Tuesday, January 03, 2006
The Chuck Schumer Seven, Part I
Last Tuesday, Sen Charles Schumer (D-NY) stated "If the stars align right we could actually take back the Senate." He was referring, of course, to the upcoming senatiorial races in seven states in particular: Arizona, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Tennessee. These states offer some of the best chances for the Democrats to pick up seats and possibly regain control of one of the houses of congress. As I see things, this is the first step in the process if the Democrats wish to regain a foothold in our government. So, over the next few weeks, I will be taking a look at the leading republican candidates in each of these states in the hopes of exposing a weakness that the Democrats can exploit.
For the first installation of this series I'm going to look at the incumbent republican from Arizona, Jon Kyl.
Jon Kyl was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 where he served from 1987 to 1995. Then in 1994, he was elected to the Senate winning the open seat that had been vacated by Democrat Dennis DeConcini when DeConcini retired. With a combined twenty years in congress, Kyl has a long voting record that will be difficult to escape. For instance, on two different occassions (June 20, 2000, and June 11, 2002), Jon Kyl voted against expanding hate crime legislation to include sexual orientation. On two other occassions (Oct 23, 1997, and March 6, 1998), Sen. Kyl voted against funding for small businesses owned by minorities and women. So I guess it would be safe to say that Sen Kyl is no fan of civil rights.
Unfortunately, he's not much better when it comes to education. On April 4, 2001, Sen Kyl voted against reducing the tax cut to help pay for education. Then on May 15 of that same year, Jon Kyle voted NO to funding for smaller class sizes and increased teacher training.
Jon Kyl has also voted NO on banning "soft money" contributions, NO on banning campaign donations from unions and corporations, and NO on the McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. He voted NO on background checks at gun shows and he voted AGAINST an amendment to make it unlawful for gun dealers to sell handguns without providing trigger locks. He voted NO on allowing patients to sue HMOs and he also voted NO on including prescription drugs under Medicare. He's voted NO on adopting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, YES on military base closures, and NO on banning chemical weapons. He voted YES to allowing more foreign workers into the U.S., YES to repealing rules to prevent repetitive stress injuries, and AGAINST increasing the minimum wage.
Jon Kyl's voting record is a veritable laundry list of anti-civil rights, anti-education, anti-working class, anti-health care, pro-gun, and pro-corporate legislation. He can't hide from his record.
For the first installation of this series I'm going to look at the incumbent republican from Arizona, Jon Kyl.
Jon Kyl was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1986 where he served from 1987 to 1995. Then in 1994, he was elected to the Senate winning the open seat that had been vacated by Democrat Dennis DeConcini when DeConcini retired. With a combined twenty years in congress, Kyl has a long voting record that will be difficult to escape. For instance, on two different occassions (June 20, 2000, and June 11, 2002), Jon Kyl voted against expanding hate crime legislation to include sexual orientation. On two other occassions (Oct 23, 1997, and March 6, 1998), Sen. Kyl voted against funding for small businesses owned by minorities and women. So I guess it would be safe to say that Sen Kyl is no fan of civil rights.
Unfortunately, he's not much better when it comes to education. On April 4, 2001, Sen Kyl voted against reducing the tax cut to help pay for education. Then on May 15 of that same year, Jon Kyle voted NO to funding for smaller class sizes and increased teacher training.
Jon Kyl has also voted NO on banning "soft money" contributions, NO on banning campaign donations from unions and corporations, and NO on the McCain-Feingold overhaul of campaign finance. He voted NO on background checks at gun shows and he voted AGAINST an amendment to make it unlawful for gun dealers to sell handguns without providing trigger locks. He voted NO on allowing patients to sue HMOs and he also voted NO on including prescription drugs under Medicare. He's voted NO on adopting the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, YES on military base closures, and NO on banning chemical weapons. He voted YES to allowing more foreign workers into the U.S., YES to repealing rules to prevent repetitive stress injuries, and AGAINST increasing the minimum wage.
Jon Kyl's voting record is a veritable laundry list of anti-civil rights, anti-education, anti-working class, anti-health care, pro-gun, and pro-corporate legislation. He can't hide from his record.
