The Enablers

I’m hearing Democrats making a lot of hay about the Republicans’ “war on women.”  As outraged as I am at Rush Limbaugh, the Catholic Bishops, and pretty much any right-winger who tells me I have no right to look in his gun cabinet while he has every right to stick his nose between my legs, I can’t help but think that the fact that we are arguing over birth control has as much to do with alleged liberals and progressives as it does with those who would like to take us back 100 years.

Hillary Clinton had it right when she spoke to the U.N. 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995:

It is time for us to say here in Beijing, and for the world to hear, that it is no longer acceptable to discuss women’s rights as separate from human rights.

These abuses have continued because, for too long, the history of women has been a history of silence. Even today, there are those who are trying to silence our words. But the voices of this conference and of the women at Huairou must be heard loudly and clearly:

It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied food, or drowned, or suffocated, or their spines broken, simply because they are born girls.

It is a violation of human rights when women and girls are sold into the slavery of prostitution for human greed — and the kinds of reasons that are used to justify this practice should no longer be tolerated.

It is a violation of human rights when women are doused with gasoline, set on fire, and burned to death because their marriage dowries are deemed too small.

It is a violation of human rights when individual women are raped in their own communities and when thousands of women are subjected to rape as a tactic or prize of war.

It is a violation of human rights when a leading cause of death worldwide among women ages 14 to 44 is the violence they are subjected to in their own homes by their own relatives.

It is a violation of human rights when young girls are brutalized by the painful and degrading practice of genital mutilation.

It is a violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their will.

If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely — and the right to be heard.

“Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights . . . “

Then why are our rights always used as bargaining chips?  Why are our private health care decisions “carved out” as something outside of normal health care? You think they haven’t been? Explain the Hyde Amendment to me. Explain President Obama’s Executive Order that enshrined the Hyde Amendment and now will never again have to come up for an annual vote in Congress. Explain all the “conscience clauses” for doctors, nurses and other “health” practitioners that allows them to deny women legal medical procedures that provider finds personally “immoral.”  Explain why pharmacists have been given permission to refuse to fill a woman’s legal prescription from a licensed M.D. because he objects on “religious” grounds.

All of this has been done on the Democrats’ watch or with their acquiescence.

You might not realize it but a lot of us of the female persuasion have been warning about this for years. We were told to not rock the boat. Can’t you see we’ve got really, really important stuff to do FIRST? Your turn will come, we were told. In the meantime, can you come help out with the phone bank or walk a precinct? Yes, we LOVE women! We VALUE women! Really, really, really! But, you know . . .  the Republicans!!! 

In order to pass President Obama’s “signature” Health Care bill, women’s rights regarding their right to choose was sold down the river. Abortion was singled out for special treatment. No other medical procedure was given this carve out. This was done by Democrats who, instead of drawing a line in the sand, caved.

Another example: The Lily Ledbetter Act passed both houses of Congress early in 2009, but the more important Paycheck Fairness Act, the bill that would actually put some teeth into Lily Ledbetter, and after having passed the House in 2009 by a greater margin than Lily Ledbetter, languished for two years in a Democrat-controlled Senate until just before the 2010 election when it was becoming clear that Democrats were probably going to get their asses handed to them, so they’d better throw the wimmenz a bone.  The vote didn’t happen until after the “shellacking” and failed pretty much on a straight party vote. Hmmm. Do you think that this bill might have stood a better chance if it had been voted on at the same time as its sister legislation? Why wasn’t it? Because, women’s priorities always take a back seat. Always. Until it is an election year and the Dems need to get us stirred up again so we’ll walk those precincts and staff those phone banks.

There may be a huge backlash now because of the overreach of the conservatives, but what is happening now is not an event in isolation. All along the way Democrats and “progressives” gave them the green light to take an inch, and then another inch and then a yard, then half mile until, well,  here we are. As Dr. Violet Socks writes:

Women’s contraception is the only medication associated with normal human activity that is described as some kind of weird off-the-wall thing that shouldn’t be covered by insurance. The only one.

We told you they wouldn’t be happy until they put all women under their thumbs. Those of us who embrace a secular government and the separation of church and state also warned you about the dangers of letting other people’s religions interfere in our government.

You didn’t listen.

Maybe now you will.

