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~~~~~~~~~~~
(Links to larger photos were good
at the time the picture was posted.)
|
WOMEN'S News:
 Abortion
News
20080616
 Kevin
Jeffrey Martin -  Corporate
-  Government
-  Politics
-  Satellite
-  Spectrum
-  History
-  Communications
-  Media
- Minorities
- Women
-  Lawmakers
-  Md
"Radio
Merger Under Fire From Black Lawmakers: Caucus, FCC
[Federal Communications Commission] Chair Differ On Setting Aside XM, Sirius
Channels for Minorities." ... "Senior members of the Congressional Black
Caucus yesterday criticized a compromise plan for the proposed merger of
the XM and Sirius satellite radio companies, saying the deal does not provide
enough opportunities for minority-owned programming." ... "[Republican
President Bush's] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin
said over the weekend that he would support the merger after XM Satellite
Radio Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio voluntarily agreed, among a series
of other concessions, to lease 4 percent of their radio spectrums, or 12
channels, for programming run by minorities and women." ... "Members of
the black caucus on Capitol Hill have been arguing for the merged company
to lease five times that amount of spectrum to companies owned by racial
minorities." ... "[Maryland Democratic Representative Elijah E. Cummings:]
"It's shocking to the conscience in this day and age, where the minority
populations comprise a significant part of the satellite radio audience,
that Mr. Martin would settle for what I deem to be crumbs that have fallen
off the table," Cummings said." ... "If the merger is approved, it would
be a major reversal of FCC rules. The agency distributed licenses to XM
and Sirius in 1997 on the condition the two companies never combine." -By
Jeffrey H. Birnbaum -WashingtonPost
20080615
 John
McCain -  Clayton
Williams - Women
- Politics
-  Texas
-  Ariz
- 2008
Election
"McCain
Texas Fundraiser Back On, Sans Oilman." ... "[2008
Elecition Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John
McCain (R-Ariz [Republican-Arizona]) has decided to hold a fundraiser initially
sponsored by a controversial Texas oilman later in the summer at a different
venue, according to an aide who asked not to be identified." ... "McCain
had planned to hold a joint fundraiser with the Republican National Committee
on Monday at the Midland, Tex., home of Clayton Williams, who ran for governor
of his state in 1990. But after reporters from The Washington Post and
ABC inquired Friday about a remark Williams made comparing rape to bad
weather -- "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and
enjoy it" -- the campaign cancelled the fundraiser. Williams has apologized
for the remarks" -By Juliet Eilperin
-WashingtonPost
John
McCain - Clayton
Williams - Money
- Politics
- Texas
- 2008
Election
"McCain
Cancels Event Over Texan's 1990 Rape Joke: Clayton
Williams Made Comments While Running Against [then Texas Democratic Candidate
for Governor] Ann Richards." ... "Questions from the media prompted Republican
[2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain to cancel a fundraiser
at the home of a Texas oilman who once joked that women should give in
while being raped." ... "The Texan, Republican Clayton "Claytie" Williams,
made the joke during his failed 1990 campaign for governor against Democrat
Ann Richards. Williams compared rape to the weather, saying, "As long as
it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it." He also compared
Richards to the cattle on his ranch, saying he would "head her and hoof
her and drag her through the dirt."" ... "Williams told his hometown newspaper,
the Midland Reporter-Telegram, that he had raised more than $300,000 for
McCain." -AP
via -cbs2chicago.com
John
McCain -  Hillary
Clinton - Women
-  Health
- Abortion
- Money
- Law
"Angry
Clinton Women [HEART] McCain?" ... "Ten years ago
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain had to apologize
for regaling a Republican audience with a crude
sexual joke about Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and Janet Reno. Last
year he had to explain why he didn’t so much as flinch when a
supporter asked him on camera, “How do we beat the bitch?” But these
days Mr. McCain just loves the women." ... "You’d never guess that Mr.
McCain is a fierce
foe of abortion rights or that he voted to terminate the federal family-planning
program that provides breast-cancer screenings. You’d never know that his
[McCain's] new campaign blogger, recruited from The Weekly Standard, had
shown his genuine affection for Mrs. Clinton earlier this year by portraying
her as a liar and whiner and by piling on with a locker-room jeer after
she’d been called a monster. “Tell us something we don’t know,” he wrote."
