No Perry Care.

August 22, 2012 11:55 AM

AUSTIN, Texas (click title to entry - thank you) — A federal appeals court ruled late Tuesday that Texas can cut off funding for Planned Parenthood clinics that provide health services to low-income women before a trial over a new law that bans state money from going to organizations tied to abortion providers.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans lifted a federal judge's temporary injunction that called for the funding to continue pending an October trial on Planned Parenthood's challenge to the law.

State officials sought to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood clinics that provide family planning and health services to poor women as part of the Texas Women's Health Program after the state's Republican-led Legislature passed a law banning funds to organizations linked to abortion providers. No state money goes to pay for abortions....

In the days following the Komen controversy, women did what women do best, they supported each other and sent monies to Planned Parenthood to insure women who cannot afford care, can get it anyway.

In the wake of a short-lived decision (click here) by breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut off grant money to Planned Parenthood, the women’s health network is using donation money that pouring in in response to launch an initiative to fight breast cancer with expanded screenings and education.

Reuters

August 21, 2012

...Planned Parenthood, a target of U.S. conservatives opposed to its abortion and birth control services, said on Monday it will use $3 million in donations to launch an initiative to fight breast cancer with expanded screenings and education.

The donations poured into Planned Parenthood earlier this year in response to a short-lived decision by breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut off grant money to the women's health network.

The initiative will add to basic screenings at Planned Parenthood clinics by funding ultrasounds, biopsies and other follow-up services. One-third of the money is to help pay for more diagnostic tests....


You know what I always wondered? No? I always wondered what happened to the monies from the Breast Care Stamp.

It has been renewed as recently as November 2011 and the millions it raises goes to federal programs. I just wonder what private organizations benefit from the sale of the stamp. It never really disclosed as to whether the monies are purely federal or not.


But, if the Political Right Wing is to stop Planned Parenthood it has to outlaw it, because, Komen was unsuccessful to underfund it into extinction.

Applause to all those donating to Planned Parenthood. It needs a Foundation and Research now.

Dr. John Wilke has opinion and not facts.

Dr. John Wilke is currently an 87 year old and has always been a General Practitioner. He provides opinion to the Political Right Wing, but, he is not a researcher. His opinions are based on belief and not research or fact. General Practiioner opinion is not peer reviewed. Medical Research in journals are peer reviewed. But, opinions like Wilke is what the Political Right Wing relies on because they have no valid peer reviewed research that stands up to scrutiny.

Thank you, Maureen. Well said.

Quite frankly. I am weary of the GOP definition of equality for women; equality in marriage only. It reeks of deceit and certainly doesn't translate well the further down the wealth ladder a woman finds herself.

Work is different than career. According to the GOP having children is the career of choice for women while lending monies to educate each male child. 

That model for the behaved spouse went out in the '50's with the emergence of the women's rights movement of the '60s. If returning to the '50s is the best the GOP can do in reducing unemployment; where only one spouse earns the household budget; then their economics have been dead for over 50 years and the country shows it.

..."I talk about one word, (click title to entry - thank you) one sentence, one day out of place, and, all of the sudden, the entire establishment turns on you," Akin complained to talk radio host Dana Loesch on Tuesday as he spurned pleas from Mitt Romney and other GOP big shots to abort his bid. He continued: "They just ran for cover at the first sign of any gunfire, and I think we need to rush to the gunfire."

He's right again. Other Republicans are trying to cover up their true identity to get elected. Even as party leaders attempted to lock the crazy uncle in the attic in Missouri, they were doing their own crazy thing in Tampa, Fla., by reiterating language in their platform calling for a no-exceptions constitutional amendment outlawing abortion, even in cases of rape, incest and threat to the life of the mother.

Paul Ryan, who teamed with Akin in the House to sponsor harsh anti-abortion bills, may look young and hip, with his iPod full of heavy metal and cute kids. But he's just a fresh face on a Taliban creed — the evermore antediluvian, anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-gay conservative core. Amiable in khakis and polo shirts, Ryan is the perfect modern leader to rally medieval Republicans who believe that Adam and Eve cavorted with dinosaurs.

