious effort to stop the political bickering and help the millions of children without health insurance lead better and healthier lives, and give their parents the peace of mind they deserve,' Kerry said." (American Health Line, 6/21/96)

Boston Globe Called Kerry "Author" of Children's Health Bill. "Did it sound a little familiar when Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Senator Edward M. Kennedy announced their Hatch-Kennedy bill guaranteeing health coverage for the nation's 10.5 million uninsured children? Maybe you recalled that last year there was a very similar plan known as Kennedy-Kerry, with second billing for Senator John F. Kerry. Extra credit if you remembered that its original name was the Kerry bill, in honor of its author." (Boston Globe, 3/30/97)

http://www.senate.gov/~kerry/bio.html
In 1993, Senator Kerry voted for the 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, the largest and most specific deficit reduction plan ever enacted.
3. In l994, John Kerry introduced legislation to make $85 billion in specific program budget cuts over five years, and also led a group of five Senators in sponsoring another package to cut $43 billion from the deficit over the same time period.

4. In 1995, Senator Kerry built on his deficit reduction record by authoring The Responsible Deficit Reduction Act -- which proposed to cut unnecessary and wasteful government spending by more than $90 billion. In addition, he fought alongside Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to reduce more than $60 billion in wasteful "corporate welfare" from the federal budget. Most recently, John Kerry has supported two plans which balance the budget by the year 2002.

While cutting out government waste, John Kerry is also busy making sure that businesses are not unduly burdened by government regulation. A member of the Senate Banking and Small Business Committees, Senator Kerry was instrumental in easing the "credit crunch" in Massachusetts in the early 1990s and in increasing by a factor of six the amount of Small Business Administration funds available for loans to small businesses. And his efforts do not stop at the border.

As a member of the Senate Commerce and Foreign Relations Committees, Senator Kerry is deeply involved in the effort to develop better ways for American companies to access international markets so they can create more jobs at home.

5. He authored legislation to create new incentives for investment in start-up companies and to promote advanced and environmental technologies. He successfully pushed legislation for targeted preferential capital gains treatment of investment in new enterprises, and has been a leading advocate of a permanent research and development tax credit. Since coming to the Senate, he has sought prudent reform of U.S. export controls.

John Kerry firmly believes that business and environmental interests are interrelated, particularly in today's competitive, global marketplace. For example, on fishery issues, Senator Kerry looks for balanced and sustainable approaches that preserve fishery resources and traditional coastal communities, and has pressed for global bans of such destructive practices as commercial whaling and large-scale driftnet fishing.

6. He also has authored critical conservation bills like the Fishery Conservation Amendments of 1990, the Sustainable Fisheries Act and the Atlantic Coastal Cooperative Fishery Management Act. Kerry was a key backer of the Marine Mammal Protection Act Reauthorization and the Flood Insurance Reform Act, both of which became law in 1993. He is co-chairman of GLOBE-USA, an international group of legislators dedicated to forging an international environmental agenda.

Senator Kerry is well aware of the anger and cynicism felt toward Washington as a result of the perception of undue influence that special-interest money has on government via campaign finance. For that reason, long before his colleagues, he decided to refuse campaign contributions from special interest Political Action Committees (PACs). His was the first PAC-free Senate race in recent history. He was deeply involved in the successful effort to obtain Senate passage of the 1993 campaign finance reform bill, and continues to be a leader in the push for campaign finance reform.

As a former prosecutor, John Kerry knows about the best strategy necessary to fight crime. He helped lead the fight for passage of the toughest federal crime bill in a generation. During the 1994 legislative session, Kerry forcefully argued to the President and his Senate colleagues the vital need to put 100,000 new police on the streets and to increase funding for the Senate crime bill from $5.9 billion to $22.6 billion. He also won preliminary approval for the innovative proposal to establish a Police Corps that would add 80,000 new people annually to local police forces while creating educational and job opportunities for young people.

As a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Kerry is recognized as a leader in the creation of a new foreign policy in the wake of the Cold War. He has also won plaudits for his deft handling of the critical State Department Authorization Act, of which he was the manager and principal sponsor in 1994.

