The $87 Billion Dollar ANSWER

[nostamj]

as I've sampled the post-debate threads, I know I'm not the only one that's disappointed about one thing... Kerry didn't slam dunk the $87B sound byte and dump it back in chimpy's lap where it belongs.

so, indulging myself in a 'if I were Kerry's speechwriter' moment:

My opponent has gotten a lot of laughs out of my voting record on the TWO $87B appropriation bills.

Yes my friends, TWO bills. And TWO votes for TWO very difference reasons.

As Paul Harvey would say, it's time to hear, the REST of the story.

My opponent says: He voted FOR the $87B!

And he's correct! I did vote for the bill that placed the financial burden of the $87B on THIS generation. That $87B was PAID FOR by a small drawback on the tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans.

My opponent threatened to VETO that $87B dollars of aid to our troops... threatened to VETO it because his tax cuts to his friends were more important than the aid to our troops.

The bill was defeated.

My opponent says: He voted AGAINST the $87B!

And he's correct! I did vote against the bill that placed the finacial burden--along with the physical and emotional sacrifice--on YOUR children and YOUR grandchildren.

In the republican-controlled Senate and with more than enough votes from Democrats, there was no question that the $87B would be allocated... so I, with others Democrats, registered protests votes against the unfunded version of the bill.

My opponent does not have decades of service in the Congress on his resume, I can't expect him to know all the nuances of that culture. But his staff knows. And he knows his characterization of my votes are shallow, distorted, and simply false.

My opponent stamped his feet and refused to provide the aid (which, of course, should have been in place BEFORE the invasion) unless the cost was deferred from his, have and have-more, BASE.

It is wrong when war is sacrifice for the majority and opportunity for the few.

While my opponent daily makes cheap and disengenous jokes about this crucial funding for our troops, communities are holding bake sales and families are going into debt to purchase the body armor and reinforced HVs for their friends and children.

The money was approved, under his conditions, but it still has not been spent.

I do not consider any aspect of the Iraq conflict to be an occasion for laughter or derision. Certainly not the thought that went into my TWO votes for those TWO bills.

When it comes to the allocation of the $87B dollars for our troops, I made the right vote for the American people. A bill paid for by this generation... a bill that acknowledges that ALL Americans are expected to sacrifice in a time of war.

Had there been any question about final passage of my opponents, 'pay for it later' version of that bill, I would have voted for it. The troops' safety should always trump politics.

My opponent is concerned about 'mixed messages' demoralizing our troops... what is the message to our troops when their struggle is a laugh line and families like his are not willing to sacrifice anything in their support?

There is NOTHING funny about where we have been misled in Iraq. Nothing.

I wish my opponent, and his supporters, felt the same way.

on edit: a typo and a new line.

[4morewars]

1. Nice !!!

You should forward it to Kerry's people, ya never know, they might use it . Do you know any one in the campaign ? Give it a shot !

[Eric J in MN]

4. Or post it in comments at the Blog at

www.johnkerry.com

[nostamj]

6. oddly enough... I do know one of his joke writers!

and he's a huge fan of the ?W revue...

I think I'll sleep on it and look at the text fresh in the AM before sending on.

it just kinda poured out tonight... i know i'll want to tweak it.

[4morewars]

10. Do it, man !

Call your buddy, you have a better chance of cutting through the office bullshit that way (not a shot at Kerry, every office has it, you know what I mean) You might not have to worry too much about tweaking, they have people that do that, the talking points are there. Go for it !!!

[nostamj]

11. OK...

will do in the AM. this is a really direct contact though. will want to look it over before I send to him. as I said, he already respects my writing (?W Revue) so it has to be as good a draft as I can do...

thanks for the feedback!

[4morewars]

14. Right you are !

You know more about the technical stuff than I do, so have at it ! The worst thing that can happen is that they already have it covered, right? It's not like you need the job ! You raised some excellent points and I feel every thing we do helps. I'm sure this issue will be raised again, it seemed like *bush mentioned it a few times during the debate, and it seems to be a favorite talking point for them, the whole "dems are weak on defense","kerry is a flip flop",etc. So I wouldn't be surprised to hear your words in a Kerry or Edwards speech !
Peace, JOE

[nostamj]

16. "It's not like you need the job !"

oh, but I do... I DO need the job!!!!

[evilqueen]

2. excellent

I think you should email that one to [e-mail]

[nostamj]

9. thanks, done.

with a few edits and a little context...

[Disturbed]

3. Yes.

Your statement was correct but a bit too long. The first part would be the best way to explain that vote. Too bad Kerry didn't have your advice. He should have explained it just how you did.

;)

[nostamj]

5. yeah, it's LONG but...

I indulged myself based on the "rest of the story" reference.

I certainly could pull a small part of it to fit 'sound byte' size but, with this issue, it's difficult. no way it can be a one-line toss-off, so... want to lay out the "it's BUSH's fault" bedrock to the story....

thanks anyway! it was a fun writing exercise!

