Happy New Year
Happy New Year to everyone. Whether this is your first time stopping by the blog or you’re a regular reader or commenter, I’m glad you’re here.
A new year represents a time of renewed effort and new beginnings. A new Democratic majority in Congress gives hope to those of us working together to end war and bring our troops home, working together to lead in diplomacy and support the rule of law. It gives hope to those of us working together to help working people, to make health care accessible and affordable, and to live up to our responsibilities on global climate change and make America more secure by making her energy-independent.
I’m interested in hearing what you want in 2007 for our country. What are your goals and priorities for our nation? I won’t be available today to respond to comments but I am interested in hearing from you.
Happy New Year, my friends.
-- John
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Senator Kerry and family,
My warmest wishes for a wonderful and healthy 2007 for the Kerrys.
I want something for 2007 that is difficult to express but easier to understand.
I want America back.
An America where Americans are happy to travel overseas and be welcomed as being representatives of the beacon of liberty that has been the model for aspiring freedom lovers everywhere.
I want an America that cares about the welfare of the poorest and most disadvantaged among us. Which is concerned about the health insurance coverage of the uninsured, the feeding of the hungry, and the education of the uneducated.
I long for that America that understood that our country was built on essential principles that were embodied into our Constitution. Principles that dictated that Congress would be responsible for declaring war. That war would be the last resort and never something done without cause, or even done on the basis of lies.
An America that valued every American regardless of their religious belief. An America that valued the independence of religion and the independence of government from religious influence.
A country that believed in international cooperation and international treaties.
A nation that held itself above the practice of torture and sought to ban torture in other countries and never to embrace it as a necessary evil.
A country that protected the rights of privacy of every American. Whether it be in the doctor’s office between a woman and her physician, a patient and his pharmacist, or an individual behaving in the most benign fashion of merely checking out a book from his or her public library.
A nation that valued the independence of the press, and did not hire phoney reporters or stack the White House Press pool with ringers.
A nation that had a President that followed all of the laws, that didn’t seek to wiretap without court orders when the law required that he follow them. A President that knew that he or she too was no more or less important than any citizen of this country.
A nation that worked to eliminate AIDS in Africa, instead of working to deny funding to Women’s Clinics because they counseled on abortion.
A nation that embraced science and respected religious diversity. Instead of allowing religious fundamentalism to steer research away from possible cures for Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis; favoring instead the protection of clumps of embryonic stem cells destined for the garbage.
And a leadership that understands that government is not evil. That we don’t need to shrink it down to the size that we can drown it in a bathtub. That taxes have a place in our lives, that we have an obligation to support government as it pursues its rightful place in dealing with the problems facing all of us. That leaders have an obligation to balance their budgets and not pander to the lowest instinct of greed and self-indulgence rather than ask us to pay the price of civilization.
I have much to ask and to hope for in 2007.
My final wish is for you Senator.
That you will find it in your heart to make that sacrifice of reaching out once again to leadership in America.
Bob
What do I want? OK, Senator. This is actually pretty easy.
I want you to run for President.
I want our troops out of Iraq.
I want our new Dem congress to investigate everything. Start with Bush.
I want fairness in the media. Start with FoxNews.
I want honesty and accountability from our elected officials, even the Republicans.
I want America to be respected in the world.
I want to feel hope again.
I want a lot of other things, Senator, but this should keep us all busy for a while.
:-)
Enjoy the holiday. As you keep reminding us, we’ve got a lot of work to do.
Run, John, Run.
Happy New Year to you and your family.
During the 06 campaign in New Hampshire, you listed the following points as ideas that should be pursued:
While the first point was partially accomplished by the 06 victory, these ideas are still pretty much central to what needs to be done, as is the idea of restoring the moral authority of the United States and the need for the United States to talk and work collaborately with other countries on the big issues that plague the world (global warming, poverty, trade, AIDS, ...).
For this, we need a leadership that is ready to speak to the rest of the world, and not consider the rest of the world as a threat. We need somebody who understands that diplomacy is a strength, not an weakness.
Senator Kerry—wishing a Happy New Year to you and your family.
After talking about Iraq ad nauseum with my parents, who are Independents, over the holidays, it seems people are looking for blocking Bush’s insane policies in Iraq. My Dad, who voted for Bush in ‘00, specifically said Congress should cut off funding for the war. Now I don’t know what the solution is, but it does seem pretty obvious that Bush doesn’t give a hoot what the American people want, so it’s up to Congress to reflect the American people’s will. Tough rhetoric and little action in the Congress will cause Americans to turn away and decide neither party is any good. The radical right is at most 30%, probably more like 20%. Yes, they are very loud, but the average American is tired of this war, and realizes that the current direction is a failure. Based on reports I have been reading, Bush is planning on ESCALATING the war a la John McCain which is the exact opposite to the message given to him from the November elections.
As detailed in the article I’m linking to, many New England Democrats are talking off cutting off funding of at least the troop “surge”. I like the sound of this:
http://www.lowellsun.com/front/ci_4928919
So, that’s what I’m looking for in 2007—movement on Iraq away from the president by whatever means will work in the Congress.
Hope is always the last thing hanging out there and the first thing that one should reach for.
After the experiences of the past two years, it should be clear to all that failed leadership at the federal government level can have a devastating impact on the lives of average Americans—-in their home. I am hopeful that change will come.
My hope for 2007 is that the last election will inspire real and caring leadership. This is our government and it should act in our best interest. On that front, Senator, your leadership is a beacon of hope. You have demonstrated time and again your deep commitment to improving the lives of all Americans.
The New Year begins with a streak of despondency, watching a callous administration squander the lives of many young Americans and contribute to the death of tens of thousands of others. Again, Senator, thank you for your leadership in trying to end the war in Iraq.
Thanks for all you do. Happy New Year to you and your family, and to all the members of the John Kerry Blog community.
Kerry 2008
Happy New Year, Senator Kerry. May this year bring you everything you hope for. As to what I want for 07; Robert, GV, and Europegirl share my sentiments and expressed them so well, that I can olny add one all-encompassing wish;
I want to feel proud of my adopted country, the United States, again. I want to be able to travel overseas and NOT have to be ashamed of our leadership in the world and worried for my safety because of the animosity we have stirred up with our actions.
Let us all work together to become that what we once were; a role model for other nations, a place of unlimited possibilities, and a country that practices true democracy, compassion, and restraint.
Dear Senator Kerry:
It’s hard to expand on the excellent thoughts presented above in Robert Freeland’s post as well as others here, but I’ll try to add to them:
1. I want ALL Americans to wake up this year and realize that we are all citizens and MUST fight for what we want this country to stand for. The image of the United States today in the world is simply not reflective of her people IMHO. We used to be a beacon of hope and people desired to be like us out of choice, not at “gun-point”.
2. I’d like people in this country to realize that there are no “winners” in a war that does not involve the defense of our own lands, only “losers”. It is obvious to anyone that it will take many more lives (both US soldiers and Iraqi civilians) to even continue to pursue this broken policy in Iraq. Not my words here, but very well spoken 35 years ago : “I wonder how many people are willing to volunteer to be those “lives”, to sacrifice themselves for the goal of this war”. I think if the people in this country honestly asked themselves that they might be more prone to stand up against what this administration is doing right now.
3. I want to see an America where its citizens demand more from their elected officials, and in doing so “weed out” those who intend to use their entrusted authority to endanger, harm, or ignore those same citizens. When Americans are not actively participating, they are ignoring the future of our democracy. No matter what party or opinions each American supports, let’s hope that it’s because of “real” information and not hype, slander, or down-right lies that only serve to denegrate the country we all love.
4. I’d like to see a country in which we DO NOT judge potential elected officials by:
a) the amounts of $$ in their “war chest”
b) by how charismatic they are
c) by how little of their political past can be used negatively by the opposition
d) how well they can dodge a direct answer when it comes to lives of our citizens/soldiers
.......but instead judges them on their abitlities of leadership, statemanship, humility and compassion.
In effect, I want true leaders in this country to make all my above “wishes” come true in 2007 and beyond.
Thanks for all you, your family, and your staff have done and will continue to do in 2007. Your commitments and sacrifices are not lost upon any of us here. Change what is wrong, and do what you know is right and we’ll have your back as always.
Javelin
Hope!!!
We need you to speak to the hopes and aspirations of the American people - that our country can, once again, aspire to the ideals of hope, freedom, human, worker, and civil rights, and humility. We need to know that the American dream will once again be within the reach of average Americans - not just the elite. This will take leadership and few are as qualified as you to take us there.
All of the comments above are worthy goals for 2007. But we also need a leader who will inspire and preserve hope.
After the last 6 years many Americans are consigned to low pay, few opportunities, poor education and difficulty getting health care. These must all be addressed but we must start with hope.
Please know there are many ready to hit the streets and make the calls. We await the opportunity.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
Kerry 2008!
To everything there is a season ..
I heard you speak at Town Hall, Seattle last year and someone in the audience asked what YOU would want if you could have anything you want.
I know it started with “Democratic Senate, Democratic House..” and that part has been fulfilled!
I agree, and let’s take over all three branches of government and run the neocons out forever, base our foreign policy around diplomacy, and “start making some friends on this planet” (another thing I heard you say, in 2002, and I agree!).
Happy New Year to you, Teresa and all the kids!
Thank you for asking, and you’ve heard this from me before (although I doubt you remember), from the early days of your last campaign. :-)
I want to see Alternative Energy as “the” Hub of the Wheel for the rest of our lives.
The spokes that radiate from that hub will affect every person on this plant; will create white- and blue-collar jobs, opportunities for R&D and new university programs in this country. A focus on alternative energy will generate another round of American spirit and ingenuity and much needed cooperative projects for the red and blue areas of the country. Healthcare affordability might be impacted. National security and a reduced presence in the Middle East are added benefits.
While I realize we’re going to have a presence in the Middle East—in one form or another—for many years, I have hope that if we can transform our intent from need for oil to one of stabilization, it might work out better for all… in the long run.
Good luck, Senator Kerry. And a big hello and wave to Teresa.
A happy and healthy New Year, Senator Kerry, to you and to your family.
I feel honored to be included in your extended family.
I don’t have much to add to what those who spoke first have to say, but here is my personal wish list:
1. President Kerry, starting in January of 2009.
2. Universal health care.
3. Real and immediate action, not just talk, towards a healthy planet.
4. World peace. I know, that’s a big one. But if we can get out of Iraq and somehow signal to the world that the US government is willing to be an honest broker, we will have taken a huge step in that direction.
5. As FrenchGirlFromMA already quoted above,
We all want to see real bipartisanship return to Washington, but not by burying the truth.
6. We Kerrycrats ask a lot of you, but we are in your corner all the way.
Your energy and optimism give me hope, which has been in short supply elsewhere these past six years. I am beyond words grateful to you for that.
It is hard to add much to some of the very thoughtful comments, but I have a goal.
I want my 9 year old daughter to grow up in a country that will protect the environment, honor truth, encourage fairness, work towards peace, provide health care for those who need it, and not glamorize political skullduggery.
My best wishes for a happy and healthy 2007 to you and your family, and all the others whom I have gotten to know at this site.
Senator Kerry,
I want you to join with Congressmen Kucinich and McGovern and do the following things they’ve proposed:
- initiate single payer healthcare (cut the nonsense about affordable healthcare for all and other idiocy—you know the only way to get healthcare to everyone affordably!)
- cut off funding to the occupation
- close the SOA/WHINSEC
- join with vice president gore and call for a carbon freeze
Just do it!
First off, we want you to run for President. Doesn’t President Kerry sound rather nice?
Other things on the agenda:
1. We need real leadership in Iraq. It’s clear that we haven’t won in our mission in Iraq, we need leaders who not just urge for a change in that country but who are willing to fight to change it. We need bold leadership to re-enforce what America already knows: We need out of Iraq!