In addition to his work on issues affecting Massachusetts citizens, John Kerry is a member of the Senate Democratic Leadership. As Chairman of the Senate Democratic Steering and Coordination Committee, John Kerry works with other senators in developing better communication, coordination and partnerships with various groups and individuals across the country. These include citizen groups, advocacy coalitions, alliances at national, state, and local levels, and state and local elected officials including governors, mayors, state legislators, and others.
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http://kerry.senate.gov/bandwidth/issues/e...ent_record.html
Global Warming and Ozone Depletion
Senator Kerry has been a leader in the national and international effort to reduce the threat of global warming. The Senator has called on the Bush Administration to fix and finalize the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, an international agreement to reduce global warming pollution.

7. He authored a successful amendment to the Fiscal Year 2002 budget resolution that increased funding for renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change research. Additionally, he authored a resolution that passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee calling on the Bush Administration to engage in international efforts to mitigate the threat of climate change.

8. Senator Kerry authored bipartisan legislation with Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska that would require the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, one of the first of its kind to be introduced in the Congress. This legislation would provide the framework for understanding how the nation can best reduce air pollution and the threat of global warming.
• Senator Kerry has worked closely with the City of Boston to prevent flooding and develop open space along the Muddy River which runs from Brookline through the Boston Fenway to the Charles River.

Preserving Our Natural Landscape
9. The Senator authored an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 authorizing the Army Corps of Engineers to study a comprehensive plan for the Muddy River. The legislation became law and the basis for additional study, funding and project development.

• Senator Kerry lead the effort to urge the White House to select the East Coast Greenway—a proposed non-motorized trail extending from Maine to Florida—as one of the National Flagship Millennium Trails.

10. The Senator authored a bipartisan letter to the White House, and the trail was selected. The Massachusetts portion of the trail is planned to run up the Blackstone Heritage Corridor to Worcester, then east to Boston and finally to New Hampshire.
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http://slate.msn.com/id/2085944/
11. Senator Kerry was the co-author with former Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) of the successful effort to halt an annual $2 million subsidy for the mink industry - terminating a taxpayer give-away to the corporate mink industry. Kerry and Smith shepherded this amendment through the Senate during debate on the Fiscal Year 1995 Agriculture Appropriations Act, and they have repelled subsequent efforts by legislators aligned with the mink industry to revive the taxpayer boondoggle.

12. Kerry has also been the co-author, with Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), of letters in recent years sent to the leaders of the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture Appropriations to increase funding for existing animal protection laws, including the Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Slaughter Act. Thanks in part to his leadership - and collaborating with the powerful senior member of the Appropriations Committee, Robert C. Byrd -- the Congress has provided more than $26 million in new funds for animal protection programs in recent years. Kerry has cosponsored almost every piece of animal protection legislation - including measures to combat cockfighting, bear baiting, canned hunts, puppy mills, the bear parts trade, the exotic pet trade, steel-jawed leghold traps, and the abuse of "downed" livestock - introduced on behalf of animals.
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http://www.loudounfirefighters.org/Kerry.htm
13. Kerry wrote the legislation that created the COPS (Community Oriented Policing) program, which put thousands of new police officers on the streets, and supported laws to crack down on money laundering and international drug dealers. As President, John Kerry wants to fight illegal drugs by targeting the drug traffickers, and fully fund drug prevention and treatment to reduce the demand for illegal drugs.

John Kerry and Federal Fire Fighters
John Kerry believes that federal fire fighters should have the same rights as their municipal counterparts.
14. He is the author of the Federal Presumptive Disability legislation, S. 530, in the Senate. This bill will provide parity to federal fire fighters with their municipal counterparts in classifying certain cancers and heart ailments as job related ailments. John Kerry has supported federal fire fighters throughout his Senate career, cosponsoring the Fire Fighters Pay Fairness Act in two Congresses. This legislation would ensure equality between federal fire fighters and public sector fire fighters.
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http://www.blog.johnkerry.com/blog/archive...2003_12_07.html
U.S. Soldiers serving in Iraq are facing shortfalls in equipment including 1) special body armor, 2) armored Humvees to protect against guerilla attacks, 3) advanced anti-missile systems for helicopters.

Body Armor
One-fourth of the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are still waiting for the latest body armor. The Department of Defense says it will be the end of January 2004 before all the troops have been outfitted. $61 million would provide funding to purchase more than 40,000 sets of body armor ($1500 each).