... "But while the McCain campaign apparently believes that women are easy
marks for its latent feminist cross-dressing, a reality check suggests
that most women can instantly identify any man who’s hitting on them for
selfish ends. New polls show Mr. Obama opening up a huge lead among female
voters — beating Mr. McCain by 13 percentage points in the Gallup and Rasmussen
polls and by 19 points in
the latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News survey." ... "... the notion
that all female Clinton supporters became “angry white women” once their
candidate lost — to the hysterical extreme where even lifelong Democrats
would desert their own party en masse — is itself a sexist stereotype.
That’s why some of the same talking heads and Republican operatives who
gleefully insulted Mrs. Clinton are now peddling this fable on such flimsy
anecdotal evidence." -By Frank
Rich -NYTimes
20080614
John
McCain - Clayton
Williams - Money
- Politics
- Texas
- History
- 2008
Election
"McCain
fundraiser's joke about rape resurfaces: GOP [GOP=Grand
Old Party=Republican] candidate postpones event in Midland [Texas] after
questions emerge." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
John] McCain's campaign late Friday said it had pulled the plug on a fundraising
event scheduled for Monday at Williams' Midland home after reporters contacted
the campaign asking about remarks made by the Texas Republican during his
1990 race against Democrat Ann Richards." ... "But Saturday afternoon,
the McCain campaign told the Houston Chronicle that the Midland event had
been postponed until this summer and would be held in a public venue."
... "Late Saturday afternoon, a McCain aide confirmed to the Chronicle
that the Midland event had been postponed but had not been taken off the
calendar. The compromise allowed McCain to say he had not held a fundraiser
at Williams' house; it gave Williams an opportunity to say that the event
he organized had not been canceled." ... ""Clayton Williams' totally inappropriate
remarks about women are well-known," [daughter of Ann Richards, Cecile]
Richards told the Chronicle. "Planning to host a fundraiser at his house
is just another example of how out of touch John McCain is when it comes
to women's issues. This is a major misstep for the McCain campaign, who
is having a hard time getting support from women."" -By
Richard S. Dunham with contributions by Alan Bernstein and Bennett Roth
-Chron
20080613
John
McCain - Clayton
Williams - Money
- Politics
-  Family
- Abortion
- Law
- Texas
- 2008
Election
"McCain
Cancels Fundraiser with Oilman Who Joked About Rape."
... "Clayton Williams, who ran unsuccessfully against the late Texas [Governor]
Gov. Ann Richards (D [Democratic]), sparked controversy nearly two decades
ago when he joked women should give in while being raped. "As long as it's
inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it," the oilman remarked
at the time." ... "The Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which has sharply
criticized [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain
for his opposition to abortion rights and other family planning programs,
first contacted the Post about Williams' remarks. The group's president,
Cecile Richards, is the daughter of the late Texas governor." ... ""It's
shocking that John McCain would choose to fundraise with Clayton Williams,
who made his political career saying completely inappropriate and disrespectful
remarks about women," Richards wrote in an e-mail. "This is a real misstep
for the McCain campaign, who is having a hard time getting support from
women."" -By Juliet Eilperin
-WashingtonPost
 John
McCain's contributor Clayton Williams "in His Own Words".
20080611
 
Racist
- Media
- Politics
- 2008
Election -  Obama
- Family
- Mom
"Fox
News calls Michelle Obama "Obama's baby mama"." ...
"An alert reader wrote in just a little while ago to let us know about
something he'd spotted on Fox News Wednesday afternoon. During a segment
discussing conservative attacks against Michelle Obama, the wife of [2008
Election] presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, the network described
the former as "Obama's baby mama."" ... "I checked, and sure enough, as
you can see below, our e-mailer was right. In fact, that description was
displayed on-screen several times during the segment, which featured anchor
Megyn Kelly and conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, an FNC contributor.
" -By Alex Koppelman -Salon
20080609
John
McCain - Racism
- Homophobia
- Sexism
- Language
- Politics
-  Internet
- Media
- Obama
- 2008
Election
"McCain's
Web site talks about the anti-Christ being 'a Jew,' Hillary being a 'bitch,'
Obama being a 'Muslim fag,' and America bringing 9/11 on itself."
