WillNotVote, I just love it when you set yourself up to be schooled. You give a web address for the Obama's page on the Senate.gov website. Each Senator sets up their own pages there. You have directed the reader to Obama's page where he prints, for the world to see, his voting record on every bill that comes before the Senate. Here is that address:
http://obama.senate.gov/votes/index.cfm?start=1
You sent the reader to this page because it shows that Obama did not vote on many of the recent bills, and you want to make it look like Obama is asleep on the job. It must be mentioned, however, that Clinton, McCain and Obama have all missed many votes during the campaign season. However, if the reader will take the trouble to page through Obama's voting record, they will see that Obama has been present for all of the important votes. Obama has been present and voted on 62 of the 154 bills before Congress in the current session beginning January 2008. Clinton has voted on 56 of these 154 bills. And McCain, who had already won the primary and didn't have to start campaigning against Obama until three weeks ago, McCain voted on only 33 of 154 bills.
As I have exposed in one of my earlier blogs, McCain missed more than half of his votes, even before he started running for President. In the First Session of the 110th Congress (2007), McCain missed a whopping 56% of his votes. McCain doesn't want you to know this, so when you go to his Senate web page, there is no tab to click to see his voting record (http://mccain.senate.gov). An American who wants to know how McCain votes has to look it up on the Library of Congress website (not user friendly) or go to the Washington Post website:
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/m000303/votes/
While you are there, pay special attention to McCain's votes on March 13 and 14, 2008. On those days we know he was present, because he voted on 22 bills. But he refused to vote on 22 other bills. He failed to vote on bills concerning border security, alien removal and English in the workplace, even though he has set himself up as the candidate who wants immigration reform favorable to Hispanics. He also failed to vote on the bills regarding efficient energy production, even though he claims to be in favor of this. He must not be very much in favor of efficient energy and immigration reform since her refused to vote even though he was present. As for Obama and Clinton, they were both present those days, and they both voted on all 44 bills.
McCain knows that public perception is all that matters, so he gives a news conference and says he supports certain issues, even though he refuses to vote in favor of them. He knows that most Americans never take the time to look up his voting record, and he makes sure that his Senate web page doesn't include this information.
I find it ironic that your blogger name is "WillNotVote." Did you get that name from John McCain?
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Greeting Bush With A Yawn
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In the last two months, top Spanish officials have made two trips to talk with their U.S. counterparts, in addition to meeting with the foreign-policy advisers for McCain and Obama. While Bush is still persona non grata in Spain, in the last two weeks Zapatero has hosted in Madrid Democratic Party big shots John Edwards and Bill Richardson. The conversations focused on improving relations with Washington regardless of the outcome of the U.S. election in November. "U.S.-Spain relations could use a shot in the arm and these types of meetings can help," says Sean Carroll, at the Club de Madrid, a nonprofit that conducts democratic leadership projects.
Spain, the world's eighth largest economy, wants to offer the United States its political and economic influence in Latin America. Madrid hopes the two nations can cooperate to build on institutions like the Ibero-American summits, which can help increase stability and prosperity in the region. The post-Bush era could also spur Spain to become increasingly involved in the rest of the world. One high-ranking official says Zapatero's second term "will be defined by foreign policy," and the Spanish leader was scheduled this week to deliver a major speech outlining his agenda, which will include poverty alleviation and curbing illegal immigration, as well as closer relations with the United States. Zapatero's spokesman says Spain's reputation in the Arab world, following its withdrawal of soldiers from Iraq, would be a particular diplomatic asset.
Clearly, Zapatero is tired of being the odd one out. Spain clashed recently with the United States and most of its European allies when it refused to recognize Kosovo's independence. Unlike France and Germany, it supports Turkey's entrance into the EU. And Zapatero is a socialist in a region where the right seems to be increasing its power. "In Europe the political context is difficult because Zapatero is ideologically in the minority, surrounded by conservative governments in Germany, France and Italy," says José Ignacio Torreblanca, of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
But what Zapatero—and, indeed, all Europe—needs is for Spain to cultivate strong relations with its neighbors so that the EU can speak with a unified voice on matters of global significance. "The White House doesn't want to talk to 27 countries," says Torreblanca. No matter who ends up living there.
With Barbie Nadeau in Rome, Clara Zabludowsky in Paris, Sophie Grove in London and Stefan Theil in Berlin
© 2008
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