John Kerry: just the facts : Cleveland IMC (((i)))

(Note: if you disagree, don't just shout out that there's no difference between parties, have some self-respect and go through this article, providing proof that Bush refused PAC money, and that Bush voted for the Sierra Club position 100% of the time, etc. etc.)

1984
Elected to the US Senate without accepting PAC money. While John Kerry does accept money from lobbyists, mostly for Teachers and Veterans, Kerry does not accept PAC money which is where the vast majority of special interest money comes from. John Kerry becomes a leader of campaign finance reform.

1985 - 1988
Cosponsors Equal Rights Amendment

April 1986
Chairs the Senate subcommittee on the Iran-Contra hearings that investigates US involvement in illegal gun-running and narcotics trafficking in the contra insurgency in Nicaragua.

1987
Cosponsors Civil Rights Restoration Act

1989
Cosponsors "Family and Medical Leave Act.

April 1989
Concludes investigations on Terrorism, Narcotics, and International Operations that exposes the US government's tolerance of drug smuggling under the guise of national security. The committee concluded that US officials "abandoned the responsibility for protecting our citizens from all threats to their security and well-being."

1992
Based on results of earlier investigations into drug trafficking and money laundering of Panamanian President Manuel A. Noriega, Kerry presides over a Senate probe that exposes the fraud, abuse and terrorist financing of the Pakistan-based Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI). Known as the BCCI scandal.

January 1997
Co-sponsors McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Bill to ban "soft money" (unlimited donations from corporations, unions, and individuals) and sham attack ads. Kerry also teams with Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota to present a Clean Money bill.

On the Environment

League of Conservation Voters Lifetime Rating: 96%

"John Kerry is a man whose unparalleled record on environmental issues has earned him an extraordinary lifetime rating from the League of Conservation Voters. . . .This is a man who understands that the 2004 election is about the world we pass on to our children not passing the problems of our world to our children. John Kerry is the candidate...to defeat President Bush, who has compiled the worst environmental record in the history of our nation."

-- Deb Callahan, president of League of Conservation Voters

“They have their Healthy Forests thing; it's a fraud. Clear Skies; it's a fraud. It's all very Orwellian -- remember in 1984 where "war is peace"? That's the Bush environmental policy.”
-- John Kerry, October 2003

Kerry's Environmental Record

The Senator was one of the original organizers of the first Earth Day in Massachusetts (in 1970), and chaired the National Earth Day board in 1990. He and Senator Barbara Boxer passed a Senate amendment to impose a moratorium on oil drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and the West Coast, including California's coastline. The Kerry-Boxer amendment closes a loophole that would have allowed oil companies to drill in environmentally sensitive areas and protects the fishing and tourism industries from being trumped by Big Oil.
Kerry co-sponsored Senator Lincoln Chafee’s Brownfields Revitalization and Environmental Restoration Act of 2000, a bipartisan bill providing national brownfields cleanup and redevelopment in urban areas. This legislation expands tax incentives for federal brownfields coverage and places brownfields revitalization in a special attention category separate from Superfund. The goal is to stimulate the economies of these communities by attracting new residents and businesses partially through brownfields improvements.

Along with Senator Joe Biden, Kerry sponsored a State Department bill amendment that addressed the issue of global climate change by mandating the Bush Administration to engage in international environmental renegotiations and to work toward revising Kyoto Protocol. This amendment would promote shared international responsibility from all major world powers in preventing the acceleration of global warming.

The Sierra Club has publicly commended Kerry for his environmental record, stating that, "there is no stronger advocate in the Senate for environmental protection than John Kerry."

He and Senator John McCain (R-AZ) brokered a bipartisan compromise to propose increasing fuel-efficiency standards by 50%, with a goal to reach a fuel economy average of 36 miles per gallon by the year 2015.

Kerry chaired a governor's task force on acid rain as lieutenant governor and developed a national platform to address the problem. He’s rewritten fishery laws, marine mammal protection laws, plastic pollution laws, flood insurance protection laws, and coastal-zone management laws. He also took the lead on tuna/dolphin safety issues and on banning driftnet fishing. Kerry led the fight to stop Newt Gingrich from attacking the Clean Air and Clean Water acts in 1996, and the effort in the Senate to stop the drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. He also put together the first-ever sustainable development conference in Asia.
Kerry’s Environmental Agenda

Kerry has said he would set up a toxic task force with the EPA, designating environmental empowerment zones for the most hazardous areas to receive federal priority. Through Kerry's Conservation Covenant, royalties from resource extraction will be reinvested and redirected into national conservation and protection efforts. He will develop a tracking system for chronic diseases that stem from pollutants, and will plug loopholes in the clean air laws after rolling back Bush's environmental deregulation. Other facets of Kerry's environmental plan involve water restoration for freshwater lakes, riverfronts, and lakefronts, as well as the removal of tax incentives related to urban sprawl. He will authorize full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, to be put toward the improvement of urban parks and recreation efforts.
John Kerry's energy plan includes a new Manhatten Project to make America independent of Middle Eastern oil in 10 years by fostering alternative fuels such as ethanol while making cars more efficient. The Manhatten Project will create 500,000 U.S.-based jobs in energy production. He also plans to make 20% of electricity come from alternative (non-oil) energy sources by 2020, along with some integration of hydrogen-based energy by 2020. He will make natural gas more affordable for Americans through the North American Energy Partnership, and will close a current loophole that allows luxury cars to receive tax deductions of up to $100,000.