In asserting that women have the superpower to repel rape sperm, Akin ratcheted up the old chauvinist argument that gals who wear miniskirts and high-heels are "asking" for rape; now women who don't have the presence of mind to conjure up a tubal spasm, a drone hormone, a magic spermicidal secretion or mere willpower to block conception during rape are "asking" for a baby....

Being a real partner in marriage and carrying hope for a career for all the children makes this study sincerely legitimate.

Working Women: Healthier, Happier (click here)

Women's Health Better Than Ever, Even Better Than Men's

By Jeanie Lerche Davis
WebMD Health News

...Schnittker's snapshot is drawn from a nationwide (study) of nearly 16,000 women and 21,000 men between ages 18 and 80. He asked men and women to rate their health as “poor,” “fair,” “good,” or “excellent.” He also factored in their work schedules, education, marital status, and job level.

Among his findings:

• In 2000, 60% of the women were working, compared with 40% in 1974.
• Nearly three times as many women -- 16% -- are working more than 40 hours a week as in 1974.
• More women with young children (under age 6) are working full-time: 7% in 2000, compared with 4% in 1974.

"Americans are working longer hours, and they're more stressed than ever before," Schnittker tells WebMD. "The husband is working full-time, the wife is working full-time, and they are often raising a child."

However, equal opportunity has not yet knocked on the couple's front door. Women still do the lion's share of housework and child care. But that "time bind" -- so many things pulling at one's 24-hour-day -- isn't really taking a toll on women's health, he says.

In fact, women were healthier in 2000 than ever before. When Schnittker crunched all the numbers, he found that women had somewhat better health than men. However, only employed women had better health....

Working women can afford better health for themselves and their families, which is why Planned Parenthood and their work is so important. 

There is no other better feeling, at the end of the day, that a woman has contributed to a larger world while loving her family and seeing the benefits of her work in their progress in life.

When my family was young, it was rewarding and challenging to come home to them after finding satisfaction in the work I did. They knew Mommy had to work and they enjoyed the product of that work along with me. My sons are happy, healthy and successful with their own families now, where their spouses have a career, too.

As a matter of fact, both of my sons are married to strong and ambitious women. My oldest son spent a second Christmas with the women he would become engaged to when her brother stated, "Wow, her boyfriends usually only last one Christmas and New Years. This must be the real thing."

Dr. John Willke is the leader of the Republican War on Women.

John C. Willke, M.D., Life Issues Institute, NRLC (click here)

Romney Endorsed by, Praised Dr. John Willke, Leading Proponent of Idea That Rape Lowers Pregnancy Risk

August 21, 1012

Dr. John Wilke, (click title to entry - thank you) a Founder of the Pro-Life Movement Nationally and Internationally Endorses Gov. Romney

Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007

Mitt Romney distanced himself Monday from embattled Missouri Rep. Todd Akin over the Republican senate candidate's assertion that "legitimate rape" causes women to "shut down" conception.

"He should understand that his words with regards to rape are not words that I can defend, that we can defend, or that we can defend him," Romney told WMUR during a campaign swing through New Hampshire.

But this isn't the first time a member of the Republican Big Tent has asserted this, and in 2007 presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought and won the endorsement of the man who has since the mid-1980s promoted the scientifically baseless idea that rape doesn't lead to pregnancy, Dr. John C. Willke.

Hailing him as "The Father Of The Pro-Life Movement" and "an important surrogate for Governor Romney's pro-life and pro-family agenda," the Romney for President campaign in 2007 welcomed Willke's endorsement....

Alaska always goes red. I thought I'd see if there was any voter oppression in Alaska.

No problem being registered for the first time or any time after that, just mail, fax or email the application...

Initially Registering from Outside the State of Alaska

If you are not already registered to vote in Alaska and you are initially registering to vote from outside the state of Alaska, either by mail, fax or email, you must provide proof of Alaska residency by submitting a copy of one of the following documents with your voter registration application:...

When I was reading the main page of the Alaska cite, (click here) I realized in the practice of law faxing is a legitimate method of sending documents. Mail of course is standard. And the more I thought about email I remembered people are granted divorces because of emails and the reliability of electronic signatures. Oh, wait a minute, there was a problem with electronic signatures when it came to mortgages, huh? 

