Think Obama is just hype? Think Again...

I was reading Politico.com and somehow wound up on someone's page where they actually looked at all the bills sponsored both by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  They came to the same conclusion I had been saying all along--that Obama's senate record is stronger, and more ambitious than her's is.  Here's an excerpt--

she introduced one bill that offered tax credits for building owners
who clean up lead paint. Which is a very good thing. And Obama is a
co-sponsor. "S.1793 : A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
to provide a tax credit for property owners who remove lead-based paint
hazards."

Obama's anti-lead bill (S. 1306) directed the Consumer Product
Safety Commission to classify certain children's products containing
lead as banned hazardous substances. He had another bill prohibitting
the interstate transport of children's products containing lead.
(S.2132) And Hillary co-sponsored each of these.

In other words, they both care about protecting children from lead.

The difference is in the scope and the approach.

Obama's bill shows how he thinks big: do everything we can to make
sure that lead-painted Thomas the Tank Engine toys don't get into the
hands and mouths of millions of toddlers in this country.

Or Hillary: encourage people by offering tax credits to clean up
lead paint in old buildings. People have been talking about lead paint
in old buildings hurting kids in living in inner cities, since, well
when I was a kid — for decades. If it is still a big problem, is
offering tax credits for clean up, i.e. scrape down the walls and
repaint, the best way to protect kids from lead?

How many of you parents have lead paint problems? How many have (or
had) toxic Thomas the Tank Engine Toys? They are everywhere. The local
bookstore and kid's shoe store and the doctor's office and the
preschool and the toystore all have train tables. There is nowhere you
can go anymore with toddlers that doesn't have a Thomas the Tank Engine
train table covered with toxic toys. But that's just my feeling.

Obama's bills risk pissing off the toy industry and the Chinese. Hillary's risks nothing.

So as you can see-- a lot of people are doing the hard work of going and getting the information themselves and coming up with same result.  Obama simply thinks bigger, and instead of "going after a gorilla with a fly swatter" he chooses to use an A-bomb!  He also seems to get more of his bills passed despite this, and --oh my goodness-- most is due in part to that bi-partisan support he seems to be able to get on a lot of his bills...  Yeah..  Change you can not only believe in, but SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!

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 votingPassed 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 warmingS.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.

So there's some of that substance some of you have been wanting to see.  Still think he's just hype? 

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