PERRspectives: The National Debt? Republicans Built That

PERRspectives: The National Debt? Republicans Built That
"President Bush added $5.1 trillion in red ink to the national ledger. But while the debt has grown by over $5 trillion during Obama's first term, less than $1 trillion can be attributed to new programs he put in place. The rest is the result of the tax revenue loss from the deep recession which began in December 2007 and the continuation of policies inherited from George W. Bush."

Texas Will End Funding For Planned Parenthood Clinics Tomorrow

Texas Will End Funding For Planned Parenthood Clinics Tomorrow: For most of 2012, Texas officials have been working hard to strip funding from the Planned Parenthood clinics in their state. Those officials advanced their anti-choice agenda on Monday, when a visiting judge ruled that Texas may deny funding from Planned Parenthood affiliates in the new year simply because the organization advocates for abortion rights. [...]/p

Michigan Governor Signs Extreme Anti-Abortion Bill Into Law

Michigan Governor Signs Extreme Anti-Abortion Bill Into Law: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has approved a controversial package of abortion restrictions that will limit abortion access for women who live in rural areas, require doctors to prove that mentally competent women haven’t been “coerced” into their decision to have the procedure, and enact unnecessary, complicated rules for abortion clinics and providers. The governor [...]/p

Citing Citizens United, Federal Appeals Court Blocks Access To Birth Control

Citing Citizens United, Federal Appeals Court Blocks Access To Birth Control: On Friday, a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in an order joined by two conservative Republican appointees, temporarily immunized a company from the Obama Administration’s rules guaranteeing that employer-provided health plans cover birth control. Judge Ilana Rovner, a George H.W. Bush appointee, dissented. The order is brief, [...]/p

The War Against Teachers | Alternet

The War Against Teachers | Alternet
"Right-wing fundamentalists and corporate ideologues are not just waging a war against the rights of unions, workers, students, women, the disabled, low-income groups and poor minorities, but also against those public spheres that provide a vocabulary for connecting values, desires, identities, social relations and institutions to the discourse of social responsibility, ethics, and democracy, if not thinking itself.  Neoliberalism, or unbridled free-market fundamentalism, employs modes of governance, discipline and regulation that are totalizing in their insistence that all aspects of social life be determined, shaped and weighted through market-driven measures. [2] Neoliberalism is not merely an economic doctrine that prioritizes buying and selling, makes the supermarket and mall the temples of public life and defines the obligations of citizenship in strictly consumerist terms. It is also a mode of pedagogy and set of social arrangements that uses education to win consent, produce consumer-based notions of agency and militarize reason in the service of war, profits, power and violence while simultaneously instrumentalizing all forms of knowledge."

5 Ways GOP Tried to Subvert Democracy in 2012 -- And They'll Try Again | Alternet

5 Ways GOP Tried to Subvert Democracy in 2012 -- And They'll Try Again | Alternet
"Creating barriers to voting, demonizing communities of color, attacking voting rights laws and their defenders, unleashing billionaires who financed candidates like an extreme sport, and hiding corporate donors behind opaque front groups—these were the chapters in the Republican Party’s electoral playbook in the 2012 election cycle."

What Could Have Been: The Most Important Bills Blocked by Republicans in 2012 | Alternet

What Could Have Been: The Most Important Bills Blocked by Republicans in 2012 | Alternet
"The bills we could have passed if it wasn't for GOP obstructionism -- from a minimum wage increase to the Buffett Rule."

Hobby Lobby To Deny Contraception To Employees, Ignoring Court Order

Hobby Lobby To Deny Contraception To Employees, Ignoring Court Order: Craft store chain Hobby Lobby announced on Friday that it will ignore the ruling of U.S. courts and refuse to provide copay-free birth control access to its employees. It will do so despite whatever costs it may incur, even if they are higher than the cost of birth control itself. Upon learning that Obamacare required [...]/p

Stephanie, the Mooks and John Fugelsang put the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre under fire

Iowa Court: Bosses Can Fire 'Irresistible' Workers - ABC News

Iowa Court: Bosses Can Fire 'Irresistible' Workers - ABC News
"A dentist acted legally when he fired an assistant that he found attractive simply because he and his wife viewed the woman as a threat to their marriage, the all-male Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday."

