-Pat Simpson
(This was supposed to be a Facebook note, but it got too big)
I never write notes. That should be patently obvious by my “Notes” section on Facebook being void of any entries—it’s a point I want to reinforce nonetheless. So why, you may ask, have I decided to break my ostensible silence so suddenly? Short answer: because I take arguments with my friends far beyond the pretense of reasonableness to prove my point…and enjoy it. Longer Answer: because I always criticize people for not thinking for themselves, and I thought it was high time to provide an example of why it matters.
It should be no secret by now that I support Senator Obama, and one of my friends decided to provoke my wrath by posting an article criticizing (what else?) Mr. Obama’s experience. I provide said article for your consumption: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1218710381368&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
And now my systematic and thorough dismantling of it. I’ll try to keep this as short as possible so those of you not fully invested in politics can still get through it without having to gouge your eyes out with a dull spoon. It tends to happen more often than you would expect.
Let us start with ¶2, as the first paragraph actually praises Obama’s “résumé”, and I find little to argue with.
It seems that Obama recognizes that while his résumé titles are impressive, his actual accomplishments are weak… So, he does what anyone else does who has spent years coasting on charisma without doing any heavy work: he pads his résumé--stretching the truth here, stealing credit there, and creating the illusion of achievement during his lackadaisical, undistinguished tenure in previous jobs.
Pretty heavy accusations there, Mr. Katsman. Let’s take a look at some of these weak accomplishments (from CBS news):
· Voted to raise the minimum wage in Illinois from $5.15 an hour to $6.50 an hour over two years. (2003)
· Helped pass a 5 percent earned-income tax credit for low-income working families in 2000; made the credit permanent in 2003.
· Voted for having Illinois endorse embryonic stem cell research. (2004)
· Successfully sponsored the Health Care Justice Act, a study of ways to implement a universal health care system statewide. (2004)
· Successfully co-sponsored a prescription drug discount buying club program for seniors and the disabled. (2003)
· Helped pass an overhaul of the state's troubled death penalty system. (2003)
· Successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform called the Gift Ban Act. (1998)
Considering all of this only comes from his time in the Illinois State Senate (I haven’t even brushed his National Senate record), I suppose you could call these accomplishments “weak” …if you were an elitist assprick. But let us give our blogger his entitled opinion and move on to the meat of the article. ¶3:
A few examples? Take Obama's first general election ad. We are told that Obama "passed laws" that "extended healthcare for wounded troops who'd been neglected," with a citation at the bottom to only one Senate bill: The 2008 Defense Authorization Bill, which passed the Senate by a 91-3 vote. Six Senators did not vote-including Obama. Nor is there evidence that he contributed to its passage in any material way. So, his claim to have "passed laws" amounts to citing a bill that was largely unopposed, that he didn't vote for, and whose passage he didn't impact. Even his hometown Chicago Tribune caught this false claim. It's classic résumé-padding--falsely taking credit for the work of others.
Yes, I bolded those sections for a reason. First I would like to point out that for an article which doesn’t link to any of the articles it mentions or cite any of the information included within, it certainly doesn't hesitate to jump on other's citations. Now let’s debunk his argument. For reference, Mr. Katsman is referring to H.R.1585 when he is talking about the 2008 Defense Authorization Bill. Katsman did get his facts right in one area here: Senator Obama did abstain from voting, but there is a very good reason why, which he so cleverly omits. But we’ll return to this later. For now l want to concentrate on the next sentence, that Obama didn’t contribute to its passage in any way. This is just a blatant lie: (Quoted from thesop.org)
· “Withdrawal from Iraq” Sens. Dodd (D-CT), Levin, Reed, Smith, Hagel, Kerry, Snowe, Biden, Obama, and Clinton filed amendment No. 2274 to require troop withdrawal to begin 120 days after enactment and to be completed by April 30 except for limited purposes. The reductions will be accompanied by a comprehensive diplomatic, political, and economic strategy that includes sustained engagement with Iraq's neighbors and the international community for the purpose of working collectively to bring stability to Iraq.
· “Iraq refugee crisis” Sens. Kennedy (D-Ma), Smith, Lieberman, Brownback, Biden, Hagel, Leahy, Snowe, Durbin, Feinstein, Obama, Menendez, Levin and Voinovich filed amendment No. 2872 dealing with the Iraq refugee crisis.
· ”Contracting” Sens. Obama (D-IL) & Whitehouse (D-RI) filed amendments No. 2084 & 2104 to increase transparency and accountability in military and security contracting.