2. Healthcare. I really liked Kerry’s work to bring healthcare to all children in America. I forwarded e-mails to my family about it, and even the Republican family members who despise Senator Kerry really enjoyed the idea and the momentum it had at the time. If you run John, keep that in mind! We again need bold leaders willing to stand outside of the box, and fight for whats right.
3. I want healthcare, poverty, stem cell research, improving God’s earth through cleaning up the environment, and global warming to all be values and moral issues that our country must face. Forget gay marriage and abortion, these are the real moral issues of our time. We MUST face them!
4. We need Democrats, like Kerry, who will talk about Iran and North Korea in a open way and who stand up and express their thoughts on what should be done in these dangerous regimes. We need leaders who will voice their concerns on the Bush Administrations failed foreign policy.
5. I can’t say it enough, we need John Kerry to run for President again. He has a lot of fight left in him, and he’d make a great President. Forget about last time, forget about polls, look forward to the future!
I, too, don’t have a lot to add to the above very thoughtful comments. However, I would like to emphasiize that we must begin looking for ways to cut back our oil consumption through uses of alternative energy, transportation methods and the like.
I really think it’s time to start looking for ways to encourage competition in the desktop software industry rather than having one big behemoth monopoly attempting to control everything on the computer desktop. That is bad for business, it’s bad for security and it’s just plain bad policy.
Best wishes for a 2007 controlled by a Democratic majority!
Greetings, Senator Kerry!
First, a Happy New Year to you and yours, and all who visit this blog!
Thank you for asking for input. I started to write something long about specific policy areas, and I’ll post that later. But you asked for priorities, so I am going to make this post about just one thing I’d like to see as a top priority: making better use of the Internet to inform and engage your constituency.
This blog is a great start. Posting here and asking for feedback is an important and appreciated step. But there is much more that could be done. Information technology is my profession, and it is hard to look at your Internet presence and not get some wild ideas about what you could be doing with it. Not only or even primarily to enhance your image, or people’s knowledge of you - but to communicate about policy and programs, and engage people in the political process. Through that engagement they would learn more about you than they ever would from a glossy mailer; you win on all counts, and it should even help in getting actual legislation passed.
I don’t want to post specific suggestions here, but of course those are available on request. The point is that there is untapped potential in Internet technologies, and I hope you will put some resources and resolve behind using it. I’ve heard you say that in 2004 you thought you didn’t put enough money behind the truth. Well, now is the time, and this is one of the ways you need to do it.
As to policies, one reason I’m here is that long before I ever started paying attention to your positions, they were the right ones, and matched my values pretty closely. The suggestion I am making here is to add leverage to making those policy positions happen. I can’t emphasize enough how important I think this is, I do hope you will take it to heart.
As to 2008, I want you to be President. I can’t think of anyone I would rather see in the job, anyone who gives me greater confidence in their ability to get this country back on the right track. That said, I am 100% behind you whatever decision you make. (iow, “no pressure”! ;-) )
Thank you so much for your service, and I look forward to working to support you in every way I can in the coming year!
John,
It’s simple: I want you to run. I can’t wait for the opportunity to work for you. I live in Houston, Texas, but I am willing to pack up and head to Iowa for your campaign. College can wait.
Justice. Honest, blind justice.
Thanks for asking,
1. Hearings that will result in exposure and the preparation of a record of the lies, corruption and violations of human rights and our Constitution by the Bush administration, the Republican Congress and radical judges. We must make sure that Americans learn the truth about this administration and that our children and grandchildren are never subject to a government like the Bush government ever, ever again.
2. Restore our rights to privacy, travel, speech and no government establishment of religion under the Constitution.
3. Reform the media so that it is not controlled by the wealthy individuals and corporations. Give ordinary people control over their airwaves.
4. Establish universal, affordable healthcare for all.
5. Make America energy independent now. Twenty years from now will be too late. If we could develop an atom bomb in just a few years, we can become energy independent very soon. Our solar energy potential is enormous.
6. Stop wasting lives, money
I hope that the Democratic Party and the new Democratic controlled Congress will go back to working with the Congressional Black Caucus and listening to ideas, concerns, and needs of minorities (i.e. African-Americans, Hispanics).
The perception has always been Democrats take them for granted and are just as “corrupt as Republicans.”
Another priority: accountablity.
And Senator, if you feel like you are the best man for the job, then run!
Hope you and Teresa (aka Momma T) and family have a nice Happy New Year!
My first wish is for honest elections.
Our election process should NOT be privatized. We should be using paper ballots and counting them in public view with representatives from all interested parties free to observe. Our voting is now in the hands of Christian Dominionist Republicans and defense contractors. If the election situation is cleaned up, we will never have to worry about a Republican majority again. Anyone who ever studied statistics and looked at exit polls vs reported votes will realize the Republicans stole the last two presidential elections, a number of congressional races in 2002, 2004 and stole roughly 3m votes in this last set of races. Luckily this time they apopear to have vastly underestimated the public’s level of disgust.
My second wish is to have the Democrats go directly to the public for funding and bypass the corporations.
I will be happy to donate a sum each month. But better yet we should publicly fund elections and restrict the amount of money that can be spent on any campaign. 30 second ads are bs, kill any intelligent discussion of issues and are just a cash cow for the media—who are using our publicly owned airwaves. We need to pry the corporate hands off our government. They should be subject to the rules we the people set up. They should not be running our government and writing our laws.
My third wish is to get out of Iraq, now.
We need to ween ourselves off oil and we can go a long way toward doing this with existing technologies. Developing new sources of power and new types of autos will create local jobs that cannot be exported. New clean technologies (wind, solar, better batteries, bio fuels—not nuclear or coal) will also help address the issue of global warming. Clean, decentralized power is also not a viable target for terrorists like a nice juicy oil refinery or oil pipeline or nuclear power plant.
My fourth wish is for single payer health insurance for all Americans.
This is something all civilized industrial countries have. We are now paying too much and getting too little.
My fifth wish is for every effort to be made to support the middle and lower classes.
This means a fairer tax structure. This means penalizing corporations for sending their jobs overseas and hiding their income from taxes. This means supporting unions, public education, inheritance taxes, and minimum wages.
My “wish list” for ‘07.
Do not renew NCLB, or write, submit, or support any other legislation that mandates high-stakes tests and top-down bureaucratic control of curriculum and instruction. Don’t “fully fund” this disastrous, harmful piece of legislation. Get rid of it.
Get us out of Iraq, ASAP, and do not engage in any more wars, covert actions, or other activities that use force of arms to bully others.
Universal, single-payer, not-for profit health care.
Repeal NAFTA/CAFTA.
Verified paper ballots, hand counted, for every election.
Re-regulation or new regulation of the media, removing corporate control of information and point of views presented.
Repeal Patriot Act, and move to strengthen all civil liberties.
Hold the Bush administration accountable for all laws broken.
A Very Happy And Heathy New Year to You Dear Senator Kerry and Your Family…My thanks to you for remembering us on this New Years’ Day, as always you are in our thoughts and prayers….My wish has been about the same for the past thirty-five years, more Kerry like minded people in charge (so to speak) of the future….those who wrote before me have expressed my thoughts and values well, I can only add as the new year unfoldes and hopes are high we all find strength in the work we shall do together…I look forward to the possibilities of tomorrow, and deeply plan to make my voice and work known to all who share the desire for a return to Our America (Before this Bush Chaos), and I shall do all in my power to support YOU and Our Plan to regain Americas’ respect here at home and around the world….My wish for YOU is to follow you heart, be happy in what you decide for your future, we can work together at any level all we need is your steadfast leadership….WE ARE WITH YOU ALWAYS….Much Love and Many Hugs….Stay Safe….BlueRose
A wish or two I forgot to mention!
1. Very thorough investigation into any and all crimes committed by the Bush administration and their cronies followed by prosecution, impeachment and restitution of stolen money. This last should include such things as Halliburton no-bid contracts. This would also include impeachment of appointees, since the appointers were never actually elected. If these creatures had been stopped and thoroughly prosecuted after Watergate or Contragate we might not have come to such a sorry state.
Please tie these creatures up so thoroughly that they have no time to start a war on Iran and Syria, plan any more terrorist attacks or do anything except spend time with their attorneys.
I still want to know who put all the puts on United and American Airlines stock before 9.11. I don’t think this is too much to ask.
2. Rescinding garbage legislation including, but not limited to: the bankruptcy bill, The “Patriot” Acts, any Orwellian named thing like “Clean Air, Healthy Forests, NCLB,” and the increased arsenic in the drinking water bill.
3. A Happy New Year and fresh new start to all of us:
Health, Wealth and Happiness!
Senator Kerry,
Happy New Year to you and your family. And thank you for asking this question. I must also commend those who have already commented for their inspirational posts. I add my thanks to Diane who said “Your energy and optimism give me hope, which has been in short supply elsewhere these past six years. I am beyond words grateful to you for that.” I am also very grateful for the hope you have inspired, Senator.
For me, my answer to your question requires telling a little about my ‘journey’ over the past six years. What I most want to see happen this year is partly what Bob Freedland said: I want America back…and I want to see leaders who are unafraid to make that happen. The country needs to return to its foundational values and be unified once again.
The reason my journey is important is that I have learned that the best leader for this job is you, Senator. And, because of our broken media and election process, I DID NOT KNOW THAT when I voted for you in 2004. I think that if the country had come to know the person and leader you really have been all your life, George Bush would not have had a prayer of winning. I often say, that the country needs John Kerry as President whether they know it or not.
The result of the 2000 Presidential Election was very disturbing to me. I decided then and there that my usual practice of always voting…but little more…was not enough any more. September 11, 2001 was preventable, in my view, if Al Gore had been president. But, as most Americans did, I set that aside. I volunteered for Kerry-Edwards in Nevada (a four hour drive from my home in Murrieta, Ca.) determined that we needed Democrats in the White House. I was devastated by the result of that election. I’ve educated myself politically since that day (and gained twenty pounds from the stress ).
Here is some of what I have learned:
True Leadership
I want our leaders to start behaving like Americans who love their country. I want to feel proud of my country again. I want a president and vice-president I can respect. I want a strong and secure American future for my daughters and grandchildren. I was raised by wonderful, very patriotic parents…my dad’s a WWII veteran. I was taught to love my country and the democracy it was built upon. Most worrisome to me is that we are now at such a critical place in our history because of this administration. We are in an illegal war. Our troops are in danger because of it. Our Constitution is in jeopardy. Our position of leadership around the world is failing. Our democracy is in danger of being undermined…and most of the American voting public is still unaware of the danger.
The choices of this administration (preemptive war, Abu Ghraib, undermining Social Security and other vital programs for the middle class, changing Senate rules in order to gain control of the country’s judiciary process) have made me lose respect for our country’s present leaders. I am very sad that I feel this way now. I try to have faith in our leaders of both parties to do the right thing, and I support Democratic Party leaders who continue to fight for my values, but as you said in 1971, (paraphrasing) “Where are the leaders of our country?” Where are the leaders who will have the courage to put country above party, and the people above profit? Unfortunately, I don’t think the current administration cares about American families. I plan to do everything I can, as a citizen, to vote this administration out of power.
Politics vs. Profound Understanding
If you listen to various politicians speak, both Democratic and Republican, some always see critical issues in political terms. It’s clear by the way they talk. A very few actually profoundly GET this moment in history and the importance of ‘taking back America.’ I think you, Senator Kerry, get it. You can hear it in your Senate floor speeches, statements on issues, and loudly in your recent speeches. All of your public life experience has brought you to this moment. There is no one other potential 2008 candidate with the experience, ability, credibility and integrity to lead at this time. I think you have reached profound moral clarity about this moment in our country’s history. Because of that, you are the one person who can unite us again. I want the country to hear you say:
“ There is no more important word… in my judgment… in the American language, other than love, than CITIZEN. And we have a responsibility… all of us…to be good citizens.”
