Patrick Kennedy A Hard Working Progressive On Details
One of Rhode Island’s two Democratic U.S. Representatives, Patrick Kennedy, has announced that he will not run for re-election this year. Kennedy was a fair, if not outstanding, progressive in the House of Representatives. With a net legislative score of 52 out of a possible hundred, Kennedy was in a second tier of solid progressives, though not a prime leader of them.
Regardless of the claim that Kennedy was “serving himself, not Rhode Island”, made by Republican opponent John Loughlin, the record shows that Kennedy was a hard worker in Congress, not on glamorous issues that would lead to top national headlines, but on the legislative details that help to support a fundamental quality of life for the American people. Kennedy introduced 25 pieces of legislation over the last year. Most of them were related to health care issues, dealing with small issues of infrastructure and reform in a year when the broad strokes of health care reform were bashed and battered by lobbyist-engineered efforts to protect the status quo.
Another area of focus for Kennedy’s recent legislation was substance abuse. Kennedy’s own serious problems with alcohol and drug abuse became apparent after an automobile accident four years ago near Capitol Hill.
[...] in the first congressional district in Rhode Island. Incumbent Patrick Kennedy has announced his intention to step down from the seat after the current session of Congress. Loughlin’s campaign troubling news for people who [...]