Fox News Airs Name of 16-Year-Old Steubenville Rape Victim | Alternet

Fox News Airs Name of 16-Year-Old Steubenville Rape Victim | Alternet
"Fox News’ America’s Newsroom aired the name of the underage victim in the Steubenville rape case."

Stop Freaking Out About the Debt! 5 Reasons There Is No Debt Crisis | Alternet

Stop Freaking Out About the Debt! 5 Reasons There Is No Debt Crisis | Alternet
"In conclusion: the “debt crisis” is a mere phantom — only one of many possible futures, and far from a certainty. The interest America is paying on its debt  is currently lowerthan it was in the 1990s, despite a lower debt-to-GDP ratio then. When inflation is factored in, current real interest rates on our debt  are negative. Financial markets are willing to pay us to borrow from them.

Meanwhile, every dollar we cut — nay, every dollar we fail to borrow — is a dollar that isn’t going to shore up the safety net, to rebuild the country’s infrastructure, or to support struggling Americans while their livelihoods remain on the line. That we’re passing on this opportunity to repair our country, much less even considering the monstrosity that is the Ryan budget, really is absurd."

It’s The Policy, Stupid: 4 Policies That Undermine The GOP’s New Voter Outreach Strategy

It’s The Policy, Stupid: 4 Policies That Undermine The GOP’s New Voter Outreach Strategy: On Monday, following its loss in the 2012 presidential election, the Republican National Committee (RNC) released an autopsy report that aims to “grow the Party and improve Republican campaigns.” The so-called “Growth and Opportunity Project” spoke with “more than 2,600 people, both outside Washington and inside the Beltway” about how the party can appeal to [...]/p

Why Does Anyone Still Take Paul Ryan Seriously? | Alternet

Why Does Anyone Still Take Paul Ryan Seriously? | Alternet
"His failed V.P. bid may have made him a national figure, but his budget plan is hopelessly out of touch."

House Republicans Vote Down Increase In Minimum Wage

House Republicans Vote Down Increase In Minimum Wage: House Republicans on Friday unanimously voted down a bill that would have raised the minimum wage. Six Democrats joined them in defeating the effort. The vote came after a surprise move by Democrats, who tacked onto a jobs training program bill an amendment that would have brought the national $7.25 minimum wage to $10.10 by [...]/p

"LOL, She Couldn't Even Move" Awful Texts Revealed at Steubenville Rape Trial | Alternet

"LOL, She Couldn't Even Move" Awful Texts Revealed at Steubenville Rape Trial | Alternet
"On the second day of the Steubenville, Ohio rape trial,thousands of messages from seventeen confiscated phones helped to piece together the disturbing evening when a sixteen-year-old Jane Doe was allegedly raped by local football stars Trent Mays, 17, and Ma’Lik Richmond, 16. Now, the court will begin to piece together the events of the night the same way the victim learned what happened to her: From the gossip and pictures sent around town via text messages and social media."

Teachers Prepare 'Civil Disobedience' Tactics to Fight School Closings | Common Dreams

Teachers Prepare 'Civil Disobedience' Tactics to Fight School Closings | Common Dreams
"An announcement from Chicago this week reveals that teachers are preparing to ramp up their fight to save the shuttering of as many as 129 schools across the city, putting their bodies on the line in order to fight back on behalf of their students and the communities where they teach."

By The Numbers: The Dangerous Consequences Of Texas’ Crusade Against Planned Parenthood

By The Numbers: The Dangerous Consequences Of Texas’ Crusade Against Planned Parenthood: At the beginning of this year, Texas officials succeeded in their yearlong crusade to defund Planned Parenthood, a move that has forced thousands of low-income women to search for new doctors — and Republicans in the state show no signs of easing up in their obsession to block the national health organization at every turn. [...]/p

North Dakota Poised To Enact Six-Week Abortion Ban, The Most Stringent Restriction In The Nation

