13 Politicians (Both Parties) Who Did at Least 1 Good Thing (T13 #3)

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To be sure, some unpleasant things (deliberate understatement) have happened in our nation. During periods of extreme frustration, it's only natural that sensible citizens might throw up their hands and emphatically proclaim that all politicians in Washington suck.

After the blood pressure stabilizes and we get back to calmly reviewing the evidence, it's easy to see that it's not all bad. In fact, many politicians from both parties have done or are doing a few good things: hence, my Thursday 13 list.

1. Charles Grassley (R-IA): investigated FDA corruption

2. Henry Waxman (D-CA): investigated contractor waste and fraud

3. Arlen Specter (R-PA):  investigated Justice Department corruption

4. Patrick Leahy (D-VT): investigated Justice Department corruption

5. John Hoekstra (R-MN): investigated federal spending

6. John Conyers (D-MI):  investigated Justice Department Corruption

7. John McCain (R-AZ): made efforts toward campaign-finance reform

8. Ted Kennedy (D-MA): voted to increase funds to state/local police

9. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA): supported making college more accessible

10. Hillary Clinton (D-NY): sought Pentagon info, graciously withstood attack

11. Chuck Hagel (R-NB):  investigated pre-Iraq-war intelligence

12. John Tierney (D-MA): called for reform of veteran-care system

13. David Dreier (R-CA): called for reform of veteran-care system

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While you're here, check out a recent BN-Politics post:

Approval Ratings: What do the Numbers Mean?

Also, thanks to those who responded to our T13!  Check out their lists:

• Milan-zz of While Sleepwalking
• Comedy Plus
• Toni of Being an Air Force Wife
• Irreverent, Barefoot Ragamuffins
• Thomma Lyn of Tennessee Text Wrestling
• Lara of Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing
• Nicole Austin of Romance Author
• Joan of Daddy's Roses
• The Gal Herself of One Gal's Musings
• Janet of Fond of Snape

• Tea Mouse of TeaTime Ramblings
• Eric of Secondhand Thoughts
• Teena in Toronto
• Denise of Blissful Life of a SAHM and Military Wife
• Jennie of Unabridged Opinions
• Lyn of Bloggin' Outloud
• Ed of Ed's Thread
• Qtpies7 of Our 7 Qtpies
• Sue at My Life in the Urban Zoo
• JenniBoo at O So Mo Love

• Tommiea at Tuesday Update
• Malcolm at Pop Culture Dish
• Rae at Rae's Alley
• Gina at Not from the Peanut Gallery
• Linda at Markeroni and Raven's Roads
• Miss Profe at It's a Hardknock Teacher's Life
• Mark Caldwell at Too Many Ideas
• L-Squared at Dog's Eye View
• Kristi K. at Kristi's Place
• Robin at Around the Island

• Michelle B. at Random Ramblings
• Vixen at Vixen's Den
• Cheryl at Journey of Cross & Quill
• MissMeliss at Escribition
• Frances at The Meme Section
• Frigga at Many Apples
• JHS at Colloquium
• Twisted Cinderella at Ever After My Way
• Candy Minx at The Gnostic World of Candy Minx
• Haley-O at The Cheaty Monkey

• Jill at Live Your Life and Smile
• CJ Hill at My Year of Reading Seriously
• Jean Marie Ward at Ward Smith
• Robyn at Pistols, Passion & Potions
• Dawn at Colours of Dawn

Comments

[Milan-zzz]

OK not being American (and not living in States) I'm not familiar with all the names but I do like that ability to recognize good thing no matter which political option observer belongs. That is actually quite rare ability (here on Serbian political scene and among supporters that is not normal!).
Cheers!
My TT is up as well :)

[Comedy Plus]

I didn't know any of them did very much of anything except collect $$ for their re-elections. Good to know. Have a great TT. :)

[Toni]

Very interesting T13- thanks for sharing!

[Irreverent, Barefoot Ragamuffins]

Interesting list. I don't follow politics very closely.

Please visit my TT this week. Its 13 prizes (and more) that you can win in a contest that benefits a very special little boy named Parker.

Happy TT!

[Lara]

Glad to hear it's not ALL bad -- !!
Great TT and thanks for stopping by mine!
Lara

[Thomma Lyn]

Good to know politicos do *some* good things, LOL!

Happy TT, and thanks for visiting mine!

[Nicole Austin]

Interesting TT! It's nice to hear something positive about politics.

[Joan]

I like this approach! One of my frustrations with American politics is that almost EVERYBODY has their bias and cannot seem to even SEE any virtue in any opposing opinion.

[The Gal Herself]

This was a terrific list! I'm a Democrat, and many assume that means I can't appreciate John Warner, Orin Hatch or David Drier. Lots of politicians are doing wonderful things, behaving like statesmen/women. It's our job as citizens to stay informed. Thanks for putting this out there.

[Janet]

It's good to see that good things DO happen in BOTH parties :-)

[TeaMouse]

A nice way to look at the positives of both parties. I think there is good on both sides, but it can sometimes be hard to find unless you really pay attention to politics.

[Eric]

I like the list, especially the veteran issues! But one correction: Ted Kennedy is a democrat not a republican!

[Teena in Toronto]

I've only heard of Hilary.

Thanks for stopping by mine :)

[Denise]

good list. I didn't know all of those but I knew most of them. Way to educate people. :)

[Jennie]

What an interesting list! It's funny how things like this are not...emphasized as much as the negative.