These are only 3 examples of many amendments to the bill Obama sponsored or co-sponsored, the latter two were ratified. I’m not sure if these qualify under the ambiguous requirement for “evidence that [Obama] contributed to its passage in any way”, but evidently under Katsmans’ standards, they don’t. Obama’s arguably most important contribution to the bill, however, was rejected. I’m referring to the Webb Amendment that he co-sponsored, which required a minimum period between deployment for the members of the Armed Forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. This brings us to why the honorable Senator abstained from voting. He ardently wanted this provision to be included in the bill, but also realized delaying the bill’s approval to buy time to push the amendment through the Senate (mind you the bill had been stalled for several months prior) would do no good. So his choice not to vote was a political way of disagreeing with the Senate for rejecting the Webb amendment (among other things) without hampering the funding troops needed any longer (common practice among congressmen and senators alike for those of you unaware). Hardly something that requires our ire, but again that is just my opinion. As far as this Chicago Tribune article is concerned (which he provides no links to), I spent 2 hours trying to locate it without luck. I’m not going to say it doesn’t exist, because 2 hours doesn’t amount to a serious attempt at researching it, but it sure is making itself difficult to find. I am skeptical, however, of the article saying what Katsman claims it does, given his history of quote mining within the first 3 paragraphs of this masterpiece. But we must press on. ¶4-5:
Or take one of Obama's standard lines: his claim of "twenty years of public service." As pundit Michael Medved has pointed out, the numbers don't add up. Shall we count? Three years in the US Senate (two of which he's spent running for President), plus seven years in the Illinois State Senate (a part-time gig, during which time he also served as a law professor) equals, at most, ten. Even if we generously throw in his three years as a "community organizer" (whatever that means, let's count it as public service), that still adds up to just thirteen.
Obama's other activities since 1985 have included Harvard Law School, writing two autobiographies (including several months writing in Bali), prestigious summer law firm jobs, three years as an associate at a Chicago law firm, and twelve years part-time on the University of Chicago Law School faculty. As Medved notes, it takes quite the ego to consider any of those stints "public service." Which of them is Obama including?
Why Republicans insist on insulting Community Organizers is beyond me; plus the fact that he quotes Michael Medved should tell you all you need to know about just how radical Katsman is… Regardless, it should go without saying that his facts are incorrect. Although most fact-checking sites, like politifact.com or Tax Payers for Common Sense, credit Obama with 4 years in the Senate and 8 years in the Illinois State Senate, well give our mathematician the benefit of the doubt here for time served in the Senate. Note he indicates that serving as a Harvard Law Professor during his State Senate tenure somehow detracts from his community service record.
His schedule from the school shows him teaching two or three classes in the fall and winter terms — usually Constitutional Law III: Equal Protection and Substantive Due Process; Voting Rights and the Democratic Process; and Current Issues in Racism and the Law. In the spring, he would attend the Illinois legislative sessions. It seems a fairly safe bet that, like most legislators, his constituent work — fielding phone calls and helping people in his district — went on year-round. Press reports indicate he would do a small amount of private law practice during the summer. So that's eight years as a public official in Illinois -http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/mar/07/obamas-20-years-experience/
That puts us at 11 years (should be 12). Then he goes on to list his other “activities” after school in a light that makes them seem worthless. I’ll provide you with some details, something it seems Katsman loathes do to. (Again from politico.com)
To get to 20 years of experience, we still need eight years from Obama's career prior to holding public office. Obama graduated from Columbia University in 1983. He worked for a year as a financial analyst; in his memoir he said he spent his days behind a computer terminal, "checking the Reuters machine that blinked bright emerald messages across the globe" and feeling like "a spy behind enemy lines." He gave up that job to go into community organizing, work he felt was more important politically. He worked three years as a community organizer in Chicago before going to Harvard Law School. We won't count the junior-level business experience as working "on behalf of families who are having a hard time," but the community organizing work does seem to fit the bill. That brings his work experience to 15 years.
At Harvard, Obama began to receive national attention. He became the first black president of the Harvard Law Review and was recruited heavily by law firms around the country. (He met his future wife, Michelle Robinson, as a summer associate at the Chicago firm Sidley Austin.)
He graduated in 1991. He ran Illinois Project Vote, a voter registration drive, for much of 1992, and then accepted a position with the Chicago firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland. The firm specialized in political and civil rights work and neighborhood economic development work. He also began teaching at the University of Chicago in 1993. He was elected to the Illinois state Senate in 1996 and took office in 1997, so his full-time work after law school comprises five years. That gets us to 20 years.