15. John Kerry has introduced legislation requiring the Department of Defense to reimburse family members who paid money out of their own pockets to provide the personal body armor that the government failed to deliver.
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http://www.dontbefueled.org/legislation/past.shtml
2002 CAFE Legislation
16. In February of 2002, Senators John Kerry, a Democrat of Massachusetts, and John McCain, an Arizona Republican, drafted a bipartisan bill that would raise CAFE standards for all vehicles to 36 mpg. Democrats from Michigan prevailed in passing a competing proposal that directed NHTSA to consider CAFE within two years, and to take into account potential job losses and other economic impacts of changes to the CAFE standards. The Kerry-McCain proposal was shelved.
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http://blog.johnkerry.com/blog/archives/000435.html
17. Kerry did, introduce S. 2116, the Welfare Reform and Housing Act.
The bill conforms immigrant eligibility for HUD rental housing programs to other federal programs by confirming that qualified battered immigrants and Cuban/Haitian entrants are eligible. The 1996 federal welfare law provides access to most federal public benefits for qualified immigrants, including battered immigrants and Cuban/Haitian entrants. However, section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act, an earlier statute that governs eligibility for HUD programs, does not include these two immigrant categories.
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http://www.fishresearch.org/Articles/2003/01/groundfish.asp
Associated Fisheries of Maine and the Trawlers Survival Fund have drafted proposed legislation, which already has been circulated to congressional aides, that they hope Congress will consider to alter the rebuilding situation.
18. Even prior to this industry initiative, US Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and John Kerry (D-MA) recognized the magnitude of the problem and authored a bill to clarify that the secretary of commerce has authority to extend the rebuilding timelines under certain conditions.
This extra flexibility would "allow managers to meet social and ecological needs of the fishery," said the senators.
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http://daily.iaff.org/2004LegCon/031504speech.htm
19. He authored the Mychal Judge Act to hire 100,000 fire fighters that helped propel the passage of the SAFER Act, shortly after that most catastrophic day.
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Preservation Matching Grant Legislation
http://www.nlihc.org/mtm/mtm5-24.htm
20. Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA), John Kerry (D-MA) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) have introduced a Senate companion bill to the House-passed H.R. 202. Included in this legislation is a preservation matching grant program similar to the one established in H.R. 202. Portions of H.R. 202 were enacted in 1999 but several of the bill’s provisions were not. This bill tries to jump-start action on these issues in the Senate. The Santorum-Kerry-Sarbanes bill includes the preservation matching grant program, language to refinance Section 202 elderly housing, the authorization of appropriations for supportive housing for the elderly and people with disabilities, the expansion housing opportunities for the elderly and people with disabilities and provisions regarding mortgage insurance for health care facilities and home equity conversion mortgages.

A preservation matching grant program would give communities another tool to maintain affordable rental housing currently subsidized by the federal government but at risk of leaving the subsidy system. The grants would be administered by HUD and would go to state and local governments and could be used to provide assistance for acquiring buildings, rehabilitation, operating costs and capital expenditures. State and local funds would be matched on an one-for-one basis. Federal funds that states and localities choose to use for preservation (e.g., low income housing tax credits, HOME, CDBG, etc.) will be matched on a 50% basis.

The preservation matching grant program’s history in the Senate is rooted in S. 1318, a bill authored by Senators Jeffords (R-VT), Kerry, Grams (R-MN), Wellstone (D-MN) and Sarbanes.
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http://toughenough.org/public_html/2004_01...04_archive.html

He drafted the CHIPS bill with Kennedy that extended healthcare coverage
to children in every state. It was kennedy-Kerry Bill but when Orrin Hatch signed on Kerry's name was dropped as per rules of the Senate. (The Repubs try to spin it as if Kerry dropped the ball)

He also helped draft the bill that added100,000 cops on the street.

21. He helped draft the Hate Crimes bill.

22. He drafted the first gayfriendly anti-discrimination bill in the Senate in 1985. None would sign on to it with him or advocate with him. Too politically incorrect back then, I guess.

