pudge's Journal: Interesting Fact of the Day/Week/Month/Whatever

More Democrats than Republicans in the House of Represenatives voted for Bush's No Child Left Behind Act. Republicans were 186-34-0-1 (aye-no-present-not voting), Democrats were 197-10-0-3, and independents were 1-1-0-0.

In the Senate, it was Republicans 44-3-2 (yea-nay-not voting), Democrats 43-6-1, Traitors^WIndependents 0-1-0.

The Democrats who voted for it include Gephardt and Kucinich in the House, and Kerry, Edwards, Lieberman, and Graham in the Senate (that is, all of the Democrats running for President who were in office).

And note that Kerry and Edwards have been strong critics of it, as have all of the Democrats.

Just something to think about when the Democrats rail against NCLB.

For the record, I'd have been one of the few voting against it. :-) Not only because it is an unfunded mandate (that those Democrats all voted for), but particularly because I think it is an unconstitutional usurpation of power by the federal government. USURPERS!

Re:how many amendments left behind?

[pudge]

Wow. That almost every Democrat and Republican voted for it does not mean it had bipartisan support? That is the definition of bipartisan support.

I am not supposing the Democrats wrote it, or were entirely happy with the end result. I am stating as a fact that they voted for it, and if they voted for it, they therefore supported it. Those are undilutable facts.

Yes, of course they may have wanted it different. They may have wanted more funding or less federal control, for example. But so what? They

Re:how many amendments left behind?

[buffer-overflowed]

Or at the very least, abstained.

It still would have gone through and they wouldn't have voted against it nor for it. A congress-critter equivalent to a "Meh."

Amazing what we let these politicians get away with.

It's One Thing to Say They Supported the Idea...

[Cliff]

Because GWB sold it as a supposed boon for American Education. Everyone wants to "Save the Children".

However, it's another thing to support something that has become such a train wreck. Did the Democrats in question have any hand in its administration after the Bill was passed?

Does the current program bear any resemblance to what was described in the Bill?

The theory of NCLB was probably something worth supporting, the reality, however, is deserving of its massive criticism.