Tag Archives: Congress

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The Latest Empty Gesture


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Republican Candidates Ignore Their Party’s Record When It Comes To Domestic Violence

Republican candidates facing persistent unpopularity with women continue to do whatever they can to muddy the waters on their anti-women policy positions. Last month, we documented how several GOP candidates for Senate came out in support of over-the-counter birth control–a move designed to look accommodating but in fact would be a tax on women.

Now they are at it again. This time, numerous conservative candidates are putting out advertisements highlighting their work to protect women from domestic violence. But just like before, these claims obscure the real records of many GOP officeholders, who have a consistent record of opposing common sense policies to further protect women from violence.

Here are some examples of positions that these candidates won’t be talking about in their new ads:

1. Voting Against Reauthorizing The Violence Against Women Act. A majority of the Republicans in the House voted to oppose renewing the Violence Against Women Act last year. After nearly a year of Republican obstruction on the measure, the House of Representatives finally voted to renew VAWA and pass a bipartisan Senate-approved version of the bill. But even as the bill passed, there were 138 votes against the bill, all from members of the GOP. Even a watered-down version of the bill offered by Republicans failed to gain the support of their conference.

2. Taking Away Free Screening And Counseling From Survivors Of Domestic Violence. Under the Affordable Care Act, survivors of domestic violence are now entitled to free screening and counseling as a preventative service, critical to improve both health and safety. Survivors of domestic violence are more likely to have chronic health conditions and use the emergency room more frequently, and are more likely to have HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases because they lack the power to negotiate condom usage. Identifying current or past violence can help prevent further abuse and lead to improved health status. But of course, with a party platform to repeal the ACA, Republicans would effectively remove that vital service.

3. Defending Easy Access To Guns By Domestic Abusers And Stalkers. Weak gun laws leave too many women facing a fatal end to domestic abuse. In all but nine states, you can be convicted of stalking and still walk into a store, pass a background check, and buy a gun. The consequences are horrifying: more women have been murdered by an intimate partner with a gun since 2001 than the total number of U.S. troops killed in action during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined. Several leaders have proposed laws to close these gaps, but conservative members of Congress beholden to the gun lobby refuse to help. The only time they seem to moderate their position defending stalkers is when it becomes too publicly humiliating — like when Gabby Giffords called out Arizona GOP Candidate Martha McSally.

BOTTOM LINE: The GOP candidates touting their work to prevent domestic violence on the airwaves are obscuring the truth about the GOP’s real record on Capitol Hill. The reality is that Republicans have disputed the reauthorization of VAWA, continue to support giving stalkers easy access to guns, and would remove preventative health services for survivors of domestic violence. The attempts to brush over those facts are just the latest empty gesture to appeal to voters during election season, and they won’t trick anyone.

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Petition update – R.J. Larizza: Order a Coroner’s Inquest into the Death of Michelle O’Connell

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Gov. Scott orders new investigation into Michelle O’Connell’s death

Oct 06, 2014 — I have huge news to share with you that brings us closer to finally getting justice for my sister Michelle O’Connell. Thanks in large part to your support, Gov. Rick Scott has just… Read more

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who is Moncia Wehby? A Republican


  • the election results are in — and we now know who will be taking on Senator Merkley this fall.
    The Republican nominee is Monica Wehby.  

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    Here’s what you need to know:
    • She has been a national activist against the Affordable Care Act.  She’s called for repeal of health care reform, and she’d put the insurance companies back in charge.
    • Wehby is opposed to raising the federal minimum wage and making work pay for millions of Americans.
    • She supports restrictions on a woman’s right to choose and would support Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade.  And she’s won the support of some of America’s most radical anti-choice activists.
    The bottom line?  
    When asked, Wehby couldn’t name a single thing that she disagreed about with Republicans in the Senate.
    So, it’s no surprise that the Washington DC establishment and their SuperPAC pals are so enthusiastic about Monica Wehby.
    Senator Mitch McConnell, who calls himself the “guardian of gridlock,” is 100% all-in for Wehby — as are numerous Republican Senators.
    Karl Rove has raved about her in the pages of the Wall Street Journal.  And Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are all-in, too.
    But the thing that Merkley fans should be watching closest?  Monica Wehby already has at least two SuperPACs on her side funded by wealthy out-of-state special interests.  They went to bat for her in the Republican primary — to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars — and you can bet they’ll be swinging for the fences against Senator Merkley.
    Let’s stand up for Jeff.
    Senator Merkley is a proven progressive, making real progress on fixing the filibuster, holding Wall Street accountable, fixing the housing crisis, turning the dial back on climate change, ending LGBT discrimination, standing up to the Monsanto Protection Act, and making college affordable.
    We know why the right-wing radicals and billionaires want to defeat Jeff Merkley.  The only question is: What are we going to do about it?
    Onward!
    Alex
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One Year Later ~~~ What Conservatives have cost Americans


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A Year After The Government Shutdown, Conservatives Haven’t Learned Their Lesson

Today marks the one-year anniversary of when federal offices began closing due to a Republican-forced government shutdown — that lasted 16 days — in an effort to pursue their extreme ideological agenda. A quick reminder of what the government shutdown costs America:

  • $24 Billion: What the shutdown cost the economy.
  • $2.5 Billion: What the shutdown cost taxpayers.
  • 120,000 Jobs: The number of jobs lost due to the shutdown.
  • $414 Million: The estimated lost revenue to parks and surrounding communities due to the closure of 401 national parks.

Despite the deep unpopularity of the government shutdown shenanigans among the American public, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised more of the same if the GOP takes control of the upper chamber in 2015.

“The typically reserved McConnell laid out his clearest thinking yet of how he would lead the Senate if Republicans gain control of the chamber. The emerging strategy: Attach riders to spending bills that would limit Obama policies on everything from the environment to health care, consider using an arcane budget tactic to circumvent Democratic filibusters and force the president to “move to the center” if he wants to get any new legislation through Congress. McConnell risks overreaching if he follows through with his pledge to attach policy riders to spending bills. If Obama refuses to accept such measures, a government shutdown could ensue. Republicans bore much of the blame for last year’s government shutdown, and their fortunes rebounded only when the administration bungled the rollout of Obamacare…But asked about the potential that his approach could spark another shutdown, McConnell said it would be up to the president to decide whether to veto spending bills that would keep the government open.

This is a stark reminder of how much is at stake this election cycle. But the implications go beyond just government shutdown threats. A Republican-controlled Senate would also mean:

  • A Senate focused on creating an economy that only works for the wealthiest and select few, instead of an economy that works for everyone.
  • A Senate focused on taking away people’s healthcare and gutting environmental safeguards that provide vital public health protections.
  • A Senate focused on obstruction of progressive appointments to the executive and judiciary, which will impact voting rights, marriage equality, health care, immigration and more.
  • A Senate focused on overblown Administration scandals instead of addressing the serious issues facing Americans.

BOTTOM LINE: One year after the shutdown, it’s clear conservatives haven’t learned their lesson. Americans want a Senate that works for them, not one that holds them hostage for political reasons.