Hm. I suppose Alaska justifies its loose regulations because of the square miles in Alaska. Makes sense. But, if this is good for Alaska and they are always Red in elections, what the heck is wrong with Pennsylvania and Ohio?

How to Register or Update Your Voter Registration (click title to entry - thank you)

If you need to register to vote or update your voter registration record, you (or an individual with a general power of attorney or special power of attorney authorizing that individual to register you) must complete a Voter Registration Application.

• Use our Online Voter Registration Application located on our online tools web page to complete a Voter Registration Application
  
• Print a Voter Registration Application
• In person at any Division of Elections office, before a registration official, through a voter registration agency, or at the Division of Motor Vehicles;

Send your completed application to a Regional Elections office. You may send your application by mail, fax or email as an attached PDF, TIFF, or JPG file.

Registration applications are also available at any Division of Elections office, at Division of Motor Vehicles, through a voter registration agency or voter registrar....

Reporting rape in the USA is demonized. Celebrity rapes have proven to women they are fools for coming forward.

1 out of every 6 American women (click here) has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime (14.8% completed rape; 2.8% attempted rape).

17.7 million American women have been victims of attempted or completed rape....

When women are ridiculed for being self-affirming in their understanding of the world, they retreat.

THE TARGETS

Young women, low-income women and some minorities (click title to entry - thank you) are disproportionately victims of domestic violence and rape. Women ages 20-24 are at greatest risk of nonfatal domestic violence, and women age 24 and under suffer from the highest rates of rape. The Justice Department estimates that one in five women will experience rape or attempted rape during their college years, and that less than five percent of these rapes will be reported. Income is also a factor: the poorer the household, the higher the rate of domestic violence -- with women in the lowest income category experiencing more than six times the rate of nonfatal intimate partner violence as compared to women in the highest income category. When we consider race, we see that African-American women face higher rates of domestic violence than white women, and American-Indian women are victimized at a rate more than double that of women of other races.

This GOP is very hostile toward women. They cannot deny that.

By David Grant, Staff writer / May 16, 2012

The Violence Against Women Act (click here) breezed through the Congress in previous years, but it's suddenly a heavy lift. The GOP House passed its version of the bill on a largely party-line vote, but getting to yes with the Senate will be tough.

WASHINGTON

A day of dramatic, emotional debate in the House of Representatives gave way to a narrow but largely partisan vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act on Wednesday.

VAWA, passing 222-205 with 23 Republicans in opposition and six Democrats in favor, will now join another once-uncontroversial measure – the transportation bill – in a conference committee between the two chambers.

The act provides some $660 million in funding over five years for programs ranging from protecting victims of domestic violence and community violence prevention to legal aid for survivors of violence.  Historically a light political lift, VAWA breezed through Congress in its two prior reauthorizations....

Experts need to speak about this and do I dare hope the Department of HHS defines rape, incest, unwanted pregnancy and the chances of unprotected sex results in pregnancy.

...“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare,” Akin told KTVI-TV in an interview posted Sunday. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

Akin said that even in the worst-case scenario — when the supposed natural protections against unwanted pregnancy fail — abortion should still not be a legal option for the rape victim.

“Let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work, or something,” Akin said. “I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.”...

All those descriptors of pregnancy, a rape pregnancy, an incest pregnancy and an unwanted pregnancy are real words in a woman's vocabulary from time to time. Those status of a woman's health needs official recognition in the annals of HHS.

If virginity is a status of health then it needs definition as well. It is a medical status for gynecologists, so the word requires definition and I'll tell you why.

There are extremist words used in "Urban Dictionaries" that seek to define these words and health conditions of women. 

Urban Dictionary 

Abortion (click here):

Killing an unborn child that was most likely your fault. 1 in every 4 babies are killed by abortion. By the time a woman decides to have a baby that baby can feel pain.the baby is not a part of the woman because as soon as he is concieved, he is a separate human being. and just because that baby cant speak fom himself yet, he has no say in whether or not his brains should be sucked out of his skull.I understand that there are women who from rape, but that is very rare because someone who is forcibly being sexed will be way too tense to concieve. and even if they do, there is adoption. couples in america wait as long as seven years to a baby because they cant concieve. and dont you even tell me overpopulation is a problem. it isnt.