... "UPDATE: Jed
finds more on other McCain sites, including a reference to Obama as
a n*gger." ... "Some folks on the right thought they'd pull an "I gotcha"
on Obama by trying to find kooky things visitors have written on [2008
Election Republican Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama's blog. So, I
thought I'd take a look at [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate]
John McCain's campaign Web site and do a search for words like "fag," "bitch,"
and "Jew," for starters. What I found wasn't pretty. It's interesting to
note that each comment has a "flag as offensive" button next to it, so
that readers can inform the moderator that the comments are offensive.
Either McCain's readers don't find any of this offensive, or McCain's staff
was informed and didn't care." -By John Aravosis
-AmericaBlog.com
20080603
Abortion
- Law
- History
- Politics
- Women's
- Health
-  Science
-  New
York
"Repairing
the Damage, Before Roe." ... "I am a retired gynecologist,
in my mid-80s. My early formal training in my specialty was spent in New
York City [New York], from 1948 to 1953, in two of the city’s large municipal
hospitals." ... "There I saw and treated almost every complication of illegal
abortion that one could conjure, done either by the patient herself or
by an abortionist — often unknowing, unskilled and probably uncaring. Yet
the patient never told us who did the work, or where and under what conditions
it was performed. She was in dire need of our help to complete the process
or, as frequently was the case, to correct what damage might have been
done." ... "The patient also did not explain why she had attempted the
abortion, and we did not ask. This was a decision she made for herself,
and the reasons were hers alone. Yet this much was clear: The woman had
put herself at total risk, and literally did not know whether she would
live or die." ... "This, too, was clear: Her desperate need to terminate
a pregnancy was the driving force behind the selection of any method available."
... "The familiar symbol of illegal abortion is the infamous “coat hanger”
— which may be the symbol, but is in no way a myth. In my years in New
York, several women arrived with a hanger still in place. Whoever put it
in — perhaps the patient herself — found it trapped in the cervix and could
not remove it. " -By Waldo L. Fielding, M.D. [Doctor
of Medicine] -NYTimes
20080519
-
 Entertainment
- Political
-  Humor
- Corporate
- Government
-  Military
- Halliburton
-  Blackwater
-  Foreign
- Law
- Noteworthy
- Women
- Journalists
-  Writers
-  US
-  Iraq
- "John
Cusack: Outsourced Warfare Represents a "Radical, Dangerous, Disgusting
Ideology": An interview with Cusack about his latest
film,
War Inc., which takes the outsourcing of military operations
to the absurd." ...
"Joshua
Holland: Tell me a little bit about your new project." ... "John
Cusack: Well, we thought of it as an incendiary political cartoon that
would hopefully put America's current imperial adventures in Iraq into
a kind of a larger context. And maybe put a different lens on what privatization
means; what this plan has been and what it's been like when people try
to privatize the very core things it means to be a state. And what it means
to spread an ideology like that across the globe." ... "There are 180,000
contractors in Iraq and about 160,000 troops, right? And if one just takes
that trend to its logical conclusion, well that's where "War, Inc." is
set. It takes place at a time in the near future when warfare us an entirely
corporate affair." ... "Holland: As a political nerd, it struck
me as a highly referential film. I felt like your character, to some extent,
was loosely patterned maybe on John Perkins, who wrote Confessions of
an Economic Hit Man." ... "Cusack: You know, that book came
out when we were already making the film, I believe. And I know we were
writing it when Naomi Klein's groundbreaking piece called "Baghdad Year
Zero" came out in Harper's. She's a journalist I've always greatly
admired and respected. And then as we were making the movie, she was writing
the Shock Doctrine. I remember being aware of it while we were writing
it. And I remember talking about it. But you know, this character was also
based on [former U.S. Envoy to Iraq] Paul Bremer flying in while Baghdad
[Iraq's capital] was still burning and literally ruling by Fiat. Sitting
down in Saddam's old palace and banging out 50 or 60 new laws that would
allow 100 percent foreign ownership of previously state-owned industry
by these outside corporations. And he was running around in those Brooks
Brothers suits and the military boots when he did it." ... "Holland:
I thought that I saw a lot of Naomi Klein in Marisa Tomei's character."
