Are the Kennedys reflective of the MA mindset? (Boston, Washington: insurance, home)

[miu]

The Kennedys endorsing Obama will not have any effect on who I cast my vote for. I've never put any member of that family on a pedestal, and that includes JFK.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by airedaly

"Leaving MA" believes that Sen. Kennedy said "the military is bad and that American soldiers are "like Nazis" (direct quote)"

but without any evidence to back this up, I assume it is false, based on rumors.

Actually, I said it, and LeavingMA simply agreed. I do stand corrected though, given that I want to present correct information. It was Sen. Dick (pun intended) Durbin of Illinois who said it, on the floor of the Senate, and not Sen. Kennedy as I incorrectly stated.

Kennedy has however, stated very similar things and agreed in principle on several occasions.

Durbin Apologizes for Remarks on Abuse

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by airedaly

"Leaving MA" believes that Sen. Kennedy said "the military is bad and that American soldiers are "like Nazis" (direct quote)"

but without any evidence to back this up, I assume it is false, based on rumors.

In fact, Sen Kennedy supports our troops and always has. In a recent speech, Mr. Kennedy praised the “pride and valor” of American troops and said he and other war critics would always support them.

In a published letter to the President, Kennedy said:


December 18, 2007 --

It is wrong to provide yet another blank check to President Bush for his failed Iraq policy.

I support our troops, but I oppose this war. Our military has served nobly in Iraq and done everything we have asked them to do. But they’re caught in a continuing quagmire, and the long hoped—political solution is still as elusive as ever.

The toll in Iraq is devastating.

Nearly 4000 American troops have died, including 81 brave men and women from Massachusetts.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed or injured, and over four million more have been forced to flee their homes.

Nearly half a trillion dollars have been spent fighting this war that America never should have fought.

It’s wrong for Congress to write still another blank check to the President for the war. It’s obvious that President Bush wants to drag this process out month after month, so he can hand off his Iraqi policy to the next President.

Each month, American taxpayers are spending $10 billion on the war in Iraq. That’s real money and it could be used bring better lives and opportunities to American families:

* For the cost of only one month in Iraq, we could hire 230,000 new teachers to reduce class sizes so that teachers can spend more time with each student. Or we could provide needed professional development to improve the skills of two-thirds of the teachers in the country.

* For the cost of less than one week in Iraq, we could more than triple the number of children served by high-quality after-school programs. Measures to improve students’ academic achievement and social and emotional development help for hard-working parents and new ways to keep students and communities safe by decreasing drug use and violence.

* For the cost of three weeks in Iraq, we could fully serve all the needy 3- and 4-year-olds eligible for Head Start. These are children who need extra help and assistance to make them ready to learn when they enter school. Right now, we’re serving only half of all those who are eligible for such services. Last week, the President signed a Head Start bill to strengthen that program and make it even better, and help build a basic foundation for learning that will help low-income and minority children for the rest of their lives.

The war is also draining essential resources needed to protect our hard-working men and women.

* For the cost of one day in Iraq, we could hire over 2,700 new safety and health inspectors at OSHA—nearly quadrupling the inspections that help keep millions of American workers safe on the job.

* For the cost of one day in Iraq, we could double enforcement of the nation’s wage and hour laws to guarantee that workers are treated fairly. This help would go to protect hardworking families who rely on overtime pay, prevent violations of our child labor laws, and ensure that parents who need to care for sick children can meet their family needs and still return to their jobs.

* For the cost of one week in Iraq, we could train over 160,000 additional men and women for better jobs in the new global economy.

We all know how important access to high quality primary care is to the health of our nation especially. Yet nearly 47 million Americans are uninsured today, including 9 million children.

* For the cost of one month in Iraq, 20,000 new grants could be made to local health centers, and 19 million patients could be served for a year by these centers.

* For the cost of three and a half months in Iraq, we could pay for all of the uncompensated health care in the United States for one year.

* For one day in Iraq, which costs us 343 million dollars, 283,000 more children could be covered by the Children’s Health Insurance Plan.

* For one week in Iraq, at a cost of 2.4 billion dollars, nearly 2 million more children could receive that insurance.

* For one month in Iraq, at a cost of $10 billion dollars, eight and a half million more children could be covered by such insurance.

