Just How Liberal Is John Kerry? According to Liberal Newspapers, Kerry is VERY liberal!

Various | 1-31-04 | Various

[Ciexyz]

If you want higher taxes, vote in John Kerry. If you want someone to redistribute your hard-earned paycheck to the teachers' unions, immigrants' rights organizations, and dear to the Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon, vote for John Kerry.

[jmstein7]

Lol! I think it says a lot when the NYT and WP call someone a liberal :)

[Dan from Michigan]

Good one for my new tagline.

[Dolphy]

Thanks for the ping. I have heard some say that Kerry isn't as liberal as Kennedy. The only difference between them is that Kennedy isn't as likely to try to disguise his leanings.

[jmstein7]

Lol! Good one!

[upcountryhorseman]

Can you say: socialist?

[jmstein7]

socialist

[Ciexyz]

The Senator voted: In Opposition to ACU

Great post!

[hosepipe]

Kerry is AS communist as Kucinich and twice as sneaky.. thats WHY he's winning the demo primary's and Kucinich isn't.. Sneaky is good in demo land.. the sneak quotient goes up as demo primary votes(ratings) do.. at the top.?.. the Clintoons..

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks!

The ADA data is important. However to me, Kerry's votes/stands in opposition to the ACU are what is really important.

I'm sure that Jim will add this ammo to his info on Kerry.

[Nix 2]

http://groups.msn.com/TheRepublicanTownhouse/thedemocraticcandidates.msnw

JOHN KERRY

Kerry claims he's for fiscal responsibility, but votes for higher taxes, and against tax cuts.

Kerry is extreme on abortion, supporting Federal funding and partial-birth abortions.

On key votes, Kerry voted 100% of the time with Senator Kennedy in 2001, 1999, 1998, 1993, 1992, 1989, 1987, 1986 and 1985.

Kerry's lifetime Liberal vote rating from Americans For Democratic Action is five points higher than that of fellow Massachusetts Liberal Ted Kennedy.

Kerry and Kennedy had exactly the same low rating from The American Conservative Union in both 2001 (4%) and 2000 (12%).

Kerry is against the Death Penalty.

Kerry is an extreme Environmentalist who votes with the Liberal Activist Group, The League of Conservation Voters, an average of 95% of the time in the last three Congresses.

Kerry has voted for at least 7 major reductions in Defense and military spending necessary for America's national security.

As Michael Dukakis' Lt. Governor from 1983-1985, Kerry supported granting prison furloughs to hundreds of Massachusetts inmates.

Kerry called for "Fiscal Responsibility," just like when he voted for the 1993 tax hike, the largest in history.

In his Senate career, Kerry has voted against a Balanced Budget Amendment at least 5 times.

Kerry has a lifetime rating of 26% from Citizens Against Government Waste and is a long-time supporter of Federal funding for Boston's "Big Dig."

Kerry voted against President Bush's tax cuts, at least the 10th major anti-Tax relief Vote of his Senate career.

In September 2001, Kerry said we should not raise Taxes in an Economic Downturn.

In April 2002, Kerry said he wanted a larger tax cut and was "not in favor of" a repeal.

Kerry Voted at least 5 times to raid the Social Security trust fund.

Kerry Voted at least 3 times against banning Partial-Birth Abortions.

Kerry Voted to allow Federal funding of abortions and to provide abortion counseling in Federally-funded clinics.

Kerry has Voted against requiring parental nofication for minors' abortions.

While Kerry earns a 0% rating from The National Right to Life Committee, his National Abortion and Reproductive Rights League rating is consistently 100%.

[Grampa Dave]

Nix, this is an absolutely great find.

Jim fyi.

[jmstein7]

Agreed. Thanks GD and Nix!

[babbabooeyToYall]

Interesting stuff, but since when has The Economist been considered a liberal news magazine?