... "Cusack: Yeah, I think it wasn't Naomi straight up, but I think
it was Katrina Vanden Huevel. It was Lara Logan and it was Naomi. It was,
you know, any of the great journalists out there who are women ... Christiane
Amanpour." ... "Holland: Now, the film presents kind of a dystopian
vision of where we're at or where we're heading -- tell me a little bit
more about this central theme, this idea of outsourcing warfare to this
kind of Halliburton-like mega corporation." ... "Cusack: Well, it
was an ideological viral disaster -- that's what this war was. It wasn't
Paul Bremer, although a lot of people would like to paint him as the fall
guy. It's the entire system of thinking that is insane. The Shock doctrine
does a great job chronicling what's essentially been a 35-year campaign
to destroy the New Deal and privatize everything, and the use of disasters
and wars to justify "shock therapy" -- to pass legislation that would never
get passed in any country that wasn't reeling from trying to bury their
dead or stop from being tortured or killed or trying to get water or food."
... "So I think it's really about the entire system and that entire ideology.
There seems to be these companies that helped create a new market by creating
a war, and then they bar the competitors from entering into the clean up.
In the meantime, they've privatized the entire country, which is basically
strip mining it. Basically, it's a land-grab. So not only are we looking
at a murder scene, but it's the scene of an armed robbery." ... "And that's
the version of democracy ... the version of a free market that we're not
only supposed to worship, but into which we're also supposed to keep feeding
bodies. We have to kill to feed this kind of twisted version of their free
market. And [American political leaders] seem entirely unconcerned that
Halliburton and Bechtel -- and Parsons and KPMG and Blackwater and the
rest -- are kind of madly gorging off of this protectionist racket." ...
"If you really think about outsourcing all the essential things it means
to be a state, like armies, disaster relief, interrogation, border patrol
-- all of these functions -- then I don't really know what's left in terms
of the sovereignty of a country. I don't really know what's left." ...
"So it's not even about free markets. I mean, if these [corporations] want
to just go invade a country and take it over, and take their chances on
the open market, that's one thing. But to use the U.S. military and our
Treasury Department as their ATM to do it -- that's ... that's cause for
revolt." (1, 2,
3,
4)
-By Joshua Holland -AlterNet.org
WATCH
Movie Trailer: "WAR, INC."
20080511
-
 Mother's-Day
-  Museum
-  West
Virginia - Woman
- Mother
- People
- Consumer
- Marketing
- Industry
- "For
the mother of Mother's Day, it's just never been right."
... "Anna Jarvis never had children, but she became the mother of Mother's
Day, giving birth to the holiday during a serene church ceremony in her
hometown [Grafton, West Virginia] 100 years ago." ... "At first, her creation
was perfect and pure. People honored their mothers the way she envisioned
it -- with a white carnation, a symbol of maternal purity, a handwritten
note or a day off." ... "But then her holiday started acting like a rebellious
teenager, selling out to the flower and card industry, leaving Miss Jarvis
bitter and disillusioned. She ended her life in a mental asylum." ... "The
story of Miss Jarvis and the holiday that she couldn't control come to
life in two exhibits more than 20 miles south of Morgantown [West Virginia].
The International Mother's Day Shrine memorializes the first Mother's Day
service on May 10, 1908, the anniversary of the death of Miss Jarvis' mother,
Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis." ... "Four miles away from Grafton in Webster
[West Virginia] is the Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum, a lovingly restored
wooden Civil War-era house." ... "Miss Jarvis likely would cringe if she
could see Mother's Day today." ... "The simple white carnation handed out
to mothers in the former Andrews Methodist Church 100 years ago has given
way to modern marketing -- crowded department store Mother's Day sales,
restaurant pitches for elaborate brunches and dinners, ornate floral bouquets
and rows upon rows of Mother's Day cards, instead of the handwritten note
she urged. On average, Americans are expected to spend $138 each on mom
this Mother's Day, ringing up $15.8 billion in sales." ... "In her day,
Anna Jarvis was a public figure and irresistible newspaper copy as she
crashed confectioners' conferences, broke up a War Mothers' rally and threatened
lawsuits -- all in the name of saving her beloved Mother's Day from encroachers."
-By Cristina Rouvalis
-Post-Gazette.com
20080509
-
Mother's-Day
- Politics
- Women
- Parents
- Legislation
-
 Kan
-  Fla
- "Republicans
Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens."
