What has Obama really done in the US Senate? Using the Library of Congress Search Engine to Check.

Ok, Obama gives a great speech. But what has he done, policy wise?

Well, you can look it up for yourself right here: http://thomas.loc.gov/ Dump in the name of the Senator and you can find what they have done: in terms of sponsored bills, where the bills are at this time, which have passed committee, which have passed the Senate, and which have become law.

In this post, I’ve decided to show a sample of the bills that Obama has sponsored, bills that Obama has cosponsored, bills that he has sponsored that have cleared the Senate, and bills that Obama has sponsored or cosponsored that have been signed into law. No hype here; just the bare bones facts. Each of these acts and bills can be individually researched using the search engines that I’ve linked to. Note that the search engines are official United States Library of Congress search engines; not a candidate’s web-site BS.

So back to the search engine; we’ll start with the basic one:

http://thomas.loc.gov/

Example: if you dump in Obama’s name you start with (and I’ve randomly skipped between the 113 entries) Note: if your eyes gloss over on some of these (some of which are admittedly routine “I honor Mr. X or Mrs. Y” type of stuff) I’ve put a link to the advanced search feature as well below the quote

1. S.CON.RES.5 : A concurrent resolution honoring the life of Percy Lavon Julian, a pioneer in the field of organic chemistry and the first and only African-American chemist to be inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/31/2007) Cosponsors (5)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 1/31/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

2. S.CON.RES.25 : A concurrent resolution condemning the recent violent actions of the Government of Zimbabwe against peaceful opposition party activists and members of civil society.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/29/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 6/26/2007 Held at the desk. [...]

8. S.J.RES.23 : A joint resolution clarifying that the use of force against Iran is not authorized by the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq, any resolution previously adopted, or any other provision of law.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 11/1/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 11/1/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

9. S.114 : A bill to authorize resources for a grant program for local educational agencies to create innovation districts.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

10. S.115 : A bill to suspend royalty relief, to repeal certain provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal certain tax incentives for the oil and gas industry.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Finance
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

11. S.116 : A bill to authorize resources to provide students with opportunities for summer learning through summer learning grants.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. [...]

17. S.692 : A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative to report on health care quality in Veterans Affairs hospitals.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 2/27/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Veterans’ Affairs
Latest Major Action: 2/27/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

18. S.713 : A bill to ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 2/28/2007) Cosponsors (34)
Committees: Senate Armed Services
Latest Major Action: 2/28/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

19. S.737 : A bill to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 in order to measure, compare, and improve the quality of voter access to polls and voter services in the administration of Federal elections in the States.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/1/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Rules and Administration
Latest Major Action: 3/1/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

20. S.767 : A bill to increase fuel economy standards for automobiles and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/6/2007) Cosponsors (6)
Committees: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Latest Major Action: 3/6/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. [...]

34. S.1324 : A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuel sold in the United States.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/7/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Environment and Public Works
Latest Major Action: 5/7/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.

35. S.1389 : A bill to authorize the National Science Foundation to establish a Climate Change Education Program.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/14/2007) Cosponsors (3)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 5/14/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

36. S.1430 : A bill to authorize State and local governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, companies with investments of $20,000,000 or more in Iran’s energy sector, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/17/2007) Cosponsors (26)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Latest Major Action: 5/17/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

37. S.1513 : A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize grant programs to enhance the access of low-income African-American students to higher education.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/24/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 5/24/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions [...]

76. S.AMDT.905 to S.761 To require the Director of Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Education to establish a program to recruit and provide mentors for women and underrepresented minorities who are interested in careers in mathematics, science, and engineering.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/23/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 4/25/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 905 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

77. S.AMDT.907 to S.761 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/23/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 4/23/2007 Senate amendment submitted

78. S.AMDT.923 to S.761 To expand the pipeline of individuals entering the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields to support United States innovation and competitiveness.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/24/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 4/25/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 923 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

79. S.AMDT.924 to S.761 To establish summer term education programs.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/24/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 4/25/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 924 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent. [...]

