|
|
|
 |
|
Home / Washington Business - September/October 2004 / Election 2004: Senator Kerry and President Bush: Different as Night and Day on AWB Votes |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Election 2004: Senator Kerry and President Bush: Different as Night and Day on AWB Votes |
|
|
|
Written On: September/October 2004 |
|
|
|
Written By: by Charles Henry Thomas |
|
|
|
President Bush and his Democrat challenger Sen. John Kerry are as different as night and day when it comes to issues AWB is concerned about at the federal level. Based on their 2003 voting records, Kerry and his vice presidential running mate Sen. John Edwards failed to support AWB once, while Bush supported the Association nine out of 10 times.
Then again, it is a little difficult to tell precisely because Kerry missed seven of 10 votes AWB measured while Edwards did not vote six out of 10 times. Their Washington Democrat colleagues, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, scored 17 percent and zero respectively. In contrast, Murray’s opponent George Nethercutt was an 88 percent AWB supporter.
While President Bush only differed with AWB on national association health plans, Kerry and Edwards voted against Alaska oil exploration and Medicaid prescription drug coverage and were absent when the critical votes on class action lawsuit reform and maintaining healthy forests were brought to the Senate floor. Murray supported the President’s Healthy Forests bill as it finally emerged from Congress.
In 2003, AWB tracked the votes in which we contacted Washington’s two Senate and nine House members. We then compared our votes with the U.S. Chamber, NAM, the Sierra Club and the AFL-CIO. AWB went a step further to compare how Kerry and Edwards scored on the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
“These votes are important to employers and jobs,” AWB President Don Brunell concluded. “It is important to look at how the candidates for the presidency and each seat in Congress voted on issues important to job providers and take that information into account when voting on Nov. 2.”
Editor’s Note: If you would like more details about the votes, check AWB’s Web site at www.awb.org. The 2004 legislative voting record was published in the July / August issue of Washington Business Magazine, while our congressional voting record appeared in the May / June 2004 issue.
U.S. Sierra
AWB Chamber NAM AFL-CIO * SEIU Club
U.S. Senate
Kerry 0% 0% 7% 91% 100% 80%
Edwards 0% 15% 6% 96% 100% 100%
• Second session 108th Congress. First session AFL-CIO voting record not available.
Alaska Oil Comp Class Death Tax Medical Assoc. Medicaid Medicaid Medicaid Healthy AWB
Exploration Energy Action Repeal Liability Health Prescription Prescription Prescription Forests Score
Ban Policy Fairness Reform Plans Drugs (1) Drugs (2) Drugs (3)
AWB Position No Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Bill Number HR 6 HR 6 S.274 HR 8 No Vote No Vote HR 1 HR 1 HR 1 HR 1904
Amend Cloture
U.S. Senate
Sen. Kerry Yes Absent Absent No Vote —— —— No No Absent Absent 0%
Sen. Edwards Yes Absent Absent No Vote —— —— No No No Absent 0%
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