23. He helped draft the Kyoto Protocol for almost 10 years.
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24. Using FHA Surpluses To Create A Federal Housing Trust Fund
http://www.housingamerica.net/body_fha_surplus_study.htm
Policy Recommendations
1. Allocate FHA Surpluses for Building Affordable Housing Current law does not require FHA surpluses to be spent on addressing housing needs. The Clinton Administration and Congress should allocate the existing $5 billion FHA surplus for building housing for the more than 200,000 working families that would benefit from this use.
2. Create a Federal Housing Trust Fund Senator Kerry (D-Mass.) will soon introduce legislation creating a Federal Housing Trust Fund to ensure that FHA surpluses are legally earmarked for building affordable housing.

25. Kerry Authored the HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Assistance Legislation. John Kerry wrote the Aids Assistance legislation to help establish a comprehensive, integrated, five year strategy to combat the global spread of HIV and AIDS. It also significantly increases the funding for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria prevention and treatment programs. 'The Kerry-Frist bill is a huge step forward," said Senator 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 Bill Frist, press release 7/12/02)

Kerry's 'Nurse Reinvestment Act' Will Help End America's Nursing Shortage.

26. John Kerry is the author of the "Nurse Reinvestment Act" which will help end the nursing shortage in the United States and is threatening our health care system. Kerry's legislation provides scholarships for nursing students, establishes training grants for nurses, offers grants to nursing schools for loan programs, institutes career ladder programs, creates a nurse retention and patient safety enhancement grant, and provides for a public service announcement campaign to promote the nursing profession. Dr. Charles H. Roadman II, Pres. of the American Health Care Association said Kerry was "deserving of praise" for his work to pass the bill. (CQ Weekly, 4/24/03; 107th Congress, S. 706; Oncology Nursing Soc. website: ONS Supported Legis. 107th Congress; US Newswire 4/6/01; Wash Times, Letters, 7/28/02)

John Kerry, Protecting Americas Nurses
http://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61212

Fighting for America's Nurses
Throughout his career, John Kerry has proudly stood with and fought for America’s nurses. Kerry teamed with Ted Kennedy to fight against mandatory overtime. He co-authored the Nurse Reinvestment Act encourage more nurses to enter the workforce and improve training, education, and retention for those who are there today. And Kerry worked closely with nurses in Brockton, Mass. when they were forced to strike for better pay and working conditions. As President, John Kerry will continue to be a tireless advocate for nurses.
Priorities
1. End Mandatory Overtime: The Kennedy-Kerry legislation will place strict limitations on the mandatory overtime hours a nurse may be required to work.
2. Ensure Safe Staffing Levels
3. Combat the Nursing Shortage:. John Kerry co-authored the Nurse Reinvestment Act to encourage more nurses to enter the workforce and improve training, education, and retention for those who are there today. He believes we must fully fund this legislation.
4. Comprehensive Whistle Blower Protection
5. Strong and Enforceable Rules for a Safe and Healthy
6. Fighting for the Right to Choose a Union
7. Reduce Medication Errors and Stop the Scapegoating of Nurses

[blm]

1. heheh...some of that

sound familiar. REAL familiar.

[complain jane]

2. And this, Iran-Contra

Kerry Uncovers Iran-Contra

John Kerry, the man who uncovered Iran-Contra
The Democratic nominee has a long record of fearlessly exposing abuses of power -- including launching the investigation that unraveled the worst scandal since Watergate.

By Sidney Blumenthal

July 22, 2004 | John Kerry's political education is far deeper than that of senators who have merely legislated. He has journeyed to the heart of darkness any number of times and emerged to tell the tale. It is not simply that the commander of the Swift Boats unit with which Kerry served in Vietnam was the model of the bloodthirsty, bombastic colonel in "Apocalypse Now." Kerry's combat experience hardly ended in the Mekong, but moved into the dangerous realm of high politics.

From his first appearance on the public stage, giving voice as a decorated officer to the antiwar disillusionment of Vietnam veterans, when President Nixon and his dirty-tricks crew targeted him, Kerry has uncovered cancers on the presidency, and this is especially why the Bush administration fears him. He has explored the dark recesses of contemporary history, often without political reward or even acknowledgment. Tarred as a "flip-flopper" by Bush's $85 million TV ad campaign, Kerry in fact is one of the most consistent political leaders of his generation. The truth is a vivid and unbroken line, but only sketchily known.

