"In US Senate race, disagreement on nearly everything" by Akilah Johnson | Globe Staff October 18, 2014
Democratic US Senator Edward J. Markey and his Republican challenger, Brian Herr, faced off Friday in their first — and possibly only — televised debate in a race that has taken place largely under the radar.
For 30 minutes Friday, the two discussed a variety of national and state issues, from containing the Ebola outbreak to casinos in Massachusetts to earned sick time and immigration, in a forum aired by New England Cable News. They took opposite positions on most issues in what was their only scheduled debate with just 2½ weeks until the election.
Casinos? Herr said he planned to vote yes on the ballot question seeking to repeal the casino law; Markey said he planned to vote no.
That's one Herrting against Markey.
Immigration? Herr is against a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already living in the country, except in the case of children and young people brought here as children. Markey “absolutely” supports it.
Strike two.
The Affordable Care Act? Herr said the federal health care law should be repealed and redirected to the state level. Markey said the law should not be repealed, but tweaked where necessary.
It is World Series time, Ed, and you know what the call is.
“In health care in America, Massachusetts has led the way. It is my proudest vote,” Markey said of the federal program known as Obamacare. “People in Massachusetts don’t want to repeal’’ the law, he said, “they want to perfect it.”
You didn't vote against Iraq, Ed?
Herr countered: “Your proudest vote had my mother’s insurance canceled last month. My mother is a breast cancer survivor. She just finished her treatments, and she lost her coverage. That’s what’s wrong with America today.”
Oh, that punch administered punishment! Markey's Herrt and on the ropes!
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Herr positions himself as a fiscal conservative who is open-minded on a number of social issues, such as abortion rights and same-sex marriage, which he supports.
He keeps punching, Herrting Markey!
A former Hopkinton selectman, Herr has acknowledged that he faces an uphill battle, trailing Markey in both fund-raising and name recognition. Still, he says he’s a candidate who should be taken seriously.
And Friday before the debate — and during it — Herr characterized Markey as an ineffective leader, “just a passenger on the bus.”
“It has been 21 years since Ed Markey last sponsored a bill that became law,” Herr said in an e-mail before the debate. “I want to know what Ed Markey is doing down there!”
Not much, really.
The charge was repeated during the debate, and moderator Jim Braude asked: “Guilty or not guilty, Senator?”
“Well, that’s absolutely not true,” Markey said. “I authored the law which has put together a Alzheimer’s project act that will find a cure for Alzheimer’s. I . . . increased the fuel economy standards. It is my law which requires screening for nuclear weapons on ships coming to America. It is my law that requires the screening of cargo on all planes in America for all bombs.”
Yeah, thanks for contributing to the conventional narrative and myth.
Braude interjected, “We don’t have time to review 506’’ examples.
Instead, the rivals parsed as many issues as could be crammed into the 30-minute format.
Earned paid sick time in companies with more than 11 workers? Herr called Question 4 on next month’s ballot a “job killer.” Markey supports it.
I'm a NO. Already got all the sick time you need. You don't call in sick to work, period.
The recently legislated state minimum wage increase? Herr said it should be split into categories, with dependent adolescents not getting a bump in pay. Markey said he supports an increase for all.
I'm for the minimum wage increase even though it provides politicians cover for continuing poverty.
On the Ebola virus, Herr, who has accused President Obama of being dismissive of the issue, said travel restrictions must be put in place.
“We are putting lives at risk when we do not put a travel ban to and from those countries,” Herr said. “We need that travel ban now. We can’t wait four or five months from now. All too often with this administration, and Senator Markey not challenging the administration, we leave it up to chance.”
He's winning on points.
Markey said the country’s response must be “guided by the best public health recommendations. Not political decisions, public health decisions.”
So, if public health officials recommend a travel ban, which they have not, then so be it, Markey said.
Okay, Ed.
One of the few topics on which Herr and Markey agreed: American ground troops should not be used in efforts to quell violence by Islamic State militants — although Herr said he favored arming Syrian rebels and Markey does not.
The troops are already on the ground, and Herr just lost the fight. That one issue is a knockout for Markey. If you haven't been paying attention, this is a staunchly antiwar blog.
Both said Obama has not put out a clear plan about the country’s agenda in dealing with the Islamic State terrorist group.
Actually, he has. Bombs away.