North Dakota Poised To Enact Six-Week Abortion Ban, The Most Stringent Restriction In The Nation: Not to be outdone by Arkansas lawmakers — who recently overrode their governor to impose a 12-week abortion ban, the strictest in the country — abortion opponents in North Dakota want to go even further. So far this year, anti-choice lawmakers in Arkansas and North Dakota have practically tripped over each other to see which [...]/p

Banks Prefer White Men For Mortgage Loans, Study Finds

Banks Prefer White Men For Mortgage Loans, Study Finds: If you’re a black woman looking for to refinance your home, the forces of discrimination are working against you. If you’re a white man, you’ll probably have an easier go of it. According to a new study from the Woodstock Institute, banks discriminate on the basis of both gender and race when they make decisions [...]/p

Progressive 'Back to Work' Budget Wins Praise for Anti-Austerity Approach | Common Dreams

Progressive 'Back to Work' Budget Wins Praise for Anti-Austerity Approach | Common Dreams
"In the midst of ongoing hysteria about a 'non-existent deficit crisis' in Washington, the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Wednesday unveiled an alternative approach to destructive austerity economics by releasing their 'Back to Work Budget' plan for 2014."

Senate Democratic Budget Reduces Deficit By $1.85 Trillion, Half From Revenue

Senate Democratic Budget Reduces Deficit By $1.85 Trillion, Half From Revenue: A day after House Republicans outlined their budget proposal for fiscal year 2014, Senate Democrats unveiled a broad outline of their budget, which Senate Budget Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) said will reduce the deficit to less than three percent of gross domestic product while bringing total deficit reduction to $4.2 trillion over the last [...]/p

Katrina Vanden Heuvel: Taking Paul Ryan Seriously Is Dangerous

Katrina Vanden Heuvel: Taking Paul Ryan Seriously Is Dangerous
"There were a lot of good points made about Ryan's ridiculous op-ed in The Wall Street Journal and the fact that he just wants to go after programs that help the poor, the elderly and the most vulnerable in our society and that his "budget" has a lot of numbers that don't add up."

Family Research Council: Unmarried People Should Be Denied Birth Control And Punished For Having Sex

Family Research Council: Unmarried People Should Be Denied Birth Control And Punished For Having Sex: The right-wing Family Research Council — which uses its advocacy muscle to try to block state-level efforts to instate comprehensive sexual health instruction in public schools — is now going a step further, suggesting the young Americans who have premarital sex should be punished because they don’t deserve the right to engage in sexual intercourse. [...]/p

‘Sticks And Stones’ And Two Other Offensive Objections Utah Lawmakers Made To A Dating Violence Bill

‘Sticks And Stones’ And Two Other Offensive Objections Utah Lawmakers Made To A Dating Violence Bill: After years of debate, the Utah legislature passed a bill Tuesday to remedy a glaring omission in the state’s domestic violence laws and allow protective orders for those attacked or threatened by a significant other, even if they are not married or living together. But while the Senate endorsed the bill by a 24-4 margin, [...]/p

Elizabeth Warren Slams Republicans For Trying To Weaken Consumer Finance Protections

Elizabeth Warren Slams Republicans For Trying To Weaken Consumer Finance Protections: At a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) rebuked Republicans for blocking Richard Cordray’s confirmation as director of her brainchild, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. After a bitter confirmation fight in 2011, President Obama bypassed the Senate using a recess appointment to grant Cordray a temporary term until the end of [...]/p

North Dakota’s Attacks On Choice Will Force Women Into Unsafe ‘Backroom’ Abortions, Doctor Warns

North Dakota’s Attacks On Choice Will Force Women Into Unsafe ‘Backroom’ Abortions, Doctor Warns: North Dakota lawmakers, who have pushed a stringently anti-choice agenda since the new legislative session began, are set to consider a package of abortion restrictions this week that would tighten the state’s laws even further. But one Fargo-area doctor is warning lawmakers that advancing those measures would have disastrous effects on women’s health — rolling [...]/p

