on kerry's record

many have complained (following the White House's attacks) that Kerry does not seem to have a distinguished legislative record. the article below explains a little more about what Kerry has accomplished, and shows him to be a prosecutorial and an investigative leader. don't believe the white house hype.

Washington Monthly: "Two decades ago, the Bank of Credit and Commerce International(BCCI) was a highly respected financial titan. In 1987, when its subsidiary helpedfinance a deal involving Texas oilman George W. Bush, the bank appeared to be a reputable institution, [but] that changed in early 1988, when John Kerry, then ayoung senator from Massachusetts, decided to probe the finances of Latin Americandrug cartels.... By the end, Kerry had helped dismantle a massive criminal enterprise and exposed the infrastructure of BCCI and its affiliated institutions, a web that [became] a model for international terrorist financing. As Kerry's investigation revealed [BCCI] had a fundamentally anti-Western mission. Among the stated goals of its Pakistani founder were to 'fight the evil influence of the West,' and finance Muslim terrorist organizations. In retrospect, Kerry's investigation had uncovered an institution at the fulcrum of America's first great post-Cold War security challenge."

here is another example of the kinds of issues kerry is working on, as discussed by Thomas Oliphant, columnist for Boston Globe: "Of all the business tycoons assembling for their favorite party's convention, none will get a warmer welcome than the personal finance crowd that has figured out how to imprison millions of ordinary Americans with interest charges and other fees worthy of loan sharks. They are profiteering on a growing mountain of debt that is increasingly crucial to meeting expenses in a 'recovery' marked by stagnant household income. The banking, insurance, and real estate interests have ponied up more than $25 million for Bush this year, 6 times more than in 2000. They're running scared because Kerry is going after the latest rip off: "universaldefault", a scam in which interest charges are suddenly jacked up even on consumerswho are making their card payments on time. "You miss a payment on some otherbill... and all of a sudden your credit card interest rate soars to anywhere from30% to as much as 48%."