Mr. President, It’s wrong to neglect priorities like these at home and pour hundreds of billions of dollars into the black hole the Iraq war has become. It’s wrong to give the President yet another huge blank check for the war in Iraq. Enough is enough is enough is enough. I urge my colleagues to take a strong stand, and vote against this gigantic blank check for more war.

Source: Senator Ted Kennedy

I never said that, I was only agreeing with what neil0311's opinion was about the Kennedy's. I'm not saying whether that quote was correct or not.

[twiggy]

Well, looking at your threads I would say "no". It doesn't seem to since the resent pole on here has Hilary Clinton winning by almost 100%. I was surprised by this. I am sure the Kennedy's would be too!

[brightdoglover]

In 2004, Mass. went 60% for Kerry, 40% for Bush. Hardly monolithic.
Regarding the multiple Repub governors, I'm as guilty as the next. You'd think we'd learn that they are all stepping-stone their way to a "better" job in a Repub. administration, and rarely serve their terms (see under: Celucci, Weld) and Romney lied his way to the governorship and has spent most of his time campaigning for himself and deprecating the state he supposedly was governing.
Romney is a weasel.

[kgtgirl]

Originally Posted by Vagus

If, as everyone constantly repeats, MA is so "Democrat-liberal," how is it that pretty much every governor since 1990 or so (except the current one) has been a Republican? (Weld, Cellucci, Swift, Romney)? Seems to fly in the face of the monolithic Democratic image, no?

Mass is liberal, but we also like balance. Since our state house is ridiculously democratic we counter that with a republican govenor. Normally they work together which is why Mass is so great but of course with Romney he just fought the house, which is why I believe we voted in a democratic govenor. We like balance, but we also like peace.

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by brightdoglover

In 2004, Mass. went 60% for Kerry, 40% for Bush. Hardly monolithic.
Regarding the multiple Repub governors, I'm as guilty as the next. You'd think we'd learn that they are all stepping-stone their way to a "better" job in a Repub. administration, and rarely serve their terms (see under: Celucci, Weld) and Romney lied his way to the governorship and has spent most of his time campaigning for himself and deprecating the state he supposedly was governing.
Romney is a weasel.

You have to remember that the Republican governors haven't been able to do anything in this state. Deval Patrick is a democrat and is having a difficult time also. The democratic party in the MA statehouse can override any veto by the governor and basically controls the state.

Romney simply got tired of dealing with people who would never vote for anything he wanted. Look what happened regarding the car insurance issue. Republican governors have been trying to open-up the insurance agency for years, but it never happened. Now, once a democratic governor is in they can take credit for that.

The Speaker of the House has just as much authority in this state as the governor.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by LeavingMA

Romney simply got tired of dealing with people who would never vote for anything he wanted.

Romney was tired of everything about being Massachusetts governor before he took office. He simply saw the job as a stepping stone, and almost from day one was out of state a lot, bashing the state that elected him so he could curry favor with Republican presidential primary voters elsewhere. He should be ashamed.

[LeavingMA]

So I guess if Romney would have used taxpayer money to buy a new cadillac it would have appeared he did something.

[holden125]

Originally Posted by LeavingMA

So I guess if Romney would have used taxpayer money to buy a new cadillac it would have appeared he did something.

I personally have no interest in getting a Cadillac, but this is a symbolic wedge issue with no real substance. There is nothing particularly wrong with the governor of a state having a decent ride to do some work in while traveling around the state. More importantly, the cost of the car, or rather portion of the cost of the car that exceeds what a less expensive car would have been, is a drop in the bucket in a state's budget. $46,000 out of a $26.6 billion dollar budget is less than 1/5000 of 1%. That's 0.0002%. It's like a person who earns $265,000 a year after taxes spending 50 cents to buy the morning paper. Now divide that over a four-year term and it gets even more ridiculous.

CHAPTER 61 OF THE ACTS OF 2007

I work for a private company with under 2,000 employees and I've submitted more than the cost of his proposed Cadillac in expense reports for four European business trips in the past six months alone and nobody blinked.

Romney blew more taxpayer money taking a paycheck for a job that he was too busy bashing the state elsewhere to even do.