104. S.AMDT.2692 to H.R.2764 To require a comprehensive nuclear threat reduction and security plan.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/6/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 9/6/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 2692 as modified agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

105. S.AMDT.2799 to H.R.3074 To provide that none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to enter into a contract in an amount greater than $5,000,000 or to award a grant in excess of such amount unless the prospective contractor or grantee makes certain certifications regarding Federal tax liability.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/10/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Latest Major Action: 9/11/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 2799 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.

106. S.AMDT.3004 to H.R.1585 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/20/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 9/20/2007 Senate amendment submitted

107. S.AMDT.3026 to H.R.1585 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/24/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 9/24/2007 Senate amendment submitted

108. S.AMDT.3068 to H.R.1585 Purpose will be available when the amendment is proposed for consideration. See Congressional Record for text.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/26/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 9/26/2007 Senate amendment submitted

109. S.AMDT.3073 to H.R.1585 To provide for transparency and accountability in military and security contracting.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/26/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 9/27/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 3073 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

110. S.AMDT.3078 to H.R.1585 Relating to administrative separations of members of the Armed Forces for personality disorder.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/27/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Latest Major Action: 9/27/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 3078 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

111. S.AMDT.3137 to H.R.3222 To provide that none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to enter into a contract in an amount greater than $5,000,000 or to award a grant in excess of such amount unless the prospective contractor or grantee makes certain certifications regarding Federal tax liability.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 10/2/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 10/3/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 3137 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

112. S.AMDT.3234 to H.R.3093 To provide that none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to enter into a contract in an amount greater than $5,000,000 or to award a grant in excess of such amount unless the prospective contractor or grantee makes certain certifications regarding Federal tax liability.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 10/4/2007) Cosponsors (2)
Latest Major Action: 10/15/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 3234 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote.

113. S.AMDT.3331 to H.R.3043 To provide that none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to enter into a contract in an amount greater than $5,000,000 or to award a grant in excess of such amount unless the prospective contractor or grantee makes certain certifications regarding Federal tax liability.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 10/17/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 10/22/2007 Senate amendment agreed to. Status: Amendment SA 3331 agreed to in Senate by Unanimous Consent.

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Now you can do an advanced search by Congressional year (and Senator)

http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d110query.html

Here you can do a search for “signed by the President, vetoed, passed the Senate but not the House, etc.”

So if you are interested in stuff he sponsored or cosponsored that was signed into law by the US President we see:

1. [110th] S.597 : A bill to amend title 39, United States Code, to extend the authority of the United States Postal Service to issue a semipostal to raise funds for breast cancer research.
Sponsor: Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] (introduced 2/14/2007) Cosponsors (62)
Committees: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Senate Reports: 110-222
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-150 [GPO: Text, PDF]

2. [110th] S.1352 : A bill to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 127 East Locust Street in Fairbury, Illinois, as the “Dr. Francis Townsend Post Office Building”.
Sponsor: Sen Durbin, Richard [IL] (introduced 5/10/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; House Oversight and Government Reform
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-43 [GPO: Text, PDF]

3. [110th] S.2488 : A bill to promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Leahy, Patrick J. [VT] (introduced 12/14/2007) Cosponsors (17)
Committees: House Oversight and Government Reform
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 110-175 [GPO: Text, PDF]

1. [109th] S.467 : A bill to extend the applicability of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002.
Sponsor: Sen Dodd, Christopher J. [CT] (introduced 2/18/2005) Cosponsors (33)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-144 [GPO: Text, PDF]

2. [109th] S.707 : A bill to reduce preterm labor and delivery and the risk of pregnancy-related deaths and complications due to pregnancy, and to reduce infant mortality caused by prematurity.
Sponsor: Sen Alexander, Lamar [TN] (introduced 4/5/2005) Cosponsors (42)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; House Energy and Commerce
Senate Reports: 109-298
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-450 [GPO: Text, PDF]

3. [109th] S.1047 : A bill to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in commemoration of each of the Nation’s past Presidents and their spouses, respectively to improve circulation of the $1 coin, to create a new bullion coin, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Sununu, John E. [NH] (introduced 5/17/2005) Cosponsors (71)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-145 [GPO: Text, PDF]