The extremist language doesn't end with rape and they are political tools. What the Political Right Wing always hopes is that expert language will be substituted by mumbo jumbo through ignorance of the electorate. In that is a reality that votes will ultimately win out when the dummy-downed electorate actually elects opportunistic politicians like Akin. Anything is possible with god, you know.

The language of women's health at official levels such as HHS has to be defined and officially filed by panels of experts, so women stop falling victim to fraud and wrong headed political forces.

Thank you. I'd appreciate it.

This is the al Qaeda militant the USA drones were seeking during the attacks along the Pakistan border.

He is unconfirmed dead due to two strikes. His death still remains unconfirmed. At least to some reports.

Ilyas Kashmiri, also referred to as Maulana Ilyas Kashmiri and Muhammad Ilyas Kashmiri

The Pakistani military does not want to confirm his death to some, evidently. Basically, two reasons, increased hostilities and a legitimate use of USA drones. My question, what was he doing within easy reach of Pakistan's military? And why did it take a drone attack to kill him then?

Last Updated: Monday, August 20, 2012, 10:49
Islamabad: Not withstanding (click title to entry - thank you) Taliban's insistence that militant commander Ilyas Kashmiri is dead, senior Pakistani military authorities in South Waziristan tribal region are still reluctant to confirm that he was killed in a US drone strike over a year ago.

"We, on our own level, did some investigations but could not find any clue that could prove his death in the drone attack. We knew that he had arrived in Wana a few days before the June 4 drone attack (last year)," an unnamed Pakistani army official told The News daily.

Pakistani Taliban militants, particularly those considered close to Kashmiri, who was linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, claim that he was injured in the drone strike at Shokai Narray village, located near the towns of Karikot and Ghwakhwa, on June 4, 2011. 

They claim he subsequently died in another drone strike conducted a week later at Danna village near Wana. 

Senior commanders of the Taliban faction in South Waziristan led by Maulvi Nazeer said Kashmiri travelled a few days before his death from Mirali in North Waziristan to Wana. He made the move on the advice of friends due to frequent drone attacks in Mirali that killed a number of his fighters. 

They said Kashmiri held a meeting with Maulvi Nazeer in Wana and then left for Azam Warsak, where the Punjabi Taliban had camps. 

The militants were targeted by drones at Shokai Narray on June 4 last year....

His death escalated retribution attacks by the Taliban. He is stated in this article as the next Osama bin Laden.

Sunday 05 June 2011 
...Senior Punjabi Taliban commanders (click here) and close aides to the top Pakistani militant leader confirmed the killing of Ilyas Kashmiri in the US drone attack and warned they would avenge the "martyrdom" of their "Ameer" from the United States and Pakistan....

Bin Laden was within an arms reach of a military academy and Kashmiri was within an arms length of a military unit. Both al Qaeda and now there are al Qaeda like attacks on NATO forces. What gives?

...Yahya, wanted by Pakistani security agencies and believed to be operating in southern Punjab, said he had received Kashmiri's bloodstained shirt with a piece of paper carrying directives from the top leadership to cut the shirt into pieces for distribution among senior leaders of his organisation, Harkat-ul-Jehad al-Islami (HUJI)....

...He said Kashmiri was considered the master trainer among militant groups operating in the tribal areas. 

"He was a veteran commander. I remember he once gave a lecture on how to avoid losses in drone attacks. He directed all of us to display dresses of women and children on the ropes in our camps and also to put some items in the courtyards so that those operating the drones consider their hideouts as houses where women and children were residing," said the Taliban leader belonging to the Mehsud tribe. 

He said Kashmiri's advice proved very helpful and the militants remained safe in several drone strikes in the region....

Harkat-ul-Jehad al-Islami (HUJI) was banned in Bangledesh in 2005. Why isn't it banned everywhere?

Why aren't these militant religious sects banned in the country's where their presence causes chronic upheaval? They certainly aren't good for the people or the young men recruited into them. If they can't be converted to a true understanding of the Muslim faith they why are they not dealt with in an effective manner. Prison. Saudi Arabia has successful reformation programs for these men. What is the problem already?