... "It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional
Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother's Day, comes this: A majority of
the House GOP has voted against motherhood." ... "On Wednesday afternoon,
the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, "Celebrating
the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals
of Mother's Day," when [Kansas Republican Representative] Rep. Todd Tiahrt
(R-Kan.), rose in protest." ... ""Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the
vote," he announced." ... "[Florida Democratic Representative] Rep. Kathy
Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt's request,
setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against
mothers." ... "It has long been the custom to compare a popular piece of
legislation to motherhood and apple pie. Evidently, that is no longer the
standard. Worse, Republicans are now confronted with a John Kerry-esque
predicament: They actually voted for motherhood before they voted against
it. " (1, 2)
-By Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost
20080501
-
John
McCain - Politics
- Book
- 2008
Election - Woman
- "McCain
fields audience question on whether he called wife an expletive."
... "A member of the audience, identified as Marty Parrish of Clive [Iowa],
asked [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain during
the event at the [Iowa] Polk County Convention Complex about a rumor that
McCain had once used a profane word referencing female genitalia to describe
his wife." ... "A book, “The Real McCain” by Cliff Schecter, accuses McCain
of using the word in an exchange with his wife, Cindy, in 1992." ... "Audience
member: This question goes to mental health and mental health care.
Previously, I've been married to a woman that was verbally abusive to me.
Is it true that you called your wife a (expletive)?" ... "[2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain: Now, now. You don't
want to... Um, you know that's the great thing about town hall meetings,
sir, but we really don't, there's people here who don't respect that kind
of language. So I'll move on to the next questioner in the back." ... "Parrish,
a 45-year-old Baptist minister and technology business owner, said he attended
the event specifically to confront McCain about the rumor." ... "“This
is about character,” Parrish said, when reached by telephone afterward.
“And in a moment of intemperance, he called his wife the most despicable
name a person can call a woman." -DesMoinesRegister
20080423
-
John
McCain - Barack
Obama - Hillary
Clinton -
 Working
- Women
- Families
- Poverty
-  Homes
-  Gasoline
-  Groceries
- Corporate
- Politics
- Arizona
-  Nev
-  Illinois
- New
York - New
Orleans -  Louisiana
- 2008
Election - "McCain
opposes equal pay bill in Senate." ... "Republican
[2008 Election Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Sen. John McCain, campaigning
through poverty-stricken cities and towns, said Wednesday he opposes a
Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more
lawsuits." ... "Senate Republicans killed the bill Wednesday night on a
56-42 vote that denied the measure the 60 votes needed to advance it to
full debate and a vote. [Nevada Democratic Representative and] Majority
Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.[Democratic-Nevada], had delayed the vote to give
McCain's Democratic rivals, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate
and Senators of New York and Illinois] Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Barack Obama, time to return to Washington to support the measure, which
would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination."
... "McCain skipped the vote to campaign in New Orleans [Louisiana]." ...
""Senator McCain has yet again fallen in line with President Bush while
middle-class families are falling by the wayside," Clinton said in a statement
following the vote. "Women are earning less, but Senator McCain is offering
more of the same."" ... "Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen
Finney said: "At a time when American families are struggling to keep their
homes and jobs while paying more for everything from gasoline to groceries,
how on Earth would anyone who thinks they can lead our country also think
it's acceptable to oppose equal pay for America's mothers, wives and daughters?""