The Ryan Plan: Cutting Benefits For Poor Women To Protect Millionaires

The Ryan Plan: Cutting Benefits For Poor Women To Protect Millionaires: Despite the fact that women voted en masse to reject Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) budget plan in the November election, this week’s unveiling of the latest House Republican budget shows that Rep. Ryan still doesn’t get it when it comes to standing with women and promoting the economic security of their families. The latest Ryan [...]/p

11 Most Absurd Lies Conservatives Are Using to Brainwash America's School Kids | Alternet

11 Most Absurd Lies Conservatives Are Using to Brainwash America's School Kids | Alternet
"If recent elections have taught us anything, it’s that young Americans have taken a decided turn to the left. Young voters delivered Obama the election: the under-44 set voted Obama and the over-45 set broke for Romney. The youngest voters, age 18-29, gave Obama a whopping 60% of their vote. Now Republicans have a plan to try to recapture the youngest voters out there: Take over the curriculum in public schools, replace education with a bunch of conservative propaganda, and reap the benefits of having a new generation that can’t tell reality from right-wing fantasy."

Raising 5 Kids in a Tiny Camper? The Atrocious Ways America Treats Poor Women and Children | Alternet

Raising 5 Kids in a Tiny Camper? The Atrocious Ways America Treats Poor Women and Children | Alternet
"What happened to a safety net that's supposed to catch poor women and children when they fall?"

Faith Leaders Slam House GOP Budget As ‘Immoral And Counter To Our Values’

Faith Leaders Slam House GOP Budget As ‘Immoral And Counter To Our Values’: Jack Jenkins is a writer and researcher for the Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative at the Center for American Progress. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) unveiled the House GOP’s latest budget proposal this morning, championing it as “an exit ramp from the current mess — and an entry ramp to a better future.” But the proposal, [...]/p

What Paul Ryan’s Budget Means for Women | The Nation

What Paul Ryan’s Budget Means for Women | The Nation
"The latest iteration of Paul Ryan’s budget is out today, and while you might expect it to look very different than the one proposed before he was part of a losing presidential ticket, he seems to have dug in his heels on some of his most extreme proposals, like block granting vital programs, voucherizing Medicare and drastically slashing spending. As with the first rounds of Ryan budgeting, this one would be bad for nearly everyone (except perhaps the wealthy), but it would especially take an enormous toll on the country’s women."

Fox News Guest Receives Death Threats Over Comments About Guns And Rape Prevention

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PERRspectives: GOP Abortion Foes Violate the Doctor-Patient Relationship

PERRspectives: GOP Abortion Foes Violate the Doctor-Patient Relationship
"What is really being rendered meaningless, of course, is the very doctor-patient relationship Republicans pretend they want to protect. If the GOP at the state and federal level has it way, when it comes to the most personal, private and difficult decisions American women may have to make, there will be no doctor-patient relationship at all."

Sen. Cornyn Takes Credit For Anti-Rape Law He Voted Against

Sen. Cornyn Takes Credit For Anti-Rape Law He Voted Against: Shortly after President Obama signed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization into law, Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) released a glowing press release claiming that a “Cornyn bill” to “eliminate nationwide rape kit backlog” was signed into law. The so-called “Cornyn bill” is the SAFER Act, which was incorporated into the VAWA renewal, [...]/p

If Women Were in Charge...

Faith Leaders Pray For Restored Access To Women’s Health Resources In Texas

Faith Leaders Pray For Restored Access To Women’s Health Resources In Texas: Over the past year, Texas officials have attacked women’s health resources from all angles — slashing funding from family planning programs, cutting off funds to the Planned Parenthood affiliates in the state, and attempting to shut down dozens of abortion clinics. Those decisions have jeopardized thousands of low-income women’s access to affordable health care, and [...]/p

Top Republican Strategist: GOP ‘Doesn’t Give Equal Opportunity To Women’

Top Republican Strategist: GOP ‘Doesn’t Give Equal Opportunity To Women’: During a segment on women’s evolving roles in the workplace on Meet the Press Sunday morning, GOP political operative and former McCain campaign adviser Steve Schmidt made a compelling case for equal opportunity in American businesses and the country at large, asserting that organizations that do not afford women a place at the table are [...]/p

