Jerry Nadler

Jerrold Nadler
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 8th district
Incumbent
Assumed office November 3, 1992–
Preceded by	Jim Scheuer
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Joyce Miller

Jerrold Lewis Nadler, sometimes called Jerry Nadler (born June 13, 1947) is an American politician from New York City. A left wing or "progressive" Democrat, Nadler represents New York's 8th congressional district which includes parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City.

Nadler's district includes most of eastern midtown Manhattan, down to battery parkincluding the site where the World Trade Center stood. It also includes the lower Manhattan neighborhoods of Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, and Greenwich Village, as well as parts of Brooklyn such as Coney Island, Bensonhurst, Boro Park and Bay Ridge. His district includes many of New York City's most popular tourist attractions, including the Empire State Building, Central Park, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and New York Stock Exchange. [1] [2]

Nadler was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1965 (where his debate team partner was the future philosopher of science, Alexander Rosenberg, and his successful campaign for student government president was managed by Dick Morris). [3] Nadler graduated from Columbia University and Fordham University School of Law. He worked for Eugene McCarthy in the 1968 presidential campaign and was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1976. In 1992, Ted Weiss was expected to run for reelection in the 8th District, which had been renumbered from the 17th after the 1990 U.S. Census. However, Weiss died a day before the primary election. Nadler was nominated to replace Weiss. He was elected easily that November, winning the seat in his own right and a special election to serve the rest of Weiss' term. He has been reelected with little serious competition in one of the most Democratic districts in the country; a Republican has not represented this district or its predecessors in over a century. [4]

In Congress, Nadler is a member of the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary and Transportation and Infrastructure committees. He is the chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. [5]

Voting record

Nadler's supporters boast he has a consistenly progressive voting record in the House. He first came to national prominence during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, when he described the process as a "partisan railroad job."

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Nadler helped to pass bills granting economic aid to the families of those killed and small businesses that were harmed due to the attacks.

Nadler has also promoted legislation to extend Medicare benefits to individuals suffering from Ground Zero illness (physical ailments from the dust from the attacks) or mental health problems as a result of the September 11 attacks.

This Medicare proposal includes a section that provides for a consortium of organization to study Ground Zero illness. [6]

Jerrold Nadler has missed 39 votes (6.4%) during the current Congress. [7] The Washington Post has a complete list of Nadler's missed votes since he entered Congress. [8] Jerrold Nadler has voted with a majority of his Democratic colleagues 97.5% of the time during the current Congress. This percentage does not include votes in which Nadler did not vote. [9]

OpenSecrets.org publishes a list of Nadler's financial disclosure statements which is updated each year. [10]

Criticisms

Nadler's critics argue he has an uneven voting record in the House, generally favoring "progressive" social policies but an authoritarian, centralized and controlled economic system which has hurt the economy and cast inconsistent votes on issues of traditional Individual Rights like Gun Ownership, security against taxation and eminent domain abuse (Property Rights vs corporate welfare, mercantilism & preferential treatment towards large corporations and multinationals) and privacy rights. Nadler believes that it is preferable for the government to have sole control over guns and arms and thus retain all power of force over the citizenry, but libertarians and conservatives argue that gun confiscations preceded all the genocides of the 20th Century, and gun control laws only deter honest citizens and deprive them of practical self-defense, while being useless against criminals and terrorists who, by definition, ignore laws and what is moral.

Nadler's supporters describe above that he "...first came to national prominence during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, when he described the process as a 'partisan railroad job'...", but his opponents responded by pointing out Nadler never mentioned all the partisan railroad jobs carried out by the Democrats under the Clinton/Gore administration.

