Obama's legistlative history vs Hillary's legislative history

[ORDagnabbit]

www.reddit.com

Senator Obama authored 152 bills - Hillary: Only 20 in 6 years

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 straight from the Senate Record.

Now we could 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

[billbuckhead]

1. You forgot all the times he voted "present", that's a real accomplishment

[RunningFromCongress]

2. I know you're not serious right? It's a tactical vote in the IL state legislature

[gateley]

6. As icky as that feels,

that really is a legitimate vote in the IL legislature.

[SteelPenguin]

7. Hogwash

Do some research on what it means to vote "present" in IL.

[JackintheGreen]

11. You're ridiculous. Actually CHECK your facts

A simple google search turned up this :

Unlike Congress and the legislatures of most other states, each chamber of the Illinois Legislature requires a “constitutional majority” to pass a bill. The state Senate has 59 members, so it takes 30 affirmative votes. This makes a “present” vote the same as a no. If a bill receives 29 votes, but the rest of the senators vote “present,” it fails.

In the Illinois Senate, there can be strategic reasons for voting “present” rather than simply no. A member might approve the intent of legislation, but not its scope or the way it has been drafted. A “present” vote can send a signal to a bill’s sponsors that the legislator might support an amended version. Voting “present” can also be a way to exercise fiscal restraint, without opposing the subject of the bill.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/opinion/16mikva.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

and this:

Mooney and other state capitol watchers and players say Illinois lawmakers often vote "present" as part of a larger party or issue bloc strategy.

Pam Sutherland is the president and CEO of the Illinois Planned Parenthood Council. She says Obama voted "present" at least seven times to provide cover to other abortion-rights supporters on such bills as the "Born Alive Infant Protection Act."

"Senators didn't want to vote pro-choice anymore, because they knew these were being used against them in their campaigns," Sutherland said.

source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18348437

and this:

“The ‘present’ vote is used, especially by more thoughtful legislators, not as a means of avoiding taking a position on an issue, but as a means of signaling concerns about an issue,” said state Rep. John Fritchey (D), an Obama supporter.

Sometimes using “present” votes is part of a larger strategy.

For example, in what was supposed to be the last night of the legislative session in 2002, the leader of the Senate Democrats said he had been double-crossed on a budget agreement when a major new revenue source was left out. His caucus didn’t have enough votes to stop the whole revenue package, which included cigarette tax hikes, and the Democrats agreed to most of the bill anyway.

“I’m going to recommend to the members of this side of the aisle to vote ‘present’ until such a time as we see a total package that’s going to balance the budget for the year 2003,” state Sen. Emil Jones Jr. (D) told his caucus.

source: http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=274863

And there's much more.

How dare you dismiss someone out of hand with only a suggestion that you have any idea what you're talking about?

I'm a former IL Dem, and I often disagree with the bullshit that goes on there under the guise of legislation, but it's a far cry from Sen. Clinton's assertion that in IL, it's yes, no, or maybe.

[olkaz]

3. Obama's Podcast kept me updated on all this.

I was especially interested in the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006 when he was talking about it on the podcast.

He said something along the lines of "As liberals, we should be even more particular about how our money is being spent, and that it is being spent in effective ways." Really stuck with me.

[anonymous171]

4. lol Most of Hillary's bills are vanity renaming bills.

[Coexist]

10. was that a sexist comment?!

:-)

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Authored 152 Senate bills in one year?

Sounds like HE should be the one who is making crap up because of sleep deprivation.

That is an astonishing amount of work for anyone, much less a junior senator.

Of course, he got a lot of practice in Illinois.

[papau]

8. LOL - your kidding right? Obama votes in Illinois and US Senate -are exaggerated in the extreme -his

Nuclear bill turns out to be a request to State for a study that State always does anyway - no new study was done.

His only other bill in the Senate added 20 million to a 5 million program and he agreed to sponsor a corporate tax break within his bill so as to get some GOP love and a GOP co-sponsor.

Meanwhile little was done by Dems in the Senate without Hillary in the power structure that made the decisions.

And those 820 Obama bills - what a joke - he did get some extra social program money and did get taping of the police actions - but other than that they were as mundane as anything you list for Hillary and involved his voting with the majority Dem party -

The advantage of having the Dem party being in the majority not being the situation for Hillary.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. But..but..she did vote for the IWR, landmines, and Kyl-Lieberman!

A record of unstinting humanitarian courage.

[futureliveshere]

12. Good one, though I would have preferred it to be a purely pro-Obama post. No need for any comparison