phoenix nest

In the media, all we read about is “Clinton attacks Obama”, “Bill takes shot at Obama”, “Clinton is spawn of satan”. As an Obama supporter and a self-proclaimed political junkie, I’m starting to get tired of the extreme media bias against Clinton and for Obama. The media has an obligation to be unbiased, and give a fair shot to all the candidates, but I’m starting to see something very troubling. That is, I’m finally starting to see what Republicans mean by the liberal media. It seems like they’ve already chosen the candidate they like, and look for any opportunity to increase his advantage.

MSNBC is by far the worst. During campaign coverage, it seems like Chris Matthews scathing disposition towards Clinton could cut through steel. Political blogs and social networking sites like digg and reddit are equally to blame in the online community. Take a look at this article I recently saw come to the top of my reddit RSS feed:

Let’s take a closer look at who’s really qualified and or who’s really working for the good of all of us in the Senate. Obama or Clinton.

Records of these two candidates should be scrutinized in order to make an informed decision.

Senator Clinton, who has served only one full term - 6yrs. - and another year campaigning, has managed to author and pass into law - 20 - twenty pieces of
legislation in her first six years.

These bills can be found on the website of the Library of Congress www.thomas.loc.gov, but to save you trouble, I’ll post them here for you.

1. Establish the Kate Mullany National Historic Site.
2. Support the goals and ideals of Better Hearing and Speech Month.
3. Recognize the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
4. Name courthouse after Thurgood Marshall.
5. Name courthouse after James L. Watson.
6. Name post office after Jonn A. O’Shea.
7. Designate Aug. 7, 2003, as National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
8. Support the goals and ideals of National Purple Heart Recognition Day.
9. Honor the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton on the bicentennial of his
death.
10. Congratulate the Syracuse Univ. Orange Men’s Lacrosse Team on winning the
championship.
11. Congratulate the Le Moyne College Dolphins Men’s Lacrosse Team on winning
the championship.
12. Establish the 225th Anniversary of the American Revolution Commemorative
Program.
13. Name post office after Sergeant Riayan A. Tejeda.
14. Honor Shirley Chisholm for her service to the nation and express
condolences on her death.
15. Honor John J. Downing, Brian Fahey, and Harry Ford, firefighters who lost
their lives on duty. Only five of Clinton’s bills are, more substantive.
16. Extend period of unemployment assistance to victims of 9/11.
17. Pay for city projects in response to 9/11 18. Assist landmine victims in
other countries.
19. Assist family caregivers in accessing affordable respite care.
20. Designate part of the National Forest System in Puerto Rico as protected
in the wilderness preservation system.

There you have it, the fact’s straight from the Senate Record.

Now, I would post those of Obama’s, but the list is too substantive, so I’ll mainly categorize.

During the first - 8 - eight years of his elected service he sponsored over 820 bills. He introduced
233 regarding healthcare reform,
125 on poverty and public assistance,
112 crime fighting bills,
97 economic bills,
60 human rights and anti-discrimination bills,
21 ethics reform bills,
15 gun control,
6 veterans affairs and many others.

His first year in the U.S. Senate, he authored 152 bills and co-sponsored another 427. These included

1. Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 - became law,
2. Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act, - became law,
3. Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, passed the Senate,
4. 2007 Government Ethics Bill, became law,
5. Protection Against Excessive Executive Compensation Bill, In committee, and many more.

In all, since entering the State/U.S. Senate, Senator Obama has written 890 bills and co-sponsored another 1096.

An impressive record, for someone who supposedly has no record according to some who would prefer that this comparison not be made public.

He’s not just a talker.
He’s a doer.

Firstly, I don’t understand how the author could write such a blatantly false article. Going to the Thomas website reveals that Clinton in fact has sponsored more bills than Obama. Here are the real facts for the

Obama has sponsored/co-sponsored 363 public bills of varying importance.
Clinton has sponsored/co-sponsored 492 public bills of varying importance.
Obama has sponsored/co-sponsored 70 public bills which have passed in the Senate.
Clinton has sponsored/co-sponsored 92 public bills which have passed in the Senate.

Now here is the interesting part. How good is Obama at writing laws that in fact get passed. Since Obama has been in office, he has gotten a totally of 3 of his sponsored/co-sponsored public bills passed. Here they are.

Barack Obama:

3 public bills passed.

1. [110th] S.597 : A bill to amend title 39, United States Code, to extend the authority of the United States Postal Service to issue a semipostal to raise funds for breast cancer research.
Sponsor: Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] (introduced 2/14/2007) Cosponsors (62)
Committees: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Senate Reports: 110-222
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-150 [GPO: Text, PDF]

2. [110th] S.1352 : A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 127 East Locust Street in Fairbury, Illinois, as the “Dr. Francis Townsend Post Office Building”.
Sponsor: Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] (introduced 5/10/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; House Oversight and Government Reform
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-43 [GPO: Text, PDF]

3. [110th] S.2488 : A bill to promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] (introduced 12/14/2007) Cosponsors (17)
Committees: House Oversight and Government Reform
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-175 [GPO: Text, PDF]

Interestingly, he isn’t even the main sponsor for any of those. Now Clinton’s record. She has passed a total of 4 bills passed. Here they are:

Hillary Clinton:

4 public bills passed.