[Lyn]

What? Politicians that do cool cool things? lol Lyn from Bloggin' Outloud

[Ed]

Thanks for reminding us that most politicians start with a passion for service. It seems that once they get power some turn to the dark side to retain it. It is always a pleasure to visit your blog.

Ed

[Qtpies7]

You are right, most of them do good things, too. Sometimes the good things are really not as good as they seem, but I'm sure they only see it from their own perspective.
Thanks for visiting my TT.

[Sue]

Well at least they did "one" good thing, that's more than most of them do! Kidding .. ;) Well kinda kidding .. :)

[JennieBoo]

I didn't know this stuff! Where did you find it?

Thanks for sharing.

Happy TT!

[The Crux]

JenniBoo: I do a lot of research on politics, so some of it was in my memory. Some I found by digging into voting records. Than God for the Internet.

[tommiea]

who knew some did good things??

thanks for visiting my TT

[Malcolm]

Thanks for posting this list. It's easy to forget about the good that some politicians do.

[Rae]

Thanks for the visit - you've got a good list here, most I only know through the Daily Show. I guess I need to stick my head out of my backyard a bit more often

[Gina]

Thanks for checking out my T13!

I only know of Hillary Clinton & Ted Kennedy. It's always good to know when politicians/ public officials deliver.

Informative list!

[Linda]

Hiya! Interesting TT, but I got even more of a kick out of reading your hilarious bios. :-) In fact I fetched my hubby and he chuckled, especially the bit about the feral teenagers. ;)

Thanks for the encouragement on the blogathon, also. As to sponsors, you sign up and then basically tell as many of your friends and contacts as you can get hold of to pledge. They either have to pledge through the blogathon site, or you can pledge on their behalf if they refuse to join up (I'm pretty sure accounts are deleted after the event).

Then, when the event is over, you hound your pledgers to make the actual donation at the charity's donation page.

If you have some time on Saturday, please stop by to say hello. :-)

I have two TTs:
http://www.markeroni.com/blog/
13 Snarfs (Historical Landmarks) in Scotland

http://www.ravensroads.com
13 Things about Blogathon 2007

[Miss Profe]

Your list points out something that we all forget in the heat of our self-righteous indignation: There are politicians doing what we've hired them to do, and our doing right and doing good by ALL Americans.

Thank you for reminding us of this.

To Eric re: Ted Kennedy: He's assigned to the correct party affiliation.

BTW: Thank you for visiting my TT, and for the kind comment.:)

[Mark Caldwell]

Unfortunately all too often the good done by politicians is forgoten because of a few bad apples. It's not in most politicians interest to admit the other side did something good and the press finds failure more interesting than success. Then we wonder why people don't vote.

[L-Squared]

Good to know. Thanks for sharing and thanks for visiting my list.

[KristiK]

Thanks for reminding us that there is still some good left in US politics.

Thank you for stopping by my blog, and Happy Thursday!

[Robin]

I haven't lived in the States for nearly 20 years, so I don't stay that up to speed on or vote for individual politicians (other than the presidential race), but I'm glad to see that there are people like you who really care about ethics in politics.

[Michelle B]

This post shows me how disconnected I am from politics. I know less than half the people on this list!! That said, I like hearing about the good politicians do since we so often focus on the bad things. Thanks for sharing.

[Vixen]

Hey, a positive list about American Politics?! I love it! Keep up the good work.

http://vixensden.wordpress.com/2007/07/25/thursday-13-5/

[Cheryl]

I love it when politicians actually do what they campaigned on. Thanks for the positive list! We need to be reminded of those things fairly often.

[Cheryl]

I love it when politicians actually do what they campaigned on. Thanks for the positive list! We need to be reminded of those things fairly often.

[MissMeliss]

An interesting choice for a TT - how have I not been reading this blog all along, btw?

Thanks for visiting mine.

[Frances]

I think your list is great - I think it is important to recognize members of both parties.
Thanks for visiting mine.
Frances

[Frigga]

That's a good list. It's a good reminder of why congress has such a low approval rating.
Happy TT13!

[JHS]

Interesting list!

Thanks for stopping by my 13!

[Twisted Cinderella]

Very interesting list for your TT! Happy TT!

[Candy Minx]

I am slowly learning American history. This was a great positve list of actions.

Hey, that's funny that you alos knew Milla Jovanovitchs albul The Divine Comedy...I meet few people who even knew she could sing!

[HALEY-O!!!]

I am soooooo out-of-it when it comes to American politics. I am Canadian, after all.... But, I definitely learned something here! Thanks!

[Jill]

I know that there are not all bad, but there is only a few that are doing there job well... And like Haley, I don't know a thing(or almost) about American politics. I cannot even follow my country politics!!
And as for my tt, it's only places in my province, I didn't travel much during my life!!

[CJHill]

Crux -

Thanks for stopping by my blog and the nice comments. The last was the true reason for my entire list. The reality of life hit my community square in the face this past week when a 13 year old drown while swimming in the river. It sort of put me into overload as far as the stupid things we waste our time on these days.

Great list, btw. It's nice to be reminded that politicians are capable of doing good things.

I'll be back here, now that you've shown me the way.

cjh

[Jean Marie Ward]

The depressing part is how few of these efforts have so far amounted to anything.
Best wishes,
Jean Marie

[Robyn]

Looks like the poor veterans-care system is still under review... Great TT and thanks for visiting.

[Dawn]

It is Tuesday, but I came for a visit. It is good that there are some that are working for the good of people. Thanks for visiting my TT.

[Gattina]

Of course I don't know all these persons, as I live in Belgium and am not american. But it's good if some people do at least one thing good.