How 'Teach Men Not to Rape' Made Fox News Viewers Lose Their Minds

How 'Teach Men Not to Rape' Made Fox News Viewers Lose Their Minds
"The conservatives in this country will not be happy until the entire country has turned into the fabled days of the Wild West, a literal and figurative Tombstone (like most of their nostalgia, it is rarely based in fact). It is an odd psychology, this need to blame victims. It's the poor's fault that they haven't succeeded. Those who suffer from chronic diseases and want to rely on universal health care are purposely not taking care of themselves. Those seniors should have planned better for their retirement so that Social Security benefits can be cut, for the betterment of future generations. And rape victims should most definitely be armed to prevent sexual assault."

Fox News Guest Receives Racist Rape And Death Threats After Arguing Guns Aren’t The Solution To Rape

Fox News Guest Receives Racist Rape And Death Threats After Arguing Guns Aren’t The Solution To Rape: Zerlina Maxwell is a feminist writer and frequent guest on Fox News. Last week, while a guest on Sean Hannity’s show, Maxwell argued that arming women is not a way to solve the problem of rape. Among other things, she pointed out that “if firearms were the answer, then the military would be the safest [...]/p

Elizabeth Warren: Banks Get Wrist Slaps While Drug Dealers Get Jail

Four Important Policies That Could Help Improve Women’s Health Around The World

Four Important Policies That Could Help Improve Women’s Health Around The World: Although we’ve made significant steps forward over the last 100 years, this year’s International Women’s Day is a reminder that women around the world still have significant barriers to overcome. Fortunately, there are some concrete steps the global community could take to advance women’s health and women’s rights. Here are four policies we need to [...]/p

Controlling Women's Choices On Abortion

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The 18 For-Profit Companies Fighting to Eliminate the Birth Control Benefit | Common Dreams

The 18 For-Profit Companies Fighting to Eliminate the Birth Control Benefit | Common Dreams
"Eighteen for-profit companies have filed lawsuits to avoid complying with the the birth control benefit in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which requires that all insurance policies cover birth control without a co-pay as part of preventive care. Often misleadingly characterized as mandating “free birth control,” the ACA, otherwise known as Obamacare, requires that all insurance policies cover all forms of basic preventive care without a co-pay, including well-woman, well-baby, and well-child visits, as well as other basic prevention care for men and women. This coverage is intended to save costs and promote public health."

Arkansas 'Taking A Sledgehammer To Roe'

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Women Are...

Elizabeth Warren Slams Money-Laundering Banks: What Does It Take? | Common Dreams

Elizabeth Warren Slams Money-Laundering Banks: What Does It Take? | Common Dreams
"Five years after the financial crisis they caused, Warren declared, banks are still free and clear, and still being subsidized by $83 billion a year by American taxpayers, and "it is past time to end too-big-to-fail.” See a ticked-off Warren saying what should be said."

The Republican Behind The Nation’s Strictest Abortion Ban Also Wants To Defund Planned Parenthood

The Republican Behind The Nation’s Strictest Abortion Ban Also Wants To Defund Planned Parenthood: State Sen. Jason Rapert (R-AR) is the architect of the nation’s most stringent abortion legislation — Arkansas’ “fetal heartbeat” ban outlawing all abortion services after just 12 weeks, which could take effect as early as this spring. But Rapert isn’t content with potentially banning one out every 10 abortions in his state. Now, he’s looking [...]/p

Schlafly: 'We Need to Train the Men' to 'Stand Up to the Feminists' | Right Wing Watch

Schlafly: 'We Need to Train the Men' to 'Stand Up to the Feminists' | Right Wing Watch
"Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schlafly spoke earlier this week to Sandy Rios of the American Family Association about the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which Schlafly called a “terrible” law that “would have been an excellent place to cut” spending. She lamented that “Republicans are just scared by the feminists” when “they ought to stand up and show how really vicious they are"."

