Challenge for all the Hillary people

Name one real issue that Hillary has taken the lead on in her time in the Senate. Everyone talks about her leadership abilities, so lets see it, what has she really led on?

Note for Edwards supporters: co-sponsoring the IWR doesn't really count.

Also she has been a big advocate for rescue workers injured/made sick at Ground Zero.

Reform of what, and how?

Obama has been very good on government transparency in terms of lobbyist & pork disclosure.

http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/07/01/20070108.html

http://obama.senate.gov/press/060908-senate_passes_c/

Too name a few...

Call Robert Byrd and ask what he thinks of her efforts for New York Post 9/11...call first responders in New York and ask what they think...

She said she would not take war off the table regarding Iran, and boy oh boy, in keeping with that theme, just voted along the same lines. (Last week's Iran resolution)

In fact what the netroots doesn't want you to focus on is that the sections (3 & 4) of the resolution that did imply military action might be appropriate...were stripped out at the behest of Democrats...so in fact the resolution does not approve military action...

What they also don't want you to focus on is that Barack Obama cosponsored legislation earlier that did the same thing as Kyl-Lieberman...

but from your foLLow up, i assume you feeL the same.

I can find "as submitted",but it looks like it was modified before being voted on and the final version isn't available on Thomas yet.

Putting her senate record aside, her experience as First Lady is long and distinguished.

When asked about his wife's role in his administration in August of 2000, President Bill Clinton said "She basically had an unprecedented level of activity in her present position over the last eight years.''

Her record as First Lady, Hillary Clinton says, includes work on a major Clinton administration child-care initiative, a huge federal-state children's health insurance program, adoption and foster care bills and foreign aid appropriations for small loans overseas.

''The record's there, and what I did is sort of self-evident I think, but it may come as new information to a lot of people,'' Mrs. Clinton said in an interview in 2000.

Pressed later about whether her new descriptions of acting as, in essence, a senior presidential adviser went beyond the job of first lady, Mrs. Clinton laughed out loud and said: ''I'm not going to have it any more. And the next first lady doesn't have to do it.''

Agency heads, other administration officials, Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill generally confirm Mrs. Clinton's assertions, but say that her role was kept quiet to avoid the kind of vilification she had attracted over her central part in health care policy.

Mrs. Clinton described her White House issues staff, which had offices in both the West Wing and the old Executive Office Building, ''as part of the domestic policy operation in the White House.'' Although she also had a small staff in the East Wing to handle first lady social responsibilities, Mrs. Clinton said that ''I realized very soon that, you know, if I had some first lady staff over here, I wouldn't be able to get things done.''

She said that she and her policy staff had the responsibility for pushing legislation and programs that would benefit children, women and health care -- issues that have concerned her, she said, for the last 30 years.

Mrs. Clinton's Democratic supporters on Capitol Hill echo her claims.

''Her office and her in particular were key allies of ours and the progressives in the Senate who were trying to pursue an agenda in the areas of children, education, health care and job training,'' said Nick Littlefield, who worked with Senator Edward M. Kennedy and was the staff director to the Health, Education and Labor Committee at the time. He added that ''once we discovered that Mrs. Clinton was running a public advocacy organization inside the White House, it followed automatically that we would start talking to her.''

She said, for example, that the Clinton administration program to guarantee free immunizations for poor and uninsured children, passed in 1993, ''was basically drafted in my office under my supervision.'' The program was a precursor to health care and its policy was largely rejected by Congress, but the Clinton administration did get $585 million for vaccines.

Mrs. Clinton also said that her staff had a large part in the development of the Corporation for National Service, the Clinton administration's domestic version of the Peace Corps.

''I hired Shirley Sagawa, who had been Ted Kennedy's person on national service, and so basically it was my staff that was involved in drafting that legislation,'' she said.

Eli J. Segal, the first chief executive of the Corporation for National Service and the 1992 Clinton campaign chief of staff, called the first lady's assertion ''100 percent correct.''

Among her other accomplishments, Mrs. Clinton said she helped to initiate and promote the Children's Health Insurance Program, created by Congress in 1997 to provide $24 billion over five years to states to insure children.

''She was a one-woman army inside the White House to get this done,'' Mr. Littlefield of the Health, Education and Labor Committee said. He said that he and Senator Kennedy, the Massachusetts Democrat who was the major force behind the bill, enlisted Mrs. Clinton's help in the spring of 1997 when the president became ''skittish'' about the program. Mr. Littlefield said the Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, was threatening that it was a ''deal buster'' on the balanced budget agreement that he and Mr. Clinton had reached.

''At that point we went to Mrs. Clinton and said, 'You've got to get the president to come around on this thing,' '' Mr. Littlefield said. ''And she said, 'Absolutely.' And we very quickly noticed a change. The president was very much on board.''

She also said she helped to write bills on adoption and foster care, and lobbied for them.

