Abortion

Republican Lies And Deception Gets Worse! Jon Kyl And “Factual Statements”!

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The Republican Party is both famous and infamous for its lies and deceptions on a regular basis!

Is there any sane, normal, truth telling Republican left?

The latest outrage is Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who claimed that Planned Parenthood spends 90 percent of its money on abortion services!

The problem with Kyl’s statement is that it is a TOTAL DISTORTION of the truth, as only THREE percent of Planned Parenthood funds are spent on abortion, while women’s health services, including fighting breast cancer, is the bulk of their activities, and the GOP is willing to ignore women’s needs in their crazy struggle against abortion, while not giving a damn what happens to children AFTER they are born or to women’s health!

But even worse is that a Kyl spokesman says Kyl defended himself by stating what he said was not meant to be a “factual statement”!

So Kyl is saying that he is exaggerating, lying, manipulating the truth, etc, or is that NOT what he is doing?

One could not make up such stupidities and inanities as this if one wanted to downgrade the Republican Party, as they are much better at doing it to themselves! (head shaking in disbelief)!

Former Senator Alan Simpson: Lots Of Common Sense, But Highly Controversial!

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Former Republican Senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming, who served from 1979 to 1997, has always been known for being blunt, colorful in his language, and highly controversial.

A conservative in his voting in the Senate, Simpson, however, exudes a lot of common sense, even though he antagonizes on a regular basis.

A critic of the American Association Of Retired Persons (AARP), who he accuses of being only a business to make money, rather than an advocate for senior citizens, Simpson headed the President’s Deficit Commission last year, co chairing with Erskine Bowles, Democrat and Bill Clinton advisor.

The two men came up with recommendations to change the Social Security System long term and to pare defense spending by bringing many of our troops home from foreign countries, and they were immediately vilified for their stand.

But what they advocated makes a lot of sense, and their suggestion to raise the retirement age to 68 by 2050 and 69 by 2075 is certainly reasonable, as we already have had one change in age, the 1983 law negotiated between Speaker Thomas “Tip” O’Neill and President Ronald Reagan, raising the retirement age to 66 for those born after 1960.

Simpson has now come out to declare that the Republican Party has a horrible group of candidates, none of which enthuses him, and he was particularly super critical of those, such as Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin and others who use the “social” issues of gay rights and abortion as part of their appeal.

Simpson may be annoying to many, but he has a lot of common sense and practical advice, and should not be ignored!

But it is clear to Simpson and to this author that the GOP is in real trouble, with very few candidates that are legitimate!

Again, as the author contends, the ONLY GOP candidates that have real credentials that could possibly lead to a serious challenge to President Barack Obama are Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman, and Tim Pawlenty.

With Romney announcing an exploratory committee today, and Pawlenty hiring his campaign manager, the race is beginning, but too much air is being taken out by the loonies and the crazies, and unless one of these three above named can pull things out of the ditch, the Republican Party will be a joke in 2012!

John Boehner And The Tea Party Burden He Carries!

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Speaker of the House John Boehner is facing a major crisis within his House membership, the fact that most of the freshmen Republicans are much more extreme to the right of center than he is, and are demanding unreasonable budget cuts for the present fiscal year, and preventing a final agreement to avoid a government shutdown!

The Democrats have gone more than half way on compromise, but refuse to make concessions on funding programs that Barack Obama had fought for over the past two years.

But the Tea Party element in the GOP is demanding total surrender, even though the GOP controls only one half of one third of the federal government!

This is a sign of the disaster waiting us if the GOP somehow gains control of both houses of Congress and the White House in the 2012 election cycle!

It is a warning to all Americans to be vigilant, pay attention, learn the issues, stop reacting emotionally to social questions such as gay rights and abortion, and vote your own economic interests, which unless you are wealthy, means you should be voting for the Democratic Party, the party of the people, rather than property and wealth which the GOP represents!

If one cannot see that fact as truth, then the American republic is doomed in the long run as the wealthy plutocracy ends all semblance of democracy in America!