4. [109th] S.1184 : A bill to waive the passport fees for a relative of a deceased member of the Armed Forces proceeding abroad to visit the grave of such member or to attend a funeral or memorial service for such member.
Sponsor: Sen Biden, Joseph R., Jr. [DE] (introduced 6/7/2005) Cosponsors (2)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations; House International Relations
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-210 [GPO: Text, PDF]

5. [109th] S.1496 : A bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a pilot program under which up to 15 States may issue electronic Federal migratory bird hunting stamps.
Sponsor: Sen Crapo, Mike [ID] (introduced 7/26/2005) Cosponsors (23)
Committees: Senate Environment and Public Works; House Resources
Senate Reports: 109-187 House Reports: 109-556
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-266 [GPO: Text, PDF]

6. [109th] S.2125 : A bill to promote relief, security, and democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 12/16/2005) Cosponsors (12)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations; House International Relations
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-456 [GPO: Text, PDF]

7. [109th] S.2167 : A bill to amend the USA PATRIOT ACT to extend the sunset of certain provisions of that Act and the lone wolf provision of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to July 1, 2006.
Sponsor: Sen Sununu, John E. [NH] (introduced 12/21/2005) Cosponsors (31)
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-160 [GPO: Text, PDF]
Note: Extends provisions from December 31, 2005 to February 3, 2006.

8. [109th] S.2250 : A bill to award a congressional gold medal to Dr. Norman E. Borlaug.
Sponsor: Sen Grassley, Chuck [IA] (introduced 2/7/2006) Cosponsors (72)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; House Financial Services
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-395 [GPO: Text, PDF]

9. [109th] S.2370 : A bill to promote the development of democratic institutions in areas under the administrative control of the Palestinian Authority, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen McConnell, Mitch [KY] (introduced 3/6/2006) Cosponsors (90)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-446 [GPO: Text, PDF]

10. [109th] S.2590 : A bill to require full disclosure of all entities and organizations receiving Federal funds.
Sponsor: Sen Coburn, Tom [OK] (introduced 4/6/2006) Cosponsors (47)
Committees: Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Senate Reports: 109-329
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-282 [GPO: Text, PDF]

11. [109th] S.2784 : A bill to award a congressional gold medal to Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in recognition of his many enduring and outstanding contributions to peace, non-violence, human rights, and religious understanding.
Sponsor: Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] (introduced 5/11/2006) Cosponsors (75)
Committees: Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; House Financial Services
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-287 [GPO: Text, PDF]

12. [109th] S.2803 : A bill to amend the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to improve the safety of mines and mining.
Sponsor: Sen Enzi, Michael B. [WY] (introduced 5/16/2006) Cosponsors (11)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; House Education and the Workforce
Senate Reports: 109-365
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-236 [GPO: Text, PDF]

13. [109th] S.4044 : A bill to clarify the treatment of certain charitable contributions under title 11, United States Code.
Sponsor: Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] (introduced 9/29/2006) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: House Judiciary
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-439 [GPO: Text, PDF]

Stuff that has cleared the Senate (where Obama was one of the primary sponsors, not cosponsors):

1. [109th] S.RES.291 : A resolution to congratulate the Chicago White Sox on winning the 2005 World Series Championship.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 10/27/2005) Cosponsors (1)
Latest Major Action: 10/27/2005 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

2. [109th] S.RES.516 : A resolution recognizing the historical significance of Juneteenth Independence Day and expressing the sense of the Senate that history should be regarded as a means for understanding the past and solving the challenges of the future.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 6/19/2006) Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 6/19/2006 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

3. [109th] S.RES.529 : A resolution designating July 13, 2006, as “National Summer Learning Day”.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/13/2006) Cosponsors (5)
Latest Major Action: 7/13/2006 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

4. [109th] S.2125 : A bill to promote relief, security, and democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 12/16/2005) Cosponsors (12)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations; House International Relations
Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-456 [GPO: Text, PDF]

1. [110th] S.CON.RES.25 : A concurrent resolution condemning the recent violent actions of the Government of Zimbabwe against peaceful opposition party activists and members of civil society.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/29/2007) Cosponsors (7)
Committees: Senate Foreign Relations
Latest Major Action: 6/26/2007 Held at the desk.