At the end of the 1997 Congressional session, Representative Dave Camp, a conservative Michigan Republican who was frantically negotiating to save an adoption bill, got a call in the House cloakroom from Mrs. Clinton.

''It was 9:30 or 10 at night,'' Mr. Camp recalled. ''I thought only Congressional night owls did that. I was surprised. You know, you're working wearily on these things, and you're worrying whether this is doing any good.'' Mrs. Clinton gave him a pep talk, Mr. Camp said, and told him the bill was worth it.

''I want to be honest,'' he said. ''It was helpful to me.''

The bill, an administration priority intended to speed up the adoption of children in foster care, had been heavily promoted by Mrs. Clinton on Capitol Hill. Four days after her call, it passed the House and Senate and was soon signed into law by the president.

Others in the Clinton Administration said that they learned to count on Mrs. Clinton as more than a spokeswoman.

''I don't think that the Endowment would be alive today if it weren't for strong White House support, and I'm sure she plays a very important role,'' said Jane Alexander, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

At the Agency for International Development, Brian Atwood, the administrator, said of Mrs. Clinton's grasp of complex development issues: ''She understands these issues better than 90 percent of the people who operate within the foreign policy community.''

Mrs. Clinton has been working with A.I.D. to import to inner cities lessons learned abroad, on child immunization, for example, and inexpensive techniques to combat diarrhea. She has taken a particularly strong interest in ''microenterprise lending,'' or efforts in developing nations and troubled cities to lend small amounts of money for new businesses, often run by women.

It is no coincidence, Mr. Atwood said, that the Administration is seeking to slightly increase the budget for A.I.D. next year. ''She deserves more credit for that,'' he said, ''than anyone.''

"She's very smart ... people rightly give her credit for having been a participant in the Clinton administration and for doing some heavy lifting on issues." Barack Obama, speaking of Hillary Clinton's White House experience and contradicting Obama supporters - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 8/22/07

In the Senate:

She has introduced legislation to tie Congressional salary increases to an increase in the minimum wage.

She helped pass legislation that encouraged investment to create jobs in struggling communities through the Renewal Communities program.

She has championed legislation to bring broadband Internet access to rural America.

She worked to strengthen the Children's Health Insurance Program, which increased coverage for children in low income and working families.

She authored legislation that has been enacted to improve quality and lower the cost of prescription drugs and to protect our food supply from bioterrorism.

She sponsored legislation to increase America's commitment to fighting the global HIV/AIDS crisis.

She's working for expanded use of information technology in the health care system to decrease administrative costs, lower premiums, and reduce medical errors.

She's worked to ensure the safety of prescription drugs for children, with legislation now included in the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, and her legislation to help schools address environmental hazards. She has also proposed expanding access to child care.

She has passed legislation that will bring more qualified teachers into classrooms and more outstanding principals to lead our schools.

Hillary is one of the original cosponsors of the Prevention First Act to increase access to family planning. Her fight with the Bush Administration ensured that Plan B, an emergency contraceptive, will be available to millions of American women and will reduce the need for abortions.

She introduced the Count Every Vote Act of 2005 to ensure better protection of votes and to ensure that every vote is counted.

after they turned against the war.
Followed her own dumb "no compromise" on health care reform plan in 1994, blowing a shot to insure millions. And folows the advice of the lamest consultants in the business. Yeah, she'd rather follow than lead.

First, thank you for the responses. Second, lets add a bit more to this question.

What CONTROVERSIAL issues has she taken the lead on, and insurance for kids is only controversial with Bush so that doesn't really count.

And let me be clear in that I am talking about past instances when this has happened.

Someone posts a thread asking for reasons to support her.

Those reasons are given.

The OP then tends to either ignore the reasons or ridicules them.

The OP then asks for controversial stands.

Those stands are given.

They are then ridiculed or ignored.

No other candidate supporters have to put up with this.

And I do consider health insurance for children to be a controversial issue to take lead on especially when its a fight with the administration.

Considering of all the issue positions given none were really all that controversial when they happened or after the fact.

If you can provide proof she has then do it, if you can't then feel free to do so. Just remember that you would be ignoring a huge issue that she claims to address: namely that she provides LEADERSHIP, and yet if there is no proof that she has taken the lead on controversial issues then how is there real leadership?

Do you have any idea how controversial this issue is with the parents and teachers of all the innocent children Bush has already kicked off CHIPS?

I mean something that could potentially cost you votes for supporting it, CHIPS is something with broad support outside the Oval Office, that's not the same thing.

She lead against privatizing social security.

She was all over the place speaking out against it - and I thank her for that.

Hillary introduced legislation requiring hospitals to offer emergency contraception to rape victims, to provide DNA rape kits in every law enforcement office.

She helped lead opposition to the Administration s Medicare Prescription Drug program, and voted no against it.

Hillary introduced a major expansion of the children's health insurance program, extending children's health coverage to families up to 400% of the federal poverty level.

Clinton introduced legislation to provide the necessary funding for stem cell research.

