Name a Good Democratic Senator

[Ravenseye]

Seriously. Name one. I can't. They're all crap. All of them.

For every minor thing they do like block Bolton's cloture vote they do something ridiculous like not mention the DSM, rip on Dean's comments like untrained unpaid intern's with no political skill, and generally just watch their own backs.

Take a look at the last election cycle. The only candidates that seem to have not been speaking double talk to me were the ones who WEREN'T Senators.

Our Senators need to grow a pair. Or am I wrong? Name me a good Democratic Senator and how he/she makes up for the continuing lack of balls in the Senate.

[Vinca]

1. Boxer - I love her! More cajones than the rest combined. nt

[Ravenseye]

5. Why Boxer?

What has she done to show she has more balls? What am I missing?

[ET Awful]

11. Well, there was that whole questioning the election results thing

for example.

[Totally Committed]

2. Hands down...

Barbara Boxer!

Ted Kennedy is no slouch, either.

TC

[rox63]

3. Ted Kennedy

You can't fault Ted Kennedy's fiery liberal credentials.

[Ravenseye]

7. Kennedy just seems so....political

by that I mean he's a master double talker, talk arounder. It pisses me off.

Sure occasionally you'll see him making a great point, but in general...even for a guy who's seat is in NO jeopardy...he doesn't seem to put himself out there like a Rep like Conyers, or Kucinich or a hundred others do. Ya know?

[rox63]

8. He's a freakin' politician

They are all politicians, even Boxer, Kucinich and Conyers. Never forget that.

[Totally Committed]

14. Kennedy may be a politician...

but at least he shows up and votes. As his constituent, I can tell you that has endeared him to me.

Boxer is, hands down, the best Senator of the lot, though.

TC

[mod mom]

4. Barbara Boxer! that was easy!

[Oversea Visitor]

6. BOXER

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[TayTay]

9. Agreed, we should turn the senate over to the Rethugs

Obviously the Democratic Party is worthless and should be disbanded. Liberalism will never have any champions and resistance is futile.

I know, why don't you run? I'm sure that your shining moral purity and evidently huge pair of cajones will be an inspiration to us all. It's so easy to be an outstanding Senator, right? There are never any issues that you have to actually sit down and think about, just say the first thing that pops into your head. (Since you are morally pure from birth, it will be right and good and the people will flock to you right?)

So, please articulate to me, in four sentences or less how we can:
Give all the people health care without breaking the governmental bank;
Provide jobs for those who want them but can't find them (again, you can't break the bank on this either);
Find the correct balance between too much and too little government regulation; and
End the war in Iraq without it becoming a bloodbath (or a greater bloodbath that it already is.)

Please remember, no wimping out on these and absolutely no moral compromises. We must remain as pure and innocent as new-born babes. I know you can do this. After all, your criticism of others implies that you have figured out how to do this. You owe it to the nation to let the rest of us know how you intend to do it. A grateful nation waits for you.

[ClassWarrior]

13. Awww TayTay, you scared it away.

And I haven't had breakfast yet.

NGU.

[TayTay]

15. but, but, but..... he had the answers

Oh dear, how ever will we survive without that sure and certain knowledge of right and wrong and who is a sell-out and who is morally pure?

I fear for the future of the nation without a 'Holy One' to lead us. That means we have to make do with the ordinary humans that we have left. (eeeooowwwwhhh, yuck. Have you ever lived with an ordinary human? It's not pretty. They have, ahm, human needs. And they freeload your stuff.) Come back Little Sheba, we need you to tell us what to do!

[Ravenseye]

16. Ok How bout this

Before I answer your simple questions I"m not saying the Democratic party is pointless. I'm saying our Senators lately seem to be cowering too much, compromising too much, and generally not standing up to be counted.

Why don't I run? I just might, but I'm working my way up in the party the correct way. Maybe in 10-12 years it'll be the right time. I don't claim to have a shining moral purity. In fact people that pretned they do piss me off. Nobody does. That's what I'm complaining about. Just stand up in front of a camera or on the senate floor and be yourself, god damn it. I'm also not saying to not think about it, but how much thought needs to go into certain issues to actually say something significant? THey've had plenty of time to say stuff on all sorts of matters, and they don't.

Give all the people health care?
Institute a single payer plan and ban private health insurance.

Provide jobs for those who want them but can't find them?
I don't consider it the business of government to find everyone jobs.

End the War in Iraq without it becoming a bigger bloodbath?
The Bush Administration has created a horrific situation which will only get worse no matter what we do, so we pull out immediately.

[TayTay]

17. Good, this is progress

Now, let's have an example that starts at the beginning.

You are a local selectman or small city counselor. Your budget has been cut again because most of the money that comes into your town is spent on 'fixed costs' that you can't affect at all. (The pay for governmental officials who run the city or town, the salaries of the teachers at the schools, health care costs, etc.) The fixed costs are about 80-90% of your budget.

