by Andrew Walden

President Obama, in his email sent out to Abercrombie supporters today, mentions only three examples of Congressional leadership shown by Rep Neil Abercrombie: 

In Congress, Neil fought tirelessly for the environment, military families, and Hawaii jobs. He helped fund the conservation of valuable land on Oahu, introduced the Small Business Credit Card Act, and received the Harry S. Truman Award — the National Guard Association’s highest honor.

We couldn’t help but notice Obama's reference to the “Small Business Credit Card Act”—HR 3457 .  The bill was introduced in Congress by then-Rep Abercrombie on July 31, 2009.  But even with a Democrat-controlled House and Senate, and Dan Inouye’s seniority, Abercrombie’s bill has gone exactly nowhere. 

According to GovTrack.us, the last action for HR 3457 came--Jul 31, 2009—when the bill was referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.  Not a peep since.

Congress.org ranks Abercrombie as the least effective Democrat of his Congressional class and terms him “a follower” not a leader.

Having a position is one thing, using it effectively is another.  Abercrombie’s 2008 Congress.org ranking for “influence” had him in the 79th percentile—after 18 years.  By comparison, Mazie Hirono, after only one term in Congress, ranks in the 83rd percentile.  

For “legislative activity” Abercrombie and Hirono were tied in the 36th percentile with a rating of 1.0.  By this measure, 18 years of Abercrombie experience is equivalent to two years of Mazie Hirono’s experience.

No wonder this is all Obama could come up with.

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Congress.org: "Abercrombie is a follower"

Military Families? Follow the money: $10B Guam pork project benefits Abercrombie contributor

Political Radar: Obama `dem (Part II)

STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA EMAIL

From www.AionaFinnegan.com

HONOLULU - Dutch Hanohano, campaign manager of the Aiona-Finnegan campaign, today issued the following statement in response to an email signed by President Obama to supporters of our opponent.

"While we respect President Obama's decision to email supporters of our opponent through the mainland Democrat National Committee, we disagree with our opponent's plans to bring to Hawai‘i the tax and spend politics he's been a part of in Washington for the past 20 years.

"In Hawai‘i, we can't print money and run up a deficit by spending beyond our means like they do in Washington, which is why we've been endorsed by thousands of Hawai‘i's hard-working families and small businesses.

"We disagree with our opponent's attempt to take Hawai‘i back to the days of one-party rule, and believe our citizens want real solutions offered by Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan to create job opportunities, strengthen the local economy and reform our public education system."

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