Debate reflections...

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Debate reflections...
120
Fri, 10-08-2004 - 10:54pm
I'll be brief... Bush did not look like he wished to be elsewhere tonight. Beyond that, Kerry again wins. An incumbent should have an advantage; they live the issues daily. Kerry clearly bested him on so many things. Bush also showed arrogance by talking over Charles Gibson.

Bush is in deep doo doo.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2004
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 7:37pm
John Kerry was a leading advocate for democratic elections in the Philippines, serving as an elections monitor as part of a Senate delegation that uncovered the fraud that led to the ouster of President Ferdinand Marcos.

He was a strong proponent of U.S. participation in the NATO intervention that put an end to the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.

He worked with the United Nations and Cambodian government officials to facilitate the creation of the genocide tribunal in Cambodia that will prosecute key members of the Khmer Rouge.

He sponsored the Code of Conduct of Arms Transfers Act, which prohibited U.S. military assistance and arms transfers to nations that do not adequately protect the human rights of their citizens.

And he co-sponsored bipartisan legislation which imposed sanctions on Burma's military regime for detaining Aung San Suu Kyi and repressing her National League for Democracy party.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2004
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 7:40pm
John Kerry authored major elements of the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000, legislation which at the time provided the most money ever for fighting AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world.

He sponsored the bipartisan U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2002, comprehensive legislation that was unanimously approved by the Senate and became the foundation of the global AIDS legislation that was passed by congress and signed by President Bush.

Kerry chaired the landmark hearings that uncovered the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal - the largest banking corruption scandal in modern times. He led hearings which provided evidence that Haitian military officials were involved in drug trafficking to the United States. He also led hearings on corruption and drug trafficking by Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, and introduced legislation requiring the Reagan administration to cut off foreign aid to Panama because of drug-related corruption within its government.

Kerry went on a fact-finding mission to Nicaragua and presented his findings to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Based in part on John Kerry's groundbreaking findings, the committee reached a consensus decision to investigate the Contra guerillas and their connection to drug trafficking in the United States. The resulting investigation uncovered the Iran-Contra scandal, a scheme that diverted profits from illegal arms sales to Iran to support the Contra guerilla fighters in Nicaragua.

Kerry and John McCain "doggedly investigated" an important and volatile issue which some described as an "unglamorous task that nobody else wanted." Regarding the investigation, John McCain said, "John Kerry handled the chairmanship of that committee with tremendous skill." In 1994, John Kerry sponsored an amendment with McCain that urged the American government to lift its 25-year trade embargo with Vietnam. He then worked closely with McCain and President Clinton to facilitate full normalization of trade and diplomatic relations with Vietnam.

Beginning more than 15 years ago, John Kerry introduced legislation to assist veterans in receiving medical compensation after being exposed to the toxic chemical Agent Orange. John Kerry even testified before Congress to force the government to care for Vietnam veterans. John Kerry's bill, the Comprehensive Agent Orange Scientific Evidence Review Act, sought to require that the Veterans Administration(VA) look into the "health effects of exposure" to Agent Orange. John Kerry also voted to pass the Agent Orange Act of 1991 and the Veterans' Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service Benefits Act of 1989.

As a member of the Senate Housing Subcommittee, John Kerry has a long record of fighting for affordable housing. He shaped the first significant rewrite of the public housing program in over 20 years and worked to craft and pass a bill that helped save the government billions of dollars in rental assistance payments, preserved thousands of affordable rental apartments, and helped finance the rehabilitation of those apartments. With Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT), John Kerry sponsored the Affordable Housing Preservation Act to foster local partnerships between non-profits, state and local governments, and private landlords in order to keep existing housing projects available and affordable for low-income tenants. He worked to create and implement the "mark-up to market" program and he co-authored the Affordable Housing for Seniors and Families Act of 2000.







iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 7:43pm
Hmmmm... so he got ahead because of whom he married? Think you had better get back to studying. I live 20 minutes from Massachusetts, and grew up with Boston news stations and radio. I've followed Kerry's career since the early 70's. This guy busted his arse to get ahead. Who he married does not change that fact. Certainly his daddy didn't send him to someone and pray he would straighten him out. Nor did he support a war and then hide behind a tree while it was fought.


Edited 10/10/2004 7:46 pm ET ET by rayeellen
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2004
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 7:43pm
Now I'm not going to say Bush did nothing while Kerry was doing all those things I just posted. I don't know what Bush did in his years as Governor of Texas. Go ahead & give me a list of his accomplishments. But please don't list things he fought against & then signed only when he knew the legislature would override his veto, like the patients bill of rights for example.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 7:45pm
Kerry went to St. Pauls school just north of here. His relatives paid for him to go. When he was at Yale, he worked a warehouse job for two summers so he would have some money. I can see George doing that...
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 7:46pm
Nice work...
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-07-2004
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 7:56pm
Kerry was a teamster, served in the Navy, was a prosecutor, a private attorney, a cookie store entrepreneur, a lieutenant governor, and a senator. Even tho his 1st wife was worth 3 million dollars, he paid child support & school tuition for his daughters.

While a prosecutor he revamped the office, started a program that brought violent offenders to trial more quickly, started an arson task force, an organized crime task force, he helped create the first victim-assistance unit in the country, got a grant for it, started a rape-counseling unit, and made it easier to get restraining orders for abused spouses. The Massachusetts legislature eventually mandated similar units for all prosecutors' offices in that state.

As a private attorney he helped free an innocent man on death row.

He opened a cookie store & used his grandmothers chocolate chip cookie recipie & the store is still in operation today, altho he sold his interst some time ago.

As lieutenant governor it was Kerry's idea to create a governor's anti-crime council -- to mend relations between different branches of law enforcement. It was an idea Dukakis described as one of the most successful of his tenure. "That was his baby. That was his idea. We both took it very seriously. We never missed a meeting," Dukakis said. "He was great to work with, he worked hard and did a great job."

Kerry came to the Senate with a reputation for independence -- and reinforced it by making tough choices on difficult issues: breaking with many in his own Party to support Deficit Reduction; taking on corporate welfare, and government waste; pushing for campaign finance reform; and holding Oliver North accountable for Iran/Contra.

Now give me a comparable list for Bush. Or, since you feel Bush is worthy of re-election, give me a bigger & better list of Bush's accomplishments.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 9:37pm
According to electoral-vote.com Massachusetts is all blue. It's 64% Kerry and 27% Bush.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-05-2004
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 9:45pm
Thank you for posting this. I saved it so I can show people when/if I need to. Just wondering, where did you find these?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2003
Sun, 10-10-2004 - 10:23pm
They will definitely support him. Even this state, the most conservative in the region, will likely support Kerry. Republican registrations are down slightly, independents up a lot, and Democrats moderately. NH is changing... the Republican hold on it is starting to fade away. Will take time, but...

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