2. [110th] S.RES.133 : A resolution celebrating the life of Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/28/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Latest Major Action: 3/28/2007 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

3. [110th] S.RES.268 : A resolution designating July 12, 2007, as “National Summer Learning Day”.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/11/2007) Cosponsors (4)
Committees: Senate Judiciary
Latest Major Action: 7/13/2007 Passed/agreed to in Senate. Status: Resolution agreed to in Senate without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.

Contrast with Others
Of course, you can keep yourself busy for hours by using this feature. But one Kossack (Grassroots Mom) already had fun with this and she has written a summary (which you can fact check for yourself with the above links)

Here is part of what she finds:

Hillary Clinton does have a solid record in the Senate, however.

I came away from my research really knowing a lot more about what is important to Hillary in her heart: kids and their well being. My research changed my feeling about her significantly. About 40% of her bills dealt with health care and/or kids. As a mom with small kids, I like her passion for children’s issues. But curiously, her big bill to deliver health care to every child, the one she lauds on her website, S.895 : “A bill to amend titles XIX and XXI of the Social Security Act to ensure that every child in the United States has access to affordable, quality health insurance coverage, and for other purposes” had not a single co-sponsor. Not one, according to the Library of Congress. Why is that? Is it a bad bill? Or is she not able to recruit support for her signature issue? Or did she just submit it simply to put in the hopper, so to speak, so she could claim she was working on it. I honestly don’t know the answer, but I find it curious and suspicious that not even Ted Kennedy co-sponsored it. Its sister bill in the house, H.R. 1535, introduced by John Dingell has 42 co-sponsors. It’s just weird. I honestly don’t know what to make of it.

S.895 was major. But most of her other bills are much smaller in scale and scope — more targeted and more careful.

For example, she introduced one bill that offered tax credits for building owners who clean up lead paint. Which is a very good thing. And Obama is a co-sponsor. “S.1793 : A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a tax credit for property owners who remove lead-based paint hazards.”

Obama’s anti-lead bill (S. 1306) directed the Consumer Product Safety Commission to classify certain children’s products containing lead as banned hazardous substances. He had another bill prohibitting the interstate transport of children’s products containing lead. (S.2132) And Hillary co-sponsored each of these.

In other words, they both care about protecting children from lead.

The difference is in the scope and the approach.

Obama’s bill shows how he thinks big: do everything we can to make sure that lead-painted Thomas the Tank Engine toys don’t get into the hands and mouths of millions of toddlers in this country.

Or Hillary: encourage people by offering tax credits to clean up lead paint in old buildings. People have been talking about lead paint in old buildings hurting kids in living in inner cities, since, well when I was a kid — for decades. If it is still a big problem, is offering tax credits for clean up, i.e. scrape down the walls and repaint, the best way to protect kids from lead?

How many of you parents have lead paint problems? How many have (or had) toxic Thomas the Tank Engine Toys? They are everywhere. The local bookstore and kid’s shoe store and the doctor’s office and the preschool and the toystore all have train tables. There is nowhere you can go anymore with toddlers that doesn’t have a Thomas the Tank Engine train table covered with toxic toys. But that’s just my feeling.

Obama’s bills risk pissing off the toy industry and the Chinese. Hillary’s risks nothing.

A lot of Clinton’s health bills focus on children. Or women. She introduced a billl for research in the causes of gestational diabetes, for more pediatric research (S.895) and a rural agriculture bill to get farm-fresh veggies into schools (S.1031).

Her bill dealing with the crisis in foreclosure is actually S.2114 : “A bill to amend the Truth in Lending Act, to provide for enhanced disclosures to consumers and enhanced regulation of mortgage brokers, and for other purposes.” Again, no co-sponsors. Obama also introduced a bill in the face of the mortgage foreclosure crisis: S.1222 : “A bill to stop mortgage transactions which operate to promote fraud, risk, abuse, and under-development, and for other purposes.” Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/25/2007), co-sponsored by Dick Durbin. [...]

The diary author comments of HRC’s substantial Senate record. But then she goes back to Obama:

Now let’s look more closely at Obama.

