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The Best Laid Plans Of An Absentee Senator

By Edward L. Daley (10/16/04)

(Mr. Daley is the Owner of the Daley Times-Post. To view more of Mr, Daley's writings please visit his site)

Books of Interest

During the October 8 presidential debate in St. Louis, I noticed that John Kerry kept saying he has a "plan"; a plan for just about everything from saving Medicare to winning the war on terror. He kept repeating the word over and over, and it struck me that if indeed he does have all these plans to make our lives so much better, why hasn't he ever shared them with the U.S. Senate?

After all, even though he rarely participates in any Senate business anymore, he is still a Senator. Isn't he obliged to show up every once in a while and introduce any viable plans he may have to his fellow lawmakers for their consideration? I mean, just look at these quotes from the second debate wherein Mr. Kerry talks about having a plan for one thing or another:

"Yes, we have to succeed, and I have a better plan to help us do it."
"I have a plan. I have a plan to lower the cost of health care for you."
"I have a plan to cover all children."
"I have a plan to let you buy into the same health care senators and
congressmen give themselves."
"I have a plan that's going to allow people 55 to 64 to buy into
Medicare early."
"And I have a plan that will take the catastrophic cases out of the system."
"The only people affected by my plan are the top income earners of America."
"I have a plan to cover those folks. And it's a plan that lowers cost
for everybody..."
"That's why I have a plan for energy independence within 10 years."
"I have a plan that will help us go out and kill and find the terrorists."
"I'll also have a better plan of how we're going to deal with Iraq"
"I have a plan to provide health care to all Americans."
"I have a plan to provide for our schools so we keep the standards..."
"I have a plan to protect the environment..."
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/08/debate.transcript

That certainly is a lot of plans, especially when one considers that the good Senator hasn't bothered to reveal any of them for scrutiny by the very legislative body to which he was elected.

If these plans he's been going on about are so good, what the heck is he waiting for? Running for president doesn't prohibit him from submitting his ideas to Congress in the form of bills. And what happens if he loses the election? Is he then going to slink away and keep his plans hidden from view indefinitely?

It seems to me that if John Kerry was actually serious about doing the things he keeps assuring us he'll do if he becomes president, he'd already have started the legislative ball rolling on at least a few them by now.

Anyone can claim to have plans, but when one has the opportunity to implement one's plans and fails to do so, I have to wonder if that person actually has any real, substantive plans at all. At that point I am forced to consider if, perhaps, such an individual isn't just making promises that he has no intention or even the ability to keep, simply to win an election.

I don't know if John Kerry's "plans" are legitimate or not, but I do know one thing, if I were a member of the Senate, I'd be demanding that he share them in detail with me and all the other members of that august body as soon as possible. The Senate (and everyone else in this country, for that matter) deserves the opportunity to examine and debate any good
plans which have been formulated by one of our elected officials to deal with these extremely important issues.

Mr. Kerry may be trying to win a new job, but that shouldn't distract us from the fact that he already HAS one, and that he's not living up to his responsibility to those who gave him that job. If he is incapable of campaigning for president and fulfilling the duties of his office at the same time, how are we supposed to believe that he is capable of being president?

George W. Bush has been just as active on the campaign trail as John F. Kerry, yet he still finds time to run the country. He still gives public addresses and press conferences which are not a part of his campaign schedule. He still meets with foreign dignitaries, attends national security briefings, and presents his legislative proposals to Congress. Heck, he even still manages to direct a war on three fronts... Iraq, Afghanistan, and here at home, despite the fact that he's running for
reelection.

What has Senator Kerry done this year, aside from giving stump speeches and promising the American people everything he thinks they want?

Oh yeah, I forgot... he's an avid windsurfer.