Candidate vs. Experience
Our focus as a country has been on picking the perfect ‘candidate.’ Sort of like ‘American Idol.’ We ought to be more concerned about picking the perfect ‘President’. The qualifications for the job of candidate are not the same as the qualifications for the job of President of the United States. It’s true that the person the country chooses needs strengths in both areas…but in our country’s recent history, we have only looked at qualifications for a candidate who can win. As a country, we have ignored those qualified to be the best President. I believe the current election process, led by the media (wittingly or unwittingly) have been complicit in this.
A ‘fresh face’ will not have the skills, experience, or foreign policy knowledge or network of support that our country needs in a new President. I worried in 2000 that we could not afford George Bush’s ‘learning curve’. It appears I was right. I wish I had been wrong. But for sure, we cannot afford another president-elect’s learning curve, even if he or she is a Democrat. We need a Democratic Presidential candidate with the experience to HIT THE GROUND RUNNING the minute they are elected. In my opinion…the only potential candidate who can do that is John Kerry. This country needs you as president. You’re a fighter and we need a fighter. I know you will fight to unite our country once again and restore it to a role of moral leadership in the world. You are the only potential candidate with the experience (and we need experience), foreign policy knowledge, and moral courage to do so.
My President
I want my President to be an intellectual…to know more than I do and to speak accordingly. A few groups of voters may have trouble with a vast vocabulary (English learners, for example). But my President should NEVER change the way he speaks. He’s at his best when he is himself. That said, if some people don’t understand everything he says, so long as he speaks with the passion and conviction of his values…and speaks the truth…people will GET that. I think the main reason people haven’t connected in the past is that the media has prevented that from happening. I think it IS true, however, that some people are more knowledgeable than others about complex issues…but that’s an EDUCATION issue and that should be the focus and challenge for our party: to educate about issues of importance to people’s daily lives and to educate about what our party REALLY stands for, not the Republican spin.
Finally, I wanted to share with you a post I made to another of your supporters in Nevada. She had expressed great concern about losing our great country. This was my reply to her:
>>>>>
I too worry for our country, but it needs ALL of us “now, more than ever”...Kerry’s words. I thought it was horrible when they stopped the recount in 2000; worse still on 9/11; and I’ve been so sad since November 3, 2004. That was the first election in which I tried to do more than just vote…I had to (I drove to Las Vegas as a volunteer in a ‘swing state’). If Kerry had lost and I hadn’t done ANYTHING to make a difference, I couldn’t live with myself.
This country is not dying…too many of us won’t let it. I think it IS being tested. Ultimately, that will make us stronger. It sure is painful, though, right now. The most difficult thing for me is the lack of awareness of people closest to me…my family and my friends. In the beginning, they thought I was just in denial about the election. But I’ve ‘become’ the news for them…I forward news articles (from sources THEY trust) that they otherwise would never see. I’ve been buying books (Jimmy Carter’s, Joe Wilson’s, Gary Hart’s) and sharing them when I’m done. Then I talk to them about why I’m upset with this administration. They don’t always agree, yet. But it’s a start. I’m convinced that education is the key to saving our country.
I am most hopeful because our leaders are now speaking out…not enough, yet…and not as ‘brazenly’ as I wish…but better every day! They are educating the public. That tells me they understand what is needed and are now acting to turn the country in a better direction. But it’s like turning an aircraft carrier…REALLY SLOW. When I need a lift, I listen to John Kerry’s Georgetown Speech (C-SPAN) and his Council on Foreign Relations speech, and now Al Gore’s most recent speech on the wiretaps. (If you’ve missed ANY of those, you need to listen…they are INSPIRATIONAL!!)
Don’t give up. We’ll get there…this is a GREAT country (most of the time)...and we’re not finished yet.
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Thank you for your leadership, Senator Kerry. My greatest hope for 2007 is that you will choose to continue to lead and inspire others as you have done your whole life. The country really needs you now.
1. I’d like to see the Congress do all it can to neutralize Bush’s power, to the full extent of their Constitutional powers.
2. I’d like the Dems to do what they said and be about the People’s best interests in all legislation they pass.
3. And please do run for President again—we need you!
Senator Kerry and family,
I hope that you will have the very best new years - in 2007, 2008, and especially 2009. I would hope in 2007, that with the return of the House and Senate to Democratic control that the Congress can once again become a functional, rather than dysfunctional branch of government. It will be great if bipartisan efforts on the important issues you mentioned can go forward.
Your efforts over the last two years have moved many people to become involved again (or for the first time) in being active citizens. I hope that you will continue to lead us to be the country this country’s forefathers wanted us to be.
As to goals, listing them would simply involve putting 4 links; one to each of your brilliant, eloquent Faneuil Hall speeches. Your speeches clearly lay out ways we can get out of the mess that Bush has created. Your Real Security speech made me feel confident that the United States could regain its moral leadership in the world. Thank you for giving these speeches and fighting for our country again. The United States could become a just, fair society for the first time in a very long time under the leadership of a President Kerry and an incredible first lady, Teresa.
Happy New Year to all Kerry Kats out there. Senator please don’t make us wait too long in this New Year before you announce you are running. Your base is ready and we know you are too, so lets just do it and win this thing once and for all. Forget Hillary, Obama, Edwards and all others, it’s all about you sir, this is your time, this is your year, you were born to be President! Let’s roll in 2007!!!
I want to be able to look my elders in the face and still have respect for their supposed leading of my country.
I’m 35 and never have I felt shame for my elders, always was I raised to show respect. I just can’t do that anymore, not after watching the massive failings of the baby boomer generation. I won’t fake who I am.
It saddens me in ways I never wanted to feel.
Maybe elders can redeem their image to their grandchildren. From what I’ve seen of the last 6 years, I doubt it.
I want to be able to respect my elders again.
Senator Kerry - Wish you and your Wife a verry happy and prosperous 2007…....Remember everyone is waiting for your decision to run for the Presidency…You are the most suitable & Experienced .......... no doubt about this, USA needs a knowledgeable and experience person to be The Commander in Chief…..Its only you who could take this place…..Please make a decision…
As a member of Military Familes Speak Out, I want our troops home and I want them taken care of when they get here.
The rest: corruption, impeachment, deficit - are all lower priorities than our service members. Bring them home NOW
I would like the government to address health care and I want them to do it from the prospective of what will be the best for the country, not from the prospective of what will be the best for the health care industry. I would also like this the coverage to also address dental care since they have found links between poor oral hygeine and many health problems. I think that it is health care costs need to be addressed soon since we are looking at a problem with medicaid and medicare before we have a problem with social secuirty and we have more and more folks being forced to decide whether to play russian roulette with their families health or pay for other necessities.
Happy Healthy New Year Senator
I want the elected Democrats to live up to and restore and advance the New Deal promises of economic and social justice. I want the Declaration of Human Rights Eleanor Roosevelt worked so hard to get through the UN to become the law of the land here. I want out military reduced to a force to defend the US and supply resources to UN scantioned interventions to keep the peace and people from genocide. I want Social Security, Universal Health care guaranteed in a constitutional admendment. I want Corporations stripped of the rights of human beings and limited and overseen. When Corporations commit criminal acts I want them disbanded and their assets distributed first to their victims , second their employees and last to their shareholders
Senator Kerry,
Here is my wishlist for what I want the elected Dems to do:
1. Stay true to democratic principles: equality of opportunity, fairness, and justice, for all.
2. Stand up and politely, but firmly, push back against the thugs that are in control of our political process—this means standing up for maliciously tarred fellow Democrats. You (and Al Gore, I might add) understand this principle well and have always been spectacular about defending other Dems; the others, not so much.
3. Please help create a Democratic media: radio and TV channels: if rich Rethugs are willing to put their money where their hearts are, how come rich Dems are not?
Thanks and Regards,
Radha
Sen. Kerry: Thanks for asking what we want. What we want above all else is for you to be president because it will enable us to get started on all of the other things we need to do in this country.
We need your leadership in the White House on universal health care, energy independence, a stable Iraq with our troops coming home, and renewed respect around the world. There are so many things that need to be addressed that a real list would be endless. We have regressed so much in the last six years! What I want personally is for you to come to Oklahoma to campaign for president. Yes, you have supporters even in this very red state and we need your leadership badly. Does that sound like begging? It is—my husband and I beg you to run again.
Senator,
Happy New Year, I wish you a successful and impactful year ahead.
First, I have to say that I hope you do not run for President again. You are most effective in the Senate and, quite honestly, another run will not end well for you and I fear it may diminish your effectiveness in the Senate. I say this as a great admirer of yours. I was at UMass in 1984 when you came and debated your Democratic primary opponents——people like Ed Markey and James Shannon—-and you were very impressive. You have continued to impress me the last 22 years but I feel you will serve this country best if you stay in Congress and be a strong voice in the upcoming investigations of the hopelessly incompetent and criminal administration of George W. Bush.
I want us out of Iraq by the end of 2007.
I want George Bush investigated and impeached if he is found to have committed high crimes and misdemeanors.
I want our election system overhauled with the complete abolition of touchscreen and other computerized voting machines. All votes must leave a paper trail.
I want this country to move toward real energy independence—including wind and solar power.
I want the concerns of ordinary people heard by Congress and the President. Corporate donors and the mega-rich should not be granted an open door policy of access to our elected officials.
I want the minimum wage raised.
I want real campaign finance reform—the big money from mega-rich and corporate donors must be removed from this system.
There’s lots more I want but this would be an excellent start. Thank you.
Well, it’s not my country but as I feel with the American people, I hope you don’t mind me expressing some thoughts as well. Setting the USA on the right track again (and the Democratic congress is a beginning) and finding a solution for the Iraq war and the broader Middle East chaos may be the first and most urgent things that come to mind. But there are other important issues that also need attention.
I recently read an interesting article by Richard Clarke who wrote that, while the Bush administration was focused on the Iraq debacle, several important foreign policy and security issues weren’t addressed during the last 6 years:
- Global warming
- Russian revanchism
- Latin America’s leftist lurch
- Africa at war
- Arms control freeze
- Transnational crime
- The Pakistani-Afghan border
The link: [url=“http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/linkframe.php?linkpg=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/29/AR2006122901238.html&linkid=28243”]
While You Were at War . . .[/url]
I know that you, Mr. Kerry, have focused on most of these issues in the past and present, and that some of these problems would never have even occured under a Kerry presidency. But that’s the situation in the world right now, and I hope that 2007 will be the year when some of these problems can be addressed and maybe even solved. It would not only make America more secure but the whole world would benefit from it.
Thanks and Bonne Année!
Senator Kerry,
Most of what I want for 2007 has been mentioned in all the eloquent posts above. But I will add my thoughts on a few.
Most importantly I want the America back that I grew up in. I shake my head in disbelief of how much we have lost in the past 6 years, and were losing with a Republican controlled house for the past 12 years. We need our moral compass back.
NCLB has got to go, or be completely reformed. My son is a high school History teacher, and as he tells me this bill is destroying our public education system, that is exactly what the Republicans wanted it to do. He just wants to teach and not to a test, but to give his students a well rounded view of history.
College loans, and tuitions need a thorough looking at. My daughter is in her last year of college and her tuition has almost tripled since she first started. We have helped her out all we can, and were stopped from helping her even more when the Navy Fleet Reserve decided not to let retirees get loans for their college children. Between her and my son they will be paying off these loans for the next 30+ years, something has to change.