(By the way, I was quite pleased to hear that the Democratic women walked out of Darryl Issa’s hearing the other day. Let me know when the all Democratic men do the same. Seriously, when are all of you going to have our backs?)

Just SAY it!

I. Love. This.

This is precisely what infuriates me. We have a functional moron running for the presidency, and a small crop of presumably pro-science people are busily trying to shush the opposition up so they can work their clever psycho-mojo and gently enlighten Perry by…I don’t know, wiggling their fingers, thinking happy thoughts, or maybe they’re going to use The Force.

Perry is a disastrously bad candidate (as is Bachmann). Call me a radical, but maybe it’s a good idea for the opposition to oppose them, openly, and with thorough, rational explanations? And if the candidate is an ignoramus, as Perry clearly is, SAY IT.

[ . . . ]

What Dawkins does, as do many of us on the side the accommodationists hate, is provide sharp, clear, strong positions. What Dawkins does in that op-ed is play the role of Joseph Welch, confronting wicked folly and stating his position lucidly and with acid contempt for the forces of ignorance and deception.

You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

If Jamie Vernon had been writing in 1954, he would no doubt have castigated Welch for his harshness, and suggested some compromise…perhaps a few more hearings, helpfully exposing a few more Communists, perhaps asking for a little more respect for the distinguished senator from Wisconsin, Joe McCarthy.

This accommodationist view could also accurately describe just about everything about today’s Democratic Party.

Past performance is an excellent predictor of future action

Remember The Lesson I learned long ago?

When I was married to husband #1, he used to tell me that I shouldn’t judge him on past behavior. But that’s all I had to go on. He could promise until the cows came home that he was turning over a new leaf, but until I saw some consistent behavior changes, I had no other point of reference. The same applies to Obama.

Words are easy. And they do come easy to Barack Obama. What he has trouble with is (A) conflict and (B) follow-through.  

I  hate it when I’m right. One whimper from Boehner and Obama rolls over and shows his belly.

In the space of one paragraph, we see everything wrong with this negotiation strategy. On the one hand, Obama says that a failure to increase the debt limit would plunge the country into chaos. This comes as even GOP hopefuls like Haley Barbour are telling their fellow Congressmen that they shouldn’t take a clean vote off the table. But in the next breath, Obama says that some spending cuts would have to be carried along with the vote.

Obama could pretty simply offer nothing and allow Wall Street to force Boehner into submission. This would be a successful strategy, as evidenced by the fact that Boehner, Eric Cantor, and everyone in the GOP insists that the debt limit will be raised. So you can only conclude that spending cuts or structural reforms will be attached to the vote because that’s what the President wants.

Please pardon my momentary flight of fancy in which I allowed myself to “hope” for a just a bit. We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

Sigh.

Flat out disgusted

Tonight President Obama said this regarding the “deal” made to avert the federal government shutdown. (Try to ignore the grammatically incorrect lead sentence)

Tomorrow, I’m pleased to announce that the Washington Monument, as well as the entire federal government, will be open for business.  And that’s because today Americans of different beliefs came together again.

In the final hours before our government would have been forced to shut down, leaders in both parties reached an agreement that will allow our small businesses to get the loans they need, our families to get the mortgages they applied for, and hundreds of thousands of Americans to show up at work and take home their paychecks on time, including our brave men and women in uniform.

All those government office are open on the weekend? Really?

This agreement between Democrats and Republicans, on behalf of all Americans, is on a budget that invests in our future while making the largest annual spending cut in our history.  Like any worthwhile compromise, both sides had to make tough decisions and give ground on issues that were important to them.  And I certainly did that.

Oh yes, indeed, Mr. Obama. You and the Dems certainly did give ground. But what, exactly, did the Republicans give up? Not a damned thing as far as I can tell. From Boehner’s office:

Here are some key facts on the bipartisan agreement:

• THE LARGEST SPENDING CUT IN AMERICAN HISTORY.  The agreement will immediately cut $38.5 billion in federal spending – the largest spending cut in American history in terms of dollars – just months after President Obama asked Congress for a spending “freeze” that would mean zero cuts. 
• HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS IN SPENDING CUTS OVER THE NEXT DECADE.  The agreement will cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the federal budget over the next decade – “real money,” as the Wall Street Journal editorial board recently noted.
• OFFICIALLY ENDS THE “STIMULUS” SPENDING BINGE.  The agreement begins to reverse the “stimulus” spending binge that began in 2009 – signaling the official end of a period of unprecedented government intervention that former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan and other economists say hurt job creation in America by crowding out private investment. 
• SETS STAGE FOR TRILLIONS MORE IN SPENDING CUTS.  Clears the way for congressional action on House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget – The Path to Prosperity – which cuts trillions in spending and offers a long-term blueprint for American job creation.
• GUARANTEES SENATE VOTE ON REPEAL OF OBAMACARE.  The agreement reached with Senate Democrats guarantees a Senate debate and vote on legislation that would repeal President Obama’s government takeover of health care in its entirety.  The House passed such legislation in January as part of the Pledge to America.
• NEW TOOLS IN THE FIGHT TO REPEAL OBAMACARE.  The agreement will generate new tools for the fight to repeal Obamacare by requiring numerous studies that will force the Obama Administration to reveal the true impact of the law’s mandates, including a study of how individuals and families will see increased premiums as a result of certain Obamacare mandates; a full audit of all the waivers that the Obama Administration has given to firms and organizations – including unions – who can’t meet the new annual coverage limits; a full audit of what’s happening with the comparative effectiveness research funding that was in Obamacare and the president’s failed “stimulus” spending bill; and a report on all of the contractors who have been hired to implement the law and the costs to taxpayers of such contracts.    
• DENIES ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO THE IRS.  The Obama administration has sought increased federal funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) – money that could be used to hire additional agents to enforce the administration’s agenda on a variety of issues.  This increased funding is denied in the agreement.
• GUARANTEES SENATE VOTE & DEBATE ON DE-FUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD.  The agreement with Senate Democrats guarantees a Senate debate and vote on legislation that would end federal funding for Planned Parenthood. 
• BANS TAXPAYER FUNDING OF ABORTION IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.  The agreement includes a complete ban on local and federal funding of abortion in the District of Columbia, applying the pro-life principles of the Hyde Amendment (“D.C. Hyde”). 
• MANDATORY AUDITS OF THE NEW JOB-CRUSHING BUREAUCRACY SET UP UNDER DODD-FRANK.  The agreement subjects the so-called Consumer Financial Protection Bureau created by the job-destroying Dodd-Frank law to yearly audits by both the private sector and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to monitor its impact on the economy, including its impact on jobs, by examining whether sound cost-benefit analyses are being used with rulemakings. 

If the Republicans didn’t get everything today, they’ll get it in the next couple of weeks. Cuts now and votes later to get the rest of their wish list.

More Obama:

Some of the cuts we agreed to will be painful.

Painful for who? Not you. Not any Senator. Not a single Representative.

Programs people rely on will be cut back. 

And for this all of you should be ashamed.

Needed infrastructure projects will be delayed. 

Eh, what’s another bridge or two falling down? Or a levee failure. No big deal.

And I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances. 

In better circumstances the American people wouldn’t be needing these programs, now would they? 

I want to think Speaker Boehner and Senator Reid for their leadership and their dedication during this process.  A few months ago, I was able to sign a tax cut for American families because both parties worked through their differences and found common ground.  Now the same cooperation will make possible the biggest annual spending cut in history, and it’s my sincere hope that we can continue to come together as we face the many difficult challenges that lie ahead, from creating jobs and growing our economy to educating our children and reducing our deficit.  That’s what the American people expect us to do.  That’s why they sent us here. 

” . . . the same cooperation . . . “

Is that what they’re calling extortion these days?

Jeezus.

It took the Dems just one day to back down

Yesterday.

Mr. McConnell called on Democrats to approve a stop-gap spending measure that would last only through the early part of next year instead, and to abandon everything else on their agenda and adjourn for the year.

“We should accomplish the most basic function of government — we can at least vote to keep the lights on around here,” he said. “Pass the tax legislation and keep the lights on,” Mr. McConnell said. ““Everything else can wait.”

Democrats, however, are refusing to back down on any of their priorities, which include the omnibus spending bill, the New Start arms control treaty with Russia, a bill to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring open service by gay soldiers, and an immigration measure that would create a path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants brought to the United States as young children.