By C Raja Mohan

The Pakistan army chief, (click here) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani may be ready to comply with one of the main demands of the Obama administration after the killing of Osama bin Laden in the raid on Abbottabad last month.

At the top of the list of “specific steps” put forward by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit to Islamabad last week was the launch of army operations against the Haqqani network, which has destabilised Afghanistan with its sanctuaries in North Waziristan, part of Pakistan’s troubled western borderlands.

The network headed by Afghan Pashtun warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani is allied with the AfghanTaliban and is said to have close links to al-Qaeda. More importantly, the Haqqani network has been nurtured and supported by the Pakistan army’s spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)....

Five New Zealand soldiers died this past month in Afghanistan. Reports from New Zealand state more soldiers to be sent.

(L to R) Corporal Luke Tamatea (31), Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker (26) and Private Richard Harris (21), all killed in an IED explosion in Afghanistan. Photo / NZDF

7:28 PM Monday Aug 20, 2012

By Kate Shuttleworth

More New Zealand non-combat troops may be sent into Afghanistan now that increased insurgent activity has resulted in the deaths of five Kiwi soldiers this month.

Prime Minister John Key said the support may come from non-combat SAS forces who would assist with logistics and planning.

Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, 26, Private Richard Harris, 21, and Corporal Luke Tamatea, 31, were killed instantly on Sunday evening (NZT) when their humvee, the last in a convoy, was struck by a 20 kilogram improvised explosive device (IED) on the road to Do Abe in the northeast of Bamiyan Province.

When questioned today about the use of humvee vehicles, Mr Key said: "No vehicle would have survived that explosion."

He described the blast as "massive"....

These larger IEDs are usually the influence of al Qaeda. It was that way in Iraq. It usually isn't the people carrying out these type of attacks on NATO. The Taliban are busy. They want the region. 

...Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Rhys Jones described the insurgents responsible for the deaths of the five New Zealand soldiers as "proficient" and "aggressively trying to hunt us down"....

Also, there has been violence throughout the region due to the religious holiday, including India. The Taliban probably get more recruits during religious holidays.

Assam violence: Islamabad, Delhi spar over ‘reprisal’ rumours (click here)

By Aditi Phadnis

Published: August 20, 2012

New Delhi India has blamed Pakistan for theatening messages on the internet that triggered a mass exodus from Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai by migrants fleeing to their homes in the northeast.

The exodus was sparked by threats sent via mobile phones and the websites carrying Pakistan’s IP addresses, conveying that people from Assam, particularly the Christian tribesmen, would be attacked by Muslims after the end of Ramazan in reprisal for recent ethnic violence in the northeastern state.

“Our agencies have discovered that the bulk of these messages have been uploaded on various Pakistani websites,” Indian Home Secretary R K Singh told reporters. “This is a first of its kind and we believe it is highly reprehensible,” he said.

Singh said India would register a formal protest with Pakistan....

Kashmir never stops being a problem, it is like the no man's land of war.

Last Updated: Monday, August 20, 2012, 11:44
Jammu: Heavy firing exchanges erupted (click here) along the International border after Pakistan again violated the ceasefire by targeting Indian posts to push in a group of militants in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district, where one intruder was killed. 

This is the fourteenth time that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire along the international border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in the last fortnight. 

Pakistani Rangers fired on Indian posts of Mala Bela, Garkhal, Sidra camp and Naka Number-10 along IB in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district around 2230 hours last night, officials said on Monday....

And here is why.

Detecting Tunnels on Indo-Pak border (click here)

BSF LAUNCHES EXHAUSTIVE SURVEY AT VULNERABLE SPOTS

Jammu/New Delhi, Aug 19: The BSF has begun an exhaustive survey of all those vulnerable spots along the Indo-Pak border to detect any possible signs of a tunnel similar to the one recently unearthed in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district.
 A team of BSF officials have been tasked to carry out the survey and report the findings to the force headquarters here.
 "We are trying to identify all those places along the border which can be vulnerable for any possible tunneling-like activity or any other ways of infiltration and smuggling. The officers have been tasked for the job," BSF chief U K Bansal told PTI here. The Director General (DG) of BSF said although no new tunnels have been found along the sensitive border since the Samba incident, the force is taking no chances to ensure that the frontiers remain "sacrosanct and secure"....

