Why am I wasting time with this front-page filler?
"Debt panel to test Kerry’s diplomacy" August 22, 2011|By Theo Emery, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON - Some liberal groups aren’t happy about what they’ve heard so far. Robert L. Borosage, president of the Campaign for America’s Future, said Senator John F. Kerry is misreading the problems in the economy, and changes he appears to support for some programs, such as raising the eligibility age for Medicare, ought to be anathema to Democrats.
“I don’t think liberals feel that way; I think they feel his views are wrong-headed and dangerous,’’ he said.
A Kerry spokeswoman dismissed that view in an e-mail, writing that “it’s a little curious to see these folks question the views and values of someone often rated the Senate’s most liberal member. John Kerry will just keep his head down and do his job.’’
To some, Kerry seemed ill-suited to the committee. Although he has extensive foreign policy credentials, he’s not seen as someone who immerses himself deeply in details of budgeting, despite his having a seat on the Senate Finance Committee.
He wasn’t among the Gang of Six, or Simpson’s commission. And he isn’t always the diplomat. After Standard & Poor’s lowered the US credit rating, Kerry was quick to point a finger, calling it the “Tea Party downgrade.’’
Yet he had expressed a willingness to be on the committee, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid obliged. The appointment probably sprang from unique attributes, some obvious, some not. As a former presidential candidate, he has a broad grasp of policy, as well as the imprimatur of party leadership. In addition to his diplomatic skills, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee is familiar with today’s international debt crisis and the links between the world’s financial systems. He’s also close to the White House.
After his 1984 election, he entered the Senate with admiration from liberals and disdain from conservatives for his earlier Vietnam War protests.
Those were a LONG TIME AGO and he has LONG SINCE BEEN BOUGHT OFF by the $$$!!!!
Yet even in his early years, Kerry showed a willingness to embrace deficit reduction efforts unpopular with his party....
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Also see: Defense Protection Commission
