"U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist characterized Ford, a five-term congressman, as "the ultimate Washington insider."
"He's not offered new solutions or ideas. He's a throwback to Al Gore and Jim Sasser. The contrast will be crystal clear," Frist said in a teleconference from Washington. Sasser was the Democratic incumbent whom Frist defeated in the 1994 U.S. Senate race."
My first thought upon reading that statement was, has Bill Frist finally lost it?
However, upon further review, I saw what his intentions where. He was trying to deflect blame for his own poor, failed record as our U.S. Senator and as our nation's majority leader.
Under Frist's leadership, our nation saw its biggest government ever, highest college tuition and health care costs ever, highest gas prices ever, and the largest federal and trade deficits in our nation's history. Moreover, hardworking middle class Tennessee families are now paying more taxes as a share of their income, than at any point in the past 25 years. This is simply unacceptable; it is clearly time for a change.
However, Republican nominee, Bob Corker, is offering more of the same, as he is trying to be a Bill Frist clone. The last thing we need is more failed leadership from Corker, like we have had from Frist.
Corker's record speaks for itself.
He has never cut a tax in his entire life. He didn't as Don Sundquist's Finance Commissioner or as the Mayor of Chattanooga. In fact, he raised taxes time and time again as Mayor, despite what he says in his ads.
Furthermore, he slashed the pay for first responders; cops and firefighters. However, he somehow managed to raise his own salary as Mayor and was caught red handed hiring illegal immigrants to work on his construction site.
On the foreign policy front, Corker is clueless. For instance, when the President was going to sell our ports to Dubai Ports World, a United Arab Emirates owned company, Corker initially supported the deal. Later, he changed his mind, but ended up flip flopping back to his original position, after Senator Frist appealed to him to get in line with the President's position to basically handover our ports to the UAE, a nation which was home to a handful of the 9/11 terrorists. In sharp contrast, Congressman Ford was the first Congressman or Senator from Tennessee to condemn the ports deal. In fact, he ran television ads showing Tennesseans his extreme opposition to the selling of our ports.
This fall, the last thing we need is to send another multi-millionaire who is in good with Big Oil to the United States Senate. We do need another multi-millionaire U.S. Senator who is willing to raise his own pay, but not for hardworking Americans. And we do not need another multi-millionaire U.S. Senator who will run a broken immigration policy, just to benefit an elite few, while other all other Americans suffer.
It is time for a change. No more Frist style, failed leadership.
Harold Ford Jr. represents a new generation of leadership that will provide that change.
Days of Congressional Inaction on Ethics
Above is the number of days that have passed since Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to bribing Congressman.
It is also the number of days in which Congress has failed to pass an ethics reform bill that would limit private travel, ski and golf junkets, and would call for a full disclosure of expenses by lobbyists on members of Congress.
It is time for Congress to step up and pass an ethics reform bill that would do all of the above. In addition, it is time to end the pork barrel spending system as we know it and establish an independent ethics commission that would review ethics complaints against members of Congress.
I am proud Congressman Harold Ford Jr. is fighting for that reform!
Read Congressman Ford's call for reform of the House rules here!