Mr. Reid said that the Senate would be in session on Sunday in a push to finish work on all of these legislative items, but Republicans were maneuvering aggressively to thwart him. Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said he would force a complete public reading of both the Start treaty and the more than 1,900-page spending bill, potentially locking up the Senate floor for more than 24 hours.

Today.

Democrats abruptly abandoned a fight over spending on Thursday and said they would instead extend government funding on a temporary basis, a move that gives Republicans a greater chance to enact the deep cuts they have promised.

[ . . . ]

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said nine Republicans had agreed to back the bill, which likely would have given him enough votes to pass it. But Republican support evaporated in recent days, he said.

“In reality we only have one choice, and that’s a short term” funding bill, Reid said on the Senate floor.

Reid said he would work with the Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, to figure out how long the temporary extension should last.

McConnell introduced a measure earlier in the day that would extend current funding until February 18, 2011.

And the Dems were expecting anything else?

Sherrod Brown, after making lots of noise and getting my email on his mailing list gives in, saying they fought the good fight but gosh, gee, what more could he have done, and voted for the POS. 

Dear Carissa,

We fought back against extending the Bush tax cuts for the super-wealthy because we knew it was wrong to exacerbate our deficit crisis on behalf of millionaires and billionaires when working Ohioans were struggling.

We fought back against President Obama’s agreement to include those tax breaks in his compromise plan because we know it was wrong to hold help for the middle class and small businesses hostage to such a wasteful giveaway.

We fought hard, and I’m proud of our stand. From joining my colleague Bernie Sanders’ filibuster to accumulating more than 20,000 signatures on our open letter to the President to offering my own middle-class tax cut plan, I know that we made our voices heard. [BL: You did? Coulda fooled me. The package looks just like the one announce on December 6th]

Unfortunately, in the end, we had to choose between a bad deal and no deal at all. And as much as I disagreed with the Republican tax cuts for the rich–and President Obama’s decision to include them in the compromise–I had to cast a tough vote in favor of the plan so that working families don’t see their taxes go up or their unemployment benefits cut off.

While I’m glad that we averted a middle-class tax hike and ensured that jobless Ohioans will be able to keep food on the table while the economy recovers, I’m upset that we couldn’t get a better deal.
But we don’t have time to be disappointed. Two years from now, Republicans will once again try to force another extension of their millionaire bailout. President Obama will once again have to decide whether to cave in to their demand in order to pass critical economic assistance for working people. [BL: Of course, in the heat of his re-election campaign, Obama will be sure to tell millions of Americans that their taxes are going to go up] And next time, we can’t just fight hard–we have to win the fight. [BL: Excuse me while I go throw up]

That’s why I hope you’ll stay tuned [BL translation: send me money when I ask for it. Don't waste your breath. I won't see your request as I've unsubscribed from your mailing list.] as I continue to fight for economic policies that reward work, not wealth–real help for struggling families and real economic security for the middle class.

As we’ve learned this fall, that’s a tough fight, and I’m going to need you on my side. And I can’t thank you enough for standing with me.

Sherrod Brown

I’m sorry, but fighting back means that your opponent gets damaged somehow. What blow, exactly, did you even get close to laying on them? 

Oh, but wait! This vote is gonna be so worth it, because, in exchange, the Dems are gonna get what they want. Right? Right???

Mr. McConnell called on Democrats to approve a stop-gap spending measure that would last only through the early part of next year instead, and to abandon everything else on their agenda and adjourn for the year.

“We should accomplish the most basic function of government — we can at least vote to keep the lights on around here,” he said. “Pass the tax legislation and keep the lights on,” Mr. McConnell said. ““Everything else can wait.”

Democrats, however, are refusing to back down on any of their priorities, which include the omnibus spending bill, the New Start arms control treaty with Russia, a bill to repeal the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring open service by gay soldiers, and an immigration measure that would create a path to citizenship for certain illegal immigrants brought to the United States as young children.

Mr. Reid said that the Senate would be in session on Sunday in a push to finish work on all of these legislative items, but Republicans were maneuvering aggressively to thwart him. Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said he would force a complete public reading of both the Start treaty and the more than 1,900-page spending bill, potentially locking up the Senate floor for more than 24 hours.

Dems, take note. THAT is how you prevent legislation you don’t like from passing. Not by making pretty speeches and sending firmly worded Open Letters.