Commentary: Obama's Convention Speech - Part III

We continue of series reviewing the remarks of Senator Obama at the Democratic National Convention.

But the record’s clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush ninety
percent of the time. Senator McCain likes to talk about judgment, but
really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush
has been right more than ninety percent of the time? I don’t know about
you, but I’m not ready to take a ten percent chance on change.

Senator Obama complains about Senator McCain's voting record, but may be informed by a peek at the voting record of Senator Obama's.

Here are the last 10 bills the Senate considered before adjournment this summer. Included are bills on nearly every subject that Senator Obama claims to be concerned about.

July 31, College Opportunity and Affordability Act - Obama, not voting

July 31, Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act - Obama, not voting

July 30 Jobs, Energy, Families and Disaster Relief Act - Obama, not voting

July 30 Free Flow of Information Act - Obama, not voting

July 29 Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act- Obama, not voting

July 28 Advancing America's Priorities Act- Obama, not voting

July 26 Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act - Obama, not voting

July 26 Foreclosure Prevention Act - Obama, not voting

July 25 Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act - Obama, not voting

July 16 Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act - Obama, not voting

10 Bills, Obama not voting. Maybe we can return him to the Senate to vote for a change.

The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your
lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain
has been anything but independent.

On the other hand, Senator Obama has been independent of his duty to his constituents - entirely absent.

"He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this President." From 2001 to 2007 the U.S. Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.6 trillion dollars. From 1993 to 2000 the U.S. Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.1 trillion dollars. Apparently what was great progress under President Clinton is not great progress under President Bush. (The larger growth despite, 9/11 and Katrina).

"He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong."

Growth of Gross Domestic Product 2008, first and second quarter 3.3%

Growth of Gross Domestic Product 1993, 2.7%, 1995 2.5%, 2000 3.7%.

Obama is right, by comparison apparently they are.

And when one of his chief advisors - the man
who wrote his economic plan - was talking about the anxiety Americans
are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental
recession," and that we’ve become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."

A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud auto workers at a Michigan
plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every
day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people
who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military
families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved
ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are
not whiners.

And they were not the whiners, this is a whiner:

Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for
less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your
home values plummet. More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive,
credit card bills you can’t afford to pay, and tuition that’s beyond
your reach. - Barack Obama

More to come.