Planned Parenthood

Senate Republican Health Care Bill Will NOT Reach 50 Votes, As Now Stands!

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The newly veiled Senate Republican Health Care legislation, created behind closed doors in great secrecy, is finally unveiled, and it is a total disaster for the poor, disabled, and elderly, and promotes the end of Medicaid, which 20 percent of the nation relies on, including 60 percent in nursing homes, and the millions of disabled people.

It undermines health care for the opioid crisis raging across America, and anyone with pre-existing conditions will no longer be protected.

It is a certainty that tens of thousands of Americans are being given a death warrant by the Republican Party, and its hard hearted, nasty, mean spirited membership, which is more concerned about giving massive tax cuts to the top one percent who do not need it, and have not asked for it, but will, of course, accept what is offered, as after all, does one reject candy offered?

But it is also important to note that this legislation will fall, as there is no way imaginable that 50 Senators out of 52 will support it.

Dean Heller of Nevada is the most endangered Republican Senator in 2018, and has said he cannot support it, and Nevada is one of the states that has more on Medicaid than many other states.

Susan Collins of Maine is, arguably, the most moderate Republican, and has made clear she cannot vote for legislation that decimates Medicaid.

The same can be said for Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Shelly Moore Capito of West Virginia, both states having loads of poor, struggling whites and others, who depend on Medicaid.

Both Collins and Murkowksi also defend Planned Parenthood, which is due to be cut from any government aid under the legislation.

Rob Portman of Ohio is also concerned about the opioid crisis hitting his state.

Jeff Flake of Arizona is the second most endangered Republican Senator coming up for re-election in 2018, so doubtful about his support for the legislation, as well.

Then, there are others who will not support the bill, as it is not harsh enough, imagine that–including Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.

And one wonders whether John McCain of Arizona, who has long had a “moderate” image, can actually vote for this legislation.

Also, all major medical associations have condemned the legislation as unacceptable, having a disastrous effect on rural areas, and on the idea that health care should be available for all Americans.

So, as of now, it is highly unlikely that the Senate Health Care bill will reach 50 votes!

Eight Republican Senators Possible Votes Against House Passed “Health Care” Bill, So Highly Unlikely That “TrumpCare” Will Become Law!

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Senator Susan Collins of Maine

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska

Senator Dean Heller of Nevada

Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona

Senator John McCain of Arizona

Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee

Senator Rob Portman of Ohio

These are the 8 Republican Senators who are seen as likely to vote against the House passed excuse for a “Health Care” bill, making it highly unlikely that “TrumpCare” will become law!

Collins and Murkowski do not want Planned Parenthood defunded, and want to protect Medicaid patients in their states, both states with many poor people.

Heller faces a very tough race for reelection in Nevada, as does Flake in Arizona, and both have a very large senior citizen constituency in their Western states.

McCain, despite his often inconsistent statements and actions, is basically a moderate, certainly as compared to the vast majority of Republicans in the Senate and in Congress.

Capito comes from one of the poorest states of all, West Virginia, and many poor, disabled (such as coal miners), and senior citizens would be harmed by the GOP passed House bill.

Corker is one of the more reasonable Republican Senators, and seems very cautious as to accepting such a radical bill as the House passed.

Portman also comes across as one of the more reasonable Republican Senators, and Ohio is the state of Governor John Kasich, who extended Medicaid, and it is hard to imagine that Portman would wish to harm his state’s disabled, senior citizens and poor, in a state which went for Trump, not realizing that the President would not give a damn about those on Medicaid, and those who were willing to support him with no good reason to do so, except being ignorant of reality about what right wing Republicans would do to destroy the good parts of ObamaCare.

It is hard to imagine that ANY Democratic Senator, not even Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, or Jon Tester of Montanan would support any major change in the Affordable Care Act!

So do NOT expect any kind of legislation anywhere near what the House Freedom Caucus, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, or Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price want, and expect that the American people will react in 2018 by a Democratic takeover of the House, including a move toward impeachment of the most despicable President in American history, bar none, Donald Trump!

Three Percent Of Planned Parenthood Funds Are Abortions; Three Percent Of ObamaCare Registrants Pay Higher Premiums: Massive Lie By Paul Ryan And Republicans!

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The Republican Party in Congress is engaged in massive lies regarding health care, as they work to destroy ObamaCare.

They are out to defund Planned Parenthood, which does so much good for women and their health care, particularly for poor women.