The Republican Urge To Provoke Violence And Bloodshed

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The Republican Party, instead of promoting harmony and a sense of common purpose among the population of the United States, instead, for some odd reason, hard to fathom, does just the opposite! Everything it advocates instead provokes violence and bloodshed, without any rhyme or reason!

Examples of this abound!

1. Wisconsin, Ohio and other states take away labor’s right to collective bargaining, provoking massive demonstrations and outrage.

2. Florida cuts unemployment compensation to the lowest number of weeks of any state, 20 weeks, in the midst of an all time high unemployment rate of 12 percent, one of the highest in the nation, bringing desperate people to the brink of violence.

3. Florida also decides to make it more difficult for former felons to regain their voting rights, making it five years after completion of sentence and probation before one can even request restoration of voting rights, angering many who will feel discrimination.

4. New Hampshire and other states are working to make it more difficult for college students to vote in their college towns, as well as states which want to require state mandated IDs which intimidate poor people and minorities from registering to vote.

5. Arizona and other states are promoting profiling, giving police the right to stop anyone who they believe to be an illegal immigrant, and in the process advocating nativism.

6. Arizona and other states are cutting benefits for poor people who need transplant surgery, angering family members of those patients.

7. States are laying off teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public servants, and by increasing the unemployment rate, are fueling resentment among many of the newly unemployed. Also, the crime rate is bound to go up as we have fewer police officers.

8. States moving to criminalize abortion are provoking pro life extremists to the potential for bloodshed and violence.

9. States promoting guns on campus and in bars and other public places tends toward violence and bloodshed potential in the future.

10. The promotion of opposition to gay rights helps incite threats and violence against those by religious extremists who see homosexuality as a threat to American society.

11. The promotion of the “Birther” conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama by Republican leaders and conservatives fuels threats against our President by those who think he is a Muslim.

12. Congressman Peter King, by holding hearings on Islamic terrorism, promotes the image that we cannot trust the Muslim population within our midst.

This is a dangerous set of circumstances which makes one wonder what the future of the nation is, with the tendency of the Republican Party to be oblivious to what is occurring, or is it oblivious, or in fact purposely promoting these circumstances? One has to wonder!

The House Republican Budget: Very Clear What The Party Is Trying To Do To America!

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The House of Representatives Budget plan devised by the majority Republicans is a clear cut attack on the middle class and the poor, and all of the social and economic progress of the 20th century Presidents and Congresses which brought prosperity and a growing middle class to American society!

The budget document is an obscene attempt to promote the super wealthy and corporate agenda at the expense of the middle class, and the poor, and with no compassion or conscience displayed at all!

Imagine this:

1. The destruction of 700,000 jobs due to the budget cuts.

2. Cutting of three million low income people from community health centers.

3.Cutting of food and health care assistance to pregnant women, new mothers, and children.

4. Major cut in funds for Head Start.

5. End of federal funding for National Public Radio and PBS.

6. Forcing states to fire teachers and aides, making class sizes dramatically larger.

7. Cutting of some or all financial aid to over 9 million college students who are low income or middle income.

8. Slashing of funds to the National Institutes of Health, cutting research on cancer, Alzheimers, and Parkinsons diseases.

9. Cutting all support of Planned Parenthood, and family planning programs.

10. Putting 10,000 veterans into homelessness because of cuts in housing vouchers.

Other plans are in the works to prevent all abortions, cut the Environmental Protection Agency ability to protect against industrial pollution, and to do nothing to create new jobs, hoping to make economic conditions worse, with the hope that the American people would blame the Democrats and President Obama for the poorly performing economy!

This is a time for all decent people to make clear through calls and emails to their Congressmen and Senators that they will not tolerate the war on America’s middle class and the poor being perpetrated by the Republican Party!

It is time that excuses for budget cuts be replaced by tax increases on the wealthy and the corporations, who have to take responsibility on the national and state levels to help resolve the inequities that exist in America. They have received enough benefits over the past ten years, and really the past thirty years, and it is time to pay up as good, responsible Americans!

The Largest Percentage Of Homeless Children Since The Great Depression And The Republican Response Nationwide: Cut Programs Which Benefit Children!