The Gender Wage Gap Is Getting Worse

The Gender Wage Gap Is Getting Worse: A new report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research shows that the pay gap between men and women increased between 2011 and 2012, leaving women making $163 less per week: In 2012, the ratio of women’s to men’s median weekly full-time earnings was 80.9 percent, a decline of more than one percentage point since [...]/p

Arkansas Lawmaker: ‘We’re Not Eliminating Choice At All’ By Banning 1 Out Of Every 10 Abortions

Arkansas Lawmaker: ‘We’re Not Eliminating Choice At All’ By Banning 1 Out Of Every 10 Abortions: Arkansas, the new home to the nation’s strictest abortion ban, will cut off women’s access to legal abortion services after 12 weeks. The law could go into effect as early as this spring after the legislature overrode Gov. Mike Beebe’s (D) veto on Wednesday. Arkansas Republicans still deny that the law restricts women’s abortion rights, [...]/p

Department of Education Opens Investigation Into UNC’s Handling Of Sexual Assault

Department of Education Opens Investigation Into UNC’s Handling Of Sexual Assault: The U.S. Department of Education will begin investigating the way the University of North Carolina handles sexual assault cases, the News & Observer reported on Wednesday. The investigation comes after a group of women filed a complaint to the Department in which they alleged that the University had inappropriately handled reports of rape, thus violating [...]/p

Pelosi Backs Bill That Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour

Pelosi Backs Bill That Would Raise Minimum Wage To $10 An Hour: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called on Republican House leadership to take up legislation recently introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-CA) and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) that would raise the federal minimum wage above $10 an hour. Miller and Harkin announced the bill, which would set the minimum wage at $10.10 per hour [...]/p

Finally, a Nuanced Look at Hookup Culture and the Sex Lives of Modern Women in Their 20s | Alternet

Finally, a Nuanced Look at Hookup Culture and the Sex Lives of Modern Women in Their 20s | Alternet
"A new book explores the wildly, infuriatingly contradictory messages young women face."

Everything You Need To Know About Arkansas’ New Abortion Ban, The Strictest In The Nation

Everything You Need To Know About Arkansas’ New Abortion Ban, The Strictest In The Nation: Arkansas lawmakers have voted to override Gov. Mike Beebe’s (D) veto of a 12-week abortion ban, ensuring that the legislation will go into effect this spring. SB 134 represents the worst abortion restriction in the nation — cutting off women’s access to legal abortion services well before the point of viability, which is typically around [...]/p

States With Harsh Abortion Laws May Find Fewer Medical Professionals Willing To Practice There

States With Harsh Abortion Laws May Find Fewer Medical Professionals Willing To Practice There: The anti-choice community’s crusade against abortion affects much more than women’s ability to legally terminate a pregnancy — it can also threaten women’s financial security, inspire increased levels of violent harassment against health clinics, and even restrict access to critical preventative services like family planning programs or sexual health instruction. On top of that, anti-abortion [...]/p

Eventually Sequester Will Cause Real Pain — And Among First to Suffer Will Be Hungry Children | Alternet

Eventually Sequester Will Cause Real Pain — And Among First to Suffer Will Be Hungry Children | Alternet
"According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, which began to warn of sequestration's very real impact weeks ago, the government will have to turn away as many as 775,000 women and children who qualify for WIC, the "highly effective" national nutrition program. Back when there was bipartisan opposition to letting people starve, legislators of both parties worked to ensure that WIC funding was sufficient to enroll every qualified family. Everyone seemed to agree that the program's cost was trivial compared with the social, moral, and yes, economic benefits of properly feeding all hungry infants and children. 

       Not under the sequester, when common sense and compassion become impermissible. Not under the sequester, which not only enforces the cruel cuts but allows their perpetrators to deny ownership of the specific consequences."