And they are doing it on the lie that the primary goal of Planned Parenthood is to promote abortions, when the facts are that only THREE percent of the funds are used for abortions, while the vast majority is used to give poor women necessary physical examinations, including the prevention of cancer, and do basic health services that middle class and wealthier women never have to worry about obtaining.

Paul Ryan and his cohorts are also engaged in a massive lie that ObamaCare registrants are paying unacceptable higher premiums, when only THREE percent do so, as the rest get subsidies to help pay for their health care.

So the Republicans want to destroy the health care coverage of 20 million Americans who have benefited from health care, without any plan to provide affordable health care to these people who will be victims of propaganda and lies.

How can these people sleep at night, denying people health care which will, in many cases, cost their lives? Is this not the party of Pro Life, and of Christianity?

Adolf Hitler’s Big Lie Technique Being Utilized By Donald Trump, Dr. Benjamin Carson, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz In Republican Presidential Race Of 2016!

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There is reluctance on the part of this blogger to bring up Adolf Hitler when discussing American politics, but now it is clear it must be done!

Hitler employed the “Big Lie” technique, to make up conspiracy theories and to make massive lies, and it was effective in bringing him public support and eventual power in Germany!

Now, sadly, a variation of the “Big Lie” is being utilized in the Republican Presidential race of 2016 for the White House.

No one, at the least this blogger, is trying to say any Republican Presidential candidate is the equivalent of Adolf Hitler, but the level of massive lies becoming regarded as NOT lies, but truth, has been used by at least four Republican contenders—Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, Dr. Benjamin Carson, and Senator Ted Cruz!

Trump is the master of lies, and he is inciting hate and division on a massive scale, and yet about 30 percent in every Republican poll continue to support him.  His supporters claim to be disillusioned with traditional politicians who always seem to lie, according to them.  One could say that all PEOPLE tend to lie at times, including politicians, but the total alienation of many Americans from all politicians, and willingness to back a billionaire who has always been a massive liar on everything he has uttered, before he ran for President and while contending for President, is extremely alarming!

But Carly Fiorina has been spreading pure lies about Planned Parenthood, and even after the recent Colorado Springs incident of a madman who was incited by her lies, she will not back down on her manipulation of the truth!

Dr. Benjamin Carson has also lied and deceived on a regular basis, and comes across as unbalanced mentally in many ways.

And Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is a true demagogue, very much like Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin of the 1950s Red Scare, who he also resembles in appearance.  He has totally alienated all of his Senate colleagues except a couple of Tea Party supporters, and has stooped to lies and deceit on a regular basis!

The idea that so many Americans, so distrustful of government, are ready to support any of these four candidates who are massive liars and totally deceptive, is a worrisome issue for American democracy, as the “Big Lie” technique is in full swing!

Kevin McCarthy, Incompetent And Unqualified, Soon To Be Two Heartbeats From The Presidency!

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There have been many complaints over the past five years about Speaker of the House John Boehner, from the far right, and from the left, but at least we knew that Boehner had 20-25 years experience and was at least, basically, competent.

Now, with Boehner’s resignation, we are soon to be stuck with California Congressman Kevin McCarthy as the next Speaker, a man who admits that the Benghazi, Libya hearings were simply designed to weaken Democratic Presidential contender Hillary Clinton, and that the doctored Planned Parenthood videos are a ploy to help promote the anti abortion movement, and uses a word that does not exist, that Hillary Clinton is “untrustable”! He also called the nation of Hungary “Hungria”!

McCarthy is seen as better than Tea Party rivals, who would love to take over the Speakership, but McCarthy, with the least experience in Congress of any Speaker in more than a century, a total of only nine years and no special accomplishments and only two bills passed (both perfunctory), is someone to be concerned about as being only two heartbeats away from the Presidency!

Kevin McCarthy can be compared to former Vice President Dan Quayle in his looks and lack of any sign of intellect, and also to Sarah Palin, who also was good looking but lacking the brain power to be close to the Presidency!

What is it about the GOP that they find “good looking” men and women, who have no brains or intellect, and are a sign of the worst among us, putting the nation into danger by being so close to the Presidency, as Quayle was for 4 years; as Palin could have been for eight years: and as McCarthy now seems to be for at least the next 14 months, if not more?

America deserves much better than this!

September 2015–A Month Of Federal Budget Deadline, Pope Francis Visit, Iran Agreement Debate For Congress!