As a wife of a retired Navy man, please whenever George Bush uses our military for political decoys stand up and let it be known. As my husband says he didn’t serve this country for 20 years to see the military be used as a political tool.
It was hard enough to go through the election of 2000, and 2002, but 2004 really showed how badly we as the best democracy in the world lack in giving all of our citizens “the right to vote”. We all have a job to do in this critical issue.
The MSM. I don’t know what has to be done to get the Fairness Doctrine back and why it wasn’t brought back when Clinton was in charge, but we need it badly. We need Democrats on shows that will stand up for the party and those in it, not lightweights that hohum and don’t stay on message. I am also sick and tired of Democrats back stabbing other Democrats just for their own political goals. They are in their jobs because of and for “we the people”.
Finally, you have had our backs for some time now, you have never stopped fighting for us. Well I want to have your back and want to fight for you and with you and hope you decide to run again.
I wish you , Teresa, your children and family a wonderful New Year Senator Kerry.
Senator Kerry and Family, I wish you a healthy and safe 2007 and beyond.
What do I want for America? I’m Australian. For a very long time I have watched my respected and trusted sister-nation descend into horrific depraved acts against humanity. Acts that we would find abhorrent in the most vile of dictators on the planet. And here are my friends committing these atrocities.
May 2007 return America to its former respected and trusted presence in the world. Once - far back now - America was honest, reliable, dependable, generous, compassionate. Once - far back now - America was happy, good fun, hospitable, entertaining; and the laughter did not have the bitter twist of reality that it has today. Once - far back now - America was the first to help bring comfort and assistance to anyone in the world who suffered the unfortunate consequences of a natural catastrophe.
For all of us on this small planet, I wish for America to restore its collective decency. I trust that you will succeed in this very soon. I’m confident that this year will herald great change and once change begins, the momentum will provide the energy and speed for the hardest and most important changes of all.
Good luck America. 2007 brings an opportunity to run with!
Thank you Senator Kerry, for asking for our input. I’d like to wish you and your family a very Happy New Year. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and are ready to get to work making things right in Washington.
I would love to see you become our next president, even though you’d be left with an awful mess to clean up. The people of this country deserve smart, compassionate leadership, something we’ve been lacking for a long time. You would be a wonderful president, I am convinced of that.
I want to see an end to our occupation of Iraq. We should never have gone there in the first place. But since time can not be turned back, the next best thing we can do is to leave. No more US soldiers should die or get injured so that Iraqi factions can have US protection while they continue their civil war.
Investigate the hell out of the Bush administration. Expose their crimes against humanity, our constitution, and our country.
End our dependence on foreign oil. Energy independence is hugely important, using technologies that do not contribute to global warming.
Our election process must be taken out of corporate hands and given back to the citizens. Paper ballots, hand-counted in view of witnesses from all participating parties. Heck, might as well videotape the counting while we’re at it. Our elections must be free, fair and accountably honest.
Every person in this country must have access to affordable health care. It must be a right, not a privilege.
Help stop the bleeding of American jobs to overseas outsourcing.
I know that’s a pretty agressive agenda. But I also know that you are a leader that’s up to the task of making things right.
Senator Kerry,
Happy New Year, at least I hope 2007 turns out to be better than the past 6.
What do I want?
1.) I want my civil rights as a citizen of the United States. My partner of 15 years and I deserve the same rights as you and every married American.
2) I want the Democratic Party to recognize and support the LGBT community and stop being afraid to recognize we exist because of a small group of radical Christians. We support you, you need to support us!
3) I want habeas corpus back!
4) Get out of Iraq
5) Work toward energy independence.
6) I want my government stop the genocide ocurring in Darfur.
7) I want the TRUTH!!!!!
My hopes in 2007:
revision of federal control and funding of education: reduce the amount of testing; raise the federal income tax deduction for professional expenses for teachers;
America needs to support the middle and lower classes. Please ask Senator Webb about the demands for fairness that unite Americans (and stem from Scots-Irish culture). This covers justice, straightening out Homeland Security- from grants that are not prioritized to unreasonable actions at airports to stopping wiretaps and mail-reading.
The specifics mentioned above appeal to me:
penalizing corporations for sending their jobs overseas; enforce tax payments from corporations; protecting unions; supporting public education; enforcing inheritance taxes; enforcement of regulations that prevent pollution;
Single-payer health insurance; increased public health practice (prevention rather than treatment); more funds for veteran health care;
Money for jobs that repair and restore our infrastructure: bridges, railroad tracks, drainage, sewers, clinics, national parks.
Thanks for asking.
Okay, here is the part 2 I promised when I posted earlier today. Once again, thanks for asking, Senator.
This is kind of a laundry list of some specific policies I’d like to see promoted.
* Iraq - I’ll support your judgment on that. The sooner we bring our troops home the better, but the long-term effects in the region are important too. Doing SOMETHING is clearly a priority. I have to say though, that I don’t know what, but I want the troops home. I don’t see any good coming from their presence there, and I do see a lot of harm.
* Military in general - do we STILL not have enough troops who can speak the language of their host countries?? If so, let’s fix that - permanently, if possible.
* Media - democratize media: restore the Fairness Doctrine, or similar; begin to reverse, media consolidation; in general the positions supported by the Media Access Project (http://www.mediaaccess.org/)
* Election reform, 1 - as a poll worker myself, I would like to see employers mandated to provide a reasonable amount of time off for voting or to fill official poll worker positions. (this is much preferable to making Election Day a holiday.) For voting, four hours would be good, with a provision to extend that if necessary due to problems at the polls, with any extension having to be paid for by the same authority funding the election itself. Four hours allows sufficient time for travel to and from the poll, and time at the poll to read materials and wait in line if necessary. Longer should not be necessary if the election is properly managed. Each voter should be given a “receipt” by the election board, merely showing that they voted, for the employer to verify. The reason for this is that means it is not simply 4 hours “off” from work, but stipulates that the 4 hours must be used for voting. If a person doesn’t go to vote, they must go to work. Even though many employers would not bother to check, the process creates opportunity and incentive for people to vote. I think this would significantly improve electoral participation.
* Election reform, 2 - improve laws against voter suppression to be enforceable and carry very long jail terms.
* Alternative energy, 1 - Please consider the effectiveness of E85 production from corn, vs. switchgrass, and adjust policy accordingly.
* Alternative energy, 2 - just say NO to nuclear power subsidies.
* Health care, 1 - recognize that to many on the left in this country, the only acceptable position is “national health care, NOW.” Your plan needs to be very clear on how it gets us to universal health care access, and if not single payer, why not.
* Health care, 2 - your focus on children’s health care is spot on. Let’s get it through this time, now that we have a Dem-controlled Congress.
* Fiscal responsibility - Don’t make the deficit worse, and try to bring it down. The republicans have left quite a mess on this score, haven’t they?
* Small Business - I think you are doing great work in this area, but it seems a lot of progressive activists are unaware, both of what you are doing and why it’s important. They complain about mega-corporations but don’t get the connection with small business. When “important committees” are mentioned in the media, in this capitalist democracy for some reason the Small Business Committee is excluded. I’d like to see it given a little bit higher profile. Maybe the outreach to the progressive community can be stepped up in this area?
* Offshoring, corporate tax-dodging - I like your Export Products not Jobs bill and would like to see that a priority, but please be prepared for some knee-jerk reactions from certain quarters about the corporate tax changes. Most people don’t “just know” this stuff and need to be educated a little, so they understand why one approach is better than another. (Hint - Refer to my first reply to your post, that I made earlier today.)
Well, I probably used up my nickel a long time ago. Thanks again for all your hard work, and I will be very happy if just some of these items I listed are accomplished. I know you will be doing your best to support the best and fairest policies for all of us, and I appreciate the good judgement you’ll bring to the table.
And one more thanks - I’ll be going to DC on Thursday to watch the swearing-in of my new representative, Congressman Joe Sestak! There are no thanks enough for the help you gave us in getting Joe elected!
Happy New Year to you Senator Kerry and to your beautiful family as well.
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to share our hopes with you. Beyond all of the wonderful thoughts that have already been expressed here, what I would like for our country in 2007 is for the American people to reclaim ownership of our government by participating fully in the process.
This means that “we the people” need to do more than simply show up to the polls on Election Day. We need to educate ourselves about what is truly being done in our name, and we need to hold our leaders accountable. We need to look beyond what the pundits tell us we should think or who we should vote for, and learn to think for ourselves. In short, my hope for 2007 is that the American people will become better citizens, for as you once said Senator Kerry, “There is no more important word, in my judgment, in the American language, other than “love”, than “citizen.”“
Please run for President again in ‘08, Senator Kerry. Our nation needs you!
A Marshall Plan for New Orleans. We are in desperate need of help with housing and keeping small businesses open. NO is dying!!!!
Dear Senator Kerry, Teresa, and Family,
Happy, Healthy New Year, and many blessings to you in 2007. Thank you for your wishes for all of us at your blog.
Senator, I have learned that the only way to predict the future is to create it. So many of your friends are waiting to hear your decision regarding the presidency bid or a continuation of your wonderful U.S. Senate career. Whichever direction you choose, I and others will give you the full support you need to create a successful future.
However, I recall your words “I am a fighter” during the 2004 campaign. Intuitively, I believe you are ready to resume that role toward the presidency. So, if I am correct, let’s work together, side by side, to create a record breaking win in 2008! As William A. Ward wrote: “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.”
I second many of the inspiring posts here 100%. To be honest with you, when you are elected President 2008, I believe everything we dream about for our country, and the world, will fall into place, because we will finally have a distinguished, positive-thinking leader and motivator, a respected world statesman, a commander-in-chief, who is experienced in combat, knows the pitfalls of war firsthand and honors peace, an open government advocate, a dedicated public servant, who is wise, honest, trustworthy, kind, compassionate, honorable, as well as a communicator, who will listen and consider other’s opinions. Senator, you are “The Real Deal.”
Prior to the 2008 election, I believe it is imperative that we have Election Reform, with 100% paper ballots and receipts, handcounted and recorded at the precinct level, as well as having the mainstream media, presently controlled by wealthy individuals and corporations, reformed. The bias and spin must end. We, the people, deserve to be heard.
Thank you, Senator Kerry, for this opportunity to share with you. You are in my daily prayers. God Bless.
Hello and best wishes, Sen. Kerry,
Thank you for speaking out on Iraq and for the editorial the other day. I find it hard to get interested in other issues with whats happening every day in Iraq. Afghanistan sounds like its going bad, too. I’m watching Bob Woodward tell O’Reilly that US soldiers have told him that Iraq is “like a Mad Max movie.”
I hope you decide to run. I trust your good judgement on other important issues so what I am looking for you to do is keep trying to get us out of Iraq.
And again and again and again until those in power hear it. Say it because we, as a nation, need to hear it. Say it because people want the war over so that they don’t have to look back at it and learn from it, they just want it to go away. Say it because there is a moral lesson in it; one that this nation should take to heart and learn and not cast away because it’s painful. Say it again and again until it is heard, because I think it is what you can do that is uniquely yours to do, say things like this:
Senator, say that again. No matter if you ever run for President or even public office itself ever again, say those words. This is what we need to hear, even if sometimes it is not what we want to hear. Turning this nation from this path of insanity is the highest possible calling in this new Congress and in this nation right now in 2007.
So say this again. Say it until they listen. That will be rendering unbelievable service, true patriotic service to the highest ideals of this country. That’s what I want. Honor your own voice and in doing so, it will honor so many other voices as well and honors, deeply honors, the principles of democracy itself.
Thank you for asking. And may your New Year’s be healthy, happy, productive and fulfilling for your and your family.
