It looks like Ted Kennedy has run out of effective political tactics and has opted instead to be economical with the truth when addressing all things political. In one of his most intense criticisms of President Bush, Kennedy assailed the president as ineffective in every area of government. Such blatant and outlandish partisan rhetoric brings about a result, but I doubt it is the result Kennedy would want.

Kennedy charged that President Bush has been a failure in everything from the economy to education, healthcare to jobs and that he has established a credibility gap greater than that of President Richard Nixon. To be sure, these allegations are completely and absolutely born of partisan politics.

The economy, having survived one of the most devastating events in the history of the United States in September 11th, and having been stewarded out of the recession produced by the paper tiger economy of the 1990’s, is not only strong but based in a more sound and stable business climate than when it was artificially inflated by the dot-com industries of the previous decade. The DOW is back over 10,000 and making its way steadily back up to record highs only this time based in legitimate business successes and sound economic strategies. Common sense dictates that when small business is allowed to thrive jobs are created. The steady job growth, although not fast or enormous enough for impatient Democrats like Kennedy, stands as testimony to the state of the economy. Last month 300,000 jobs were produced. That doesn’t happen in a weak economy and economists worth their salt have stated this as fact.

The challenge of holding our educational system accountable for the product it produces is something that has been overlooked by those who simply pump money into it in hopes of spending the problems away. The ineffective agendas of the liberal education community (the NEA and AFT) bolstered by the support of legislators who not only embrace a liberal education agenda but who champion multiculturalism in education as well, have only served to make it status quo for students to graduate while being deemed "functionally illiterate.” It would seem that Kennedy, Kerry and those of their ilk would rather we have graduates who possess great self-esteem rather than graduates who have mastered the subjects of their educational curriculums.

NCLB was created to hold the educational system accountable not to fix the decades of the failed liberal agenda in education. It was meant to spotlight the inadequacies of the educational administration by testing the students to see if the system has been serving them effectively. It spotlights the fiscal irresponsibility of the educational bureaucracy, the same bureaucracy that takes in dollars for education and distributes pennies to the classrooms. President Bush, and ironically Ted Kennedy, lobbied Congress and added $26 billion to the federal education budget for the implementation of NCLB. A Harvard study contends that NCLB is one of the most unintrusive educational initiatives ever created and that it is completely funded. But Kennedy refuses to acknowledge the study from one of our most liberal and prestigious institutions of higher education. Rather, Kennedy contends that the program is a failure because he isn’t allowed to hold the purse strings.

While Kennedy and his liberal minions maintain that President Bush "hid” the price tag for the prescription healthcare benefit, which was finally signed into law, he seldom talks of the price tag that accompanied his party’s proposal for healthcare. It is easy to see why the Democrats were incapable of providing a legitimate healthcare initiative for the people of the United States when it is revealed that their plan had a $1 trillion price tag. While I believe there are some aspects of the present healthcare plan that need revising, tweaking if you will, it is quite a bit better than anything that Kennedy and his group have ever come up with. Once again it should be pointed out that after eight years of having a Democrat at the helm no healthcare package ever came close to being implemented. Yet Kennedy takes aim at President Bush for a program he contends costs too much and doesn’t do enough. Keep the $1 trillion figure in mind.

Kennedy assails the president on not declassifying document after document so that the 9-11 Commission can publicly scrutinize them. Yet he disregards the fact that much of what is classified is classified for a good reason. Many of the documents, documents not only from the Bush Administration but also from the Clinton Era, have information that is still sensitive to the War on Terror. To release them publicly could very well compromise people and operations. But even when the Bush Administration subjects itself to scrutiny by this, the most political of non-partisan committees ever assembled, it isn’t good enough for Kennedy and his "liberal hit squad.” They embrace a book written for personal profit by former National Security Advisor Richard Clarke that berates the Bush Administration’s terror efforts but disregard Clarke’s own words from a few years earlier that praise him as doing more than the Clinton Administration ever did.

It is clear; Kennedy’s political agenda has grown to eliminate any legitimate agenda he once had for the people of the United States. It is transparent and is thoroughly political in nature. He has stopped doing the will of his constituents and has instead embraced his party’s political agenda as more important. Because of this his goal of discrediting President Bush has instead disparaged his own reputation. People see that Kennedy will do and say anything no matter how irresponsible in an effort to get John Kerry elected. Kennedy has become politically ineffective this election year by his extreme rhetoric. Not the result he wanted I am sure.

I contend that when a political creature such as Ted Kennedy starts to put his party before his people and the people of the United States it is time to retire. So please, someone send Kennedy an AARP application.

Frank Salvato is a political media consultant and the managing editor for The New Media Journal.us. He is a contributing writer for The Washington Dispatch, GOPUSA, OpinionEditorials, Men’s News Daily, Canada Free Press & AmericanDaily. His pieces are regularly featured in Townhall.com. He has appeared as a guest on The O’Reilly Factor, The Kevin Matthews Radio Show (Chicago) and The Brad Messer Radio Show (San Antonio). His pieces have been recognized by the Japan Center for Conflict Prevention and are occasionally featured in The Washington Times and The London Morning Paper as well as other national and international publications.