Refuting the Democratic Attacks on Fred Thompson
Also posted at Blogs For Fred Thompson - Go Here to Join (free) Today!
Fred is not even officially in the race, and the Democrats are already attacking him as an insider Washington lobbyist and as a former Senator who really accomplished nothing in his tenure. Trouble is, those attacks do not have any basis in fact.
Ed Morrissey over at Captain's Quarters has written an outstanding refutal of these two seminar attacks by the Democrats:
There's nothing like light to dispel darkness, and truth to overwhelm falsehood. Going forward, Fred will have to be ready to shed a lot of light and speak a lot of truth.Some serious fact-checking needs to happen here. Fred made around $1.3 million as an attorney in his lobbying activities ... over a twenty-year period. For a top-notch lawyer with his connections in Hollywood and DC, $65K per year doesn't exactly equate to either a fortune or an intensive lobbying career.
Some critics have already started picking apart Fred's client list. Power Line has an interesting dissection of the criticism, which is long on innuendo and short on facts. They point out that half of Fred's lobbying money came between 1975 and 1993, when he first ran for the Senate, and that the other half came from a single client that Fred represented in 2003. Nothing in the criticism even comes close to suggesting that Fred acted unethically in representing his clients, and if the Democrats hope to win on this case, they're going to be bitterly disappointed, especially as they continue to suck up to lobbyists as Uncle Chuck Schumer does.
The next attack consists of complaining about Fred's lack of legislative product. I'm not sure how many bills Fred authored during his eight years as Tennessee's junior Senator, but it seems like an odd argument for the Democrats to make. After all, their last candidate for the office authored all of six bills in 20 years of Senate work. If Fred authored two, it would at least match John Kerry's relative output.
This scattergun approach to denting Fred's popularity will reveal much more about the Democrats than it will the former Senator and reforming attorney from Tennessee. It reeks of fear, and Republicans might give Fred high marks just for prompting that reaction.
UPDATE: Fred authored more than two bills during his term in office. A Thomas search, using their nifty new beta engine, turns up close to 100 entries for bills and amendments where Fred was the primary sponsor. Included are:
* S.3040 - Privacy Commission Act
* S.3030 - Amending Title 31 to provide for audits in executive agencies
* S.2805 - Federal Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2000
* S.2752 - Accountability to Congress for Nuclear Transfers to North Korea Act of 2000
* S.2645 - China Nonproliferation Act
* S.2306 - Government for the 21st Century Act
* S.1993 - Government Information Security Act of 1999
* S.1991 - Amending the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to enhance criminal penalties for election law violations
* S.1503 - Office of Government Ethics Authorization Act of 1999That's just a quick rundown of Fred's legislative record, and far from complete. He wasn't sitting around collecting a paycheck.
5 comments:
You seem to think that other Republicans in the primary races aren't capable of constructing this sort of attack.
gregdn,
Oh, I'm sure they are capable of contructing such attacks. But the Democrats are openly making these attacks on Thompson. Scroll down the homepage and see the posts with evidence of their plan to attack Thompson as a lobbyist and "do-nothing" Senator.
I did some fact checking. Fred's record shows he is for amnesty.
Voted in 1996 to continue chain migration
Sen. Thompson in 1996 voted against the Simpson Amendment to S.1664. It was a vote in favor of a chain migration system that has been the primary reason for annual immigration levels snowballing from less than 300,000 in 1965 to around a million. Sen. Thompson supported provisions that allow immigrants to send for their adult relatives. Then each of those relatives can send for their and their spouse’s adult relatives, creating a never-ending and ever-growing chain.
Voted in favor of chain migration in 1996
Sen. Thompson voted in 1996 against the Feinstein Amendment to S.1664. The Feinstein Amendment would have reduced annual admission of spouses and minor children of citizens to 480,000 and significantly reduced annual limits other categories of chain migration such as parents of citizens and adult unmarried children of citizens. By voting against the Feinstein Amendment, Sen. Thompson voted in favor of a system of chain migration that has been the primary reason for annual immigration levels snowballing from less than 300,000 in 1965 to around a million today.
Voted to grant amnesty to close to one million illegal aliens from Nicaragua and Cuba in 1997
Sen. Thompson voted to grant legal status to Nicaraguans and Cubans who had lived in the United States illegally since 1995, along with their spouses and minor unmarried children. The overall ten year impact of this legislation will be the addition of some 967,000 people to U.S. population. There was no separate vote on the amnesty, as it was inlcuded in the DC Appropriations bill. The only opportunity Senators had to vote in favor of or against the amnesty was the Mack Amendment to S.1156. The Mack Amendment passed 99-1.