In Katsman math we’re still only at 19, which I’ll admit isn’t 20. But it’s certainly not the gross lie Katsman is painting it as. Let’s move on. ¶6-8
Obama made yet another inflated boast last month during his visit to Israel. At his press conference in Hamas rocket-bombarded Sderot, Obama talked up "his" efforts to protect Israel from Iran:
"Just this past week, we passed out of the US Senate Banking Committee - which is my committee - a bill to call for divestment from Iran as way of ratcheting up the pressure to ensure that they don't obtain a nuclear weapon." (Emphasis added.)
Nice try. But as even CNN noted, Obama is not even on that committee. That is one peculiar "mistake" to simply have made by accident. Again, his claiming credit for the work of others just looks like clumsy, transparent résumé embellishment.
Katsman actually has a valid point here! Obama is not on the Senate Banking Committee, which is headed by Sen. Chris Dodd. By all intents and purposes this does seem like Senator Obama lied to puff-up his résumé. I’ll post the Obama campaign’s response and let you all make up your own mind.
Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said Obama was referring to an Iran divestment bill he introduced in 2007 with U.S. Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tom Lantos (D-Calif.). Last week, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs passed the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2008, which included provisions Obama offered in his 2007 legislation.
"The Obama provisions clarify that state and local governments can divest from companies that invest $20 million or more in Iran's energy sector and provide safe harbor for private fund managers who divest from such companies," according to a July 17 statement from Obama's Senate office.
In a separate statement July 17, Dodd thanked Obama for his work on the 2007 legislation.
"[Obama] meant to say 'my bill,'" LaBolt said.
The rest of the article derails into bloviating how horrible it is Obama would stretch these unproven, uncited examples-- and because I’ve already broken my promise to keep this short, I’ll spare you my rebuttal of them. There is one more sentence I’d like to direct your attention to:
Look at his record: he's now completed over half of a Senate term; yet, is there even one signature issue he has taken hold of, other than his own presidential run?... Even as a state legislator for seven years-or community organizer for three years, there is little that shows his imprint.
I want to send you to this: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/20/201332/807/36/458633
If you don’t have the patience to read it all, I’ll pick out a couple of things for you:
· S.1151 : A bill to provide incentives to the auto industry to accelerate efforts to develop more energy-efficient vehicles to lessen dependence on oil
· S.115 : A bill to suspend royalty relief, to repeal certain provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal certain tax incentives for the oil and gas industry
· S.133 : A bill to promote the national security and stability of the economy of the United States by reducing the dependence of the United States on oil through the use of alternative fuels and new technology, and for other purposes.
· On Iran: S.J.RES.23 : A joint resolution clarifying that the use of force against Iran is not authorized by the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq, any resolution previously adopted, or any other provision of law.
· On voting: Passed out of Committee and now on the Senate Calendar for Feb. 22, 2008
S.453 : A bill to prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections Please check this out! This is a great bill. We need this. I can't believe that this time voter intimidation is not already illegal.
· On veterans and military personnel: S.1084 : A bill to provide housing assistance for very low-income veterans
· On global warming: S.1324 : A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuel sold in the United States;S.1389 : A bill to authorize the National Science Foundation to establish a Climate Change Education Program; S.AMDT.599 to S.CON.RES.21 To add $200 million for Function 270 (Energy) for the demonstration and monitoring of carbon capture and sequestration technology by the Department of Energy. (This last one passed both the House and the Senate as part of the budget bill.)
· On campaign finance and lobbyists S.2030 : A bill to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require reporting relating to bundled contributions made by persons other than registered lobbyists; and S.AMDT.41 to S.1 To require lobbyists to disclose the candidates, leadership PACs, or political parties for whom they collect or arrange contributions, and the aggregate amount of the contributions collected or arranged.
· On Blackwater S.2044 : A bill to provide procedures for the proper classification of employees and independent contractors, and for other purposes, and S.2147 : A bill to require accountability for contractors and contract personnel under Federal contracts, and for other purposes.
· On global poverty S.2433 : A bill to require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.
· On global nuclear proliferation S.1977 : A bill to provide for sustained United States leadership in a cooperative global effort to prevent nuclear terrorism, reduce global nuclear arsenals, stop the spread of nuclear weapons and related material and technology, and support the responsible and peaceful use of nuclear technology.
· 9 education bills I won’t mention here.
This is a perfect example of how bloggers are allowed to post whatever bullshit they want without being held responsible for their lies. If you really want to talk about résumé-padding, I suggest we have a conversation about Sarah Palin…
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