It Wasn't Bad Sex, It Wasn't a Mistake, 'It Was Rape': Film Grapples with Society's Dark Side | Alternet

It Wasn't Bad Sex, It Wasn't a Mistake, 'It Was Rape': Film Grapples with Society's Dark Side | Alternet
"Jennifer Baumgardner's powerful new documentary gets eight women to describe one of the worst moments of their lives."

Republicans Won’t Say If Voting Rights Act Is Constitutional

Republicans Won’t Say If Voting Rights Act Is Constitutional: As the Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of a key provision in the Voting Rights Act, many on both sides of the aisle are speaking out in defense of the law. But just seven years after joining in the Senate’s 98-0 vote to reauthorize the law, two Senate Republicans are refusing to say whether they [...]/p

The 'War on Women' Isn't Over Yet | Common Dreams

The 'War on Women' Isn't Over Yet | Common Dreams
"It was a year ago when Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke testified in front of an all-male congressional panel about the importance of making birth control affordable to every American woman. After being publicly taunted and called a "slut" by radio personality Rush Limbaugh, people across the nation rallied in Ms Fluke's defense and started waking up to a growing "war on women"."

GOP Lawmaker: We Must Make It Harder To Divorce Or Teenage Girls Will Be ‘More Promiscuous’

GOP Lawmaker: We Must Make It Harder To Divorce Or Teenage Girls Will Be ‘More Promiscuous’: On Monday, the Iowa state House moved out of committee a bill that would make no-fault divorces illegal. That’s a huge relief for one state legislator, who fears that no-fault divorce will turn his 16-year-old granddaughter into a harlot. State Representative Tedd Gassman (R) spoke emotionally about the legislation — which would require all parents [...]/p

#GOPSequester: 98 Percent of What They Wanted

GOP Congresswoman: I Opposed Domestic Violence Bill Because It Protected Too Many Groups

GOP Congresswoman: I Opposed Domestic Violence Bill Because It Protected Too Many Groups: Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on Monday openly admitted that she opposed the latest reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) because it included protections for LGBT, Native American, and undocumented victims of domestic violence. In an appearance on MSNBC, Blackburn pointed out that the latest iteration of the law protects “different groups” and thus [...]/p

Why Aren’t Doctors Telling Women About The Most Effective Form Of Emergency Contraception?

Why Aren’t Doctors Telling Women About The Most Effective Form Of Emergency Contraception?: Even though the copper intrauterine device (IUD) — a long-lasting, hormone-free form of birth control — is the most effective form of emergency contraception to prevent pregnancy after an unprotected sexual encounter, doctors typically don’t mention it to their patients. When most women choose to take emergency contraception, they opt for what is commonly down [...]/p

California GOP Leader: Pregnancies Resulting From Rape Are Rare Because ‘The Body Is Traumatized’

California GOP Leader: Pregnancies Resulting From Rape Are Rare Because ‘The Body Is Traumatized’: Celeste Greig, president of California Republican Assembly, the state’s oldest and largest GOP volunteer organization told The Bay Area News Group this week that pregnancies resulting from rape are rare “because it’s an act of violence, because the body is traumatized.” Bizarrely, Greig made the comments while criticizing similar remarks from Todd Akin, who falsely [...]/p

Dear Scalia: 'Entitlement' Comment Undermines Core Of Our Democracy

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The 32 Dumbest And Most Devastating Sequester Cuts

The 32 Dumbest And Most Devastating Sequester Cuts: With Congress unable to reach a deal to avert the indiscriminate spending cuts put in place in the Budget Control Act of 2011, President Obama on Friday signed an order authorizing the government to begin canceling $85 billion from federal accounts for this fiscal year. As Obama said during a press conference yesterday, “This is [...]/p

Who's afraid of Elizabeth Warren?

Sexual Harassment is Still Rampant in American Workplaces | Alternet

Sexual Harassment is Still Rampant in American Workplaces | Alternet
"An emerging case of extreme harassment reveals the sorry state of offices for many women."

Senator Ron Johnson Puts His Inner Pig on Public Display

Senator Ron Johnson Puts His Inner Pig on Public Display
"This is the whole video, but if you go to about the 16 minute mark you'll get treated to the full version of Senator Ron Johnson's inner loathing for women, poor women in particular."