In 1996, removed higher fines for businesses which hire illegal aliens
Sen. Thompson, in committee consideration of S.1664 protected businesses from having to pay higher fines when they are caught hiring illegal aliens. Under the idea that current fines were not enough of a deterrent against businesses cutting their labor costs by hiring illegal aliens, the Senate immigration subcommittee approved higher fines. Various study commissions have found that the willingness of U.S. businesses to hire illegal aliens is the No. 1 incentive for foreign workers to become illegal aliens here. But Sen. Thompson voted with a 10-8 majority in the Judiciary Committee to remove the higher fines from the 1996 legislation against illegal immigration.
Tried to kill voluntary pilot programs for workplace verification in 1996
Sen. Thompson voted IN FAVOR of the Abraham Amendment to S.1664. He was part of a coalition of pro-business conservatives and liberal civil libertarians who tried to use the amendment to kill the establishment of voluntary pilot programs in high-immigration states. The programs were intended to assist employers in verifying whether people they had just hired had the legal right to work in this country. Such verification is considered by many experts to be an essential tool for withdrawing the job magnet from illegal aliens.
Info is from NumbersUSA.
Voted to strip legal reforms from 1996 bill
Sen. Thompson helped defeat legal immigration reform when he voted for Senator Spencer Abraham’s amendment to remove the legal immigration reforms from S.1664, the Immigration Control and Financial Responsibility Act of 1996. This vote effectively killed any chance of Congress considering the Jordon Commission recommendations on easing legal immigration levels.
Voted for a foreign worker bill with no anti-fraud measures in 2000.
Sen.Thompson voted for S.2045, the Abraham foreign worker bill to nearly triple the number of foreign high-tech workers. On the heels of the release of a GAO report finding no proof of a high-tech worker shortage and evidence of abuse in the H-1B program, Sen. Thompson voted for this foreign worker bill that contained no worker protections or anti-fraud measures.
As Committee member, produced H-1B doubling bill in 1998
Sen. Thompson was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that created the Abraham H-1B doubling bill in 1998, S.1723.
Nearly doubled H-1B foreign high-tech workers in 1998
Sen. Thompson helped the Senate pass S.1723 in a 78-20 vote. Enacted into law, it increased by nearly 150,000 the number of foreign workers high-tech American companies could hire over the next three years. Although the foreign workers receive temporary visas for up to six years, most historically have found ways to stay permanently in this country. Sen. Thompson voted for more foreign workers even though U.S. high tech workers over the age of 50 were suffering 17% unemployment and U.S. firms were laying off thousands of workers at the time.
Voted in committee against including worker safeguards in H-1B bill in 1998
Sen. Thompson joined 9 of his Senate colleagues to keep employee safeguards from inclusion in S.1723. An amendment would have accomplished two important goals: ensuring no American was laid off or displaced prior to hiring an H1B employee; and, that employers demonstrate they had previously taken timely and effective steps to hire a qualified American.
Voted to allow firms to lay off Americans to make room for foreign workers in 1998
Before the Senate passed the H-1B doubling bill (S.1723), Sen. Thompson had an opportunity to vote for a measure requiring U.S. firms to check a box on a form attesting that they had first sought an American worker for the job. Sen. Thompson voted against that, joining those who said the requirement would give government too much authority over corporations’ right to hire whomever they please from whatever country.
Voted to allow firms to lay off Americans to make room for foreign workers in 1998
Before the Senate passed the H-1B doubling bill(S.1723), Sen. Thompson had an opportunity to vote for an amendment that would have prohibited U.S. firms from using temporary foreign workers to replace Americans.
Sen. Thompson opposed that protection.
Not suprised you FRedheads dont want to talk about the part of his record.
Now you watch, FRed wont announce until the current bill is signed. He will continue to push back his announcement so he doesnt have to answer questions regarding the amnesty he gave to millions and millions of illegals only to now pander to the base and pretend he is against it.
Was Fred for amnesty before he was against it? Or he is just saying what he thinks his supporters want to hear while they have their checkbooks out?
NO SALE ON FRED THOMPSON!
Your arguments are ridiculous. There has been no vote in Congress on giving amnesty en masse to illegals since 1986 and you know it. You are pulling out references to pieces of legislation that in no way resemble what the current immigration bill is dealing with.
Fred Thompson is squarely behind not passing this bill and securing the borders BEFORE the issue of what to do with people here already is even taken up.
You are clearly a "seminar" type writer who is just trying to dampen enthusiasm for Fred that is threatening whomever your choice is. It won't work.
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