[GraniteStateConservative]

In the Democrats' hard-fought senate primary, there was no ideological divide between the winner, Mr Kerry, and Mr James Shannon, who has been named the second most liberal member of congress by both Mr Ralph Nader and the National Journal.

I think the part about Nader and National Journal refers to Shannon, not Kerry.

[MEG33]

I google and find out things I have forgotten or never knew.I just found Kerry's letter to veterans on his website.

He works hard to get benefits for those murdering vet thugs(sarcasm) he describes in his Congressional testimony as the "vets against the war" leader.

I find the majority of vets(90%) are proud of their service and were discharged honorably(97%).Kerry was not representative of the vast majority of vets,his accusations were careless,cruel and absent of verfication.Bad acts occur in every war,and less so than in society as a whole.

[KQQL]

Monsieur Jean Kerry

Measure Number: H.R. 3396 (Defense of Marriage Act)
Kerry (D-MA), Nay

"I think there has been an exaggeration," Mr. Kerry said when asked whether President Bush has overstated the threat of terrorism.
SC Dem Debate 01/29/04

U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday said Pope John Paul II ``crossed the line'' by instructing pols to block legalization of gay marriage. ``I believe in the church'' and ``care about it enormously'' but said church leaders went too far."
Boston Herald 08/02/03

[Nix 2]

Byron York-NRO

As a senator with the responsibility to cast a vote on a variety of contentious issues, Kerry has had many opportunities to square off with the president. Yet an analysis of Kerry's 2003 Senate voting record shows that he did not show up for most of the Senate's confrontations with the White House.

The publication Congressional Quarterly examined 119 recorded votes held in 2003 in which the president had taken a position. CQ found that Kerry was present for just 28 percent of those votes. In contrast, Kerry's colleague from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy, was present for 97 percent of the votes.

When Kerry showed up, he did indeed vote against the president a significant number of times. In 2003, according to CQ, Kerry sided against the president 70 percent of the time. Kennedy, usually viewed as the gold standard of liberal orthodoxy, voted against Bush 53 percent of the time.

In a larger examination of all Senate votes, CQ found that Kerry and Kennedy have compiled remarkably similar voting records — a fact that will no doubt be used by Republicans who will seek to portray Kerry as a classic Massachusetts liberal, should he win the Democratic nomination and face President Bush in November's general election.

CQ found that in 2003, Kerry voted with Kennedy 93 percent of the time on roll-call votes in which both men were present. While that might seem like a lot, it was, historically, a rather low number for Kerry; who voted with Kennedy 100 percent of the time on key votes in 2001, 1999, 1998, 1993, 1992, 1989, 1988, 1987, 1986, and 1985, according to a Republican analysis of CQ's designated key votes from those years.

There are other indicators that Kerry's liberalism, when he is present for votes, matches or even exceeds Kennedy's and those of other liberal icons in the Senate. For example, Kerry has earned a lifetime rating of 93 from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action, which selects key votes each year and rates lawmakers according to a perfect liberal score of 100. Kerry's rating puts him in league with Kennedy, whose lifetime score is a slightly less-liberal 88, and other liberals like Vermont's Patrick Leahy, with 93, and California's Barbara Boxer, with 96.

Viewed from the other side of the ideological divide, Kerry has a lifetime rating of six from the conservative American Conservative Union, which uses a similar methodology to rate lawmakers according to a perfect conservative score of 100. Kerry's rating is the same as Leahy's and New York's Charles Schumer's, although it is slightly less liberal than Kennedy's lifetime rating of three.

On the issue of showing up for Senate votes, CQ found that Kerry's fellow senators running for president, John Edwards and Joseph Lieberman, also missed a significant number of votes, although far fewer than Kerry did. According to the CQ analysis, Edwards was present for 53 percent of the recorded votes in which the president took a position, while Lieberman was present for 45 percent.

Most senators were present for more than 90 percent of the votes.