I could go on and on.

the hypocritical 22 percent dino dlc corporate losers who 'say' they support her won't even come clean about their own election failures running on a right wing dlc messaage, much less point out any real leadership from Senator Clinton.

Clinton works for Clinton.

So maybe that begs the question, would you even know a real response if it was biting you in the behind?

like you know a real response....

But I have to say that her supporters won this match (thread). They gave logical, mature answerers. The rebuttals were completely devoid of substance. They are either to afraid, or lack the knowledge to handle the replies that HRC's supporters have offered.

and the sad thing is that they get challenged in a way that no other group does. I think they do a remarkable job, something that would totally wear me out.

and bookmarking a few of them.

I am doing that because I do not support anyone yet. I am still deciding.

When I look at the threads that offer support and praise for Edwards, Biden, Obama, etc., I see a few supportive posts and that is all. In Obama's case, there may be more than three or four supportive posts. I have looked for hit-and-run sniping against those candidates, because their supporters accuse Clinton supporters of doing that. I simply am not seeing it.

However, when someone asks for reasons to support Hillary, and those reasons are given in a clear and responsible manner, the posts start adding up. No matter how much detail, no matter how many links or quotes are provided, the hit-and-run snipers come back, and Hillary's supporters are expected to answer them.

As far as what I am seeing at DU, Clinton's supporters are the best example of the type of Democrat I want to be.

Outside of DU, I have seen some very professional Obama workers. Few of them are here in Illinois right now. They are needed more in Iowa. But I have seen some very unprofessional and pushy conduct by Obama supporters here in Illinois, too.

Currently, I am helping some of the people working for the Democrat who is running for Congress in my district. They, too, are very organized and professional. They may even help beat the bush rubber-stamp who is the incumbent in my district. They would never allow some of the comments I have seen by people at DU. Those people would be given jobs in an office somewhere, where they could not harm the candidate's image.

Obama supporters and others need to keep a few things in mind. People like me, who have worked in grassroots politics for a long time, tend to judge a candidate by his or her organization as much as by his or her record and grasp of the issues. If we know a candidate well enough personally, we may speak to him or her about a person, an incident, an ad or a speech that we think is reflecting poorly on the campaign. When people criticize Obama for his lack of experience, I have been discounting that criticism, except in matters of his campaign. His lack of experience does show in the early mistakes made by his campaign, and the loose cannon style of many of his supporters. That may affect my final decision, and the final decisions of many other voters.

IOW, get a grip, people. There is more to politics than passion and mouthiness. Real politicians like Biden, Richardson, Obama and the rest of them understand the REAL rough-and tumble of politics. They know that organization, money and the way they present themselves publicly are important to winning over the ordinary voters. They know that a few unguarded words, like Macaca, can sink a campaign overnight. And they know that someone like me, an ordinary foot soldier, a precinct committeeman, county officer and active member of Democratic women's organizations, will be asked my opinion about the candidates. I haven't given it yet. But when I do, it will have some influence, if only at the local level. Save your passion to use against the republicans, not fellow Democrats.

I meant to answer #31.

It is early, and they won't let me have caffeine any more.

Note: The plethora of "anti-Hillary" posts inspired me to investigate Sen. Clinton's senate record, and I must say that I wish she were my senator (I don't have one; I live in DC). Also, I'm not working for a candidate this election cycle.

I suggest reading the record before deciding on a candidate. Sen. Clinton had no co-sponsors for most of these bills. She stood alone on these issues.


107th: Bills sponsored

A few highlights:

A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that Harriet Tubman should have been paid a pension for her service as a nurse and scout in the United States Army during the Civil War.

A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the work opportunity tax credit for small business jobs creation.

A bill to express the sense of the Senate concerning a new drinking water standard for arsenic.

A bill to amend title XXI of the Social Security Act to expand the provision of child health assistance to children with family income up to 300 percent of poverty.

A bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to add provisions regarding protecting the United States food supply.

A bill to provide additional resources to States to eliminate the backlog of unanalyzed rape kits and to ensure timely analysis of rape kits in the future.

A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a program to assist family caregivers in accessing affordable and high-quality respite care, and for other purposes.

bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide that remarriage of the surviving spouse of a veteran after age 55 shall not result in termination of dependency and indemnity compensation.

A bill to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to establish a task force to identify legislative and administrative action that can be taken to ensure the security of sealed sources of radioactive material, and for other purposes.

To strengthen our national food safety infrastructure by increasing the number of inspectors within the Food and Drug Administration to enable the Food and Drug Administration to inspect high-risk sites at least annually, supporting research that enables us to meet emerging threats, improving surveillance to identify and trace the sources and incidence of food-borne illness, and otherwise maintaining at least current funding levels for food safety initiatives at the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture.

To provide for the conduct of a study concerning the health and learning impacts of sick and dilapidated public school buildings on children and to establish the Healthy and High Performance Schools Program.


108th: Bills sponsored

109th: Bills sponsored