Jennifer Granholm’s progressive wish list for 2013

Connecticut School Officials Blast NRA’s Reaction To Newtown

Connecticut School Officials Blast NRA’s Reaction To Newtown: Teachers, school superintends, mayors and police chiefs in Connecticut are rejecting the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) response to the shooting in Newtown, describing the gun lobby’s proposal to equip schools with armed guards and more guns as too simplistic, shameful, and opportunistic. One Connecticut school superintendent dismissed the NRA’s suggestion as “an ill-conceived reaction from [...]/p

Conservative Columnist Doubles Down On Women Are To Blame For Newtown Argument

Conservative Columnist Doubles Down On Women Are To Blame For Newtown Argument: According to anti-feminist Charlotte Allen, a male janitor or “even some of the huskier 12-year-old boys” would have made all the difference in the Newtown massacre, simply because they are male. National Review published Allen’s controversial piece on Wednesday, where she attributed the massacre to Sandy Hook’s female staff and its “feminized setting.” On Friday, [...]/p

NRO's Charlotte Allen: Sandy Hook Tragedy Could Have Been Averted If Men Taught There

NRO's Charlotte Allen: Sandy Hook Tragedy Could Have Been Averted If Men Taught There
"There are stupid right wing things, and then there are really stupid right wing things. An example of stupid would be Charlotte Allen jonesing for Sarah Palin to be the Great Savior of the Republican Party. Yes, that was stupid.

But here's a really stupid thing, something she actually let loose from her keyboard so the Internet could suffer her stupidity right alongside her:"

It’s a Mad, Mad Michigan

It’s a Mad, Mad Michigan
"It is a lot to take in. But, look: Michigan is worth your attention. And it’s worth the fight."

NRA Slammed for Push for Guns in Every School | Common Dreams

NRA Slammed for Push for Guns in Every School | Common Dreams
"The reaction from Newtown, Connecticut to gun control advocates to commentators is clear: putting more guns in schools is not the answer."

The 10 Craziest Quotes From The NRA Press Conference

The 10 Craziest Quotes From The NRA Press Conference: After remaining completely silent in the week following the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the National Rifle Association (NRA) held a press conference in Washington D.C. on Friday to call for more guns in schools and blame the media for glorifying violence, while demonizing gun owners. Below are the 10 craziest statements from NRA Executive Vice [...]/p

America Provides Far Less Support To Single Parents Than Other Wealthy Countries

America Provides Far Less Support To Single Parents Than Other Wealthy Countries: Out of 17 developed countries, single parents in the US are have the fewest resources and the greatest economic hardship, a new report from Legal Momentum shows. In other countries, parents raising a child alone are offered help from the state and have relative economic stability. But the assessment in the US is different. Not [...]/p

Doctors Warn They Will ‘Suffer Irreparable Harm’ From Georgia’s Restrictive Abortion Ban

Doctors Warn They Will ‘Suffer Irreparable Harm’ From Georgia’s Restrictive Abortion Ban: Three doctors in Georgia are seeking to block their state’s restrictive abortion ban, which outlaws the procedure after 20 weeks of gestation except in very narrow cases of medical emergency. Representing the doctors in an Atlanta court on Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged that — in addition to preventing women from choosing when [...]/p

A Rundown of the Insane Rationales Right-Wingers Are Offering for Why Sandy Hook Happened | Alternet

A Rundown of the Insane Rationales Right-Wingers Are Offering for Why Sandy Hook Happened | Alternet
"Those on the right who would blame the tragedy on anything but guns see women as the problem -- not the heroes"

Michigan Lawmaker Didn’t Read The Anti-Abortion Bill He Voted For, But He’s Confident It’s Not About Women

Michigan Lawmaker Didn’t Read The Anti-Abortion Bill He Voted For, But He’s Confident It’s Not About Women: Michigan lawmakers moved quickly to push an omnibus abortion bill through their lame duck session last week. Despite the massive undertaking that House Bill 5711 represents — the measure combines several of the worst attacks on women’s reproductive freedom into one 45-page piece of legislation — some GOP legislators may not have even bothered to [...]/p

Virginia Republican Legislator Actually Wants To Require Concealed Weapons In Schools

Virginia Republican Legislator Actually Wants To Require Concealed Weapons In Schools: A day after Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) said he would be open to arming school faculty, a state legislator is taking the idea a step further. Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall (R) has submitted a bill that would not only permit faculty to bring concealed guns into schools, but would require schools have armed staff. [...]/p