How An Anti-Choice Group Is Trying To Buy Virginia’s Governor’s Mansion

How An Anti-Choice Group Is Trying To Buy Virginia’s Governor’s Mansion: Virginia’s gubernatorial election, is eight months away, but a leading anti-choice group is already spending big money to buy the governor’s mansion for Tea Party Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA). Susan B. Anthony List — an anti-abortion group that launched a program early this year to teach Republican candidates how to talk about rape without [...]/p

4 Ways the Sequester Worsens the Inequality that Is Killing the Economy | Alternet

4 Ways the Sequester Worsens the Inequality that Is Killing the Economy | Alternet
"Welcome to the vast inane. Today the “sequester” -- mindless, across-the-board cuts of military and domestic spending designed to be abhorrent -- will go into effect. Republicans claimed a “big victory” as House Speaker John Boehner shut down any negotiations and sent the House home.  The cuts will cost jobs and add to the headwinds facing the economy. The sequester will be followed by operatic melodrama over keeping the government open after the end of March and keeping the government from defaulting on its debt beginning in the middle of May.

The deficit is falling faster than any time since the demobilization after World War II, Americans are afflicted with mass unemployment and falling wages, but Washington will be traveling into the vast inane for the foreseeable future."

National Review: Victims Of Violent Military Rapes Struggle In Life Because Of ‘Their Own Bad Decision-Making’

National Review: Victims Of Violent Military Rapes Struggle In Life Because Of ‘Their Own Bad Decision-Making’: In Thursday’s paper, the New York Times ran the harrowing story of Tiffany Jackson, a female veteran grappling with the effects of military sexual trauma. Jackson had been violently raped while deployed overseas at the Suwon Air Base in South Korea, and upon her return to the states had difficulty finding and keeping a job, [...]/p

Bill Blum: The Political Forces Behind the Attack on the Voting Rights Act - Truthdig

Bill Blum: The Political Forces Behind the Attack on the Voting Rights Act - Truthdig
"Those organizations—whose ranks range from well-known right-wing think tanks such as the Federalist Society and the American Enterprise and Cato institutes to relatively obscure nonprofits such as the Virginia-based DonorsTrust foundation and the Project on Fair Representation—form a de facto alliance that aims at nothing less than a wholesale transformation of constitutional law to limit, if not altogether prohibit, the use of federal power on behalf of historically oppressed minorities. The Voting Rights Act is simply the target of the day."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren vs. Bernanke/Banksters

SCOTUS Conservatives Signal Intention To Dismantle Voting Rights Act

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The Nine Republican Men Who Won’t Consider Any Version Of The Violence Against Women Act

The Nine Republican Men Who Won’t Consider Any Version Of The Violence Against Women Act: Nine Congressmen — all male Republicans — voted Wednesday against a resolution to allow the U.S. House to consider re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The vast majority of House Republicans (214) and all 200 House Democrats voted for rule, which will allow votes Thursday on the watered-down GOP version of the bill [...]/p

Kansas Bill Would Protect Doctors Who Mislead Women About Their Pregnancies

Kansas Bill Would Protect Doctors Who Mislead Women About Their Pregnancies: The Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee recommended a bill yesterday that would effectively allow doctors to lie or withhold information about debilitating genetic conditions or birth defects in order to influence women’s decisions about their pregnancies. Kansas SB 142 provides blanket protection from “wrongful birth” lawsuits to doctors, with section 1(a) reading: “No civil action may [...]/p

Why We Still Need The Voting Rights Act: Perspectives From Supreme Court Spectators

Why We Still Need The Voting Rights Act: Perspectives From Supreme Court Spectators: The US Supreme Court heard a challenge to the 1965 Voting Rights Act today, attracting hoards of voting rights advocates, speakers, and a massive line of people vying for a spot in the courtroom. Today’s argument could lead to the elimination of Section 5, which protects minority voting rights in states with historically discriminatory election [...]/p

