ran 3.5 miles
In case you may have forgotten…
“Obama is a three-year senator without a single important legislative achievement to his name, a former Illinois State Senator who voted ‘present’ nearly 130 times. As president of the Harvard Law Review, as law professor and as legislator, has he ever produced a single notable piece of scholarship? Written a single memorable article? His most memorable work is a biography of his favorite subject: himself.”
That was an early and insightful quote from Charles Krauthammer, putting a leash on Obama’s undeserved hype before a teetering majority of this nation voted him into power for all of the, what many may argue, wrong reasons.
This guy even won the Nobel Peace Prize, having accomplished nothing, not having the dignity to refuse to accept such an honor he knew he did not deserve while so many others did, effectively lowering the criteria for every other recipient in the past and potential honoree in the future who may have genuinely deserved or will deserve the award...
...biting my tongue in this late hour to not allow absurdities to guide me to sleep.
1,235.3 miles to go.
In case you may have forgotten…
“Obama is a three-year senator without a single important legislative achievement to his name, a former Illinois State Senator who voted ‘present’ nearly 130 times. As president of the Harvard Law Review, as law professor and as legislator, has he ever produced a single notable piece of scholarship? Written a single memorable article? His most memorable work is a biography of his favorite subject: himself.”
That was an early and insightful quote from Charles Krauthammer, putting a leash on Obama’s undeserved hype before a teetering majority of this nation voted him into power for all of the, what many may argue, wrong reasons.
This guy even won the Nobel Peace Prize, having accomplished nothing, not having the dignity to refuse to accept such an honor he knew he did not deserve while so many others did, effectively lowering the criteria for every other recipient in the past and potential honoree in the future who may have genuinely deserved or will deserve the award...
...biting my tongue in this late hour to not allow absurdities to guide me to sleep.
1,235.3 miles to go.
Wow. Not a single "important" legislative achievement for the former constitutional law professor. Here are some pre-presidential achievements, though they may not live up to Krauthammer's undefinable definition of important.
ReplyDeleteObama served three terms representing the 13th district in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He sponsored a law increasing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare. In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican Governor Ryan's payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures. In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee when Democrats, after a decade in the minority, regained a majority. He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained, and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations. During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms. Obama resigned from the Illinois Senate in November 2004 following his election to the U.S. Senate.
Legislation in the US Senate:
Obama cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. He introduced two initiatives bearing his name: Lugar–Obama, which expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons,and the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, which authorized the establishment of USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending. On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama, along with Senators Tom Carper, Tom Coburn, and John McCain, introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008. Obama sponsored legislation that would have required nuclear plant owners to notify state and local authorities of radioactive leaks, but the bill failed to pass in the full Senate after being heavily modified in committee. Regarding tort reform, Obama voted for the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which grants immunity from civil liability to telecommunications companies complicit with NSA warrantless wiretapping operations. In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor. In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which was signed into law in September 2007. Obama also introduced Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections, and the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007,neither of which has been signed into law.
To Be Continued.
J
Later in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act adding safeguards for personality disorder military discharges. This amendment passed the full Senate in the spring of 2008.He sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran's oil and gas industry, which has not passed committee, and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism.Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children's Health Insurance Program providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries. Obama held assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Environment and Public Works and Veterans' Affairs through December 2006. In January 2007, he left the Environment and Public Works committee and took additional assignments with Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He also became Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs and was a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
ReplyDeleteWow. Give this man a prize. He does things. Things like every other elected official. Give this man an award. A yo-yo or a Nobel Peace Prize.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty certain I will never qualify as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, but if I should, I would rather accept the yo-yo as a more honorable prize than something that was once as honorable as the Nobel Peace Prize.
Just stating the facts.
ReplyDelete