Mike Papantonio, Attorney/Host-Ring of Fire Radio joins Thom Hartmann. Mitt Romney released his so-called plan for educating students in America last week – and to noone’s surprise – the plan does very little to help students in America afford a higher education. Rather than promote policies that reduce the costs of college and help the student loan debt crisis – Romney has chosen to protect for-profit colleges and big business. In fact – Romney pledges to undo two essential reforms implemented by President Obama and his administration: Student Loan Reform and Holding For-Profit Colleges accountable for waste, abuse and fraud. Right now – student loan debt in America is over $870 billion dollars – and apparently – if Mitt Romney becomes President – he’s comfortable letting this debt grow larger. Whether Romney wants to admit it or not – America is in the midst of a student loan crisis – and something needs to be done about it.
Month: May 2012
Heller Insults Not Just Spanish-Speakers, But ALL Nevadans
Heller Has “Managed to Insult Every Spanish-Speaking person in Nevada”…
AS WELL AS “every English-speaking person in the State of Nevada”
Las Vegas, NV – That’s going to leave a mark. Last night, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow called out Sen. Dean Heller over his papering over his record on immigration issues on his Spanish-language website – something Heller failed to do on his English-language one. This comes after the Las Vegas Sun reported earlier this week that Heller’s English-language website includes rhetoric on immigration issues that is apparently missing from the Spanish-language website. Did he really think Nevadans didn’t know how to use Google translation services? Given his opposition to the DREAM Act and comprehensive immigration reform, we wonder why he intentional information of his “en Español” version of his site. Was the intent to deceive?
The Numbers
I’m located in “Humboldt County, NV.” There’s also a “Humboldt County, CA” and I frequently have folks from Humboldt County, CA follow me on Twitter and on the Humboldt Dems site.
Today, I had a Candidate for Congress who wants to represent the people of Humboldt County, CA “follow” me on my Twitter account. It’ took me about 2 seconds to figure out which party ticket he’s running on — Republican. Up front on his blog is the following banner:
Technically, he’s not totally wrong, but it’s important to understand how we got there. To do that, let’s take a look at “the numbers” the National Debt numbers and the Federal Budget Deficit Numbers from 2000 forward thru the end of the 2011 fiscal year (9/30/2011).
We were doing pretty good and almost had NO budget deficit. We handed the Republicans a budget that was in line to deliver a budget surplus with which we could have begun paying down the national debt. Instead of doing that, the previous Administration instead elected to provide the wealthiest Americans with unwarranted tax breaks, create a new Medicare drug benefit … and start two “off the books” wars so they wouldn’t have to tell the American people just exactly what was happening to our National Debt and Federal Budget Deficits.
For those of you who may not be all that good with numbers, here it is in pictures:
So, as you can see, the Budget Deficit was driven over $1T during the final year of the Bush Administration. And, on 10/3/2008, before President Bush left office, they enacted TARP which drove the budget deficit up to almost $1.8T. Despite what you’re hearing on the right, the budget deficit is declining, as can be seen in both the graph on the numbers above.
If you’d like to check the numbers for yourself, you can use the links below to view the actual documents from which the numbers were taken:
Victory in Oklahoma: Medication Abortion Protected
Today, a court delivered another stinging rebuke to the Oklahoma legislature, striking down the government’s latest attempt to choke off women’s access to reproductive health services—an arbitrary and severe restriction on medication abortion.
Judge Donald Worthington ruled that the law was “so completely at odds” with standard medical practice that it “can serve no purpose other than to prevent women from obtaining abortions and to punish and discriminate against those women who do.”
And in no uncertain terms, the judge recognized that the Oklahoma Constitution protects a woman’s fundamental right to an abortion. This is a first for Oklahoma. And it sends a strong warning to a state that has served as a laboratory for extreme abortion restrictions over the years.
The Center challenged the law, which would have banned the use of medication to treat women with ectopic pregnancy as well as restricting treatment options for women seeking abortion last fall, arguing that it was a clear attack on women’s health and basic rights.
Medication abortion is a simple, safe and highly effective procedure that allows a woman to choose to end a pregnancy in a private, noninvasive way in consultation with her doctor. Scientific evidence supports a regimen that involves two steps. When a woman in the first nine weeks of pregnancy goes to a reproductive health facility, she takes one tablet of a drug called mifepristone. This blocks a hormone called progesterone, which is responsible for sustaining a pregnancy.
Sometimes a woman’s uterus empties without any further action, but more often women take a drug called misoprostol several hours after the mifepristone to trigger that process.
In the best of situations, this happens when a woman is comfortable, in the privacy of her home, and being supported by a friend or loved one.
The law would have prevented doctors from using their best medical judgment to treat women seeking pregnancy terminations—ultimately, depriving women of the full range of scientifically proven treatments available.
This victory in Oklahoma is the third in three months. Last month, the Center defeated the state’s attempt to push a so-called “personhood” ballot initiative that would have given fertilized eggs the full rights of a person. And in March, we won a huge case that overturned an Oklahoma law requiring women seeking abortion to undergo an ultrasound, see the image, and suffer through a state-authored script read by the doctor.
It is tremendous that the court has similarly rejected this extreme and misguided attempt to dramatically restrict the care available to women seeking treatment for ectopic pregnancy and women seeking abortions in Oklahoma. The medical advances that made medication abortion widely available have made a huge difference for more than one million American women. We fight these laws because all women deserve a reproductive health service that is compassionate, private, and makes total sense.
————————————————
Read more about the case at the Center for Reproductive Rights >
Bills in Congress This Week
House returns for legislative business TODAY, and will be voting on:
The Food and Drug Administration Reform Act (HR 5651) revises and extends the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and for medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars. (House vote Wed.)
The Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act (HR 3310) consolidate the reporting obligations of the Federal Communications Commission in order to improve congressional oversight and reduce reporting burdens. (House vote Wed.)
The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA) (HR 3541) prohibits discrimination against the unborn on the basis of sex or race. (House vote Wed.)
The Divisional Realignment Act (HR 5512) realigns divisions within two judicial districts. (House vote Wed.)
The Servicemember Family Protection Act (HR 4201) provides for the protection of child custody arrangements for parents who are members of the Armed Forces. (House vote Wed.)
The Secure Border Act (HR 1299) achieves operational control of and improve security at the international land borders of the US. (House vote Wed.)
HR 3670 requires the Transportation Security Administration to comply with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. (House vote Wed.)
The WMD Intelligence and Information Sharing Act (HR 2764) establishes weapons of mass destruction intelligence and information sharing functions of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis of the Department of Homeland Security and to require dissemination of information analyzed by the Department to entities with responsibilities relating to homeland security. (House vote Wed.)
The Jaime Zapata Border Security Task Force Act (HR 915) establishes a Border Enforcement Security Task Force program to enhance border security by fostering coordinated efforts among Federal, State, and local border and law enforcement officials to protect US border cities and communities from trans-national crime. (House vote Wed.)
The Mass Transit Intelligence Prioritization Act (HR 3140) directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to prioritize the assignment of officers and analysts to certain State and urban area fusion centers to enhance the security of mass transit systems. (House vote Wed.)
The Export Promotion Reform Act (HR 4041) further enhances the promotion of exports of United States goods and services. (House vote Wed.)
The Intelligence Authorization Act (HR 5743) authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 2013 for intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government (House vote Thurs.)
The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013 (HR 5854) (House vote Thurs.)
The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013 (HR 5325) (House vote Thurs.)
Newly Introduced Bills
Check out the list of newly introduced bills
Rural Nevada Democratic Caucus 