No flowery writing here, just the facts. 1) Out of Iraq now. No delays, no excuses. 2) Return the right of Haebus Corpus, revoke Patriot Act 1 and 2, overturn all Presidential signing statements. 3) Tax corportations, those making more than $250k or those earning investment income at a reasonable rate and collect all deferred and uncollected oil and mineral fees. Remove the cap on Social Security taxes. Then use the proceeds to fund national health care and deal with the massive health issues related to the veterans (including DU). 4) Reinstitute President Carter’s program for energy independence, strict air and water pollution regulations, lock corporations and private interests out of the public domain (parks, forests, national monuments) and reserve the public domain for the public in perpetutity. 5)Institute tarrifs and duties on all products brought into the country, tax and punish “American” companies which have offshored their operations, headquarters or production. If they want to sell here, they must located in the US, hire and manufacture in the US. Starve the WalMart model with their own medicine.
Thank you, Senator.
Here are my wishes for our country in 2007 and beyond:
1. Withdrawal of our troops from Iraq to an ‘over-the-horizon’ position.
2. Congressional investigations into a) how the Bush administration used false intelligence as a basis to initiate the war in Iraq; b) the use of “no-bid” military contracts with inadequate financial controls to ensure that taxpayer money is spent properly; c) the misuse of Presidential signing statements that undermine Congressional authority as set forth in the Constitution; d) Bush administration-sanctioned secret CIA prisons, torture of prisoners, and related human rights abuses; e) Bush administration use of warantless wiretaps and other unconstitutional civil rights abuses.
3. The initiation of a major “man-to-the-moon”-like project to develop alternative energy technologies to significantly reduce our nation’s dependence on oil and coal. Such an initiative will require a working partnership between government, academia and the private sector. In addition to helping to address the Global Warming problem, this initiative could spur the creation of entirely new, clean industries and well-paying jobs for Americans. This activity could help increase American exports while greatly reducing our need for imported oil. From a geopolitical perspective, this can help to curtail the funding of terrorist organizations around the world that depend directly or indirectly on financing from OPEC countries. Through concrete actions, we can regain world leadership on this issue and thereby influence other nations to join our effort.
4. A serious effort to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue through the establishment of a viable homeland for Palestinians and an arrangement that provides for the security, peace and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
5. A renewed effort to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons and materials. (Our recent agreement with India appears to be a step in the wrong direction). Redouble our effort with Russia to collect and dispose of all so-called loose nukes. Team with other major nations to pressure countries like North Korea and Iran to adopt verifiable non-proliferation policies.
6. Enact legislation to clean-up government and our political process including campaign financing. End the revolving door between government and contractors and lobbyists. Eliminate unethical campaign practices such as misleading robo-calling.
7. Strengthen FEMA and its manpower policies so that it is adequately staffed with trained and experienced professionals who have all the tools and resources they need to respond effectively to a national emergency. No more Katrina-like responses.
8. Increase security of our nation’s ports and borders. Significantly increase investments in manpower and technology to secure our borders and stop the flood of illegal aliens entering our country. Implement a reasonable guest worker program to accommodate the short-term labor needs of farms and businesses. Require the registration of all aliens now in our country. Significantly increase the number of immigration agents to check businesses to make sure they are not employing illegal or unregistered aliens. Provide a plan to enable law-abiding aliens who have been in our country for a substantial period of time that can put them on a path to U.S. citizenship. Aliens with criminal records and illegal aliens caught entering our country should be deported immediately to the capitol of their home country.
9. Ensure that all Americans have access to basic healthcare coverage. Americans pay more than any other country for healthcare but the healthcare that we receive is less effective than that provided in other countries. We need to simplify our incredibly complex system to take out unnecessary costs while improving the overall quality. For example, a good first step is to amend the recently enacted prescription drug program to require the negotiation of drug costs (rather than prohibit such negotiation). Providing a basic healthcare plan would greatly help improve the competitiveness of many U.S. businesses for whom healthcare costs for their employees and retirees represent a significant expense that foreign competitors do not bear. This initiative would greatly benefit the poor and middle class families for whom the cost is simply unbearable.
10. Curtail the outrageous executive compensation now prevailing in many of our nation’s businesses. In most cases, these excesses are being funded by wage and benefit compression of rank and file employees. As reported recently in the New York Times, the ratio between CEO pay and the average worker held steady for more than 30 years until 1980. Since then, it has quadrupled a multiple of 170. When it comes to CEO pay, there is no free market. It’s a rigged game orchestrated by CEOs and abetted by board members and consultants who benefit from these unethical practices. Rank and file employees are bearing the price of these excesses through salary compression, benefit cuts, including outright elimination of pension plans, and through loss of jobs due to outsourcing. All of this contributes to the Middle Class ‘squeeze’ that many Americans are experiencing. These excesses are unethical, undermine our middle class and contribute to the inequities that are becoming more apparent in our country every day. Like other unfair business practices that have been stopped in the past (trusts and monopolies, child labor, unsafe working conditions, etc), it is time to end another injustice.
I apologize for the long list but we do indeed have a lot to do to get our country back on the right track. While our challenges are many, my family and I take heart in knowing that we have an inspired team of Democrats now in control of Congress. We wish you every success.
I thank you very much for your consideration of these points and I wish you and your family all the best in 2007.
Best Regards.
What I would like most for 2007 is to see our troops come home as quickly as possible and in a responsible manner; I would also like to see outstanding progressive public policy from our new Democratic Congress; and finally I would love to see John Kerry, an extraordinary patriot, run for President. Our country needs you sir.
Additional priorties are:
1. Ending the war
2. Provide legislation for Katrina victims
3. Election reform
4. Non-renewal of NCLB
5. Bread and butter issues
6. Ending the genocide in Darfur
Corporate Government be gone and soldiers come home. Open the books, get rid of the crooks. Make 2007 be the year the “White-Collar-Criminal” gets nailed…or hung.
As one who has made it a priority to understand the threat due to terrorism before jumping at the first glimmer of a solution, I would like to see that understanding become commonplace here in America.
For instance, it is far too simple to suggest that Arabs are antisemites and oppose Israel as a result. In reality this modern confrontation begins in 1917 with the Balfour Declaration which calls for the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. The Balfour Declaration also requires that nothing be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.
Since that date both sides have fought. Some Jewish militant groups even went so far as to attack British troops there in 1936. From then on these groups were refered to by the British government as terrorist organizations. The groups were Etzel and Lehi.
Israel’s part in this problem can not be overemphasized. Tactics on both sides have become more violent as a result of a mutual escalation and is not solved through unilateral action or support. Both Arabs and Jews who see fit to engage in aggressive acts must be held equally accountable. This has not happened for some time simply because the current administration chose to ignore the course for cease-fire that was set by the previous administration.
The aggressive behavior we see eminating from the Middle East is in response to heavyhanded foreign influence. It was in 1979 when Iranians overthrew the Shah. It was in 1983 when our embassy and a Marine Barracks in Beruit were bombed. It was also the same when in 1996 an Air Force Barracks in Saudi Arabia was bombed. Many more examples including the attacks of September 11, 2001 are out there for the people to view and all point to a serious foreign policy problem centered around our dealings with the Middle East.
Senator Kerry-
Thank you for including us in your thoughts. You inspired my family in 2004, and since then, I have remained active locally. I pray that you can use your political will and insight to end this terrible war. With the class of Freshman we all worked so hard to elect, please oppose the current Administration, and extricate us from blunders abroad.
Again, thank you for your service to the citizenry. You continue to inspire many.
I’ll be short and sweet…
What I want more than anything from Gov’t is
HONESTY!
I am sick of the lies and the spin. We need leadership that will quit playing partisan politics and tell Americans the truth - good or bad.
Thanks, Senator Kerry - here’s what I want:
I want US troops out of Iraq. Period. I want them redeployed to Darfur, the Congo, and of course Afghanistan. Last I heard, Osama bin Laden is still on the run, and we’ve been meaning to have a little chat with him about this whole 9/11 affair.
I want a workable, universal, single-payer health care system where every American can get the treatment they need for whatever condition they have without some insurance company bean-counter telling her that she can’t get the medicine she really needs in order to make it through the day.
I want the Department of Homeland Security abolished. They proved their worthlessness with their anemic response to Hurricane Katrina and its devastation of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. FEMA needs to be freed to do what it did best before the DHS made the scene - namely, managing disasters and other emergencies.
I want a multi-spectrum approach to cutting down on pollution and global warming. The ice caps are disintegrating, weather patterns are changing, and the Gulf Stream itself may be in danger unless we get serious about these critical issues.
I want scientific observation and experience to be unshackled from any sort of religious and/or political dogma. As Bill Nye once said, “Science rules.”
That should do it for now. Thank you!
No pressure sir, but you should run for president again. We need a real experienced and dedicated leader in the White House. Someone who is more interested in tackling our problems head on and less concerned about political manuvering and poll watching.
Also, the important issues that need attention in 2007 in my opinion are,
The Iraq War- ending it with the best outcome possible and bringing our soldiers home.
Provide real security for our country.
Work towards eliminating our dependency on foreign oil for our engergy needs. Providing engergy alternatives.
Addressing the needs of the middle class. Good jobs-not part time ones- with benefits that compensate workers with decent wages.
Healthcare, starting with the most vunerable- the children making sure they receive the proper care they need. From there, tackling the healthcare needs of adults.
Consider the special needs of women, schooling,employment opportunites, equal pay, and help for single mothers with quality childcare and job security.
Improving our public school system. Updating classroom materials, learning programs, smaller classrooms, and the entire learning environment.
Keeping more manufacturing plants and jobs here in America.
Global warming
Balancing the budget.
Finally, bringing our divided nation back together again.
Happy New Year Senator to you and Mrs Kerry and your whole family.
I want some policies in 07 that will end the war on the middleclass.
I want jobs here in our country, even if it means we have to raise taxes and cut into profits of businesses who use slave labor overseas! (Tarrifs, taxes, or whatever needs to be done to stop the bleeding of our jobs.)
I want national healthcare begun for EVERY WORKING AMERICAN and for EVERY CHILD. We need to stop the Walmartization of employment (benefits) in our country. This means, even if you work 20 hours a week and get paid minimum wage, you should be able to get healthcare! The businesses are not willing to hire people full time anymore and they’re certainly not paying as well as they use to. Then after ever working American and every child has healthcare, we need to make sure that we can expand the program to include all Americans. This also means we should penalize companies who do not offer healthcare to their employees. OR we should help them afford to offer healthcare to their employees. (One way or another…just do it!)
Environmental laws that will be friendly to trees and yet simultaneously friendly to the manufacturing jobs we want to keep in the US.
Education! Provide it for a change! From elementary through college.
Ditch the bankruptcy laws.
End the war.
Leap over tall buildings and save our world from the incompetence, the corruption, and the k-street lobbyists that have infiltrated our government and brought about bad policies.
Serious budget, responsible spending, and focused financing towards rebuilding every part of our own infrastructure—which to me includes everything like roads, bridges, clean air, clean water, jobs, healthcare, military, levys, etc…
So…ready to leap those tall buildings?
...
Set….
...
LEAP over the tall buildings and into the Senate to create these policies that will finally end the war in Iraq, end the war on the middleclass, and finally—finally!—-bring us some HOPE back for our future and our kids future!!!!!!!!
Posted by derby | January 1, 2007 10:46 PM
Hey…that reminds me of a conversation I had with a neoconservative today. Yes…we both agreed! WE NEED TO STOP allowinging the health care industry to REFUSE to treat us for our ‘pre-existing’ problems OR refuse to even give us a policy at all—which is what they can do in my state!
NO—exclusions! Healthcare is suppose to HELP US! And we shouldn’t be excluded because we have an injury or a disease… And this was something me “a flaming liberal” and a ‘conservative REPUBLICAN’ both agreed upon.