In his first month as a senator, in January 1985, Kerry discovered the thread that would unravel the Iran-Contra scandal -- the creation of an illegal, clandestine foreign policy apparatus run out of the National Security Council by President Reagan's military aide, Oliver North, and directed ultimately by CIA director William Casey. Kerry had the training and instincts of a prosecutor and was informed by his Vietnam experience. As the first district attorney of Middlesex County (Boston) in Massachusetts, he had smashed the local Mafia. "A central part of my campaign had been the notion that I would bring to the Senate the experience of the Vietnam period, which cautioned me against the kind of illegal activities we were hearing about, and the things that were going on," Kerry explained later. "Literally, I did do an ad hoc investigation."

Kerry surrounded himself on his staff with tough, intelligent and independent-minded investigators, and he ordered them to follow the trail. In south Florida, they found men accused of drug running who were shipping guns to the Nicaraguan Contras and claiming to have been instructed to do so by the National Security Council. They tracked down a Contra advisor in Costa Rica known as "Colonel Flaco," who had evidence that North was involved in financing the Contras with Colombian drug money. The path led further to Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega and to Saudi funding sources. Kerry won support from Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to launch an official investigation in large part because of the drug aspect. (Since Vietnam, concerned about the destructive heroin addiction of many veterans, Kerry had keenly followed the geopolitics of drugs and CIA complicity.)

North learned of Kerry's work and told the Secret Service and the FBI that Kerry was protecting a possible presidential assassin. The FBI harassed "Flaco," subjected him to a polygraph and determined he was no threat, but he was intimidated into silence. Republican staffers leaked information about Kerry's investigation to the Reagan White House and Justice Department. An assistant U.S. attorney in Florida, prosecuting a case based on Kerry's leads, was ordered by the Justice Department to drop the matter. Then Kerry's top aide was falsely charged with ethics violations and investigated by the Senate ethics committee, which later concluded the accusations were empty. Conservative media published stories claiming Kerry was attempting to force witnesses to commit perjury. "Expensive, Extensive, in Vain," ran a headline in the right-wing Washington Times. Virtually the entire Washington press corps dismissed Kerry's effort as a fantastic delusion and ignored it.

In October 1986, Kerry questioned the neoconservative assistant secretary of state for Latin America, Elliott Abrams, who brazenly lied about foreign funding for the Contras. It was this testimony that led in time to Abrams' pleading guilty to a felony. (He was pardoned by the elder Bush and is now the NSC's chief for Middle East policy.)

A month later, the Iran-Contra story broke in a Lebanese newspaper. However, Kerry was excluded from the congressional investigating committee for the sin of having been prematurely right. As consolation, he was given chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and International Operations, where he plowed ahead. After three years, he reported that "individuals who provided support for the Contras were involved in drug trafficking, the supply network of the Contras was used by drug trafficking organizations, and elements of the Contras themselves knowingly received financial and material assistance from drug traffickers. In each case, one or another agency of the U.S. government had information regarding the involvement either while it was occurring, or immediately thereafter." His report also noted that "officials in the Justice Department sought to undermine attempts by Senator Kerry to have hearings held on the allegations."

Kerry's work on the Contra-drugs connection led him to discover a link to Bank of Credit and Commerce International, an operation that was a front for drug running, money laundering and terrorism. He launched an investigation that exposed its criminal "corporate spider web," as his report put it, in 1992. His report pointed to new areas that should be investigated: "Further investigation is needed to understand the extent to which BCCI and Pakistan were able to evade U.S. and international nuclear non-proliferation regimes to acquire nuclear technologies."

For decades, Kerry has pursued a persistent and cumulative investigation into the underside of national security and terrorism. If the Democrats had held the Senate for a sustained period of time, Kerry's work would have borne more fruit, and it is even conceivable that his proposal to regulate the netherworld of money laundering, which was not enacted, would have helped stymie al-Qaida.

From Vietnam onward, Kerry has probed the inner recesses of government, grasping that good intentions are never enough and that the system doesn't work automatically. He has experienced the abuse of justice; had his patriotism impugned; battled enemies foreign and domestic; tried to restore accountability; and fought on, down to today, which is why he is running for president.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2004/07/22/kerry/

[blm]

4. That Blumenthal piece is one EVERYONE should read

and become familiar with every point he makes.

[BlueEyedSon]

3. Pathetic that there is even a question

of who will win.

It's the dumbassification of America!