First of all, many of the negative points are based on the National political Awareness Test that Richardson filled out over 10 years ago. If you've ever looked at one of these actual tests, you'll find that many of the questions are misleading. Case in point, someone recently criticized Barack Obama by saying that he wanted to ban all semi-automatic weapons. This would include hunting shot guns and rifles according to the wording posted on the at "On The Issues" site. However, when you actually read the question in the NPAT, it sounded more like they were talking about assault weapons. If you notice, no one in office with any experience fills that survey out anymore.
From your top ten problems list:
1. Richardson was pro-NAFTA, I don't have a problem with that, especially if we have a Democratic president who will enforce the environmental and labor provisions within the treaty. I tend to agree with Brad Delong and Paul Krugman regarding trade. I don't see NAFTA as Anti-Fair Trade if implemented as written. Some of our deals with China, I'd probably consider anti-fair trade.
2. You're basing this entirely on Richard's answer to the previously mentioned '96 NPAT but are ignoring the statement right above it from 2002.
"I will tell you, right up front, that I am opposed to vouchers. To me, they represent flight and abandonment of our public schools. I believe private school vouchers would drain precious resources from the children who need it most. This is precisely the wrong step to take right now. Providing vouchers, draining our schools of funds, takes our focus off the task. It says, "We give up." And I'm not ready to give up - I'm ready to get to work."
3. Sorry, while I understand about the problems in Ohio and Florida, I don't see how a further recount could have made any difference in NM. The challenge for the recount was from the Libertarian and Green parties not the Democratic Party. They had already recounted the ballots that they could. Richardson supported and signed an overhaul of the elections laws that required paper ballots like we all want. I wish we had that law here in Florida.
4. This is a complete misinterpretation. Richardson supported and voted for medical savings accounts that allow anyone with foreseeable medical expenses to put away money tax-free for them. We're going to use them for our sons who were both born deaf and require a ton of expenses each year. This not Shub Inc's bait and switch plan where it allows healthy folks to put money in an account and buy insurance with a higher deductible. I can guarantee that Richardson opposes it. Just look at his health care programs in NM. He's trying to insure all children under 5 as one of his final goals as governor.
5. He spent money to lobby against base closures in New Mexico. Every state does that. It means an elimination of jobs when a base closes. The Department of Homeland security was originally a Democratic proposal. Democrats voted against it when Shrub Inc had provision attached to it that gutted union protections for Homeland Security workers.
Richardson is not very hawkish. That is one of his strong points to me. He even voted against sending US troops to Bosnia when Clinton supported it. He'd rather negotiate than attack and his negotiating ability is probably his strongest skill.
6. This is a complete exaggeration. Richardson cut some of the top rates in NM to attract business but increased revenue through mineral rights and sin taxes. He also dropped the rates for lower income, eliminated sales taxes on groceries, eliminated taxes on medical services, and put in place an earned income tax credit for the working poor. He has also stated that he supports raising the rates for the top earners at the federal level.
7. This one is weird. I read the response that "On the Issues" claims means Richardson is for faith-based services. Here is what Richardson actually agreed to in the NPAT:
"Increase tax deduction for charities
Indicate which principles you support regarding the poor & homeless.
· Provide tax incentives for companies to hire & train homeless people who want to work.
· Increase programs that help alcoholics & drug addicts recover.
· Increase the minimum wage.
· Provide homeless families with apartment vouchers.
· Increase the income tax deduction on individual contributions made to charities that help the poor and homeless.
· Implement enterprise zones in communities with high unemployment.
Source: 1996 Congressional National Political Awareness Test Nov 1, 1996
Now you can see why no one will fill out that survey anymore. How in the heck do you go from that response to supporting Shrub Inc's faith based grants?
8. Shrub's guest worker with a path to citizenship proposal is one of the very few things that he has proposed that I agree with. What's wrong with it?
9. I don't always agree with everything the DLC supports but I don't have a problem with the DLC that some DUers do. I was primarily a Republican up until Clinton's presidency. Clinton is definitely DLC and his policies and governance convinced me to eventually become a Democrat.
Regarding 10-1, 10-2, and 10-4, I'll agree are problems I have with Richardson. I'm anti-death penalty. 10-3 is based on a bill that he voted on while a congressman that limited Habeas Corpus for
constitutional challenges to the death penalty. While I don't agree with that since I don't believe in the death penalty, it's not as bad sounding as saying all Habeas Corpus is limited for death penalty appeals.
10-5 through 10-9, I couldn't find more on those except for this 1996 NPAT. For instance, I can't find where Richardson has pushed for tort reform or where he has said that constitution needs to be changed to eliminate citizenship by birth in any of his speech. I don't trust this NPAT survey. I'd rather see something he voted on or a public statement.
10-10. I disagree with this vote but most Democrats voted for it out of a political calculation. He has really reached out more to the gay and lesbian community than most other candidates.
I did notice something interesting in the vote smart link that I hadn't paid attention to on previous visits. Bill Richardson actually voted against the welfare reform bill passed under Clinton.
Finally the two other issues, his baseball draft and the Wen Ho Lee stuff.
The baseball draft issue went like this according to Richardson and sources favorable to him. He was a promising pitcher in college. He heard he was about to be drafted by a team. He then blew his arm out and wasn't able to play and wasn't eligible for the draft. He repeated the story several times about that he was about to be drafted. However, it turns out that no one was actually going to draft him. Basically, he repeated a rumor that a team was planning on drafting him before he became ineligible. This sounds like a really stupid criticism to me. It's not like he claims to have served as a pilot in the National Guard.
The Wen Ho Lee case is a bigger issue and Repugs have worked to make it into something else. Repugs make it sound like Clinton was giving away nuclear secrets through Wen Ho Lee in exchange for campaign money from China and Bill Richardson was in the middle of it. This is all a huge stinking load of crap.
The actual issue is that Richardson took over the DOE in '98 and one of his chores was to increase security at the Los Alamos Lab. Wen Ho Lee had almost been fired in '96 apparently due to his lax security procedures. The FBI was investigating him because he was following lax security protocols and someone leaked it to the press that he might be a Chinese spy. A judge later speculated that Bill Richardson could have been the leaker. He (supposedly) would have leaked Wen Ho Lee's name to show that he was making progress in bringing security under control. Of course that is sort of ridiculous since it hurt Clinton and Richardson was tied to Clinton as DOE secretary. Wen Ho Lee was cleared and sued the Newspapers that accused him of being a Chinese spy wining several million in damages. Bill Richardson has categorically denied that he was involved in leaking Lee's name (Democracy Now transcript is where I saw it). Richardson did improve security at the lab by the time he left office and it remained higher until Shrub Inc privatized the lab where it hit a new low again.
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