Top Conservative Publication Attributes Newtown To Feminism: Shooting Occurred Because Women Ran The School

Top Conservative Publication Attributes Newtown To Feminism: Shooting Occurred Because Women Ran The School: If there were less women and more “male aggression” in Sandy Hook Elementary School, the massacre there never would have taken place, according to a contribution to a leading conservative magazine. National Review, whose inhouse editorial suggested Newtown was the price of the Second Amendment, published a piece on Wednesday from anti-feminist Charlotte Allen suggesting [...]/p

Right-Wing Teacher-Arming Hysteria Grows | Alternet

Right-Wing Teacher-Arming Hysteria Grows | Alternet
"The latest high-profile Republican to say he is open to possibly allowing firearms on school grounds is Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who said in the wake of the Newtown, Conn. school shootings that he thinks “that’s a reasonable discussion that ought to be had"."

Bobby Jindal's Ridiculous Birth Control Plot | Alternet

Bobby Jindal's Ridiculous Birth Control Plot | Alternet
"Ah, yes. Because it's Democrats who run around like headless chickens, screaming and wailing about "religious liberty" and how making birth control affordable and accessible to women is just like 9/11 and Pearl Harbor day . It's Democrats who've said that only sluts use or want birth control. It's Democrats who've said that even married couples should not use birth control because the whole point of marriage is to pop out babies in the name of Jesus.

Oh, no, wait. That's actually the Republican Party."

Why You Can Kiss Public Education (and the Middle Class) Goodbye | Alternet

Why You Can Kiss Public Education (and the Middle Class) Goodbye | Alternet
"All around us, our public institutions are disintegrating, and the most important public institution of all – our public education system – will likely be the next to go."

Dear GOP: Ignore the will of the people and you will fail

How an Astounding New Right-Wing Lie About the Economy Is Born | Alternet

How an Astounding New Right-Wing Lie About the Economy Is Born | Alternet
"There's a new economic myth that's now being amplified by the conservative media. It demonizes vital public services and suggests that the poor are doing just fine thanks to the largesse of the country's “makers.” Conservatives are being told that the United States is now spending vast fortunes combatting poverty – more than we dedicate to national defense, Social Security and Medicare.

This new spin is notable not for its mendacity – although it is completely divorced from reality – but because its origins are easily traced, allowing us to see how these kinds of distortions come to be."

President Obama's statement on Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting

Day Before Connecticut Shooting Massacre, Michigan Legislature Passed Bill Allowing Guns In Classrooms

Day Before Connecticut Shooting Massacre, Michigan Legislature Passed Bill Allowing Guns In Classrooms: Yesterday, one day before the tragedy in Connecticut where at least 27 people were killed at an elementary school, the Republican-controlled Michigan legislature passed a bill that would allow people to bring guns into schools. Amidst a lameduck session that has spawned a host of right-wing legislation, including a so-called “right-to-work” law and an extreme [...]/p

How Obamacare Will Help Low-Income Mothers Battle Depression

How Obamacare Will Help Low-Income Mothers Battle Depression: At an Urban Institute panel on depression and low-income Americans on Thursday, Marla McDaniel of the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population pointed out that low-income American mothers are “more likely to have severe depression.” Fortunately, Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion will help offer those low-income mothers the crucial preventative and mental health services they need [...]/p

Anti-Choice Activists Infiltrate Ohio’s Non-Partisan Medical Board

Anti-Choice Activists Infiltrate Ohio’s Non-Partisan Medical Board: The Republican-dominated Ohio Legislature has tried and failed to advance some of the most extreme anti-choice and anti-woman legislation in the country, including a bill to defund Planned Parenthood and the “heartbeat bill” that would have banned abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Having had little success in the state house, radical [...]/p

Prosecutors Ignore 2/3s Of All Sex Abuse Against Native Americans — Eric Cantor Is Keeping It That Way

Prosecutors Ignore 2/3s Of All Sex Abuse Against Native Americans — Eric Cantor Is Keeping It That Way: As Irin Carmon explains in a must read piece at Salon, Native American reservations are virtually law-free zones for women victimized by non-Indian rapists. Eighty percent of Native American rape survivors were attacked by non-Indians, and these crimes are currently beyond the reach of tribal authorities. Meanwhile, federal officials have the theoretical power to prosecute [...]/p

PERRspectives: Texas Cuts to Family Planning Triple State Expenses

PERRspectives: Texas Cuts to Family Planning Triple State Expenses
"When a federal judge ruled in August that Texas can withhold millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood and other family planning clinics, GovernorRick Perry proclaimed it a "win for Texas women." As it turns out, Perry's crusade against Planned Parenthood isn't a win for either the women of Texas or the budget of the Lone Star State. Just as experts predicted, each dollar saved in family planning spending will result in almost four dollars in new costs to care for thousands of new mothers and children the budget axe will produce.
As Rick Perry might say, "Oops"."