I was blown away as I started going through his record. I’ve already mentioned his bills on health care and energy. In addition he had introduced bills on Iran, voting, veterans, global warming, campaign finance and lobbyists, Blackwater, global poverty, nuclear proliferation, and education.
On Iran: S.J.RES.23 : A joint resolution clarifying that the use of force against Iran is not authorized by the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq, any resolution previously adopted, or any other provision of law.

On votingPassed out of Committee and now on the Senate Calendar for Feb. 22, 2008
S.453 : A bill to prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections Please check this out! This is a great bill. We need this. I can’t believe that this time voter intimidation is not already illegal.

On veterans and military personnel: S.1084 : A bill to provide housing assistance for very low-income veterans;

On global warmingS.1324 : A bill to amend the Clean Air Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuel sold in the United States;S.1389 : A bill to authorize the National Science Foundation to establish a Climate Change Education Program; S.AMDT.599 to S.CON.RES.21 To add $200 million for Function 270 (Energy) for the demonstration and monitoring of carbon capture and sequestration technology by the Department of Energy. (This last one passed both the House and the Senate as part of the budget bill.)

On campaign finance and lobbyists S.2030 : A bill to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require reporting relating to bundled contributions made by persons other than registered lobbyists; and S.AMDT.41 to S.1 To require lobbyists to disclose the candidates, leadership PACs, or political parties for whom they collect or arrange contributions, and the aggregate amount of the contributions collected or arranged.

On Blackwater S.2044 : A bill to provide procedures for the proper classification of employees and independent contractors, and for other purposes, and S.2147 : A bill to require accountability for contractors and contract personnel under Federal contracts, and for other purposes.

On global poverty S.2433 : A bill to require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.

On global nuclear proliferation S.1977 : A bill to provide for sustained United States leadership in a cooperative global effort to prevent nuclear terrorism, reduce global nuclear arsenals, stop the spread of nuclear weapons and related material and technology, and support the responsible and peaceful use of nuclear technology.

I counted nine education bills, but it’s getting late and I’ve got to get my kids ready for bed.

As I mentioned earlier, Clinton is a frequent co-sponsor on many of Obama’s bills. So is Ted Kennedy. So are a number of Republicans.

Finally, Obama appears to have a better record last year in the Senate on getting his bills and amendments passed than does Clinton. I’ve listed everything that passed the Senate for each them at the end in boxes. But check out Thomas.loc.gov for yourself. I may have missed something.

In my eyes Obama is the superior choice in every way. He cares about more of the issues that matter to me. Kids and health care are important but so is the issue of global warming, on which Clinton introduced not a single bill last year.

I invite the interested reader to play with this search function.

A bit about Obama’s background

Note: I know someone who can beat Obama. How do I know? Because this person already has.

His name is Bobby Rush. He beat BHO in a primary election for US Congress in 2000.

He has a great deal to do with how well BHO is doing now. How? Read on.

So many have touted HRC’s “experience” as one of her supposed virtues. But her political rise has been, in some sense, easy.

“Easy”??? Yes. Sure, as First Lady for Bill Clinton, both in Little Rock and later in Washington D. C., she kept a hectic schedule, got a ton of criticism (much of it unfair) and had her personal life splashed all over the world.

But, when it came to elective office: she was recruited by the New York Democrats to run for Senator. She faced no serious challenge either in the primary or in the general election, and she enjoyed huge name recognition and fund raising advantages. In short, the skids were greased for her; she didn’t have to work for the election.

So, it is probably no surprise the she grossly underestimated how hard this Democratic Primary would be:

She ended up having no “plan B” if the race were to continue after Super Tuesday.

To watch the almost comical digression of her campaign’s expectations, read this.

What about Obama?

Up to now, Obama has badly outcampaigned her in almost every possible way. One big reason: he knew that it would be hard from the very start and he prepared accordingly.

Contrary to what many of his detractors think, he isn’t some empty suit who just had this handed to him on a platter. He is working from, that’s right, painful experience.

A bit of background reading Ryan Lizza’s New Republic Article.

New York Times article about Obama’s first political election loss.

USA Today article about this loss

NPR Article about his loss.