1. [110th] S.214 : A bill to amend chapter 35 of title 28, United States Code, to preserve the independence of United States attorneys.
Sponsor: Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] (introduced 1/9/2007) Cosponsors (16)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-34 [GPO: Text, PDF]

2. [110th] S.474 : A bill to award a congressional gold medal to Michael Ellis DeBakey, M.D.
Sponsor: Sen Hutchison, Kay Bailey [TX] (introduced 2/1/2007) Cosponsors (71)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; House Financial Services
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-95 [GPO: Text, PDF]

3. [110th] S.597 : A bill to amend title 39, United States Code, to extend the authority of the United States Postal Service to issue a semipostal to raise funds for breast cancer research.
Sponsor: Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] (introduced 2/14/2007) Cosponsors (62)
Committees: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Senate Reports: 110-222
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-150 [GPO: Text, PDF]

4. [110th] S.2106 : A bill to provide nationwide subpoena authority for actions brought under the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund of 2001.
Sponsor: Sen Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [DE] (introduced 9/27/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Committees: Senate Judiciary; House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-113 [GPO: Text, PDF]

I think that Obama has the single most important bill there. But I got the impression that he was the sponsor of the bill, with the way he constantly brings it up. When really, we have Patrick Leahy to thank, along with Obama and 16 others. So I wondered, how does this stack up to some other big name Democrats.

Ted Kennedy:

9 public bills passed.

1. [110th] S.J.RES.13 : A joint resolution granting the consent of Congress to the International Emergency Management Assistance Memorandum of Understanding.
Sponsor: Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] (introduced 5/21/2007) Cosponsors (11)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-171 [GPO: Text, PDF]

3. [110th] S.888 : A bill to amend section 1091 of title 18, United States Code, to allow the prosecution of genocide in appropriate circumstances.
Sponsor: Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] (introduced 3/15/2007) Cosponsors (5)
Committees: Senate Judiciary; House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-151 [GPO: Text, PDF]

4. [110th] S.1002 : A bill to amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to reinstate certain provisions relating to the nutrition services incentive program.
Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] (introduced 3/27/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: House Education and Labor
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-19 [GPO: Text, PDF]

5. [110th] S.1104 : A bill to increase the number of Iraqi and Afghani translators and interpreters who may be admitted to the United States as special immigrants, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Lugar, Richard G. [IN] (introduced 4/12/2007) Cosponsors (11)
Committees: House Judiciary
House Reports: 110-158
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-36 [GPO: Text, PDF]

6. [110th] S.1704 : A bill to temporarily extend the programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] (introduced 6/27/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-44 [GPO: Text, PDF]

7. [110th] S.1868 : A bill to temporarily extend the programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] (introduced 7/24/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-51 [GPO: Text, PDF]

8. [110th] S.2258 : A bill to temporarily extend the programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965, to amend the definition of an eligible not-for-profit holder, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] (introduced 10/30/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-109 [GPO: Text, PDF]

9. [110th] S.2371 : A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make technical corrections.
Sponsor: Sen Kennedy, Edward M. [MA] (introduced 11/15/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-153 [GPO: Text, PDF]

John Kerry:

4 public bills passed.

2. [110th] S.214 : A bill to amend chapter 35 of title 28, United States Code, to preserve the independence of United States attorneys.
Sponsor: Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] (introduced 1/9/2007) Cosponsors (16)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-34 [GPO: Text, PDF]

3. [110th] S.2206 : A bill to provide technical corrections to Public Law 109-116 (2 U.S.C. 2131a note) to extend the time period for the Joint Committee on the Library to enter into an agreement to obtain a statue of Rosa Parks, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] (introduced 10/18/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Committees: House Administration
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-120 [GPO: Text, PDF]

4 public bills passed

4. [110th] S.2488 : A bill to promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] (introduced 12/14/2007) Cosponsors (17)
Committees: House Oversight and Government Reform
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-175 [GPO: Text, PDF]

In fact, aside from Bob Casey, my other State senator, I couldn’t find anyone I know with less bills passed than Obama. Even my Republican state Senator got more bills through than Obama, all in a Democratic congress. These actual accomplishment records aren’t very impressive now are they. Then again, if we wanted somebody who knows what they are doing, maybe we should have Joe Biden and Diane Fienstein has our two Democratic nominees. So aside from the fact that neither of our candidates have gotten much done, the above article was a complete lie.So next time someone tries to say that Obama isn’t inexperienced, they are lying. They are lying because neither of them has significant experience. Neither of them got many laws of importance written and passed. But I think it serves to prove my point that the media is just Dog pilling all this hate onto Clinton, when most people who support Obama can’t name one major accomplishment he’s done. While I can’t name any major accomplishment of Clinton either, I know she has at least 1 term of experience over Obama, along with a lifetime of political involvement as first lady of the United States and of Arkansas.

So why did I vote for Obama? Because aside from being virtually identical, Obama lines up closer with what I believe in, with my ideology — plain and simple. If it comes down to Clinton and McCain, Clinton will clearly represent me more closely.

All I’m saying is if you are going to make a judgment about a candidate, you should explicitly lay out your reasoning, as I have done. If you disagree with me, respond to me. Let people hear the arguments. I don’t give a shit if I’m right about any of this, I just want to make the right decision.

The Clinton dogpile and the state of our candidates.

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