My Senator Ketchup: Missing in Action

http://news.bostonherald.com/national/national.bg?articleid=1168 ^

[Dalan]

In any real job, you'd get fired for blowing off work like this while trying to get a new one. So why can't we fire this insipid loser?

Kerry not on roll with voting
By Jonathan Wells and Maggie Mulvihill Monday, March 1, 2004

Presidential hopeful John F. Kerry [related, bio] has been a virtual no-show in the U.S. Senate over the past 14 months, but he hasn't missed a paycheck, even though a dusty federal law says some of his $158,000 salary should have been withheld.

During his run for the presidency, Kerry has missed every one of the 22 roll call votes in the Senate this year and was absent for 292, or 64 percent of the roll call votes last year, according to a Herald review of Senate records.

That means the Massachusetts senator has been away from his post in the Senate chamber for at least 128 days over the past 14 months.

Kerry is not the only political truant. U.S. Sen. John Edwards [related, bio] (D-N.C.), the runner-up behind Kerry in the hunt for the Democratic nomination, has also missed every roll call this year and skipped 178, or 39 percent of the votes last year.

Kerry, when the assets of his wife are included, is one of the wealthiest members of the Senate with a reported net worth somewhere between $198 million and $838 million. However, he and the other AWOL candidates have been spared the automatic paycuts called for in a long-ignored federal law passed in the 1850s.

Section 39 of the United States Code Service requires the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Administrative Officer of the House to deduct daily pay from members for each day they are absent.

The only legal excuse is if the senator or representative, or one of their family members, is ill, the law states.

[OXENinFLA]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhh, keep Kerry and Edwards away while S 1805 is in the Senate.

[Dalan]

Yes yes, I know, it's better for America if these guys don't vote, but its the principal of the matter I'm talking about.

[Diogenesis]

If was really away, then why do the Republicans WHINE so much and give up so much?
What a bunch of .......

[Always Right]

And Kerry could have made differences in several key votes. While Kerry was on the road talking about all the people out of work, three democrats failed to show up for a vote which would have extended unemployment benefits. Kerry and Edwards were two of the three who did not show up. The vote failed by two votes. Thanks for caring guys.

[thiscouldbemoreconfusing]

What is S1805? I checked thomas and got this: The text of S 1805 has not yet been received from GPO

[OXENinFLA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1088315/posts

[thiscouldbemoreconfusing]

thanks.

[OldFriend]

The Senator from Massachusetts is AWOL

[jmstein7]

BUMP!

[monocle]

I think Kerry is on record voting "no" for cloture on filibusters of judicial nominees. If so, an interesting question to be posed to Kerry would be : If elected, Senator Kerry, would you accept filibusters of your judicial nominees?

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Kerry is not the only political truant. U.S. Sen. John Edwards [related, bio] (D-N.C.), the runner-up behind Kerry in the hunt for the Democratic nomination, has also missed every roll call this year and skipped 178, or 39 percent of the votes last year.

With apologies to Paul Vischer and Mike Nawroski -

"We are the pirates who don't to anything

We just stay at home, and lie around

And if you ask us to do anything...

we'll just tell you...

we don't to anything."