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As for Markey's effectiveness:
"Edward Markey trying to climb ladder in the Senate; After long House stay, Markey faces questions of effectiveness in Senate" by Noah Bierman | Globe Staff October 20, 2014
WASHINGTON — Senator Edward J. Markey sat at one end of the long committee dais, dead last in seniority behind 17 loquacious senators who each wanted a chance to quiz Secretary of State John F. Kerry.
When it was finally Markey’s turn, three hours into a tense hearing on the American plan to counter extremists in Syria and Iraq, the once-packed room had begun emptying. Even some of the antiwar protesters ran out of stamina.
Such is Markey’s life since moving from the House to Senate last July. The Massachusetts Democrat is the most experienced former US representative to enter the Senate in American history, with nearly 37 years in the House, and a history of finding his way to the middle of the action. Yet in the Senate, where seniority often determines power, he has less seniority than all but two colleagues.
Questions over his effectiveness have become a central issue as his brief term ends and he seeks reelection in November. Markey faces a little-known and poorly financed Republican opponent, Brian Herr, a former selectman from Hopkinton.
Not only must Markey wait three hours to address his friend and former Massachusetts colleague, he is also still waiting to pass his first stand-alone bill there.
“There has to be a certain patience to legislating,” Markey, 68, said in an interview in his office in which he discussed the many laws he helped create in his career and the others he believed were getting close to passage.
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Democrats who work with Markey insist that he has made an impact. He was appointed to lead a group of senators concerned about global warming.
That reminds me. I feel a chill.
He has pushed bills to protect student privacy, met with Pope Francis to talk about climate change, and helped lead the congressional investigation of General Motors following a defect linked to 13 deaths.
General Motors this month endorsed Markey’s bill that would require more public disclosure of defects from auto makers, a bill that consumer advocate Joan Claybrook called instrumental to automobile safety.
Related: Morning Drive
It stalled out in Wa$hington?
“Given Republican obstructionism, we don’t pass much legislation these days,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat who ranks third in Senate leadership. “But Eddie Markey is very creative at figuring out how to have a large impact and get around their obstruction.”
Unless it is a bank bailout, war funding, or aid to Israel.
Schumer credits Markey with persuading Democratic leaders to set aside time every week to talk about global warming during their closed caucus meetings, with leading an ongoing fight to push the Federal Communications Commission toward a more open Internet, and with helping Democrats fight Republicans to preserve Obama’s authority to regulate coal emissions.
Related: Democratic Woes in West Virginia
Enough with the fart-misting follies. Where is my antiwar party or candidates?
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Markey has voted 93 percent of the time with his party’s top leaders in the Senate, according to an analysis using the Sunlight Foundation’s Open Congress database. When he has strayed, as he did in opposing a farm bill because of its cuts to food stamps, it has often been to stake a more liberal position.
Still, “he’s a guy that people on my side could do business with,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican. “He’s not a toxic figure.”
That's a hell of an endorsement.
Markey has sponsored 38 bills and cosponsored onto 276 others in the Senate. By comparison, Warren, who has been in the Senate six months longer than Markey, has been the chief sponsor on 24 bills, fewer than Markey, and cosponsored 322, slightly more than Markey.
Markey’s staff prepared a four-page memo on his accomplishments, including his help along with Warren in obtaining $310 million to dredge Boston Harbor and $75 million in disaster relief for the fishing industry.
Bringing home the FISH!?
Where's the PORK?
Despite Markey’s political experience, he made two decisions that drew heavy criticism.
Markey wrote letters to federal regulators this year requesting an investigation into Herbalife, the nutritional supplement maker. Markey wrote the letters after his office was contacted by William A. Ackman, who had a $1 billion “short” investment in the company and stands to profit if the company’s stock falls.
Markey said again in an interview that his staff did not inform him of Ackman’s short position.
That $candal sure faded.
Before that, shortly after he entered the Senate, Markey was the only member of the Foreign Relations Committee to cast a “present” vote on a crucial resolution to authorize Obama to use force in Syria.
Not exactly a no, but....
“We could not rush something that had potentially such profound consequences,” Markey said this month.
By the time he made up his mind to oppose the strikes, his voice no longer mattered as the Senate decided not to hold a vote.
Is it no longer worth asking each candidates position on Israel and Palestine?
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He should have stayed in the House.