[dansolo]

37. Just get the most important part out there

If Kerry needs a sound bite, then he should just say that the reason that there were two separate votes was because Bush threatened to veto the first one, and none of the Republicans would support it, because it expected Iraq to pay us back for the money.

[Kanary]

7. Hear me out first, then you can yell. ^_^

Dept of Redundency Dept. :)

When you put in all those zeroes, THEN added the spelled out "Billion", I'm confused.... I'm like * -- can't count that high. :)

OK, scratch the silliness...... that was a *great* read! I indulged myself with picturing Kerry lecturing the little twerp with that, and it gave me great satisfaction.

OK, so I'm really low.... I really WANT revenge on the Twerp-In-Cheep.

:hi:

Thanks for sharing that!

Kanary

[nostamj]

8. thanks! fixed subj line....

knew there was something wrong with it but was obsessed with the content!

[LynzM]

12. Excellent!

Glad to hear you've passed it on, it needs to get out there! How about to the Daily Show, as well? Ya never know what Jon Stewart might be wanting to use :)

[nostamj]

13. well, I DO have a couple of TDS addys

might just do that.

thanks for the positive feedback. it is appreciated! :hi:

[phish420]

15. Hell Yeah!!...nt

[phish420]

17. Nominated for Homepage...nt

[nostamj]

18. homepage? wow

thanks. last time I had an 'original' thread there, it was hijacked and I had to pull it...

maybe i'll have better luck this time... ;-)

[noamnety]

19. anyone have the actual bill numbers?

I want to check out the voting records of everyone on the two versions of that bill, I don't know what to search on in the thomas site.

[nostamj]

36. missed this earlier...

sorry, don't know the numbers. you might find something on johnkerry.com though...

[SharonAnn]

20. Outstanding! This is exactly the type of answer that's needed!

Explain the two different votes!

Explain why the "No" on the second vote.

People can understand this.

[nostamj]

21. and dump the whole mess in Bush's lap

where it belongs!

that's my final point. * and the repukes engineered these votes.

on edit: thanks! :hi: appreciated!

[yodermon]

22. Well done! BUT!!!

I think the Kerry camp knows this already. He CLEARLY and DELIBERATELY chose to NOT answer the $87B question like this when it was lobbed to him as a softball by shrub last week.

My question, to anyone out there willing to think strategically, is WHY?

Understand.. I TRUST the Kerry campaign, and if they choose to not answer this OBVIOUS question, clearly they have a reason.

What is this reason? Are they saving it because answering it would be so damaging to Bush that they need to save their arsenal for, say, late October, or the last debate? Etc.

[nostamj]

31. I think the WHY

is what prompted me to write it. I had talked about the issue (in less detail) on the Guy James Show that afternoon and it was still rattling around my head.

I don't really think I know MORE than the campaign and I don't know WHY they haven't turned it on * YET. esp. with the insipid chimp using it for a laugh line in EVERY appearance.

it's not just the clarity on the VOTES that I would like to see addressed, but I want to see that cretin hammered for yukking it up about a WAR... a needless WAR... a seemingly endless WAR...

[dennis4868]

39. i think he did not get into....

the substance of that vote because he is always being trashed for having nuanced answers and in order to put this issue to rest he will have to give a nuanced answer. He may get more trashed by answering than simply saying what he said....that the way he talked about this vote was wrong, but Bush was also wrong starting this war in Iraq, which is worse?

Agree?

[nostamj]

40. i certainly agree that what I wrote would NOT

have worked in the context of the debate format.

we'll have to see if his answer was still too nuanced for * to grasp. if the chimp keeps using it for a laugh line at every campaign stop

[sonicx]

23. excellent. i can't wait for Kerry to kill this issue. nt

[Stephanie]

24. That is a beautiful answer, J!

Well done! Get that to Kerry ASAP.

[nostamj]

30. thanks, S!

I have sent it one place and will send to my friend who's working on the campaign today...

[Name removed]

25. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Vickers]

26. Um...public records?

Goddam, you ain't too swift (gewddit?!?!?!?!) are ya?

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Vickers]

28. Dude, I don't have time to teach you about that new internet thing

And you're about to get your shit blown out of the water here, so what's the point? Vote for that pussy Bush and pat yourself on the back about it, sheepboy.

[Qanisqineq]

29. That even cleared it up more for me

:kick:

[cap]

32. never mind $87 billion squandered...

How much never got rebuilt and just ended up in the pockets of Halliburton?

[nostamj]

33. actually, only a fraction of the $87B

was even targeted towards supporting the troops, and only a fraction of that has been spent.

and, of course, funds that were tareted towards reconstruction have been diverted in 'security' for the occupiers...

[NewJeffCT]

34. Too long - short take

My opponent has criticized me for voting for the $87 billion and then against it because of politics. However, the president threatened to veto the original bill because we took away the millionaire's tax break. Why is it okay for the president to play politics with the $87 billion?

[nostamj]

35. two long for a sound byte, of course

but, as I said in post #5, that wasn't what I was trying to do.

i think you need the two votes on two bills point, THEN turn it back on *

[althecat]

38. Cool :)

Bravo!