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When Congress gets back from its summer recess after Labor Day, it faces, along with President Barack Obama, a very challenging and significant month of major events.

The budget deadline is coming on September 30, and as usual, the Republicans in Congress are threatening yet again to shut down the government, with the issue of funding of Planned Parenthood being the major stumbling block, along with fights to cut “safety net” programs and promote yet more tax cuts for the corporations and the wealthy.

Pope Francis, certainly the best Pope in his progressive vision since Pope John XXIII (1958-1963), will be visiting the United States and speaking before a joint session of Congress. He will deliver a message that progressives will love, including concern for the poor; acceptance of change in the Catholic Church on many conservative doctrines, including an open mind on gays and lesbians and divorce; condemnation of unbridled capitalism; and advocacy of the need for action on climate change and the environment in general. The Republican controlled Congress will be uncomfortable over his message, but it will boost the Obama agenda and legacy.

Also, the bitter battle over the Iran nuclear deal is extremely divisive, with American Jews divided; Democrats divided; and Republicans in unison against the deal, and advocating military force against Iran. All that Obama needs to sustain the agreement is one third plus one of the votes in one or both houses. That seems assured now in the House of Representatives with the assistance of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, but in the Senate, it will be more difficult, since future likely Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has come out against the agreement. But as long as at least one house cannot override the veto, the President will triumph.

So a month of “fireworks” is assured, and who knows what else will occur, particularly with the 2016 Presidential race in full swing, and already highly controversial!

Virginia Republicans: Scandal, And Right Wing Extremism On Display

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The state of Virginia, the home of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, W H Harrison, Tyler, and Wilson is in political crisis as the state faces not only political scandal of its Governor, Bob McDonnell, but also of its gubernatorial candidate to replace McDonnell, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who makes McDonnell look “progressive” by comparison, due to his extreme right wing social views! This is not saying that McDonnell is less right wing, but less confrontational in his public statements than Cuccinelli!

McDonnell, who has Presidential ambitions, has been shown to have accepted major gifts from a corporation which does business with the Virginia state government, including large amounts of cash given to his wife and children. There are already calls for his resignation, and it seems likely that he will face criminal charges and the possibility of time in prison.

But Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli also has accepted gifts from the same corporation, although he denies any wrongdoing, just as much as McDonnell so declares! The fact of a denial means nothing, however, as that is standard for politicians of both parties who are accused of wrongdoing, and almost always are shown to be engaged in just that, wrongdoing!

Cuccinelli has also been extremely controversial with his anti gay, anti women, anti immigrant, anti science crusade, stronger in rhetoric and action than even Governor McDonnell!

This gubernatorial nominee has abused his power as Attorney General, and called for the criminalization of private sex acts between adults, along with doing everything he can to insure that ObamaCare is never instituted in the state of Virginia. He has also worked to intimidate all immigrants of Hispanic-Latino ancestry in Virginia. He has also campaigned against the promotion of environmental standards on global warming, declared war on science, and attempted to intimidate various state university faculty who promote such standards. And he is a leader in taking away the rights of women to their own reproductive lives!

To top it off, Cuccinelli’s running mate for Lieutenant Governor, an African American minister named E. W. Jackson, has made statements that make him seem even more extreme than Cuccinelli himself, Jackson has said that the Great Society programs of the 1960s under Lyndon B. Johnson were worse than slavery had been for African Americans! He also has declared that homosexuals and Planned Parenthood are worse than the Ku Klux Klan ever was, and that Barack Obama has Muslim tendencies!

These crazy lunatic statements have made the team of Cuccinelli and Jackson extremely right wing, and with the corruption surrounding both McDonnell and Cuccinelli as well, it has made Virginia a center of controversy and embarrassment that can only be ended by the hoped for victory of Democrat Terry McAuliffe, former head of the Democratic National Committee, who would be in the tradition of former Democratic Governors Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, who now grace the two Senate seats from Virginia!

Texas Governor Rick Perry: The “Pro Life” Governor? NO, A Tragedy For Texas!

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Texas Governor Rick Perry was a massive embarrassment when he ran for the Republican nomination for President in 2012.

He is the longest serving Governor in America, having succeeded George W. Bush as the executive leader of the Lone Star State at the end of 2000.

He has become infamous for ridiculous, insensitive, and moronic statements, and outrageous actions in office, including suggesting that Texas secede from the Union, as it did in the Civil War.

