Warning: I support Barack Obama unequivocally, and without hesitation.
The mainstream media and Obama-rama naysayers have somehow worked up a frame that says "In Barack Obama's two years in the US Senate, he has a serious lack of substance to show for his mighty rhetoric."
Well, we've known that they're wrong all along, but Barack Obama has some harsh words for the American punditocracy.
(unofficial transcript below...)
Unofficial transcript:
This is a good place to point out... I mentioned this a little bit earlier today at one of the house parties. I know that one of the running threads, one of the narratives that’s established itself among the mainstream media is this notion "Well...ya know Obama has pretty good style. He can deliver a pretty good speech, but he seems to prioritize rhetoric over substance."
Now factually, that’s incorrect. Because the fact of the matter is that I have THE most specific plan in terms of how to get out of Iraq of any candidate. I have delivered major speeches over the course of two years before I started running for president on every major issue out here whether its education, healthcare or energy. I have written two books that have sold close to a million copies each that would probably give people more insight into how I think and how I feel about the issues facing America than any candidate in the field and probably any candidate who has run for office in recent memory. The problem is not that the information is not out there. The problem is that that’s not what you guys have been reporting on. You’ve been reporting on how I look in a swimsuit.
Just one major candidate has been right on the war since day-1
One major candidate has said we need to end mountaintop removal.
One major candidate has frozen out Fox News.
Obama is a leader on SO many issues. That’s why many of us wanted him to get into this race in the first place!
For working Americans He has fought to end poverty and improve opportunity for working Americans since his days in the Illinois State Senate!
Overrode federal overtime rules and raised the minimum wage
Obama was the driving force behind Illinois' Earned Income Tax Credit, which has provided more than $100 million in tax relief to working families. He was the chief sponsor of the law that exempts Illinois from the Bush Administration's new federal overtime rules and protects overtime pay for thousands of Illinois workers. He voted to increase the minimum wage to $6.50 an hour. He sponsored a law that ensures workers have advance warning if their employer is about to conduct a mass lay-off.
Source: Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.org, "On the Issues" Sep 28, 2004
Make sure that African-American men have access to jobs
It's heartbreaking that 3 out of 4 black children born are born to unmarried mothers in Illinois. Some of it is just making sure that African-American men have access to jobs. There's been the devastation as we lose manufacturing jobs that disproportionately hurts African-Americans, blue-collar workers who used to be able to support a family with an unskilled job. That's no longer possible. So we got to have a base of economic security in order to build strong families.
Source: Meet The Press, NBC News Jul 25, 2004
Fund Trade Adjustment Assistance for service workers too
Obama will ensure funding is available for the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, and expand it so it covers service workers as well as manufacturing workers, in order to provide retraining, income support, health insurance tax credits, and other benefits to those who lose their jobs because of trade.
Source: Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.com Jun 25, 2004
Increase IL minimum wage to $6.50 an hour
A PROVEN RECORD: As a State Senator, Barack Obama has spent his career fighting for Illinois' working families.
• Protected overtime pay.Obama was the chief sponsor of the law that exempts Illinois from the Bush Administration's new federal overtime rules and protects overtime pay for thousands of Illinois workers. [SB 1645, 2004]
• Provided a living wage. Obama voted to increase the minimum wage to $6.50 an hour. [SB600, 2003]
• Worked to ensure advance notice for workers. Obama sponsored the law that requires the monitoring of employer compliance with federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification laws, so that workers have advance warning if their employer is about to conduct a mass lay-off or close their plant.. [SB0062, 2001]
Source: Press Release, "Creating Jobs in America" Jun 21, 2004
Voted YES on raising the minimum wage to $7.25 rather than $6.25.
On Energy:
Sponsored legislations that improve energy efficiency
Obama co-sponsored a Renewable Portfolio Standard that mandates ten percent of total electric utility output must be renewable by 2012. He sponsored the Biodiesel Fuel Act to require diesel fuel sold in Illinois to contain at least two percent biodiesel fuel by volume. He was chief co-sponsor of the Energy Efficiency Building Act and the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards Act, which aim to improve energy efficiency in residential, commercial, and industrial buildings and in certain household products.
Source: Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.org, "On the Issues" Sep 28, 2004
20% nation's power supply from renewable sources by 2020
Neither American security, nor our economic potential, can afford to be held hostage by those half a world away because our nation is too dependent on others for our energy. This requires concrete steps to move us toward energy independence including requiring that 20% of the nation's power supply portfolio come from renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy by 2020, and that a percentage of our nation's fuel supply is provided by renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
Source: Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.org, "On the Issues" Sep 28, 2004
20% renewable energy by 2020
[We should] free America from its dependence on foreign oil. We must take concrete steps to move us toward energy independence including requiring that 20 percent of the nation's power supply portfolio come from renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy by 2020, and that a percentage of our nation's fuel supply is provided by renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.
Source: Press Release, "Renewal of American Leadership " Jul 12, 2004
Increase CAFE to 40 mpg
Obama will increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) to 40 mpg for cars from their current mid-1980's level. Americans will save billions of dollars and millions of barrels of oil per day by implementing these already existing technologies.
Source: Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.com Jun 25, 2004
Tradable credits for renewable energy
Obama will support legislation requiring that by 2020, 20% of the nation's power supply portfolio comes from renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy. Promoting renewable energy will create new investments and new jobs without increasing prices. Obama has proposed a flexible market-based approach that allows electricity providers to either generate the renewable energy themselves, obtain it from other companies, or purchase credits from providers who exceed the standard.
Source: Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.com Jun 25, 2004
Renewable Fuels Standard: require ethanol in fuel supply
Obama will support requiring that 20% of the nation's power supply comes from renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass & geothermal. He will increase CAFE to 40 mpg for cars. He will create a Renewable Fuels Standard that requires that a percentage of our fuel supply is provided by fuels such as ethanol. Oil companies should utilize the non-environmentally sensitive lands currently available. He will pressure the FTC to monitor oil mergers that decrease competition & increase the price of gas.
Source: Campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.com, ?On The Issues? May 2, 2004
Voted YES on disallowing an oil leasing program in Alaska's ANWR.
Voted YES on $3.1B for emergency oil assistance for hurricane-hit areas.
Voted YES on reducing oil usage by 40% by 2025 (instead of 5%).
Amendment to improve the energy security of the United States and reduce United States dependence on foreign oil imports by 40% by 2025. The amendment seeks to reduce usage by 7.6 million barrels of oil a day, out of a total usage of 20 million barrels of oil a day. The bill without amendment seeks to reduce usage by 1 million barrels of oil a day. Opponents of the amendment said, "It would be disruptive of jobs if you set a 78 mile per gallon CAFÉ standard for cars, a 185-percent increase; a 60 mile per gallon standard for trucks, light trucks, a 174-percent increase. [The unamended version] is more in keeping with President Kennedy's "man on the Moon" goal. [The amended version] is a "man or woman on Mars" goal, and maybe we will get there one day, but it is unrealistic today."
Reference: Energy Policy Act of 2005; Bill S.Amdt. 784 to H.R. 6 ; vote number 2005-140 on Jun 16, 2005
Voted YES on banning drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
What does he have to say about healthcare, foregin policy, and immigration?
More detailed plans will roll out as the campaign heats up, and Senator Obama hears from all sides to ensure that he formulates acceptable positions on the issues. I am very much looking forward to hearing his specific plan, but I don’t think that we can afford to go around trumpeting that he has no legislative record or specific policy positions any longer.
If people say that Barack has no concrete positions, it is a lie, laziness, or malicious, and most of all...its wrong.