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As Sixty Minutes on CBS reports, the growing number of homeless children who are living in weekly motels or in cars is reaching an alarming level, soon to be an estimated 25 percent of children of all races and ethnicities, the greatest since the Great Depression, and in actual number an all time high!

And what is the response of Republican Governors and the Republicans in control of the House of Representatives? Cut spending on education, health care, housing, nutrition, and all other programs, while making major concessions to corporations and rich people by cutting taxes and regulations!

We are seeing the true nature of the GOP! They DO NOT CARE about the effect on children of their policies, and they DO NOT CARE about anything but gaining the financial backing of the elite upper class!

If anyone with a rational mind had doubts, the GOP takeover in many states and the House of Representatives is proving just how nasty and vicious they really are! They do not care what happens to the poor or middle class, and are presiding over the greatest increase in poverty ever, and nonchalantly go about their business of being heartless and insensitive!

Speaker of the House John Boehner may cry when interviewed, but he fails to cry for what is most important: damage to the future generation that will grow up to hate their government for doing nothing to make their childhood a positive experience!

Children cannot be blamed for the misfortunes of their parents, and should NEVER be victims of a political party which only cares they be born, and then says in basic terms, to hell with you as you are now on your own, and don’t expect government to intervene in your behalf!

The GOP Attack On Women: Nothing New But Now Enhanced!

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The Republican leadership in the House of Representatives has talked about creation of jobs, but instead is focusing on a war against women and their medical care! 🙁

Bills have been introduced to take away federal support of women having Pap tests, breast exams, and HIV tests, because it is all considered part of “family planning”, a code word for the organization Planned Parenthood, which the Republican Party wishes to destroy.

The Republicans have also introduced legislation to tax medical plans of women and their employers who have private health insurance which cover abortion procedures.

They also have tried to redefine rape, so as to avoid the idea of abortions to cover rape and incest, as they wish to force all pregnancies to full term, no matter the age or health or mental state of the prospective mother.

And yet, does the party show any concern about the well being of children born to mothers who do not wish to have children, or cannot afford the economic expense of unwanted children? Of course not, as their only goal is to require birth, but show no concern about life after birth! 🙁

Attempting to outlaw abortion for all reasons will not stop the practice, but will force women who do not wish to have children to obtain a dangerous, “back alley” abortion, which could lead to their deaths.

The Republican Party claims to believe in smaller and less government, certainly when it comes to economic regulation, but again is proving it is very willing to intrude on people’s private lives as to their social interactions and their personal bodies, and that is reprehensible! 🙁

The Conflict Among Conservatives And Within The Conservative Movement

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Conservatives argue that they are for smaller government, lower taxes, less regulation, freedom and liberty.

They don’t like any type of economic regulation or redistribution of wealth.

And yet when push comes to shove, they are very willing to raise taxes on the average person and redistribute wealth to the top two percent, and destroy the middle class by their policies! 🙁

They are for freedom and liberty, and yet believe in a security state which can bug and wiretap everyone through the Patriot Act, and deny people privacy as to their library borrowing and bookstore purchases! 🙁

They are very willing to interfere in people’s social lives, including denying gays the basic freedom to serve in the military and marry the person they love; deny a woman the right to control her own body, even if a pregnancy is dangerous to her health; and impose religion on the population through promotion of a sectarian Christian prayer in public schools! 🙁

Even libertarian conservatives such as Rand Paul claim to want smaller government, and yet want to outlaw abortions from conception of the fetus, which is certainly government intrusion in private lives! 🙁

Conservatism claims to believe in individual rights, and yet constantly interferes with such rights in so many ways.

Conservatives wish to destroy the social safety net which has been with us since the New Deal of the 1930s, and this would create more poverty and deprivation and redistribute wealth further to the elite rich, and they have no conscience at all in doing this!

The Conservative Political Action Conference this Thursday to Saturday will showcase many of the potential GOP Presidential candidates, many of which conflict with each other about these different, competing and contradictory strands of the conservative movement.

With one year to go to the Iowa caucuses next February 6, most of the Republican aspirants for the White House shall appear and make speeches at CPAC, including Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, John Thune, Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour and Ron Paul.