How The Looming Sequester Will Have A Disproportionate Impact On Women And Children

How The Looming Sequester Will Have A Disproportionate Impact On Women And Children: In constructing the sequester — a series of automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that will go into effect unless Democrats and Republicans can come to an agreement on the federal budget — lawmakers intended to design cuts that would be equally painful for Democrats and Republicans, by mandating cuts to both social programs and defense spending. [...]/p

Your Glossary To Decoding The GOP’s Anti-Abortion Rhetoric

Your Glossary To Decoding The GOP’s Anti-Abortion Rhetoric: Anti-choice Republicans are chipping away at reproductive rights from all angles, particularly on the state level. Often, lawmakers advance several different abortion restrictions simultaneously — as is currently the case in Arkansas and North Dakota — and it can be difficult to unwrap the rhetoric to figure out exactly what all of those proposed measures [...]/p

Conservative Blog Compares Ashley Judd’s Feminism To Todd Akin’s ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment

Conservative Blog Compares Ashley Judd’s Feminism To Todd Akin’s ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment: Whether or not film star and progressive activist Ashley Judd decides to challenge Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for his seat in 2014, conservatives seem to be gearing up for a fight. On Tuesday morning, right-wing website The Daily Caller compared Judd’s unabashed feminism and environmentalism to former Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), whose campaign [...]/p

Five Ways The Sequester Will Harm Women

Five Ways The Sequester Will Harm Women: If sequestration is allowed to take effect as scheduled on March 1, $1.2 trillion will be automatically removed from the federal budget in across-the-board spending cuts that would potentially reverse our economic recovery. These cuts — which take money out of critical investments in education, public health services and research, disaster preparedness, and national security [...]/p

Female Yahoo! CEO Kills Work from Home Option? Why Americans Need a More Flexible Workplace | Alternet

Female Yahoo! CEO Kills Work from Home Option? Why Americans Need a More Flexible Workplace | Alternet
"How are you supposed to raise a family these days without a flexible work schedule?"

For Iraqi Women, America's Promise of Democracy is Anything But Liberation | Common Dreams

For Iraqi Women, America's Promise of Democracy is Anything But Liberation | Common Dreams
"Human rights, including women's rights, are a litmus test for democracy. Statements by senior officials, including the prime minister himself, show that – contrary to what some Iraqis had hoped for – the "liberators" have actually set the conditions for the continuity of injustice. And that, in turn, gives rise to extremism."

Republicans Call For Government Study To Justify Their Efforts To Defund Planned Parenthood

Republicans Call For Government Study To Justify Their Efforts To Defund Planned Parenthood: Republicans have made Planned Parenthood into a top target in their ongoing War on Women, repeatedly attempting to strip funding from the national women’s health organization because some of its affiliates provide abortion services. Despite the fact that federal law already prevents taxpayer dollars from funding abortion — which means that Planned Parenthood’s federal and [...]/p

Most Mass Shootings Target Women and Families; Study Finds Men With Legal Guns Are to Blame | Alternet

Most Mass Shootings Target Women and Families; Study Finds Men With Legal Guns Are to Blame | Alternet
"Data suggests that a gun present in a domestic violence situation increases the risk of homicide for women by 500 percent."

College Rape Victim Faces Expulsion for Speaking Out | Alternet

College Rape Victim Faces Expulsion for Speaking Out | Alternet
"A sophomore at the University of North Carolina is facing potential expulsion from her school for what the college calls 'intimidating' behavior."

Breakthrough In Breast Cancer Treatment Could Increase Life Expectancy, Reduce Side Effects

Breakthrough In Breast Cancer Treatment Could Increase Life Expectancy, Reduce Side Effects: A breakthrough in cancer treatment could potentially have a big impact on the 1 in 8 women who are diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives. The New York Times reports that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug that, when used in conjunction with the popular breast [...]/p

Violence Against Women Act Isn't Just A Good Bill In Name Only

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