He has a reputation as a “Pro Life” Governor, but that appellation is a mockery of reality!

This is a man who refuses to accept Medicaid expansion that is fully covered by ObamaCare, and therefore, denies millions of poor Texans, many of them Latinos, any access to health care, and this is out of spite, not wanting to accept federal aid that would cost the state of Texas NOTHING!

Here is a man who has the record for the most death warrants and executions occurring under his regime, and brags about the massive use of the death penalty, setting a record for executions in American history, and having no doubts as to the innocence of any of the people on Death Row, who face death, with the state government resistant to reconsideration of cases, even with new evidence!

Here is a state where any suggestion of background checks or other protections against gun violence are ignored and ridiculed, with any Texan able to carry firearms into public places, including schools, bars, and restaurants, and the gun violence level is one of the worst in the nation!

Here is a man who vetoes a bill passed overwhelmingly by a GOP legislature, mandating equal pay for women, many of whom are single mothers who need to support their children!

And here is a man who wants, with his party, to destroy Planned Parenthood in Texas, and shut down nearly all abortion clinics in a state with 26 million people, and the largest state in area, with the exception of sparsely populated Alaska!

And here is a man who forces State Senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, opposed to this legislation, to conduct a filibuster under inhumane conditions, with no food, water, bathroom break, or ability to lean against or sit down over nearly a dozen hours, and her filibuster ended early, but opposition of supporters in the Texas State Senate galleries and halls of the legislature the only way to stop this massive assault on women’s rights, including control of their bodies! And now, Perry is forcing another confrontation, determined to ram through this despicable legislation, and in so doing, lecturing Wendy Davis and showing total disdain and lack of respect for her and Texas women!

This man is an excuse for a human being, and will go down over history as a true tragedy for the Lone Star State, and Wendy Davis or Julian Castro (Mayor of San Antonio), or some other Democrat needs to run against him in 2014, and end the Reign of Rick Perry over the destiny of Texas!

Why Do Black Republican Conservatives Need To Be So Confrontational And Vicious Toward First Black President Barack Obama?

Ronald 6 Comments

There is something about black Republican conservatives that makes them be horribly confrontational and vicious in their attitude toward our first black President, Barack Obama.

So we have the examples of the following, who accuse the Democrats of promoting a “plantation mentality”, and condemn welfare, food stamps, gay rights, Planned Parenthood and other programs and groups, which they claim “enslave” black Americans:

Former Congressman Allen West of Florida, now gracing Fox News Channel as a contributor
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott
Dr. Benjamin Carson, renowned surgeon who has flirted with running for President
Herman Cain, past GOP Presidential contender
Star Parker, syndicated columnist for Scripps-Howard newspapers
Bishop E. W. Jackson, Lieutenant Governor nominee in Virginia
Mackubin Thomas Owens, Professor at US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island
C. Mason Weaver, Radio Talk Show Host
Reverend C. L. Bryant, Tea Party activist and Fox News contributor

Meanwhile, 90 percent of African Americans, including many in the growing black middle class, embrace the Democrats, and most are not looking for “handouts’ or “freebies”, and are insulted by the decision of these people above to spew such hatred and venom, and to undermine all of the good that is being done by our 44th President!

The Republican “War On Women” Continues: The Blunt Amendment Revived, And The War On Planned Parenthood!

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Missouri Republican Senator Roy Blunt has become infamous for promoting an amendment to the health care law, which would allow employers to decide what kinds of health care their employees should be denied, based on their own completely arbitrary definition of what is “immoral”! The Blunt Amendment was defeated in the Senate, but has now been revived in the House Appropriations Committee. It is, without question, part of a “War On Women”, as well as a war on health care for all employees, both female and male!

The war on Planned Parenthood, which utilizes only three percent of its funding for abortion services, continues, as the desire to redefine rape, and to fight to prevent contraception, continues, The fact is that contraception helps to avoid pregnancies for women who do not want more children, and will be impoverished by such pregnancies, and could prevent abortions altogether if contraception was not being utilized as a political “football” by the Republicans, including the Republican women in Congress, who as stated in earlier entries on this blog, seem to be an alien force from outer space!

It is beyond normal behavior to understand why the Republican Party has chosen to continue the “War On Women”, when it can only further alienate the female population, already a majority Democratic. And the fact that the men, and even the women in the party apparatus, both in Congress and the state legislatures, are willing to attack the rights of their mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters is beyond comprehension!