Is Obama's 80% "No Vote" in Congress -- "progress"?

Question

(google Obama's voting record)

Answer 1

It's "change" to demonstrate that even the laziest bum will be paid when he has reached the Senate pay grade.

Answer 2

You couldn't even provide a link?

Answer 3

If you look a bit harder you'll find that McCain has had more absent votes than anyone, including the guy recovering from a brain hemorrhage.

Answer 4

Ha

I listened to his wonder speech the other day.  He put so much honey on his tongue that I got sick...

I'm serious, I listened to him talk for a few minutes and realized that he had fed me so much BS that I got a bellyache.

who the hellck to vote for

neither one of them is worth fecal matter

Answer 5

Wow, I'm not sure what he didn't do, but here's a partial list of what he did accomplish:

** First legislation, the HOPE Act, which increased Pell Grants to $5100, and later joined Senator Kennedy on the Higher Education legislation that passed July 20, by a vote of 78-18. That legislation also included funding for Predominantly Black Colleges to assist with counseling, tutoring and other needs of low income students. It also creates the Teaching Residency Act which will create a school-based teacher preparation program in high needs schools to provide each teacher with a mentor, content instruction, classroom management skills, a master’s degree and state certification, and a 2 year follow-up program.

**The Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006

is an act that requires the full disclosure of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007 on a website maintained by the Office of Management and Budget.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Fun...

**The Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act

Authored by U.S. Sens. d**k Lugar (R-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL), the Lugar-Obama initiative expands U.S. cooperation to destroy conventional weapons. It also expands the State Department's ability to detect and interdict weapons and materials of mass destruction.

Signed into Law on January 11, 2007.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community...

**The 2007 Government Ethics Bill

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/53_17/new...

http://www.commonblog.com/story/2007/9/1...

** The “Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act.

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd...

** S116 - Summer Learning demonstration project to provide summer learning grants and encourage new teaching methods.

http://www.pasesetter.org/demonstrationP...

and this one, moved out of committee just a few days ago:

Obama's Global Poverty Act of 2007, passed out of committee just a few days ago

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) today hailed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's passage of the Global Poverty Act (S.2433), which requires the President to develop and implement a comprehensive policy to cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015 through aid, trade, debt relief, and coordination with the international community, businesses and NGOs. This legislation was introduced in December. Smith and Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) sponsored the House version of the bill (H.R. 1302), which passed the House last September.

http://obama.senate.gov /

Amendments, that have all passed:

S.Amdt.159 to S.Con.Res.18 - To prevent and, if necessary, respond to an international outbreak of the avian flu.

S.Amdt.390 to H.R.1268 - To provide meal and telephone benefits for members of the Armed Forces who are recuperating from injuries incurred on active duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.

S.Amdt.670 to H.R.3 - To provide for Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) refueling capability at new and existing refueling station facilities to promote energy security and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

S.Amdt.808 to H.R.6 - To establish a program to develop Fischer-Tropsch transportation fuels from Illinois basin coal.

S.Amdt.851 to H.R.6 - To require the Secretary to establish a Joint Flexible Fuel/Hybrid Vehicle Commercialization Initiative, and for other purposes.

S.Amdt.1362 to S.1042 - To require a report on the Department of Defense Composite Health Care System II.

S.Amdt.1453 to S.1402 - To ensure the protection of military and civilian personnel in the Department of Defense from an influenza pandemic, including an avian influenza pandemic.

S.Amdt.2301 to H.R.3010 - To increase funds to the Thurgood Marshall Legal Educational Opportunity Program and to the Office of Special Education Programs of the Department of Education for the purposes of expanding positive behavioral interventions and supports.

S.Amdt.2605 to S.2020 - Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Federal Emergency Management Agency should immediately address issues relating to no-bid contracting.

S.Amdt.3144 to S.Con.Res.83 - To provide a $40 million increase in FY 2007 for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program and to improve job services for hard-to-place veterans

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.

--------------------------------------...

Barack has Written a total of 890 Bills and Co-sponsored Another 1096 since he started serving in the U.S. Senate.

Answer 6

Posted June 19, 2008 10:02 PM

The Swamp

by John McCormick

In a new 60-second ad set to start running in 18 states on Friday, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign cites Public Law 110-181 when he talks about his efforts to extend "health care for wounded troops who'd been neglected."

While the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee authored provisions that ultimately made it into the law, he did not vote for its passage on Jan. 22, when he was busy campaigning in advance of the South Carolina primary.

This is one example I found of him not voting.

Answer 7

That accounts for all of about his 5 votes in congress the rest were all 'here"

Answer 8

I think it shows integrity when he chooses not to vote for something with a lot of pork attached to it! Now that he'll be president, he'll be more in control of what's on the table. Would you vote for something that helped some a little but hurt others alot?

Answer 9

John McCain has missed 407 votes (63.8%) during the current Congress.

Barack Obama has missed 290 votes (45.5%) during the current Congress.

"Facts are stupid things"

Ronald Reagan

Answer 10

I can't find numbers that come close to that, can you provide an actual link? I've looked at his US senate record through the library of congress website. It is very impressive for someone who has been there such a short time.  The types, and extent, of bills he has written and sponsored are also indicative of the exact change he talks about. I encourage you and anyone else reading this question to find out for themselves. The library of congress is not a biased source.

I did as instructed and search google for the phrase you said.. here are my results:

from the second link that comes up (a non-partisan site):

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congr...

Barack Obama has missed 290 votes (45.5%) during the current Congress

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congr...

John McCain has missed 407 votes (63.8%) during the current Congress.

(BTW this makes McCain the #1 vote misser in the 110th congress)

Looking back on the 109th congress...

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congr...

McCain missed 9.0% (5th place!)

Obama missed only 1.7% (Well below the congressional average of 2.7% that year. Even better than the average republican: 2.2% missed votes)

After looking into the facts, I highly doubt this is a place that conservatives want to take this argumnet...