Calls for Veto as "Anti-Women Super Bill" Heads to Michigan Governor's Desk | Common Dreams

Calls for Veto as "Anti-Women Super Bill" Heads to Michigan Governor's Desk | Common Dreams
"Women's health advocates and pro-choice supporters are livid in Michigan and across the country after the state Senate in Lansing passed HB 5711, an omnibus piece of legislation that its critics are calling an "anti-choice Super Bill," on Wednesday."

Michigan Advances One Of The Nation’s Most Extreme Abortion Bans

Michigan Advances One Of The Nation’s Most Extreme Abortion Bans: The Michigan State Senate passed HB 5711, an omnibus anti-abortion bill that sparked widespread protests over the summer when it was first considered in the House, by a 27-10 vote on Wednesday afternoon. The legislation has been stalled since it passed Michigan’s House in June. The measure represents one of the nation’s most far-reaching abortion [...]/p

Memo to Michigan: Did You Not Hear the Voters on Women's Health? | Common Dreams

Memo to Michigan: Did You Not Hear the Voters on Women's Health? | Common Dreams
"An alarming set of bills is about to move to Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's desk as soon as today. Pushed through by lame-duck legislators who are about to leave office, these bills would make Michigan one of the most regressive states in the nation on women's health."

Rick Perry: Outlawing All Access To Abortion Is ‘My Goal’

Rick Perry: Outlawing All Access To Abortion Is ‘My Goal’: At a press conference on Tuesday organized by the anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) reaffirmed that his ultimate legislative objective is to restrict all women’s access to abortion services. Members of Texas Right to Life are currently pushing their state’s legislators to pass a “fetal pain” bill that would ban [...]/p

Violence Against Women Act Must Protect Native American Women

Violence Against Women Act Must Protect Native American Women
"Congressional Republicans headed by Eric Cantor are stalling on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The Senate has already passed a bill that increases protection for Native, LGBT and undocumented immigrant women."

Why Medicaid Cuts Would Hurt Health Care Jobs For Women

Why Medicaid Cuts Would Hurt Health Care Jobs For Women: The U.S. economy is steadily recovering from the recession, with the unemployment rate falling to 7.7 percent last month — the lowest rate since December 2008. And the increasing number of health care jobs continues to outpace job growth in other economic sectors. Through November, the economy has gained about 290,000 health care jobs this [...]/p

Low-Wage Jobs Don’t Just Harm Workers — They Harm Their Children

Low-Wage Jobs Don’t Just Harm Workers — They Harm Their Children: The recent report by the Pew Research Center that births per every 1000 American women kicked off a flurry of concern amongst conservatives that American culture is beginning to undervalue the future. However, that concern ignores the rather dismal job the country’s economy is doing to care for the children Americans are already having, and [...]/p

Cliffs Notes: On the Edge and Over a Barrel | Common Dreams

Cliffs Notes: On the Edge and Over a Barrel | Common Dreams
"Even worse, in all likelihood the fiscal cliff is merely a pretext for further eroding the already-tenuous social safety net in America; it’s a veritable Trojan horse for a good old-fashioned dose of austerity-oriented shock therapy intended to remind us all to keep our place lest we get busted down a notch further on the socioeconomic ladder. It’s a potentially ruinous precipice, we’re told, so you’d better pay close attention if you want your trickle of water to continue coming down the cliff face…

Or at least pay close enough attention so that you won’t ask too many hard questions about the genuine cliffs you should be worried about. You know, minor stuff like the erosion of free will and the continued existence of the species. Here’s but a small sample of the non-trivial cliffs dead ahead:"

Republican Leadership Split on Whether to Protect Native American Women

Republican Leadership Split on Whether to Protect Native American Women: With only three weeks left for Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), one man is standing in its way: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). The House passed a version of [...]/p

How The People Who Brought You Curves Are Actually Working Against Women’s Health

How The People Who Brought You Curves Are Actually Working Against Women’s Health: And this past election isn’t the only time that Curves and the Heavins have worked against women’s reproductive rights. Gary Heavin pledged hundreds of thousands of dollars for controversial “pregnancy crisis centers” that try to talk women out of abortions and have been accused to providing false information. They also made large donations to abstinence-only education programs — programs which often misinformand make teens more likely to engage in risky behavior and become pregnant.