The BSF is the Border Security Force of India (click here)

The year of the bi-coastal storm.

Mexico Satellite
August 19, 2012
1517 gmt

• AUGUST 18, 2012

• By Johnny Kelly

...Meanwhile, (click title to entry - thank you) NHC says Helene made landfall as a weak tropical storm with winds of 40 mph just south of Tampico, Mexico.

As of late Saturday afternoon, Helene had weakened to a tropical depression with only 30 mph winds, about 65 miles west northwest of Tampico. Helene is expected to dissipate over northeast Mexico Saturday night into Sunday.

A third potential system is also being monitored for tropical development in the far eastern Atlantic, located a couple hundred miles southwest of the Cape Verde Islands.

NHC says conditions appear conducive for gradual development during the next few days and this system has a medium chance (50 percent chance) of becoming a tropical depression or storm as it moves westward at 15 to 20 mph.

The Atlantic basin is in its most active period (Aug.15 to Sept.15) leading up to the peak of the hurricane season in mid-September....

Assad isn't being very prudent. No doubt the new UN Envoy isn't welcome.

Airstrike kills 8 in Syria town near Turkey border (click title to entry - thank you)

By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press – 2 hours ago

BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian warplane on Saturday bombed a small town partially controlled by anti-regime fighters near the Turkish border, killing eight people and wounding at least 20, the latest escalation in the use of air power by President Bashar Assad's government in the Arab nation's civil war....

The afternoon airstrike, reported by activists in the area as well as the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, was one of at least two that took place on Saturday. The increased use of airstrikes by the regime is taking its toll on civilians, and, in the eyes of activists, is evidence of its insensitivity to civilian casualties as it battles for survival against the rebels....

Viviette Applewhite has obtained her Voter ID, however, it is a poll tax.

She presented her Medicare Card and proof of her residence. Easy enough, however, she had to take two public transit buses to get to the ID processing office.

Ms. Applewhite, age 93, has never had a problem voting before in her life and in the very year when an African American President is running for re-election she has to surmount a heroic effort to receive a voter ID. How ridiculous is this? Shen then had to take two public transit buses back home after she was successful. A 93 year old women was harassed into making a trip she could have failed at finishing in order to vote in the 2012 elections.

The people responsible for this should be ashamed of themselves. 

If Voter ID is a statement about the crime ridden society we live in, then it should have been phased in and not abruptly cast a shadow over elections where there is little to no voter fraud identity issues registered in the USA. This is an obvious poll tax and should be outlawed. It is an unreasonable burden to people least able to over come it. 

The ID may not do Ms. Applewhite any good at all if she relies on her church to take her to early voting on Sunday either.

Early voting is not a novel idea, most allies to the USA practice it including Canada to our north border.

Early voting in Florida began in 2004 and not without problems. The turnout exceeded one million in 2004, but, there were computer failures in Orange and Broward Counties, there where some ballots actually erased in Volusia County and Jacksonville lacked early voting sites at all.

Florida Dems applaud federal court decision expanding early voting (click title to entry - thank you)

By Mike Lillis - 08/18/12 10:38 AM ET

Florida Democrats are cheering a federal court's decision to roll back a state law slashing early voting hours.  

The year-old statute, championed by Republican Gov. Rick Scott, empowers counties to reduce in-person early voting from eight days before the election to four, while barring early voting on the Sunday before election day.

But a panel of federal judges this week invoked the 1965 Voting Rights Act to rule that the statute would discriminate against African American voters who are known to use early voting at a much higher rate than other populations....

Presidential Debate Question: Do States have the right to tamper with federal statues and precedent such as the 1965 Voting Rights Act? And does the 1965 Voting Rights Act need to be updated and modernized? Why or why not?

The Medicare Debate. Is anyone afraid of the truth? Not from where I stand.

I question the wisdom in making changes until there is a reasonable Congress to write legislation, though. We don't need extremism. 

The nation has to have a conversation about Medicare, but, I sincerely believe it has to come from the professionals at the center of the debate. If they don't chime in and propose an answer; one the USA can reasonably provide; they will be left out of the answer all together. That would be very sad, to the professionals in medicine and to the patients seeking medical care.