In theatre they say, “Timing is everything.” Since you asked…and judging from above…seems the time for your Prez “run” finally has arrived. Your “team” eagerly awaits.
Thanks for asking.
Happy New Years Everyone! Wonderful posts, lots of good thoughts.
I just want one thing. The Truth. I just want somebody in Washington to stand up and tell us the truth of why the entire world is either fighting wars or working their life away for the benefit of a teeny sliver of unbelievably wealthy individuals.
Happy New Year, Senator Kerry, to you and your wonderful family.
Everyone has given some great ideas. Better than I ever could articulate.
So, I will just be very simple. I want you and Teressa in the White House. Very selfish reason. If I can have that, I will be able to sleep better at night.
I sleep better knowing the neoCONs are no longer in control of Congres, and I want to thank you for the major role you had in making that happen.
Now, If we can get you in control of the Presidency, I may just sleep for about a week, catch up on all the sleep I have lost for the last 12 years.
Just kidding, somewhat, but not entirely.
My prayers always end with “Please, God, give us John Kerry for our President”.
I have never been able to call Bush president. I want a president that I can call President.
That is you, John Kerry.
Oooops, how could I forget??
5. MORE speeches from Faneuil Hall, or more speeches LIKE the ones last year at Faneuil at other places across this nation. Maybe it’s the location or some sort of mystic blessing you have when you are there, but you were at your best in the four major speeches there in 2006. With some media attention these can win the hearts and minds of the people.
6. Even more direction for those like the regulars who have posted above. They will back you in whatever you choose to do. Give them the information and the tools to promote what you want to do and I’ll stake my reputation that these folks will NOT let you down and will GET IT DONE. These people aren’t “summer soldiers”, and this 2005-2007 “Valley Forge” has not dampened my or anyone else’s resolve. We just need the “coordinates” once you have a battle plan drawn up…...
Thanks again,
Javelin
What I want for America is for American’s to not be afraid to rebel a little against the leading parties of government. Thomas Jefferson said is best, “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”
To my belief, the greatest reason why there is a great deal of deceptive action taken by corporations and government officials, and why there is a great deal of mistrust, is because the American people are living in fear of taking a chance.
We must remember: This is our country, and we must protect it.
Corporate greed, in services and real estate, have severely altered the economic structure to the point that anyone not working for them falls into poverty.
I’m 21, I study astrophysics, practice art, research and discuss social sciences, and have my technical skills set into information systems sciences.
And I make less than $24,000/yr.
Happy New Year, fellow humanists and lovers of freedom.
Here’s my wishlist for 2007:<ul><li>Fully investigate the misdoings of the Bush Administration (including but not limited to breaches of international law as enshrined in treaties ratified by the U.S. Congress; breaches of U.S. law as enshrined in the Constitution and in federal laws such as FISA; war crimes; no-bid contracts, enrichment of cronies, and other evidence of corruption). Inititate criminal trials where necesssary, including but limited to the impeachment of both President Bush and Vice President Cheney.</li> <li>Lift the limits on Iraqi refugees admitted to this country, which are front page news in the NY Times today. We broke their country and destroyed their lives. We owe them. Let them come and find sanctuary here. Let their children grow up in safety here. This is the only way we can begin to atone for the horrors we have visited on innocent Iraqi civilians, especially children and the elderly.</li><li>Withdraw fully from Iraq. Our troops can’t accomplish anything there except to kill more people (which is, after all, the job they are trained to do). Bring them home, and send money instead.<li>On the domestic front, pass a law stipulating that Social Security will NEVER be privatized (we cannot gamble with the program that working Americans rely on—and compulsorily pay their wages into—to provide for them in old age); and begin moving toward universal health care coverage, a program whose time has finally come in this country.</li><li>Reverse the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and restore the estate tax.</li></li></ul>
Lots to do. Let’s get going.
First of all, I wish you and your family a wonderful 2007.
My wish list for you is short and sweet. I want to see you run for President again. And more importantly, I want the American public to recognize how great you are and for them to give you their total support. Had it not been for some things in Ohio that I am still suspicious about, you would be in the White House today.
It’s been more than two years, but my mind still boggles than Bush had the support he did (and still does, to a certain extent). I have lived in Texas, the reddest red state of them all, for nearly 15 years and I still have not gotten used to conservative politics, and never will. I had the misfortune of being here when Bush was our Governor. He was a horrible Governor, and he’s been even worse as President! Even after he leaves office in 2009, it will take a long time to clean up the mess!
Just one additional wish to add to my earlier list:
a real Universal Healthcare system that follows people from birth to death and does not discriminate people because they are sick. It works in the rest of the world, so why would it not work in the US.
And, of course, the hope that you run for 08.
Happy new year (Bonne année) to all.
Happy New Year, Sen. Kerry and Teresa!
You are now, as you were in 2004, the most prepared man in this country to take over the disaster Bush has created, and to lead us where you were about to lead us—to a leadership role for the USA (a cooperative one) in helping to make this a sane, safe, sustainable planet for all its inhabitants. No wonder the republicans, and most all of the media were, and still are, so afraid of you. You represent the future, the dissolution of the old conservative world order where wealth and might rule, and the true beginning of an enlightened, progressive democratic party. That’s probably why so many dems waited to endorse you, but you got Gary Hart, another wise visionary and stateman early on, and other of his kind followed. Please run again, get the true patriots behind you early, and show the DLC (repub lite?), where this country has to go in the 21st century to live up to its real ideals which include all citizens around the globe being included in the family of man. Of course, I second all the other posts concerning universal health care, mimimum wage increase, strong UN support, clean and verifiable elections (especially since the man now occupying the White House was not elected—TWICE!, sustainable energy source, REAL and fair trade with the rest of the world, and pretty much your whole platform. Please, oh please, run again. WE NEED YOU NOW, MORE THAN EVER!
I want all of the above. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has set us back and done SO much damage the last six years that it will take many years to undo and repair it all - and sadly, many things can’t be fixed.
But just to get things started I would like 2007 to kick off with…
1. Hold the Bush administration accountable and restore our Democracy!! Investigate and Impeach!! They have commited a laundry list of impeachable offenses and if they are not held to account it sets a dangerous precedent for our country.
2. Single-payer healthcare for all.
3. Raise the minimum wage - quickly, not stepped-out over several years. We have too much ground to make up.
4. Please, please, please throw the following in the GARBAGE where they belong….The Military Commissions Act!!!! The Patriot Act, NCLB, Clear Skies etc.
5. Hand-counted paper ballots throughout the land.
6. Media Reform!! The situation with the corporate-owned media is a large part of why we have fallen into such a mess and the Bush administration has gotten away with all of their corruption and crimes. The media is supposed to be the government watchdog for the public. Instead, we now have a government propaganda machine.
7. Close the corporate tax loopholes and make them start paying their fair share!!
8. SERIOUS and IMMEDIATE attention with REAL ACTION on global warming and the environment. Time is quickly running out!!
9. Get us out of Iraq!! Restore our good name in the world. Use our power as a force for GOOD in the world - not war and oppression.
10. Restore FEMA into a working and competent agency.
11. Implement the recommendations of the 9/11 commission. Secure our ports and borders.
12. Campaign finance and lobbying reforms.
13. Get the Stem Cell Research bill passed.
And there is so much more work that will need to be done, but this will be plenty for this year and beyond.
Thank you, Senator Kerry, for your hard work, dedication, and integrity and for caring about what the people of this country want!
Happy New Year to your and your family!
Hmm. After reading all those wish lists, it’s hard to come up with anything original to add. They pretty much cover all the bases, and I agree with just about everything the others have suggested so far.
But there’s one over-arching issue for me that includes many of the other points under its umbrella:
INTEGRITY.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines “integrity” this way:
1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.
2. The state of being unimpaired; soundness.
3. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.
Integrity? In government? What does that mean?
Well, here’s a partial list of things that the concept of “integrity in government” covers:
Open committee meetings, frequent town-hall-type listening sessions, real campaign finance reform, an end to the corrupt lobbyist influence-peddling system, an accurate accounting of monies spent and results achieved, a balanced budget, an equitable income tax system, a reliable national voting mechanism, full non-partisan oversight of governmental operations, meaningful environmental protection, support for American small business, limits on corporate greed and malfeasance, regulations that make actual sense, protection of the rights of all citizens, and adherence to the Constitution and the principles that this country was built upon.
Is that too much to ask?
Otter,
No…it most assuredly is not. :)
This page linked from Villainous Company. I’d like to see real bipartisanship in Washington, but don’t believe it will happen, given that Speaker Pelosi pushed John Murtha for leader, and will in all likelihood not censure John Conyers. I’d like to see us win in Iraq, instead of retreating. I’d like to see a balanced budget—not from increasing taxes (a tactic that never works) but by cutting spending. I’d like Congress to finally DO SOMETHING about the Social Security deficit—instead of putting their heads in the sand. I’d like to have Congress insist that immigration laws be followed, instead of blatantly looking the other way, and providing benefits to illegals. I’d like you to provide full disclosure via Simplified Form 180 for your military record, a promise you have made and broken several times. I’d like a top to bottom review of every Federal law, to see which ones SHOULD be repealed or changed—laws seem to last forever. I’d like a very simple foreign policy that lets other nations know that the U.S. can be depended upon to do exactly what it says it will do. I’d like to have the U.N. moved to Switzerland, and the U.S. role reduced. Finally, I’d like to see if this post passes the filter on your blog.
The proverbial so much to do, so little time. We’ve had decades of wrong policy to improve upon, without a consensus on how to begin. All with the next presidential race a distraction.
Unless we succeed on some issues, and ably convince the public, despite a hostile press, we will lose the argument and ability to better lead.
I share your concern that alternative energy sources are needed for everything that makes this world go around, with all its interconnectness. An opportunity to improve job creation, small business, health, and foreign relations. Instead of creating indebted nations for oil and commodities, we need better friends and partners.
Let’s give globalization a better reputation.
Everyone has one issue, it seems, push comes to shove. Something we define as most hurtful to Democracy’s peaceful exchange of power, and our participation in government. Beyond not teaching civics, that is.
Only four people out of 71, thus far, have mentioned election reform, and that has been my daily thorn for years. Mostly because too few people devote time to learn and advocate for a change that is uphill.
Beyond the usual disenfranchisement of ID laws and dirty tricks, we have too few laws protecting the vote, requiring that we count or recount. That we have a guaranteed right to vote. Even if we have a verifiable vote as a paper ballot, and a spot check of 2% or 3% after an election, then what?
For starters, we need to get rid of the black box. The politics of this issue make it murkier than it need be, when the electronic voting machines have never been proven to work, and actually made worse by a paper trail. The votes are never independently auditable.
Sequoia has a manual button that allows multiple voting, perhaps explaining our phantom voters and more votes than people. We can never know election results to a certainty, but with the new technology, the odds are far worse.
What is the best verifiable and hack-proof system, but also convenient enough to satisfy election boards? Short term it’s paper ballots, with some risk in electronic vounting, that prevents privatization and allows us a failsafe. Without law, however, a ballot doesn’t guarantee we get an election reconstuction.
It does improve confidence, is manageable by citizens, which is almost as important.
We want the most reliable first run vote count. Would the country develop a second generation of hack-proof levers, not satisfying the appearance of modern?
The activists and computer scientists have been proven correct after all, with advice making its way up to the NIST, but not all the way to the partisan, Election Assistance Commission.
We watched the well run GOP business plan for control, much like by the media, and other means, reach success in undermining our vote through their vendors.
A recent NYT quote, “Because most of this year’s races were not close, election experts say voting problems may actually have been wider than initially estimated, with many malfunctions simply overlooked.”
I don’t know what is possible in these next two years, but I hope the remedy will be bold, utilizing and improving the legislation in the pipeline.
