About Me

A slightly over-educated sailor sharing the wet and dry sides of his life.

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Government Shutdown Hinged On This???

Unbelievable! I can't believe that the House GOP are so willing to throw women's health issues under the bus in the name of shutting down government. The link to the ABC webpage is in the above title. The defunding of Planned Parenthood was what the GOP wanted in trade for not shutting down government. House Minority Leader Harry Reid pointed out that Planned Parenthood mostly is about providing cancer screenings, contraception, and mammograms to women who can't afford normal healthcare services. That's 90% of what PP does. Since Planned Parenthood is barred from using Federal money for abortions, what the GOP can only be after is waging war on poor women, if not on all women.

Take in the video clips to get a sense of the smoke screen Rep. Mitch McConnell and the other GOP are pumping out to obscure the fact that they've snuck in riders directed at social issues which they care more about than spending issues. They talk only in generalities without speaking directly to the real crux of things. Thank God Obama answered with a flat-out No. No argument. Just, "Nope. Zero" Read more on this here: http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/04/how-government-shutdown-was-averted-behind-the-planned-parenthood-deal.html

What disappointed me was that there weren't many women present at the top-level budget negotiations. No doubt the meeting would have gone over time. As it was, Sen. Patty Murray was wearing her Senate veto in a hip holster for the world to see she was waiting for her turn. "Women are not going to be thrown under the bus in this country for this agreement," she said. Do you think the men were afraid of quality sound bites making the news?

BTW, the Congressional Budget Office says the GOP budget would increase public debt over the 10 years of the budget--more than if nothing were done. Also, the budget will increase the burden of medical expenses upon seniors, the disabled, and the elderly. Read it here: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/04/cbo-gop-budget-would-increase-debt-then-stick-it-to-medicare-patients.php

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% Society: vanityfair.com

Read this! Nobel laureate Economist Joseph Stiglitz writes on how the super-rich (the top 1%) has corrupted U.S. Government and tilted the playing field of opportunity to favor only themselves. Yeah, this isn't news to some of us, but he clearly diagrams the whole picture. Great talking points for when you're getting "fact bombed" by Libertarians and Conservatives. Here's the link:

Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% Society: vanityfair.com