The lack of a sincere answer to the Medicare issue, would provide a higher number of uninsured that would hasten their death.

Besides being a medical issue facing our most vulnerable, it is also a family issue. The cost of taking care of the elderly will fall to families if this support network fails. Again, a failure of Medicare will cause an economic recession as families seek to find ways to provide for their loved ones. The market place will suffer if there is a failure of this program.

The Medicare Program (click title to entry - thank you) is the second-largest social insurance program in the U.S., with 48.7 million beneficiaries and total expenditures of $549 billion in 2011. The Boards of Trustees for Medicare (also Boards) report annually to the Congress on the financial operations and actuarial status of the program. Beginning in 2002, there is one combined report discussing both the Hospital Insurance (Medicare Part A) and the Supplementary Medical Insurance program (Medicare Part B and Prescription Drug Coverage). The Office of the Actuary in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) prepares the report under the direction of the Boards.

The Boards of Trustees issued their most recent report on April 23, 2012....

If Ryan's speech in Florida is indicative of the focus of their race for the Executive Branch of the USA, they aren't serious. Ryan is trying to save his Congressional seat. They are more interested in the House and Senate.  Not to undermine their desire to be President and Vice President, but, they have a stump speech that isn't serious about the issue. We aren't going to get a serious debate. President Obama is has to have a Medicare Summit with the professions. The Summit will have to include the Simpsons - Bowles as a potential for solving the problem.

The nation cannot afford Medicare Advantage. It has spawned considerable waste and fraud. It also provides programs the nation cannot afford. Rather than seeking to lower the cost to the USA Treasury, Medicare Advantage adds programs for Seniors as if they can simply dole out monies with abandon. No. This is USA Treasury monies, it is not simply a grant for spending on every whim a commercial institution believes it can use for marketing.

11/22/2011
Posted by Ezra Klein

...For one thing, (click here) compromising with Obama is compromising with a Democratic president who’s at 44 percent in the polls and at 9 percent among Republicans. No Republican politician can survive that. Compromising on Simpson-Bowles is compromising with two men who have become synonymous with bipartisanship and tough choices and hard decisions and all sorts of other platitudes voters love. And it’s not as if members of Congress haven’t seen this graph:...

When Romney/Ryan gets serious about the real problems of the USA and accepts reassuring the American people means trusting them with the knowledge of their income tax returns, I'll be back.

Presidential Debate Question: "Explain the concerns with Medicare as you understand it. What is the best path forward?"

Have a better day.

If the Russian Orthodox Church can forgive Pussy Riot then the Kremlin needs to consider doing the same.

(AP) – 21 minutes ago 

MOSCOW (AP) — Two top clerics in the Russian Orthodox Church say it has forgiven the members of feminist punk band Pussy Riot who were convicted of hooliganism and sent to prison for briefly taking over a cathedral in a raucous prayer for deliverance from Vladimir Putin.

Tikhon Shevkunov, who heads Moscow's Sretensky Monastery and is widely believed to be Putin's spiritual counselor, said on state TV Saturday that his church forgave the singers right after their "punk prayer" in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow.

Archpriest Maxim Kozlov agreed, but he also said on state TV that his church hopes the young women and their supporters "realize that their acts are awful."

Both clerics supported a court's decision to prosecute Pussy Riot, despite an international outcry that criticized it as unfair.

I admire the willingness of the Russia Orthodox Church to forgive a group of women seeking recognition for their art while making a political statement. I question they ever thought prison would be their consequence for their song.

I was seeking a similar punishment in the USA for a crime. The closest I came to hooliganism in the USA code, would be mayhem. In California, a person can be charged with minimally two years of prison for mayhem, but, there is a physical destruction component to the law. It requires body injury of another. There is an interesting side track in the California law which states the punishment for torture is life in prison. 

Hooliganism is a behavior issue, it is defined in Merriam-Webster as rowdy, violent or destructive behavior.