Obama’s unlikely journey to where he is today started with his answering an ad in the New York Times; the ad was for a young African American to come to Chicago to work as a community organizer. It turns out that the group doing the organizing was lead by white people and they wanted an African American to lend the group some “credibility”, so to speak. As Lizzy’s article (TNR) says

A year after graduating from Columbia, Obama spotted an intriguing help-wanted ad in The New York Times. The Calumet Community Religious Conference (ccrc), a group that aimed to convert the black churches of Chicago’s South Side into agents of social change, was looking for a community organizer to run the group’s inner-city arm, the Developing Communities Project (DCP). Obama soon arranged to meet in New York with the organizer heading up the job search.

Obama had spent the previous year on a fruitless quest. He worked briefly for a Ralph Nader outfit in Harlem teaching college kids about recycling and then on a losing assemblyman’s race in Brooklyn. But he longed for an experience that connected him to the civil rights era. “In the sit-ins, the marches, the jailhouse songs,” he wrote in Dreams, “I saw the African-American community becoming more than just the place where you’d been born or the house where you’d been raised. Through organizing, through shared sacrifice, membership had been earned.” Obama wanted to join the club.

“What really inspired me,” Obama told me during one of several conversations about his work as an organizer, “was the civil rights movement. And if you asked me who my role model was at that time, it would probably be Bob Moses, the famous sncc [Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] organizer. … Those were the folks I was really inspired by–the John Lewises, the Bob Moseses, the Fannie Lou Hamers, the Ella Bakers.”

It was during these 4 years when he picked up valuable skills. He also found his spiritual home:

[...]This adulation is a far cry from how Obama was received by Wright when they first met in the mid-’80s, during Obama’s initial round of one-on-ones. Like Smalls, Wright was unimpressed. “They were going to bring all different denominations together to have this grassroots movement,” explained Wright, a white-haired man with a goatee and a booming voice. “I looked at him and I said, Do you know what Joseph’s brother said when they saw him coming across the field?’” Obama said he didn’t. “I said, Behold the dreamer! You’re dreaming if you think you are going to do that.’”

From Wright and others, Obama learned that part of his problem as an organizer was that he was trying to build a confederation of churches but wasn’t showing up in the pews on Sunday. When pastors asked him the inevitable questions about his own spiritual life, Obama would duck them uncomfortably. A Reverend Philips put the problem to him squarely when he learned that Obama didn’t attend services. “It might help your mission if you had a church home,” he told Obama. “It doesn’t matter where, really. What you’re asking from pastors requires us to set aside some of our more priestly concerns in favor of prophesy. That requires a good deal of faith on our part. It makes us want to know just where you’re getting yours from.”

After many lectures like this, Obama decided to take a second look at Wright’s church. Older pastors warned him that Trinity was for “Buppies”–black urban professionals–and didn’t have enough street cred. But Wright was a former Muslim and black nationalist who had studied at Howard and Chicago, and Trinity’s guiding principles–what the church calls the “Black Value System”–included a “Disavowal of the Pursuit of Middleclassness.’” [...]

He was to spend 4 years in Chicago, then go to Harvard for Law School, and then return to Chicago.

In 1988, Obama left Chicago for Harvard Law, where his greatest political victory was getting himself elected president of the law review. He did it by convincing a crucial swing bloc of conservatives that their self-interests would be protected by electing him. He built that trust during the same kind of long listening sessions he had made use of in the depressed neighborhoods of Chicago. “He didn’t get to be president of Harvard Law Review because he was first in his class,” said Richard Epstein, a colleague of Obama’s at the University of Chicago Law School, where Obama later taught. “He got it because people on the other side believed he would give them a fair shake.”

Even at Harvard, Obama kept a foot in the world of organizing. He spent eight days in Los Angeles taking a national training course taught by the IAF, a station of the cross for Alinsky acolytes. And, after he returned to Chicago in 1991, he served on the boards of both the Woods Fund and the Joyce Foundation, which also gives grants to Alinsky-style groups, and continued to teach organizing workshops.

Then after more organizing work and law practice, he was persuaded to run for the State Senate in 1995. There he engaged in some rather bare knuckle politics:

Obama initially planned to inherit the seat of a much-admired incumbent named Alice Palmer, a fixture in South Side activist circles since the ’60s. Palmer had opted to run for Congress, clearing the way for Obama to replace her, but, when she lost the primary, she decided she wanted to keep her old Senate seat, after all.