The Count Every Vote Act supports unproven technology and should not go to a vote.
Dianne Feinstein will introduce something to mirror Rush Holt’s new bill, but both efforts may be more concerned about a paper trail audit to paperless machines and money already spent.
Congress needs to accept more responsibility for HAVA, and spend money.
Let me add, that as an admirer and fan for decades, I could always trust your judgment, even if it were something I didn’t want to hear.
To guide opinion and make sense of this complicated mess, I, and so many others, have that hope and trust in you as president. We can see what we won in 2004, against great odds.
Whether there are enough of us to tilt the balance of your decision to run, or if the many forces we see now prevent you from taking another shot, we know you will keep talking truth to power. Setting the bar as high as it needs to go.
I can also think of many projects for you and Teresa, without as many limitations. However much working successfully with others in disagreement is your special skill.
Happiest of New Years, for you, Senator Kerry, Teresa, and family.
Posted by frequent flier | January 2, 2007 2:34 PM
Actually, Senator Kerry signed the release form in 2005:
Full article here:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/06/07/kerry_allows_navy_release_of_military_medical_records
Ah, that’s right, it’s Tuesday.
One of the winger blogs that seems to have it particularly in for Senator Kerry for some reason proposed a every-Tuesday blogburst they call “Free Kerry’s 180”, so every Tuesday their fellow wingers try to publish something nasty about the Senator and his military service.
The post about this long-since-debunked military-records issue is part of the inevitable weekly fallout from these misguided and bitter individuals.
You’d think they’d get over it eventually, but that would require their paying attention to actual facts for a change. So don’t look for it to happen anytime soon.
The truth? They can’t handle the truth.
A clever Otter closing, as usual, but as Frequent Flier above, the wingers never say what winning in Iraq would mean, what we lost, or how complicit we’ve been over years to create these situations.
How if Saddam had only played nice with us on oil pricing stability, we’d be distrustful, but wouldn’t have occupied a country, spent trillions or killed thousands.
Are these just the corporate interests, on destroy the Senator duty, disguised as rank and file disgruntled?
Otter speaks the truth. If you were to travel to the home of a RW blogger today, you might catch a glimpse of a traditional “Troll on Tuesday” tea towel hanging jauntily in the kitchen. (Rest assured, “Warmonger on Wednesday” has been pressed, stashed nearby, and and is ready to go.)
Personally, I like to transcribe speeches and radio shows on Tuesday, but then, I’m a liberal. My penchant for finding news at its primary source is the kind of thing most neocons find fetishy and gross. *blows a kiss in the general direction of the C-SPANs*
And speaking of transcripts, since the Senator was kind enough to ask, here are ten things I’d like to see happen in 2007:
“Here’s number one: Obey the law, and protect civil rights in this country.
Number two: Tell the truth, and tell it to Americans all the time.
Number three: Number three, fire the incompetents.
Number four: Chase the money lenders and changers from the temple of democracy and reclaim it for the grassroots of this nation.
Number five: Bring our troops home from a stable Iraq - which we can do – as fast as possible.
[Number six:] Find Osama Bin Laden and protect the ports and other facilities of the United States of America.
[Number seven:] Stop stabilizing big oil, and stop blaming the American people for being addicted to oil when it’s this administration that is addicted to oil. And we need to commit ourselves to alternative and renewable fuels.
[Number eight:] Make access to healthcare affordable for all Americans, not as a matter of privilege and ability to pay, but as a matter of right for being an American citizen.
[Number nine:] Reduce the deficit, which is, after all, a conservative thing to do, and rather the difference from this radical group that are doubling it, tripling it, adding to the deficit in trade and adding to our children’s debt while they make irresponsible choices about the future and we must define and respect work over wealth. That’s an important principle for this country.
[Number ten:] And finally, fight for American jobs, jobs here in America that are high value-added jobs that will open up the doors to the future.”
Sound familiar? With the 110th Congress convening this week, I am more optimistic than ever that we can all help JK make these things happen.
Well, in the spirit of bipartisanship, I scoured Mr. Frequent Flyer’s post for something I agreed with, and I did find one thing:
I’d like a very simple foreign policy that lets other nations know that the U.S. can be depended upon to do exactly what it says it will do.
I agree wholeheartedly. Problem is, President Bush lied to the nation and to the world in his justification for the invasion of Iraq—WMD. He didn’t allow the U.N. weapons inspectors to do their job, and relied on faulty intelligence, not even bothering to see if any of it panned out before starting war (obviously, the info did NOT pan out). Truth was, he didn’t seem to care much whether there was WMD or not—the point was regime change. Why he did it only he knows. But this act has hurt our credibility in the world so terribly, that it will take a new president and a lot of good deeds and honesty to restore it.
I also want to go back to a foreign policy where the U.S. is not the aggressor, but instead is the benevolent honest broker to nations in need and only resorts to war when there is imminent danger to our nation. That’s the definition of a just war, and it would be nice to get back to that simplicity.
P.S. —I would have agreed with you on the balanced budget, except that a roll back of the Bush tax cuts will be necessary if we can even BEGIN to make a dent in that deficit. It was largely the tax cuts that put us in the hole in the first place, not the war, by the way.
Posted by frequent flier | January 2, 2007 2:34 PM
What is cutting taxes or not raising taxes actually mean? Does it mean a tax system in which America’s super rich pay less than their fair share and the American middle class is left to carry an unfair burden? I don’t think so. Raising taxes is being “reframed” as restoring tax fairness. It is a deception being perpetuated on those who can least afford it.
I agree that every effort should be made to reduce unecessary spending. I think that should include ridding our system of the corruption and earmarks that result in bloated spending bills that do little but enrich only a very few people (bridge to nowhere comes to mind as does Dennis Hastert’s transportation spending in Illinois, and Tom DeLay style politics).
So I guess we can agree on some things. That is good. But, it is how we achieve these goals that requires more dialogue.
As noted above John Kerry has signed the form that is in question. Unfortunately our inept media does not inform people like flyer about this, so he looks incredibly uninformed. (As an aside I posted a letter I sent to a fellow at the Hoover Institute who repeated the same misinformation.)
Therefore, I would like to add to my legislative requests for 2007, that the FCC have stricter oversight.
It’s 10 pm Tuesday evening. I just watched a Special Comment by Keith Olbermann about the possibility of sending in 20,000 more troops. If you have not seen this Special Comment, please watch the replay at midnight EST. It’s the best I have ever seen him do, in a series of extraordinary comments. The passion is incredible! So I guess I need to add to what I want in 2007. In addition to Senator John Kerry running for President; I want more Special Comments from Keith Olbermann.
Top priority in the new year JK - Oppose troop surge.
The military has made enough sacrifice. This plan is the same old plan - stay the course stuff. It’s gotta stop. For whatever reason, the president sees this as a win, loose situation. It’s neither one of those - it’s all about disengagement and not making the mess any bigger on the way out.
It looks to me like the president is working on his legacy - not what’s best for our country.
Happy New Year to Senator Kerry, Teresa, the kids and the dogs to :-).
I want you to run, rumble, and take the presidency for 08.
you are the only one that’s running that can get us out of this horrible sink hole the GOP and Bush family has put this country in. You’ve got the guts, talent, knowledge, brains, skill, and heart so lets go.
Other things for 07:
* Get out of Iraq.
* More work to combat Global Warming
* More emphasis on Africa. The islamic terrorist are making Africa their training ground and doing right under the nose of the US. Global Warming isn’t helping much either.
* I would like to see the US offer clean water technology, farming technology and other knowledge to Africa instead of weapons and landmines.
*A secured border along the Canadian and Mexican line.
*More affordable healthcare for everyone
* The national debt must be lowered. Bush has bankrupt this country. So for all of you who keep yelling to the senator about universal healthcare instead of affordable healthcare leave him alone. We don’t have the bank for universal healthcare. if he has to start out with affordable healthcare first so be it.
*More interviews with you and momma T.
* Real emphasis on Gulf Coast rebuilding. Hands on deck cleaning the trash from the cities, helping the farmers, poor and home owners rebuild.
* Better Disaster preparedness. The congress needs to come up with a plan for each region on what they can do. You had some great ideas like opening closed military bases to house those displaced by a disaster. Bush doesn’t have the brains nor does he care so the congress needs to do more to help encourage the country to become better prepared.
Finally: I hope you throw your opponents specifically the ones who backstabbed you back before the 06 election under the bus just once. I know you’re too much of a nice guy to do so but they still need to be taught a lesson.
Good Luck Senator, and remember run for pres in 08.
I forgot two very important items from my 2007 wishlist; actually, the two MOST important items.
(1) Get to work on measures to stop global warming. Higher (MUCH higher) gas mileage standards. Stringent emissions limits for industry. Comprehensive recycling programs. Funding to our cities to improve public transportation (and advertise it so people use it more). Funding to develop alternative energy sources (wind, solar, hydro, bio-fuels). Put the EPA to work planting new trees and protecting our forests from both loggers and fires. A federal PR campaign to persuade people to consume less, reuse more, and conserve electricity, gas, etc., where they can—this could be combined with a public health campaign to get people riding bikes/ rollerblading/ walking instead of driving, thus fighting the obesity epidemic at the same time. Let’s get people conserving water, too—you never know when or where the next drought is going to hit.
(2) Election reform. By 2008, or at the LATEST by 2012, there should not be one single county in America that uses paperless voting machines. I personally would prefer that all counties revert to paper ballots, individually numbered to prevent forgery, and marked by the voter with a plain old ink pen. But at the very least every county should should have a paper record of every vote that the voter can verify before it goes into the ballot box. We could also REALLY use some basic truth-in-advertising laws requiring political advertising content to be fact-checked by an independent commission before it is released to air; and ideally we’d adopt a model similar to the Party Political Broadcast system used in Parliamentary democracies, where each party’s candidate is guaranteed equal time on television at taxpayer expense. Both cheaper and fairer than the “system” we have now.
So many fine comments here already. At the risk of repeating much of what’s been said, here’s my offering.
I’d like to see us make a serious effort to on all 10 elements of your 10-point plan. (For people who haven’t seen that yet, here it is:)
1. Obey the law and protect civil rights in this country.
2. Tell the truth, and tell it to Americans all the time.
3. Fire the incompetents and restore competence and integrity to Washington.
4. Chase the money changers from the temples of democracy, and reclaim it for the grass-roots of this nation.
5. Bring our troops home from Iraq.
6. Find Osama bin Laden, and secure our ports and homeland.
7. Stop subsidizing “Big Oil,” and start investing in energy alternatives.
8. Make access to affordable health care a right and not a privilege.
9. Reduce the deficit and respect work over wealth.
10. Invest in education and fight for American jobs that restore the American dream.
Realistically, I don’t expect that these goals will be fully realized until my Senator (you know, the courageous patriot from Massachusetts, the war hero who’s been giving brilliant speeches and working his heart out for the Democratic Party the past year, that senator with a lovely, interesting wife from Pennsylvania, and 2 accomplished, gracious daughters) is inaugurated president in January 2009).
Here are my amendments and addenda to that plan:
1. #1 “Obey the law, and protect civil rights”: restore habeas corpus specifically,and the constitution and the rule of law generally.
2. #7 on energy alternatives: it’s high time that the environment play a CENTRAL place on our country’s political agenda, and in our common consciousness. Our obtuseness on the environment is part of a bigger problem: our urgent need to restore long-term thinking to the politics of our country. For far too long, especially since 1980, we have indulged in short-term thinking in all aspects of our life, and that short-term thinking has brought this country to its knees. The hallmark of our founding fathers, and of our greatest presidents since then (Lincoln, FDR) has been a concern for future generations. We cannot solve any of our problems until we enlarge our perspective: thinking of the common good, not just about our individual selves; and thinking of future generations, not just about illusory short-term gains. We’ve got to enlarge our perspective beyond tax rates, gas prices, poll numbers, Nielsen ratings, stock-market averages, and the hysteria of the day. We’ve got to enlarge our world to include, well, the world.
