Thursday, August 20, 2009

SENATOR KENNEDY'S SEAT IN THE SENATE: PASSED ON OR VOTED ON!

Edward KennedyEdward Kennedy via last.fm

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, in a poignant acknowledgment of his mortality at a critical time in the national health care debate, has privately asked the governor and legislative leaders to change the succession law to guarantee that Massachusetts will not lack a Senate vote when his seat becomes vacant.

In a personal, sometimes wistful letter sent Tuesday to Governor Deval L. Patrick, Senate President Therese Murray, and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, Kennedy asks that Patrick be given authority to appoint someone to the seat temporarily before voters choose a new senator in a special election.

Although Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, does not specifically mention his illness or the health care debate raging in Washington, the implication of his letter is clear: He is trying to make sure that the leading cause in his life, better health coverage for all, advances in the event of his death.

In his letter, which was obtained by the Globe, Kennedy said that he backs the current succession law, enacted in 2004, which gives voters the power to fill a US Senate vacancy. But he said the state and country need two Massachusetts senators.

“I strongly support that law and the principle that the people should elect their senator,’’ Kennedy wrote. “I also believe it is vital for this Commonwealth to have two voices speaking for the needs of its citizens and two votes in the Senate during the approximately five months between a vacancy and an election.’’

Under the 2004 law, if Kennedy were to die or step down, voters would select his successor in a special election to be held within five months of the vacancy. But the law makes no provisions for Massachusetts to be represented in the Senate in the interim. In the meantime, President Obama’s plan to overhaul the nation’s health care system, the fate of which may hinge on one or two votes, could come before Congress.

“I am now writing to you about an issue that concerns me deeply, the continuity of representation for Massachusetts, should a vacancy occur,’’ Kennedy wrote.

To ensure that the special election is fair, the senator also urged that the governor obtain an “explicit personal commitment’’ from his appointee not to seek the office on a permanent basis.

I feel for Senator Kennedy and his family dealing with his illness. I also do not see why this man has not stepped down from his seat in office. With the country in a recession, we know Senator Kennedy does not need the paycheck and has not been at the job anyway. I do not want to sound hateful, but why does this one man get to dictate the rules and change the rules to suit him? This is what we are up against in Massachusetts, the one of three states in the union that is split down the middle; liberal vs conservative. Does this man get to pick who will occupy his seat, do we the people get a vote???

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2 comments:

  1. He's a Kennedy - I thought there was a law in Mass. where he had to be succeeded by a Kennedy, who would in turn hold the office until "God called him home". Therefore, you should certainly get to vote for the Kennedy of your choice.

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  2. LL's right. Who's the next Kennedy in line up there?

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