Our Founding Fathers would shudder to see how easily forces outside the mainstream now seem to effortlessly push some Senate leaders toward conduct the American people don't want from their elected leaders: Abusing power. Inserting the government into our private lives. Injecting religion into debates about public policy. Jumping through hoops to ingratiate themselves to their partys base, while step by step, day by day, real problems that keep American families up at night fall by the wayside here in Washington.
Senator John Kerry
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When you see Washington consistently turning a blind eye to suffering, dont sit back and apathetically blame indifference. The loudest voices may be delivering the worst messages today, but history shows that grass-roots energy has the power to change anything when that energy is focused toward justice
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It would be hard to blame you for having trouble taking much of what is said in Washington seriously. You heard about the Medicare actuary who was forced to fudge the numbers and lie to Congress to keep his job. You heard the falsified numbers in Iraq on everything from the cost of the war to the number of trained Iraqi troops to a slam dunk case for weapons of mass destruction. You heard about the administration sponsored fake newscasts to mislead people all across America.
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Its a sad day when you have members of Congress who are literally criminals go undisciplined by their colleagues. No wonder people look at Washington and know this city is broken.
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And lo and behold, people were amazed: Washington was amazed. The country was amazed. And I was amazed that everybody was amazed. Because what is going on that a senator doesn't act according to script, acts according to conscience, and everybody is taken aback?
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Still, year after year strong mercury rules fail in Washington under pressure from corporate interests. Why? Not because the risks of mercury poisoning arent real. No, lobbyists for the big industries just say they cant afford to make changes.
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Its a sorry statement about how broken Washington is that we could not take advantage of this unique and sad moment in history and enact serious lobbying reform. We owed it to the people who sent us to Washington to root out corruption, and the Senate turned its back on a golden opportunity today.
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I refuse to stand by while our democracy is trampled by politicians more concerned about amassing power than helping the people who sent them to Washington in the first place.
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Our government has a simple task: recognize our nations real problems, and address them in a manner that reflects the priorities of the American people. It sounds simple, but its not happening today, and I know youre as frustrated with Washington as I am
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And Ill tell you, few things make me more angry than some out of touch Washington politician saying that Head Start doesnt work. Thats a flat out lie and its disrespectful to you and the tens of thousands of Americans who make this program work for children every single day.
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The Administrations willingness to consistently abandon the truth has done great damage. Americans are less willing to listen less likely to trust or take anything that is said in Washington seriously.
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