But because of supposed scheduling conflicts, Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin are not attending, which is very odd, as if they really wanted to attend this event in Washington, DC, they would find a way!

The competition among the attendees to win the straw poll vote and to appeal to the conflicting wings of the conservative movement should be very fascinating to watch this weekend! 🙂

The Status Of Abortion Rights On the 38th Anniversary Of Roe V. Wade

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Today is the 38th Anniversary of the Roe V. Wade decision of the Supreme Court, giving women the right to choose to end a pregnancy in the first two trimesters.

That decision in 1973 led to furious reaction, and the formation of the Right To Life Movement, as well as the Pro Choice alternative.

Conservatives and devout Christians and Orthodox Jews have been fighting to limit the right, including banning abortions at an earlier point after conception; pushing women considering an abortion to watch a live video of the fetus; eliminating insurance coverage for abortions; preventing public financing of abortions; and requiring parental consent and waiting periods for minors.

The abortion rate has been going down, and in many states, it is difficult for abortion doctors to open and conduct their business. Also, demonstrations by Pro Life groups have complicated the operations of such abortion centers.

There have been a few high profile murders of abortion doctors over the years, and threats to many other such specialists.

The issue had been muted somewhat recently because of the economy, but now it is entering national politics, with former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, a likely candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 2012, bringing up the issue by stating he is amazed that President Barack Obama, as an African American, would support abortions.

Additionally, Randall Terry, of Operation Rescue, has made clear that he will challenge President Obama for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2012, knowing full well that he cannot beat the President, but will force the abortion issue to the forefront and, at the least, attempt to embarrass the President on that issue. For good measure, he also plans to fight the idea of gay marriage and gay rights, and make it an issue in the Democratic campaign. Ordinarily, one would think that Terry would run in the Republican Party, but his plan is to run as a Democrat solely to complicate the Democratic Party race for the 2012 campaign.

The South, Mountain, and Great Plains states, basically conservative and Republican, are in a position to ban abortion rights at a pace never before seen, with more conservative legislators and many more Governors who support such bans.

But also, the key states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio have now elected legislatures and Governors bent in that direction, so the activities of the National Abortion Rights League and Planned Parenthood are meeting a fundamental shift in the balance of power.

So 38 years after abortion rights were granted by the Supreme Court, the right of a woman to control her own body and reproductive activities is under sustained threat!

Arizona Badly Served By John McCain And Jon Kyl: A Longing For The Times Of Barry Goldwater! :(

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Arizona has been badly served by its two Senators–John McCain and Jon Kyl– who have become so right wing, anti immigrant, anti gay, out to do anything to prevent any social or economic progress or foreign policy advancements! 🙁

McCain was once considered a moderate and a maverick, but that now seems long gone, and McCain himself so labeled himself as never having been a maverick as he ran a right wing campaign to hold on to his Senate seat this year. 🙁

McCain showed a lack of leadership during the financial panic of 2008, chose the absolutely most disastrous possible Vice Presidential running mate in Sarah Palin, and has constantly reneged on what he believed in and advocated during his earlier years in the Senate.

Jon Kyl also originally was perceived as a moderate, but has lately become a bitter man like McCain, and is blocking the START Treaty, fought against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as vehemently as McCain, and is also leading the fight against the September 11 First Responders Medical legislation, a shameful action, which lowers the esteem any reasonable person can have of Kyl! 🙁

When one compares these two present Arizona Senators to past Senator Barry Goldwater, the classical Mr. Conservative, one has to actually wish for the “good old days” of the 1960s, when Goldwater stood on principle, but cooperated with John F. Kennedy, and later came out for abortion rights and gay rights, and said regarding the military that as long as a soldier can shoot straight, who cares if he is straight?

Goldwater may have been a conservative, but he was never a bitter, hateful obstructionist on so many issues as John McCain and Jon Kyl have now proved to be! 🙁

It just goes to show how far the Republican party has moved from the mainstream where it was located in the 1960s, 1970s, and even the 1980s! 🙁