Michigan Lawmakers Are Trying To Sneak Through Extreme Abortion Restrictions In Lame Duck Session

Michigan Lawmakers Are Trying To Sneak Through Extreme Abortion Restrictions In Lame Duck Session: Women’s health advocates confirm that Michigan lawmakers are likely to revive on Thursday an omnibus anti-abortion bill that sparked widespread protests after it passed the House over the summer, in addition to a host of other restrictive abortion legislation they hope to force through the current lame duck session. As Michigan’s current attempt to pass [...]/p

POLL: Key Voters Rejected Romney Because Of His Far-Right Stance On Women’s Health Issues

POLL: Key Voters Rejected Romney Because Of His Far-Right Stance On Women’s Health Issues: Early exit polling from last month’s presidential election suggested that majorities of voters in key states support legal access to abortion services, and a new poll released today confirms that women’s health issues were a decisive factor in helping voters decide between President Obama and Mitt Romney. Post-election polling conducted by Hart Research Associates and [...]/p

Moms Urge Congress Not to Throw Families Over the Fiscal Cliff | Alternet

Moms Urge Congress Not to Throw Families Over the Fiscal Cliff | Alternet
"Today, as members of Congress negotiate a budget to address the so-called fiscal cliff, families are taking a stand. Women, mothers, and their families are descending on Capitol Hill to deliver teddy bears, petition signatures and personal stories to lawmakers to send the message that moms and kids can’t “bear” more than their fair share.

Wealthy CEOs have joined together in the much-maligned "Campaign to Fix the Debt." to argue for lower taxes on the rich and cuts to the social safety net, but they are being met by a counter-force of ordinary women trying to work and raise families."

Despite Growing Number Of Female Doctors And Lawyers, Women’s Pay Still Lags Behind

Despite Growing Number Of Female Doctors And Lawyers, Women’s Pay Still Lags Behind: Women now make up about one third of the doctors and lawyers in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reports. But for those female employees who expect equal representation in the near future, a discouraging statistic belies the good news: Lady lawyers and doctors still get paid less than their male counterparts for doing [...]/p

Will Kentucky Embrace Ashley Judd’s Progressive Senate Run?

Will Kentucky Embrace Ashley Judd’s Progressive Senate Run?: Rumors that film star Ashley Judd is considering a run for Senate in her native Kentucky are solidifying. Politico reported Tuesday that Judd has spoken to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and a Democratic pollster about a possible challenge to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Judd, an unabashed progressive activist, attended the Democratic National Convention this year [...]/p

Watch: Teacher Infiltrates ALEC Education Meeting, Confronts Members | Alternet

Watch: Teacher Infiltrates ALEC Education Meeting, Confronts Members | Alternet
"Education activist Sabrina Joy Stevens, a former teacher in the Denver school system, tells right-wing, would-be policymakers how their agenda is destructive to education."

Fox News Promotes The 'War On Men' Meme

Fox News Promotes The 'War On Men' Meme
"Just as I predicted a few days ago, the author who claims there’s a war on men is getting lots of sympathetic airtime on Fox News. This morning, Suzanne Venker – never identified as the niece of anti-feminist Phyllis Schlafly - visited Fox & Friends where she offered up her totally unqualified and unscientific opinion that the reason marriage rates are down is because “women aren’t women anymore,” as host Alisyn Camerota summarized."

Meet Gubernatorial Candidate Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s Todd Akin

Meet Gubernatorial Candidate Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s Todd Akin: Virginia’s Republican Party appears poised to nominate state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to be its candidate for governor in 2013 — embracing a man whose extreme political views bear striking resemblance to those of unsuccessful 2012 Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO). With his fervent anti-science, anti-choice, and anti-LGBT, anti-federal government activism, Akin’s extreme positions [...]/p