Obama was faced with a decision: step aside and wait his turn or do everything he could to take down a popular incumbent. In one meeting, an old guard of black political leaders tried to force Obama to abandon the race, but he wouldn’t budge. Instead of deferring to Palmer’s seniority, Obama challenged the very legitimacy of her petitions to get on the ballot, dispatching aides to the Chicago Board of Elections to scour Palmer’s filing papers, and, while they were at it, every other candidate’s, signature by signature. Many were fake. Obama won the challenge and cleared not just Palmer but all his potential rivals from the field.

It was a brash maneuver that caught the attention of the Illinois political establishment. “His introduction to the political community was that he knocked off Alice,” said Ron Davis, a longtime Obama political hand who filed the challenge against Palmer and still cackles with glee over their victory. “The [current] president of the state Senate, Emil Jones, pushed very hard to save Alice, but we beat his staff. So they heard about Barack before he came down there to Springfield: Who was this guy who came in and knocked Alice off the ballot?’”

Obama played the game very well

Speaking of what he learned as an organizer, Obama himself told me, “I think that oftentimes ordinary citizens are taught that decisions are made based on the public interest or grand principles, when, in fact, what really moves things is money and votes and power.”

After beating Palmer, Obama brought some of his old organizing lessons to Springfield. His successful career there owed much to a relationship he built with Emil Jones, the South Side machine pol whom Obama later described as his “political godfather.” Jones was an improbable mentor for Obama: In the mid-’80s, Obama’s group had organized protests against Jones when it wanted more help with funding for its projects. In Dreams, Obama portrayed Jones as an “old ward heeler” jockeying for position on a stage with the mayor. And Obama and Jones tangled over Alice Palmer, whom Jones had tried to rescue. Yet despite that history, or perhaps because of it, Obama sought out Jones in the legislature and let him know he was eager to work with him. Jones’s mentoring frayed Obama’s relationships with some other black colleagues–”petty jealousies,” Jones told me–but it paved the way for all of Obama’s legislative achievements.

Then, in 1999, came his first attempt to win a seat in the U. S. Congress.

Mr. Obama was a 38-year-old state senator and University of Chicago lecturer, unknown in much of Mr. Rush’s Congressional district. He lived in its most rarefied neighborhood, Hyde Park. He was taking on a local legend, a former alderman and four-term incumbent who had given voters no obvious reason to displace him.

Mr. Rush’s name recognition started off at 90 percent, Mr. Obama’s at 11. Then Mr. Rush’s son was murdered, leading Mr. Obama to put his campaign on hold. Later, while vacationing in Hawaii with his family, he missed a high-profile vote in the Legislature and was pilloried. (One Chicago Tribune editorial began, “What a bunch of gutless sheep.”) Then President Clinton endorsed Mr. Rush.

“Campaigns are always, ‘What’s the narrative of the race?’ ” said Eric Adelstein, a media consultant in Chicago who worked on the Rush campaign. “In a sense, it was ‘the Black Panther against the professor.’ That’s not a knock on Obama; but to run from Hyde Park, this little bastion of academia, this white community in the black South Side — it just seemed odd that he would make that choice as a kind of stepping out.”

The episode revealed a lot about Senator Obama — now running for president, against the odds again and with a relatively slim résumé. It showed his impatience with the frustrations of his state Senate job; his outsize confidence; his fund-raising powers; his broad appeal; and his willingness to be what Abner J. Mikva, a former congressman and supporter, calls “a very apt student of his own mistakes.”

The race did not go well for Obama but some future trends emerged:

Mr. Obama was seen as an intellectual, “not from us, not from the ’hood,” said Jerry Morrison, a consultant on the Rush campaign. Asked recently about that line of attack, Mr. Rush minimized it as “chest beating, signifying.”

The implication was not exactly that Mr. Obama was “not black enough,” as some blacks have suggested more recently; his credentials were suspect. “It was much more a function of class, not race,” Mr. Adelstein said. “Nobody said he’s ‘not black enough.’ They said he’s a professor, a Harvard elite who lives in Hyde Park.”