3. #2 “Tell the truth, and tell it to Americans all the time”. This applies to EVERYONE: not just governmental officials and political candidates, but also journalists and all citizens. Truthfully, truth has been out of fashion lately, and it’s about time we got it back to a central place in our society. We need to tell the truth, seek the truth, listen to the truth. ALL of us. As a nation, we’ve been ducking reality since 1980 (with the pathology most pronounced these last wretched 6 years), and it’s high time we got back in touch. Our country’s future, and our planet’s future, depends on it.
My hope – my prayer – for 2007 and 2008 is that truth-telling will be the hallmark of the 2008 presidential campaign, No more lies. No more tempests-in-teapots over trivia. Emphasis on things that matter. Citizens caring about real issues. Citizens using adult criteria to select an adult for president. Journalists doing their job, resisting corporate and power-politics pressures, reporting on issues, on things that matter.
Parties and citizens having the courage and the good sense to nominate and elect as president the best person for the job: that is, a real leader. Not the person with the best sound bytes, or the heartthrob-du-jour, or the most money, or the person anointed by the beltway-gasbag gossip as the Inevitable—a real leader.
It’s been so long since we’ve had a real leader in the White House that I think people have forgotten what that is. Leadership is NOT the same as good looks, or entertainment value. It is NOT the same as power or politics or power-politics. It is NOT about good career moves. It is NOT about dividing the country by catering to and encouraging the basest instincts of voters. It is NOT about lulling the country to sleep by playing to the lowest, dumbest common denominator. It’s not about taking respected colleagues down with lies and undeserved catty remarks just to move yourself forward.
Leadership is about character: depth of compassion and moral courage. It’s about wanting to be president because you want to move the country forward, not just move your career forward. It’s about deep respect for others, even those without power or influence It’s about knowledge and expertise and deep life experience, and the ability to put things in perspective. It’s about good judgment. It’s about breadth of mind, depth of intellect, curiosity, and continuing growth. It’s about seeing the future and openness to new ideas. It’s about moving forward, about, as a fellow blogger once wrote, “walking tall through the hate and lies”, to lift Americans up, to help us reach for our higher selves.
When I imagine what a real president is like, what a real leader is like, what a American I can be proud of again is like, what I see is John Kerry. My prayer, Sen. Kerry, is that you will run for president in 2008, that you will win, and that hope will be restored to this country in January 2009.
Apologies for the length and rambling of my voting explanation above (and not using spell check).
Writing as much as I do about voting, I should have copied one of my shorter explanations, for an easier and more complete read.
I want to clarify that to help prevent fraud, states like Oklahoma took back its programming from ES&S, and totally control their own elections. Limiting any notion of privatization and spiraling costs.
They have for years, when there was less imagination for fraud and machines were made better.
With the paper ballot option, plus optical scanner, there is risk of programming error, deliberate or accidental. However, there is less of the process, and parts of the op-scan system (or chain of custody), we are asked to just trust.
Given the political will, we can have fair and honest elections with paper ballots/op-scan. We understand the technology, it’s been proven, and mostly transparent, but, again, there is always risk.
The op-scan only counts in secret; the touchscreens do everything in secret: casting, counting, recording, retrieving, storing, concealing the legal, unverified vote.
Urban centers will not hand count ballots.
For the potential of fraud in electronics, just ask the FBI. In 2005, 87% of companies had “security incidents,” and 44% by insiders.
And that just mentions security, not the overwhelming costs with electronic voting, initially and continuing. Producing long lines, if purchasing too few.
Although I prefer mechanical, there is no consensus of what is best to do. HAVA created a set of problems we have to eliminate, before we can start again.
All to be solved by 2008?
Senator,
Happy new year and thanks for listening. As a high school student, one thing I think really needs fixing is education policy. I’m in a public high school in Maryland, and I can clearly see the negative effects of No Child Left Behind. The majority of time is spent teaching HOW to take the standardized tests. The program even requires what teachers give to students as homework. There are a host of other problems, and everyone from the students to the teachers to the principals agree one size fits all will never work. I think there needs to be a complete overhaul of No Child Left Behind, but for a start I think Congress should properly find it until a solution is developed; right now it is an unfunded mandate. My fellow students and I would really appreciate it if some action was taken. Thanks so much for listening.
Thomas Senecal
9th grade
Goals For U.S.A. For 2007 In Child Readable Format:
1. Prioritize the imprisoned, homeless and jobless in the U.S.
A. http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1924/
Ninety-two percent of the support for the fivefold increase in the incarcerated citizenry over the past thirty years, making the U.S. have the highest percentage of incarcerated of all countries, is Republican. Most of the incarcerated are minorities and poor. There is not a correlation of reduced crime and higher incarceration. Prompt arrest correlates with reductions in crime but not incarceration, let alone lengthy incarcerations. All human beings have worth and a nation that allows the caging, torture and dehumanization of people for profit can never have God’s blessing or my support.
B. Make U.S. citizenship mean something. In 2006, the 11-20 million illegal immigrants, mostly working, made their clout known by marching en masse in the nation’s major cities in an attempt to prove they can bring our country to a halt without their labor. While many multi-generation citizens are caught in an inescapable cycle of poverty and prison, illegal and other immigrants have been allowed to take over the jobs high and low of the nation. While citizens limit their families voluntarily in accord with their circumstances or have their children taken away and adopted out by a corrupt, unconstitutional and cruel system, illegal immigrants are embraced by farmers and other businesses and gain establishment of their families in this country often through anchor babies. Their children bump out citizen children in our public schools and our hospitals, shutting down emergency rooms for everyone. The guest worker program the Democrats endorse will further shut out the nation’s unemployed and underemployed.
C. It is the U.S.A.‘s goal in 2007 to strengthen the middle class and narrow the gap between rich and poor in the country. The extremes harm everyone. Wealthier children suffer overuse sport injuries that may debilitate them for the rest of their lives while poor children suffer hunger, adverse environments and inferior educations that disable them for their lives and burden the nation.
2. End our involvement in Iraq. Our country should not be at war unless our self-defense is at stake. If oil is the issue then alternative sources of energy and extreme measures of conservation should be enacted immediately. This would also address the issue of global warming, a clean air and water supply and other critical ecology issues. National security could better be maintained with citizen ID cards.
3. Change the focus of laws and law enforcement from oppression to keeping our environment healthy and protecting the health and well being of all citizens. Litterers, polluters, gas guzzler drivers, obese people who do not exercise, smokers, non-composters and frequent fliers should be criminalized instead of the usual currently.
4. Stop incarcerating, torturing and killing the mentally ill and mentally retarded of our nation. Provide services, criminalize stigmatization and exclusion in communitites so that mental health is promoted as much as possible from sea to shining sea.
Here are wishes for 2008 from the Jan. 2, 2007 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette:
“Here’s what America is looking for in the next president: Somebody who’ll lead, not just talk about leading. Somebody who’ll do the right thing when nobody is looking, including photographers. Somebody with more substance than flash. Somebody who doesn’t confuse courage with just plain stubbornness. Somebody who won’t be afraid to call on Americans to sacrifice when sacrifice is needed.”
The editors didn’t specify who, if anyone, they had in mind (the editorial was slanted more to whom they did NOT have in mind), but, speaking for myself, all I could think of was John Kerry.
Happy and healthy New Year to Senator Kerry and your family,
Thank you for continuing to promote progressive policies the past two years and realizing the importance of energy independence in our future, and for your respect for our human welfare and the environment.
In 2007 I would like to see many ordinary people of my Vietnam generation speak up to help our Country through this Iraq war. I imagine a lot of people had buried these memories but in these days we need to speak out about lessons learned from Vietnam. And I know many people know in their hearts that all the political slander against Sen. Kerry is really an injustice. The truth be told John Kerry is a remarkable person. He had the wits about him to pick up a gun to fight for his Country out of sense of duty and then returned home and told the truth about the war out of sense of duty. I hope many people of my generation get their conscience back and demand honestly from our leaders, and to recoginze John Kerry’s strong character and leadership.
What greater quality can someone have to be President and lead this great Country of ours, then insisting on telling the truth to the American people? This promotes trust and unity, and God knows and I only hope the rest of the Country does too, that we need to work together to meet the challenges facing our Nation. We need a progressive vision for the future, moving us to be competitive in the world, energy independent, protection of our constitutional rights, and promote protection of the environment, affordable health care, and good jobs.
And what about Iraq? I supported our invasion of Iraq although I had my doubts. I had to believe our leaders when they said there was a connection between 9/11 and Iraq and the WMD speech by C. Powell was believable, and I am always worried about threats to Israel. And I believe we are a Country of laws not men, so I supported our President even though I didn‘t vote for him. Then the the reasons for the war changed, and honesty again seemed to become a causality, and then how ideological this war became and the connection to national security was minimal. I know John Kerry would not have put our troops at risk for ideological theories and he would carefully consider the history of people in the country and region where we want to encourage peace and democracy. Sure promote democracy but not by war. And John Kerry would never let how the war ended in Vietnam happen in Iraq, which sadly may happen, because he would first and foremost look out for our troops, he would not continue a failed policy, he would insist on the truth so we can make correct decisions, he wouldn’t be afraid to adjust strategy or foreign policy until one can be forged to bring a solution in Iraq or the rest of the Mideast. It is frustrating to see leaders in our Country again blame the American people for being weak, not having the will power to stick with it. They have it backwards, the national confidence goes away when the leaders are not truthful, the leaders are weak if they hid failed policies, and they don’t have the will power to change policy if it means they will suffer politically.
I don’t know if John Kerry will run again, but as a Vietnam vet he knows what it takes to fight and to lead us through the challenges that face our Country. And he has the maturity to outlast his critics (if they only had the courage to face him on fair terms maybe our Country wouldn’t be so divided, this is a whole different topic that includes a critique of the business and influence of the MSM) and this maturity and statesmanship is also needed to deal with other Counties that are critics to our policies, who don’t understand us, so to work out solutions with the other Countries. We need someone who willing to do the work. And John Kerry will do the work. But it is an awful lot to ask someone to run again, for him and his family to go through. I promise this time to keep on following his work and efforts no matter what he decides. Our Country needs his courage and leadership.
Posted by Jeanne | January 4, 2007 7:23 AM
Jeanne: thank you for your thoughtful comments. A nice way for me to start off my day.
In his inauguration speech yesterday, Deval Patrick relayed a story of a Worcester woman who came to take her ailing 82-year old mother to the polls on election day last November. (I’m working from memory, from listening to his speech on my car radio, so my apologies if my version is not 100% accurate).
The elevators were broken in the apt. house, and the mother, who lived on the 6th floor, was recovering from cancer and a broken hip. The daughter gave her mom the news about the broken elevator, and apologized that , because of the elevators , she wouldn’t be able to get her mom to the polls. But her mother put on her hat and her coat, and insisted on going anyway. It took them a 1/2 hour to get down the stairs, with the daughter carrying her mom’s purse , and her walker, until they reached the ground floor. [Having seen several beloved elderly relatives through the lengthy, and usually incomplete, recovery from hip fractures, I can personally vouch for the fact that the mother’s descent of six flights of stairs in this condition is as heroic an act as that of an able-bodied athlete climbing the most treacherous of mountain peaks].
Patrick then said: this woman did not go to the polls for the result to be business as usual. She went to the polls so there would be change.
This is the kind of America I want in 2007, 2008 and beyond: where the depth of civic responsibility in this 82-year-old woman is the rule among all our citizens. . ..not the exception.