There is no doubt when people cause damage to property there has to be recognition of what costs others hardship of any kind, but, there is a danger to jailing for behavior that does not harm as opposed to behavior that does harm.   The USA is no example of what is equitable in law, though. Recently, a young gay man committed suicide after being caught on a camera and the person causing the distress to his roommate basically went without penalty. I suppose the stigma of being the person of causing another's death has some penalty itself, but, under the law he was basically exonerated. I saw it as a hate crime not one of mischief.

I believe President Putin did the right thing by speaking up before the verdict and no doubt the court considered his words in their decision. He is joined now by the Russian Orthodox Church. It would a good thing for the people of Russia, their government and their courts to examine the way power is leveraged when the Russian people are attempting to make a political statement. 

Perhaps, this is a chance for Russia to surpass the USA in leveraging justice in political speech. Pussy Riot being jailed can be a turning point for Russia. What I find incredibly interesting about the demonstration in a church, was the lack of maliciousness. There was no damage. There was no harm to others. It was a purely political act, but, well behaved in its demeanor. I think Russia has less to worry about when it comes to embarrassing behavior by its people than it imagines.

11:32 16/8/12

MOSCOW, August 16 (Dan Peleschuk, RIA Novosti)

AFP/Natalia Kolesnikova

...Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, (click here) 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30 – speculation over their fate has only grown. They have already spent five months in custody, and two of the women have small children with whom they have been deprived of contact since their incarceration....

What did we do right to increase Ryan's tax rate in 2011? He and Romney are in the same club.

Romney/Ryan pay less than most millionaires in the USA. We just don't know about Thompson.

Aug. 17, 2012 4:20 p.m.

Paul Ryan and his wife, Janna, paid an effective tax rate of 15.9% in 2010 and 20% in 2011, according to tax returns provided by the Romney-Ryan campaign to the Journal Sentinel on Friday.

In 2010, Ryan and his wife paid $34,233 in federal taxes on $215,417 of adjusted gross income.

In 2011, they paid $64,764 in federal taxes on $323,416 of adjusted gross income.

A little more than half of the Ryans' total income in that two-year period came from the congressman's congressional salary.

But the couple also earned significant outside income from dividends, capital, real estate and other sources.

For example, in 2010, the couple reported $39,013 in income from "rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations, trust, etc....

They don't care about transparency. Ryan simply mirrored the same standard as Romney. Now, Thompson is refusing to release any tax returns. That is the type of leadership Romney/Ryan propagate. The lead in opposition to the American people, that will not stop, it will only get worse and we will see more and more exploitation of our democracy if elected. 

John Kraus
press@tammybaldwin.com
414-939-8376

Facing calls to release his tax returns, (click here) Thompson desperately clings to discredited poll

Thompson Campaign Attempting to Distract From Thompson's Blow Up On The First Day of the General Election

MILWAUKEE – John Kraus, Tammy Baldwin For Senate Communications Director issued the following statement in response to the Thompson campaign's desperate attempt to discredited Republican poll to distract the media and voters from the fact that Tommy Thompson refuses to release his tax returns and supports cutting taxes for millionaires like himself while raising taxes on Wisconsin's middle class.

"In the face of calls to release his tax returns, and after a testy and rattled exchange with the Wisconsin press corps on the first day of the general elction, Tommy Thompson is trying to distract voters by clinging to a widely discredited pollster who used to work for George W. Bush," said Tammy Baldwin for Senate Communications Director John Kraus, "Thompson can try to dodge and distract all he wants but the people of Wisconsin want to know why Tommy won't release his tax returns at the same time he is calling for tax breaks for millionaires like himself and tax increases for the middle class."...

By Seth Hanlon | August 4, 2011

Republicans in the House (click here) of Representatives got their way this week: The final budget deal struck with President Barack Obama raises no additional revenues while cutting more than $2 trillion from public investments, defense, and government services that all Americans rely upon. That’s a better outcome than a Tea Party-caused default but it’s a bad deal for America’s middle class.

Meanwhile, America’s millionaires won’t be asked to contribute a single dime. That’s unfortunate because they certainly can afford it. Not only have their incomes been skyrocketing but data released this week by the Internal Revenue Service reveal that their tax rates have plunged over the last two decades. As a percentage of their incomes, millionaires are now paying about one-quarter less of their income to federal taxes than they did in the mid-1990s....