Not everything went badly. Mr. Obama proved unusually good at raising money. He raised more than $500,000 — less than Mr. Rush but impressive for a newcomer — tapping connections at the University of Chicago, Harvard Law School, law firms where he had worked, and a network of successful, black, Chicago-based entrepreneurs who have played an important role in subsequent campaigns.

He was also catching on among whites in the district thanks to Thomas J. Dart, then a popular state representative who is now Cook County sheriff.

But President Clinton’s endorsement of Mr. Rush, an early supporter of Mr. Clinton, dealt a final blow. According to Mr. Adelstein, Mr. Clinton — after a personal request from Mr. Rush — overrode his own policy of not endorsing candidates in primaries.

Mr. Rush won the primary with 61.02 percent of the vote; Mr. Obama had just over 30 percent. Mr. Obama was favored by whites but lost among blacks, Mr. Lester said. Looking back, some say the magnitude of the loss reflected Mr. Obama’s failure to connect with black, working-class voters.

He learned some important lessons, which ended up carrying him to win the 2004 Democratic Senate Primary (after starting out in fourth place!), the Senate seat (when the Republicans imploded because of a sex scandal and ended up running Alan Keyes as a backup) and to where he is today:

He and others say Mr. Obama learned from that experience. Mr. Mikva recalls telling him about advice once given to John F. Kennedy by Cardinal Richard Cushing: “The cardinal said to him, ‘Jack, you have to learn to speak more Irish and less Harvard.’ I think I recounted that anecdote to Barack. Clearly, he learned how to speak more Chicago and less Harvard in subsequent campaigning.”

Mr. Shomon said, “There was a gradual progression of Barack Obama from thoughtful, earnest policy wonk/civil rights lawyer/constitutional law expert to Barack Obama the politician, the inspirer, the speaker.” Denny Jacobs, a friend of Mr. Obama and a former state senator, agreed. “He stumbled on the fact that instead of running on all the issues, quote unquote, that hope is the real key,” he said. “Not only the black community but less privileged people are looking for that hope. You don’t have to talk about health care, you have to talk about ‘the promise’ of health care. Hope is a pretty inclusive word. I think he is very good at selling that.”

In March 2004, Mr. Obama won the Democratic primary for the United States Senate with nearly 53 percent of the vote, racking up huge totals in wards he had lost to Mr. Rush in 2000. (Mr. Rush, still stung by Mr. Obama’s challenge to him, endorsed a white candidate in the race, Blair Hull, a former securities trader.) Mr. Obama won the general election with the biggest margin ever in an Illinois Senate race.

So the long and short of it: Obama has been tested; he went against the odds thrice and came up short once. The lessons he learned are paying big dividends for him at the moment.

Little to Add Here

But I’ll post some political videos that I find amusing.

First, a cartoon that I wasn’t expecting to find:

(Larger Version)

Now for the Politcs

An old amateur McCain ad:

A new Hillary Clinton Ad

Bill Clinton on the Kerry Campaign in 2004

Notice his words about commercials that appeal to fear?

Of course, Obama has a response

This is reminding me more and more of this:

Hat tip to Kubla000 and to turneresq at the Daily Kos.

Huckabee Supporters: good for a laugh a minute.

Fervent Huckabee supporter Janet Folger’s prayer at an event in Chillicothe, Ohio with Huckabee’s wife:

If it’s a blizzard that would keep the people home who would not vote the right way, Father, I pray for a blizzard. Out of this prayer meeting in this little town in this great state we pray that you would move mountains.

Finally, a fun video:

And a report from Texas Obama campaign members to Prairie State Blue.

I am so envious that I am missing out on the fun.

Bonus Humor

Note: I deleted a tasteless youtube video that parodied the Clinton 3 am ad. Yes, I laughed at it and yes, in some sense, the Clintons brought this on themselves.

But I asked myself “how would you feel if someone did a BHO add that parodied him in a cruel but marginally justifiable way?” So I deleted it.

Update: I couldn’t resist adding a link to this parody of the Old “Holy Joe” Bible tracts that have been around for decades; this is an atheist version. Hat tip to Friendly Atheist.

This is the Holy Joe tract that this is a parody of.