About Kerry and his votes for defense

Are there any specific bills he voted for involving defense which I can use to refute claims by this rabid militarist I know who says he voted against every major military upgrade since 1988. This jerk (who I used to respect before he switched to Repub. after 9/11) says that if Kerry were Commander in Cheif our troops would be fighing naked with clubs and rocks.

I realize (and he probably doesn't want me to) that some of these projects may have been included in other bills/spending initiatives at the time Kerry voted against them. For all I know, not only did Kerry vote against these bills but they were defeated alltogether. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

All the dirt the Chimpy Masters are trying to bring on Kerry about cutting back on defense can be easily slapped back due to the words of Cheney and Powell.

Snip:

"They should also have looked up some testimony by Dick Cheney, the first President Bush's secretary of defense (and now vice president), three days later, boasting of similar slashings before the Senate Armed Services Committee:

Overall, since I've been Secretary, we will have taken the five-year defense program down by well over $300 billion. That's the peace dividend. … And now we're adding to that another $50 billion … of so-called peace dividend.

Cheney proceeded to lay into the then-Democratically controlled Congress for refusing to cut more weapons systems.

Congress has let me cancel a few programs. But you've squabbled and sometimes bickered and horse-traded and ended up forcing me to spend money on weapons that don't fill a vital need in these times of tight budgets and new requirements. … You've directed me to buy more M-1s, F-14s, and F-16s—all great systems … but we have enough of them.

The Republican operatives might also have noticed Gen. Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at the same hearings, testifying about plans to cut Army divisions by one-third, Navy aircraft carriers by one-fifth, and active armed forces by half a million men and women, to say noting of "major reductions" in fighter wings and strategic bombers.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2096127

I know I remember Ragan promoting similar cuts, and the Pugs harping on Clinton to cut more defence since the cold war was over.

Somehow we have to get CNN, & MSNBC to pull the tapes and get this out again.

The other thing would be to have the Dem backers cut & paste clips from Ragan * Bush demanding cuts and fading into the slams of today against Kerry.

Got to get it out on the regular airwaves. Way too many people don't pay any attention to cable or the net, and hardly pay attention to any ads on the regular channels.

some are project specific, some about bill "riders"....the tug of war in Congressional activity. Administration can propose bills, some they let die (and cite votes later), some they support (and lose or win), some are just fluff (which they never intend to have funded, anyway)....

I'd ask the Kerry campaign directly. They have to respond to these allegations.

"It is up to Democrats to understand and prepare for Fourth Generation Warfare - fighting unconventional forces in unconventional ways- so our nation can be better prepared to wage and win the new war.”

Senator Kerry is a strong proponent of providing our military with the resources necessary to meet the complex challenges of 21st century warfare. “We face critical choices in the makeup and structuring of the U.S. armed forces. Operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia and the Persian Gulf have highlighted changes in military tactics and equipment needs. Outdated military equipment may please defense contractors, but it won’t win tomorrow’s battles. A modern military means smarter, more versatile equipment; better intelligence; advanced communications; long-range air power; and highly mobile ground forces.”

As a veteran, Kerry is also committed to giving the members of our armed forces the support they need by providing quality health care, housing, and competitive wages. He recently co-sponsored an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Bill that will allow the military to transport families of soldiers wounded while on active duty. “Service to our nation is something we should not only promote, but also honor” he said in introducing the amendment, “and we honor that service by making every effort to ensure that the families of our troops who are put in harm’s way are taken care of if the worst should happen."

http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/foreignpolicy/

Don't know if this helps, since all Liberals lie all the time, apparently. Least that's what Freepers often say.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

...because every time the bush machine LIES, we need to be prepared to expose this consistent pattern of dishonesty. His (false) "reputation" for being honest has been destroyed. You are on the right track! It is important to confront his lies.

initially sent into Iraq with little or no body armor?

Does he mean like the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan where stories have been written about being served bad food, wrong clothing, no ceramic plates for their flack vests, giving the best flack vests to the "coalition" forces while US troops get issued substandard equipment?

Bush has done a wonderful job for the military. I can't wait to see the re-enlistment numbers.

pretty well explains how dishonest the Gop is on this issue.

http://www.fair.org/press-releases/kerry-military-votes.html

someone posted this earlier today on DU:

THE CHARGES: "He's voted to cancel weapons programs like the Stealth bomber, the tank, the Apache helicopter, the MX missile...He's voted to cut $1.5 billion from the intelligence community."
--ED GILLESPIE, Republican National Committee chairman, accusing John Kerry of being soft on defense

THE CONTEXT: Kerry did fight the MX, voted to cut funds for missile defense and the B-2 Stealth bomber, and proposed cutting the intelligence budget $300 million a year from 1996 to 2000. But it was the first President Bush who halted production of the MX, and Republicans including Senator John McCain have opposed building more B-2s. On intelligence, Kerry says he wanted to scale back money for expensive spy satellites and put more into human intelligence. Another G.O.P. charge: that Kerry voted 10 times in 1990 against weapons like the F-15, F-16, Patriot missile and M-1 tank. Actually it was only one vote - against an appropriations bill that funded all these weapons. Dick Cheney, then Defense Secretary, also wanted to reduce funding for these weapons.