Nadler's bills granting economic aid to the 9/11 families and small businesses, as with most similar federal programs, granted a large proportion of the money to people who had never been harmed by the attacks, nor even had any connection to them, often sending millions halfway across the country to people in states like Texas and California.[11]

Nadler's legislation extending Medicare benefits to 9/11 workers and victims skirted around the fact that federal regulation and oversight of the medical and pharmaceutical industries has been an unmitigated disaster, with the U.S. having gone from the best, most efficient health care system in the world to one of the worst, most wasteful and most corrupt. Nadler argues that federal regulations and bureaucracy is a good thing, yet his critics point out that according to the historical evidence it's irrefuteably the opposite.

Nadler's critics point out he supported the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform bill, often referred to as "The Incumbent Protection Act", because it shields incumbents from critical advertising, and he supported the REAL ID Act, which mandates a national ID card beginning in 2008. He also voted in favor of creating the Department of Homeland Security, and, despite his initial opposition, has continuously voted to renew funding for the Iraq War since its inception. Nadler voted to ban adults from gambling on the internet using a credit card, voted to control certain political speech such as voting to ban so-called "issue ads", voted No on withdrawing from the World Trade Organization, voted against civil oversight of intelligence gathering, voted No on virtually all legislation to lower taxes, voted against Gun Rights on every gun bill presented during his tenure, voted No on school vouchers and No on School Choice, favors more federal bureaucratic control of healthcare, and is in favor of "affirmative action" which favors candidates based on racial, physical and ethinic characteristics rather than on merit and character. Nadler also favors eminent domain even in the case for increasing tax revenue by transferring property from one private individual or private business to another one who is promising more revenue generation. This issue came to prominence when the Institute for Justice [12] petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to defend a retired grandmother whose property was being confiscated by the city government so a drug company and real estate developer could turn it into a factory and strip mall (See: Kelo v. City of New London). Nadler believes this type of eminent domain should always be allowed whenever a municipal/local government unilaterally decides it's a good thing, and Nadler is against judicial review of eminent domain. [13] Nadler is also against compensating owners of property seized by eminent domain at market prices, stating that government should be left to decide the true/fair value of properties. This and many other surprising Nadler statements are contained in Congressional hearings transcripts which are part of the official Congressional record. [14]

His critics go on to point out that Nadler generally supports extensive economic regulation, astronomical deficit spending and high taxes, all of which depress the economy, job creation, and entry-level employment, and that he consistently votes against individual rights on issues such as the rights to own and carry guns, exercise self-defense, maintain medical and financial privacy and also votes for policies which place small businesses and entrepreneurs at a disadvantage to large corporations. Nadler receives 'F' ratings from civil rights groups like Gun Owners of America, and equally low ratings from groups supporting pro-growth and libertarian economic policies, such as his meager 50% rating by the CATO Institute.

Nadler's supporters describe him as a "progressive Democrat" (See: progressive), while Nadler's opponents usually describe him as a Democrat left-wing socialist and as a proponent of "big government" and "The Welfare-Warfare State", because Nadler and others who believe in a powerful state and federal government end up enabling the war economy and government domination of citizens through powerful police forces and monitoring and data-mining, and also a sense of dependence and entitlement among the lower "welfare classes" who make up much of the Democrats' voting bloc, ensuring guaranteed re-election as long as their benefits ("bread and circuses") are always renewed.

Nadler also has serious problems with many religious communities including orthodox Jewish groups, because they feel he has failed to defend religious liberty in favor of preferential treatment for specific groups and not others. [15]

Personal life

Nadler lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his wife and son.

In 2002, Nadler had laparoscopic duodenal switch surgery, helping him lose more than 100 pounds.

In 2006, Nadler was interviewed by Stephen Colbert for The Colbert Report's recurring feature, "Better Know a District".

External links

• U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler official House site
• United States Congress. "Jerry Nadler (id: n000002)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Federal Election Commission - Jerrold Lewis Nadler campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues - Jerrold Nadler issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org - Jerrold Nadler campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart - Representative Jerrold L. Nadler (NY) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia - Jerry Nadler profile
• Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Jerrold Nadler voting record
• Congressman Jerry Nadler official campaign site

Template:USRep succession boxTemplate:USRep succession box