More Reasons To Hate Dianne Feinstein

As a follow up to yesterday’s blog, I decided to post some more information as to why I strongly dislike good ol’ Dianne and why she is so distrusted by the political left. Feinstein, who has a track record of compromising with Republicans, is considered very pro-business and has sponsored or voted for a bunch of legislation which has been very unpopular within her own party (Source: Wikipedia):

* She has voted for most lawsuit reform measures and was a co-sponsor of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005.
* She voted for the first tax cuts in 2001
* She voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act in 2003.

My biggest pet peeve is that Feinstein supported the war in Iraq . She has since claimed that she was misled by President Bush on the reasons for going to war. My response - no shit. That didn’t stop Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) from voting against the war from the get go.

The Center for Public Integrity has reported that Feinstein and her husband, Richard Blum, are making millions of dollars from Iraq and Afghanistan contracts through his company, Perini. There have also been critics who argue that Feinstein's support of policies that are friendly to the Chinese government are because of her husband's extensive China-related business holdings.

Senator Feinstein was the original Democratic co-sponsor of a bill to extend the USA Patriot Act. In a December 2005 statement, Senator Feinstein stated, “I believe the Patriot Act is vital to the protection of the American people.”

ACK!

Feinstein is a supporter of capital punishment and, as noted yesterday, she was the main Democratic sponsor of the failed 2006 Constitutional flag burning amendment. Defenders point to her record on other issues: abortion rights, she voted against NAFTA, the Defense of Marriage Act, school prayer, welfare reform, and the 2005 bankruptcy bill.

Honestly, those stances are nothing special. Her pro choice position is an absolute non-starter for any politician in California. And her opposition the Marriage Act is not the same as being a proponent for gay marriage (unlike Gavin Newsom). Prayer in public schools? As one who attended public school in Oakland, CA for eight years, I was only interested in praying that I wouldn’t get my ass kicked after school.

It should be noted that she is not warmly embraced by Republicans, though. Gun rights organizations, who say that her proposals on gun control are unconstitutional, have alleged that Feinstein herself is hypocritical for making such proposals despite having had a concealed carry permit -- difficult to obtain in California -- during her tenure as a San Francisco politician.

All in all, she’s your typical career politician who basically lucked into her two biggest positions:

(a) Mayor of San Francisco. San Francisco mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated in November 1978 by a rival politician, Dan White, who had resigned from the Board of Supervisors only two weeks prior -- as president of the Board of Supervisors, Feinstein automatically ascended to the mayoral position.

(b) U.S. Senator. Feinstein won a special election to fill the California Senate seat which became vacant in 1990 when Pete Wilson was elected Governor of California. Ironically, Wilson’s opponent was Feinstein, who ended up with the political door price of U.S. Senator.

It goes without saying that I think it might be time for Dianne to retire and go quietly into the sunset. Having just turned 73 last week (Happy Birthday Di!), I’m praying she doesn’t pull a Strom Thurmond and try to hold on for another 30 years.

Double ACK!