Recently I wrote about an organization called Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) which has rated Republicans markedly lower than Democrats on issues of concern to soldiers and veterans. IAVA was founded in June 2004 and claims to be the nation's first and largest group dedicated to the Troops and Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the civilian supporters of those Troops and Veterans. The gist is that Republicans pretty much suck on defense while Democrats are mostly rated well by IAVA. Many of us have known this ever since Republicans in Congress criticized Clinton for going after bin Laden and since Republicans called Clinton "obsessed with al-Qaeda." That alone was enough for me to see that Republicans could not deal with threats to America while Clinton actually prevented the Millenium Attacks. Republicans claim that was pure luck (yeah...right), but it still is markedly better than anything Bush has been able to muster. Even some top ranking Generals, previously life-long Republicans, agree that Republicans are failing on Defense, not to mention the 21 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who are so pissed they are running for Congress as Democrats and are vocally opposed to Bush's policies. But I now want to extend my analysis to look at ratings of NY State Republicans vs. Democrats on other issues. Below I have ratings on Defense (A through F, from IAVA), Seniors issues (lifetime rating on a scale of 0-100 from Alliance for Retired Americans), environment (most recent ratings on a scale of 0-100, League of Conservation Voters, an organization), Labor issues (lifetime score from 0-100, AFL-CIO) and reproductive rights (lifetime score from 0-100, Planned Parenthood). This is a mix of so-called "right" and "left" issues, and in almost every case Republicans rank below Democrats. Feel free to distribute this info and use it on election day. Republicans: Peter King:Defense: C+; Seniors: 11; Environment: 8; Labor: 35; Choice: 0 Vito Fossella: Defense: C+; Seniors: 9; Environment: 17; Labor: 15; Choice: 0 Sue Kelly: Defense: C+; Seniors: 8; Environment: 92; Labor: 28; Choice: 82 John Sweeney: Defense: C+; Seniors: 14; Environment: 42; Labor: 35; Choice: 25 John McHugh: Defense: C+; Seniors: 20; Environment: 25; Labor: 45; Choice: 0 Sherwood Boehlert: Defense: C+; Seniors: 24; Environment: 83; Labor: 59; Choice: 100 James Walsh: Defense: C+; Seniors: 6; Environment: 58; Labor: 34; Choice: 0 Thomas Reynolds: Defense: C; Seniors: 2; Environment: 8; Labor: 12; Choice: 0 Randy Kuhl: Defense: D; Seniors: 10; Environment: 33; Labor: 33; Choice: 0 Pretty dismal ratings on these issues that Americans value. Makes you wonder just what their priorities are...oh, yeah, Halliburton and Exxon profits. Why do Republicans hate America? Democrats: Chuck Schumer: Defense: B+; Seniors: 96; Environment: 71; Labor: 92; Choice: 100 Hillary Clinton: Defense: A-; Seniors: 100; Environment: 71; Labor: 91; Choice: 100 Tim Bishop: Defense: A-; Seniors: 100; Environment: 92; Labor: 98; Choice: 100 Steve Israel: Defense: A-; Seniors: 81; Environment: 92; Labor: 82; Choice: 100 Carolyn McCarthy: Defense: A; Seniors: 88; Environment: 100; Labor: 84; Choice: 100 Gary Ackerman: Defense: B+; Seniors: 100; Environment: 92; Labor: 95; Choice: 100 Gregory Meeks: Defense: B; Seniors: 96; Environment: 83; Labor: 92; Choice: 100 Joe Crowley: Defense: A-; Seniors: 94; Environment: 92; Labor: 89; Choice: 75 Jerrold Nadler: Defense: B; Seniors: 100; Environment: 100; Labor: 99; Choice: 100 Anthony Weiner: Defense: B; Seniors: 100; Environment: 100; Labor: 93; Choice: 100 Edolphus Towns: Defense: B; Seniors: 93; Environment: 83; Labor: 97; Choice: 100 Major Owens: Defense: C; Seniors: 100; Environment: 100; Labor: 98; Choice: 100 Nydia Velasquez: Defense: B-; Seniors: 100; Environment: 92; Labor: 95; Choice: 100 Carolyn Maloney: Defense: A-; Seniors: 98; Environment: 92; Labor: 92; Choice: 100 Charles Rangel: Defense: A-; Seniors: 100; Environment: 100; Labor: 94; Choice: 100 Joe Serrano: Defense: B-; Seniors: 100; Environment: 100; Labor: 95; Choice: 100 Eliot Engel: Defense: A-; Seniors: 100; Environment: 100; Labor: 98; Choice: 100 Nita Lowey: Defense: A; Seniors: 100; Environment: 100; Labor: 94; Choice: 100 Michael McNulty: Defense: A-; Seniors: 100; Environment: 100; Labor: 95; Choice: 44 Maurice Hinchey: Defense: C+; Seniors: 100; Environment: 100; Labor: 99; Choice: 100 Brian Higgins: Defense: A-; Seniors: 100; Environment: 92; Labor: 87; Choice: 100 Louise Slaughter: Defense: B; Seniors: 100; Environment: 92; Labor: 97; Choice: 100 MUCH better, right? So, to those who see no difference between the two parties, I have to say I think you are full of it. I may not agree with all the Democrats all the time, and I particularly have problems with the likes of Towns, but by and large Democrats are much better on ALL the issues than Republiocans. Maybe Democrats can be weak at times, but to equate them with Republicans ignores the facts.