Headlines - Friday March 16

 

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Greg Sargent: Debunking the conservative argument about the rich and taxes, in three easy charts

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"Selling out pays"- when a Congressman becomes a lobbyist, he gets an average 1,400% raise.

 

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-Headline of the Day-
"Dems Hammer PA Governor Over Ultrasound Comments."

Let's go straight to the money shot on this one: "I don't know how you make anybody watch. You just have to close your eyes."

That's Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, who is both a Republican and a famous Space Cadet. What Cadet Tom is talking about here is Pennsylvania's ultrasound bill, which would force women to undergo an unnecessary procedure (at heir own expense) in order to get an abortion.

See, the thinking behind ultrasound bills is pretty simple: women are stupid. Women get abortions because they have absolutely no idea what's up in there. So, if you show them a picture of it, maybe they won't have an abortion.

"If you're a woman who opposes mandatory ultrasounds, Republican Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has a suggestion for you: 'You just have to close your eyes,'" writes the Democratic Governors Association. "'Close your eyes?' Does Governor Corbett have no shame?"

He's a Republican. Since when have they known shame? (Talking Points Memo)

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COLORADO: Christian Hate Group Launches Ballot Drive To Legalize Discrimination Against Gays

Focus On The Family has launched a ballot petition drive that, if successful, will ask Colorado voters to make it legal to deny housing, employment, and services to any person on the basis of religious objections. (Gosh, who COULD they be talking about?) Focus has engaged the legal assistance of the Alliance Defense Fund.

The Denver Post reports:

Focus on the Family will build a coalition to back a constitutional amendment prohibiting state government from interfering with the religious freedom of a person or religious organization. The draft language states that government may not directly or indirectly burden a person or organization by withholding benefits, assessing penalties or excluding a person or group from government programs or facilities. The Alliance Defense Fund, a nonprofit Christian advocacy group dedicated to religious liberty, sent the proposed initiative to the Colorado Legislative Council on March 7.

LGBT rights group One Colorado responds:

The initiative's language — which focuses on "religious liberty" — is incredibly deceptive. It doesn't make clear the widespread implications of enacting this law. Implications that don't just impact LGBT people — but all Coloradans. Imagine a law that allows a pharmacist to refuse to fill a birth control prescription. A law that permits an employer to refuse to hire people on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. A law that gives protection to teachers who refuse to teach sex education or evolution. All for the sake of so-called religious freedom.

One Colorado says they are in dire need of financial assistance to file a legal challenge to the Focus petition request. The deadline to object to the petition is this coming Monday. They only need $5000! I'm kicking in $25 to get us started.

 

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Bye, Bye Blago Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevitch reported to federal prison in Englewood, Colorado on Thursday to start serving a fourteen year sentence after he was convicted of trying to sell President Obama's former Senate seat.

And all the Wall Street banksters laughed.

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The U.S. soldier being held in connection with the shooting of 16 Afghan civilians was under the influence of alcohol and "snapped," according to a report in the New York Times. The soldier—a 38 year old father of two—was on his fourth tour of duty and was struggling to work through marital difficulties at the time of the massacre.

 

I hope he gets the death sentence.

 

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Bristol Palin has a blog, you guys, and for serious we are so jealous! It is super exciting and insightful and intimate and well-written and she promises lots of neat stuff, like maybe a picture of Tripp with a mohawk, if you are very very good and buy her book and watch her show and watch her other show and go see her lectures on inspirationalism and how to become a grandmother by 30. Now, you might think the following posts are illiterate enough to have been written by Bristol herself, but as the godless heathens at ImmoralMinority point out, the posts were originally signed by longtime Palin apparatchik Nancy French, who was all whoopsie, nah nah nah mang, I was just showing her how to use WordPress. READ MORE »

 

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TPM with the chart of the day:

But Democrats, and especially President Obama, are big government spenders. That's the lie they keep getting away with for decades.

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The Obama administration notified Texas yesterday that it was officially stopping funds to the Texas Women's Health Program because of the state's decision to block abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, from participating in the program. About half of the participating clinics were cut off by the new state rule that went into effect this week, affecting 130,000 women in the health program:

Twenty-nine states participate in the Medicaid's Women Health Program, which extends Medicaid coverage for reproductive health services to lower-income women who do not qualify for the rest of the entitlement program's benefits. [...]

"We very much regret the state's decision to implement this rule, which will prevent women enrolled in the program from receiving services from the trusted health care providers they have chosen and relied on for their care," Medicaid director Cindy Mann wrote in a Thursday letter to Texas officials.

While nine states have passed legislation to end abortion provider's government funding, Texas is the first to lose federal dollars over it. Other states' laws have only affected state spending, or have been held up by court challenges.

Federal law prevents states from banning specific providers from Medicaid programs, leading to the Women's Health Program showdown. Mann said that while they try to give as much flexibility as possible, "on this case, federal law precludes us from doing so."

Last year, the federal government gave $39 million for the program. The state pays $1 for every $9 Medicaid puts into the program, but Gov. Rick Perry (R) has insisted the state will fill the gap to keep the program going without including Planned Parenthood. Texas Democrats are seeking alternate federal funds to continue the program through a different route.

A poll earlier this month showed that a majority of Texans disagreed with the Republican push to cut off Women's Health Program funds to clinics simply because they also provide abortions. Fifty-nine percent of voters opposed the new rule, while 38 percent agreed with it.

Update: Perry reacted angrily to the news that federal officials were cutting off funds. He tweeted, "Obama Admin ends #WHP via media conference call; @GovernorPerry pledges state will keep pgm going" and "This is how Obama Admin works? Notifying press before the state administrators? Purely political. #WHP."