Kerry has vowed to filibuster any attempt made by President Bush to open oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Senator Kerry has endorsed a Strategic Energy Initiative to target the private sector with incentives for the exploration of domestic and alternative energy sources. Approximately $16 billion in tax credits would be allocated for domestic oil production and development of alternative fuels. Experts predict this proposal could reduce American dependency on foreign oil by an estimated 1 million to 3 million of barrels per day. Tax incentives would be given to manufacturers producing fuel-efficient vehicles that utilize domestic biofuels and clean-burning fuel cell technology, as well as to investors of such technology.

In advocating a 20% national increase goal of converting to alternative energy vehicle technology, Kerry points to the billions of dollars in net growth accumulated by companies such as Honda, Shell, Toyota, BP, Ford, and Chevron when applying renewable resources ranging from electric to natural gas to solar to biomass to wind-based to fuel cell power when producing trucks, minivans, cars, and SUVs. This research has shown us that more jobs can be created from renewable fuels than from non-renewable fossil fuels, so consequently, an increase in renewable energy for the American auto industry will be both economically and environmentally advantageous.

Kerry has outlined a six-point plan:

1. A new and permanent commitment to “Green and Clean Communities.” He will fight for “Green and Clean Communities” by removing the threat of toxics from our communities, reinvigorating the Superfund cleanup program, improving our parks, and taking on traffic congestion and sprawl.

2. A new “Conservation Covenant” with America to protect and restore our nation’s Parks, lands, and other treasures for the benefit of future generations.

3. Protecting our Health by Reducing Dangerous Air Emissions. As President, John Kerry will immediately reverse the Bush-Cheney rollbacks of our nation’s Clean Air laws.

4. A new “Restoring America’s Waters” Campaign to clean up our nation’s waters, protect communities’ fresh water supplies, and help communities reclaim their riverfronts and lake-fronts as new centers of economic growth.

5. Reasserting American leadership in the international community to tackle climate change and other key global environmental challenges.

6. A new energy economy that will reassert American energy independence and power job growth and environmental improvement.

Kerry’s Voting Record: The Environment

2001-2002 On the votes that the League of Conservation Voters considered to be the most important in 2001-2002, Senator Kerry voted their preferred position 92 percent of the time.

2002 On the votes that the Sierra Club considered to be most important in 2002 Senator Kerry voted their preferred position 100 percent of the time.

2001 On the votes that the Sierra Club considered to be most important in 2002 Senator Kerry voted their preferred position 100 percent of the time.

2001-2002 On the votes that the National Parks Consevation Association considered to be the most important in 2001-2002, Senator Kerry voted their preferred position 100 percent of the time.

1999-2000 On the votes that the League of Conservation Voters considered to be the most important in 1999-2000, Senator Kerry voted their preferred position 94 percent of the time.

1999-2000 On the votes that the American Lands Alliance considered to be the most important in 1999-2000, Senator Kerry voted their preferred position 100 percent of the time.

Kerry has voted to limit subsidies that benefit farm conglomerates.

Kerry’s Economic Plan

He will eliminate Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Kerry will tighten restrictions and close loopholes in the tax code, so that corporations are no longer able to move offshore to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. He will hold a balanced budget summit to bring Republicans and Democrats together to map out a plan for economic recovery.

Kerry has proposed a "payroll tax holiday," exempting the first $10,000 of one's income from being subject to a Social Security tax. According to Kerry, this will target tax relief on the middle-class and lower-class by giving every worker a $765 tax cut and doubling that to $1,530 for every two-income household. He also wants to raise the minimum wage along with the Earned Income Tax Credit, so that non-Welfare working-class families receive tax deductions. Senator Kerry has suggested the formation of a job creation tax credit for employers who institute new positions.

Expand Opportunities for Minority and Women Owned Businesses

Kerry will support and expand the federal programs that assist minority and women owned businesses to form and grow and will use the power of the federal government to eliminate the discrimination that threatens their success. Kerry would also increase the percentage of federal government contracts that are awarded to small businesses.

Protecting American Workers

Kerry will require companies to inform affected workers, the Department of Labor, state agencies responsible for helping laid off employees, and local government officials; and Kerry will require companies to provide employees at least 3 months advance notice. He make sure the Federal government does not give lucrative contracts to companies that have a record of accounting fraud – like WorldCom – or are moving offshore. Kerry believes a “consumer’s right to know” system should be put into place that will require companies that have moved jobs overseas to identify where they are calling consumers from (i.e. India, Vietnam). And finally, to end every single tax credit that gives corporations breaks for moving jobs offshore.

Kerry’s Voting Record: Economic Policy

2002 According to the National Journal - Liberal on Economic Policy's calculations, in 2002, Senator Kerry voted more liberal on economic policy issues than 95 percent of the Senators.

2002 On the votes that the Americans for Democratic Action (liberal organization) considered to be the most important in 2002, Senator Kerry voted their preferred position 85 percent of the time.

2001 On the votes that the Americans for Democratic Action considered to be the most important in 2001, Senator Kerry voted their preferred position 95 percent of the time.

Cleveland Indy Media Center