You have to make cuts because the state is not sending you an increase in aid to cities and towns because you have a Governor who has promised tax cuts and in order to get them he is freezing aid to cities and towns at last years levels. (Your fixed costs have gone up due to rising health care costs and union-negotiated raises of 1-3% for town employees.)

So, you have some choices to make. You have to play with less money. You have to make cuts. The things in your budget that you actually can legally touch are few and the effects are very painful for the populations affected. So, do you cut the Meals on Wheels programs for the elderly? Or do you vote to cut language, arts and advanced placement courses in the school system. You can't have both, you don't have the money and have no prospect of getting more tax money. Please tell me what the morally pure person would do? Please explain to me how easy this is and how easy it is to elect someone who can just magically solve this without bringing pain to certain affected groups?

Is this unfair? Hell yes it's unfair. Welcome to the real world.

[Ravenseye]

22. What's with the morally pure thing

You've sort of mentioned this a few times. Nobody is morally pure. I never said I wanted anything morally pure. I just want honest and forward. I want a Senator who stands on the Capitol steps and speaks the truth. I want a Republican senator to stand on the Capitol steps and say "What's the problem with Mary Carey visiting the White House, I love her movies. She's hot." :) Now of course that will never happen because NO Republicans EVER watch porn. I'm just saying.

Does "Honesty" to you actually read as "Morally Pure" cause if so that's just weird.

Anyway, to your question. What do I do. It depends on the size of the city, but I'd probably cut language, arts and ap courses simply because nobody will die if I do that, while we can't rely on charity to sponsor meals on wheels. Then I'd bring it to the community and the parents now pissed off about the schools taking a nose dive and explain to them that if they can do three things. Set up an independent organization to run Meals on Wheels as a self sustaining charitable foundation and we'll transfer the money back to education, agree to have their taxes raised to pay for both, or vote for a State and National candidate that will support local initiatives. Not easy for people to hear but there ya go.

It's not fair you're right. ONe of the prime lessons I was taught growing up was that Life Isn't Fair. I was also taught to be honest and speak my mind.

[TayTay]

26. Isn't this what the Senators you are complaining about do?

Aren't you being unfair by saying that no one is standing up and doing the right thing? Maybe what they are doing is weighing the moral challenges and coming up with answers that work for the greater good. And you don't have the same priorities.

No matter what decision you make in the budget crisis, someone gets hurt. Those school programs might be the difference between a kid going to college and a kid who can't go to college. People could die if the Meals on Wheels programs go away. These types of decisions are made every day in America. You would be villified by one group or the other as a sell-out. That would, I absolutely guarantee you, happen no matter what you say or do. That is the way it is.

There are honorable people everywhere who have given the better part of their lives to making things better. They are frequently demonized as sell-outs. They are no such thing. I can see at least 40 Senators on Capitol Hill who have given the better part of their lives to making things better. But they have opposition and they have opposing or dueling sets of 'good.' It's not that easy and hard choices have to be made.

[ClassWarrior]

10. Tell it to Russ Feingold.

You need to grow a pair of eyes.

Or else quit drinking the Radical RW koolaid.

NGU.

[lojasmo]

12. Yup, Boxer, Feingold. EOM

[Mass]

18. My two senators

kennedy and kerry.

Durbin, Dorgan, Boxer, Feingold.

[stray cat]

19. Feingold! You may not always agree with him but he has a backbone.

He does what he thinks is right regardless of anyone else. He was the only one who fully read the patriot act and the only one who voted against it.

[Ravenseye]

25. That's a good one

The one who voted against tyranny.

[Cocoa]

20. you will win this game for sure

and you don't have to limit it to Senators, you can do it with representatives, governors, mayors, you can do it with anyone.

The game of "prove they suck" wins every time.

But why play it?

[Ravenseye]

24. Because I want someone to show me

I WANT to see who's good. Sometimes I lose sight. Sometimes you need someone to smack you upside your head and say "Dude open your eyes".

I need to see examples of what they've done.

To say "They're great" but not being able to point out what they do, to me, reaks of just rooting for the team which is what the majority of republican voters do. I'm not like that. I need to see what they're doing, what they've done and what they stand for.

If we lose sight of that, they lose their responsibilty to their consitutents, their party, and their country.

[Seabiscuit]

21. Barbara Boxer. If you don't appreciate her you haven't paid attention

[Lloyd Christmas]

23. Chris Dodd

and for a congressman, Tim Ryan

[Skinner]

27. I'm locking this thread.

We welcome constructive criticism of Democrats on this website. But I fail to see anything constructive about dismissing as "crap" every member of the United States Senate that has a "D" after their name. Let's leave the blanket smears to our opponents.