[Nix 2]

LCV Lifetime Score: 96%

Kerry's Scorecard Page

Latest on the Issues

On the Bush Administration


"In fact, I think the person who has to worry about coming down to the South and campaigning is President George Bush, who's had 36 months of sustained loss of manufacturing jobs, who has ignored health care, who's turned his back on the schools in the South and who is fundamentally the worst administration in modern history with respect to the environment." (South Carolina Debate, 1/29)

"The governors of the country have come up with a smart program about so-called red zones with respect to forests. And this administration has ignored it. And they've gone the other way, by opening up forests to greater destruction, greater logging. We need to have a responsible environmental leadership in this country. This is the worst environmental presidency in modern history of our country and they're going backwards on clean air, backwards on clean water, backwards on forests, flood insurance. I wrote the flood insurance laws of the country. We've improved it. There's a lot more we can do. And we need a president who's going to do that." (NPR Debate, 1/6/04)

"Taken together, George Bush's environmental policies add up to the worst record of any president in our lifetimes," Kerry said. (Reuters, 11/12/03)

“When big oil says jump, George Bush’s only question is “how high?” But when New Hampshire families look for a fair break and some straight talk, all they get is the cold shoulder. New Hampshire’s Attorney General acted to get Exxon, Mobil, Chevron, Texaco, and other big oil companies to pay up for the damage they caused. But Tom DeLay and other Republicans in Washington have bent over backwards to shield these polluters from justice and force taxpayers to foot the bill. New Hampshire – and families like Lisa and Randy Denuccio’s – shouldn’t have to pay the price for Tom DeLay’s pandering.” (Press Release, 11/7/03)

Kerry stressed the need for a renewed commitment to environmental causes and clean water efforts. “George Bush is not funding water treatment," Kerry declared. (Boston Globe, 11/6/03)

"Investigators have conclusively determined that special interests and wealthy contributors played a decisive role in crafting the Administration's energy policy in 2001. But instead of yet another veil of secrecy, the people of this country deserve to know which special interest groups met with the White House and wrote this nation's energy policy. Instead of presiding over another blackout, this time of information the American people have a right to know, it's time finally came clean and released detailed information about who exactly the Administration met with and what they got in return." (Press Release, 8/26/03)

"The President has literally pulled the rug out from under every Governor's efforts to curb air pollution and he's penalizing families in the Northeast victimized by cross state air pollution. Pollution from power plants in the Midwest pours down as acid rain on New Hampshire and across New England. The President's own scientists admit that two-thirds of Americans have an increased risk of cancer from toxic pollutants, including mercury emissions from power plants. But when push comes to shove, this Administration takes the side of polluters over the public health of millions of Americans. We don't just need a new EPA Administrator, we need a new President who will keep his promise to protect clean air and we need to get rid of the biggest say one thing and do another President we've ever seen." (Press Release, 8/22/03)

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), another presidential aspirant, said, "Frankly, I don't have high hopes" for a nominee [for EPA Administrator] that would be acceptable to Democrats. (Roll Call, 7/14/03)

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said lack of funding is "emblematic of the environmental priorities of the Bush Administration." Kerry, who is running for president, added that Fairhaven residents shouldn't have to live with cyanide and PCBs because the administration can't find the money. (Associated Press, 7/17/03)

"Unfortunately, the reality of this 'national picture' is bleak. It includes: dirtier air because the Bush Administration has relaxed the laws governing polluting power plants; unhealthy drinking water because the Bush Administration has gutted important provisions in the Clean Water Act; and more dangerous toxic waste sites in our communities because the Bush Administration refuses to make polluters pay to clean them up. What good does it do us when the person in the White House only listens to corporate polluters and big money instead of protecting human health and the environment? If the Bush Administration wouldn't even allow the draft report to be released without first omitting important, science-based findings on climate change, I'm at a loss to understand how any of the findings in this report will ever be translated into meaningful action." (Press Release, 6/23/03)

[MEG33]

That does it ...Bush is poisoning the children!/sarcasm