-By Libby Quaid -AP
via -SeattlePI
-
Barack
Obama - Hillary
Clinton - Workers
- Pay
- Legislation
- Women
- Minorities
- 2008
Election - "Republicans
block pay discrimination bill." ... "U.S. [United
States] Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation to reverse
a Supreme Court ruling that makes it tougher for workers to sue for pay
discrimination." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential rivals Barack
Obama and Hillary Clinton interrupted their campaigns to return to the
Senate to vote for the bill. The measure would lift tight time restraints
to file claims that could expire before workers realize they were treated
unfairly." ... "It is opposed by the [Republican President Bush] White
House and business groups, which warn it would trigger an explosion of
lawsuits and allow suits to be filed years and even decades after alleged
offenses." ... "On average in the United States, women are paid about 23
percent less than men, while minorities receive even less -- despite laws
that mandate equal pay for equal work." (1, 2)
-By Thomas Ferraro with contributions by Richard Cowan
and Peter Cooney -Reuters
-
 Mitch
McConnell - Corporate
- Politicians
- Woman
- Workers
- Law
-  Kentucky
- "Republicans
Kill Fair Pay Bill." ... "[Kentucky Republican Senator]
Mitch McConnell and company managed to torpedo
a bill that would have undone the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision
last year in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, which
held that workers can't sue for ongoing pay discrimination if the statute
of limitations has passed since their first discriminatory paycheck (even
if, as in most cases, workers don't know at the time that they're being
discriminated against). This demonstrates a rather breathtaking lack of
empathy on the part of Senate Republicans, even by their usual standards:
They're defending on the merits a situation in which if your company continually
docks your pay because you're a woman, and you don't find out about it
for several years, you can't sue to get your lost wages back." ... "Finally,
this seems to me like a pretty clear abuse of the filibuster." -By
Josh Patashnik -TNR.com
20080422
-
Women's
- Health
- Science
-
 Life-Expectancy
-  Washington
- "Life
Expectancy Drops for Some U.S. Women: Historic Reversal,
Found in 1,000 Counties, May Be Result of Smoking and Obesity." ... "For
the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is
falling for a significant number of American women." ... "In nearly 1,000
counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation's women,
life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according
to a study published today." ... ""I think this is a harbinger. This is
not going to be isolated to this set of counties, is my guess," said Christopher
J.L. Murray, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Washington
who led the study. It is being published in PLoS
Medicine [PDF], an open-access journal of the Public Library of Science."
... "The study found a smaller decline, in far fewer places, in the life
expectancy of men in this country. In all, longevity is declining for about
4 percent of males." ... "The phenomenon appears to be not only new but
distinctly American." ... "Life expectancy is not a direct measure of how
long people live. Instead, it is a prediction of how long the average person
would live if the death rates at the time of his or her birth lasted a
lifetime." ... "About 33 percent of women are now obese, compared with
31 percent of men. Extreme obesity is twice as common in women (7 percent)
as in men (3 percent)." (1, 2)
-By David Brown -WashingtonPost
-
Corporate
- Health
Care -
 California
- Woman
- "Judge
Awards Canceled Cancer Patient $9 Million." ... "A
woman who had her medical coverage canceled as she was undergoing treatment
for breast cancer has been awarded more than $9 million in a case against
one of California's largest health insurers." ... "Patsy Bates, 52, a hairdresser
from Gardena [California], had been left with more than $129,000 in unpaid
medical bills when Health Net Inc. canceled her policy in 2004." ... "In
fact, she was in the hospital getting prepped for surgery when she first
learned Health Net was dropping her." ... "Some of the documents Health
Net was forced to hand over revealed that senior analyst, Barbara Fowler,
single-handedly dropped hundreds of policy holders like Bates from the
rolls every year." ... "The shocker: the company awarded her bonuses based
on how many policy holders she dropped." ... "The company called 2003 -
the year Fowler dropped Patsy Bates - "a banner year" for her, for saving
the company $6 million in what they call "unnecessary health care expenses.""
-CBS4.com
20080421
-
 Elizabeth
Edwards - John
McCain - Government
- Health
Care - Politics
-  Drugs
- Market
- Occupations
-  Firefighting
- Telecom
- Arizona
- 2008
Election - "Elizabeth
Edwards On Health Care: ‘This Is Not A Cheap Shot; It Is Potentially Life
And Death’." ... [By Elizabeth Edwards:] "[2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain accused me of taking a “cheap
shot” on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” yesterday for noting
that people with preexisting conditions, such as he and I have, would not
be able to get health care under his plan –- and that he perhaps was not
as sensitive to this problem as he should be since he has been in government
health care his whole life." ... "[Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain noted that
he was not receiving government health care for the six years he was in
captivity. That is true. But it has nothing
to do with my point — which is that the problem with Sen. McCain’s
health care plan is not how it affects us –- but how it affects the tens
of millions of Americans with preexisting conditions who, unlike Sen. McCain
and myself, do not have the resources to pay for quality health care."
... "That is not a cheap shot, it is a potentially life and death question
for tens of million of Americans. And it is a question Sen. McCain must
address." ... "McCain’s health care plan is centered around the idea that
we’d be better off if more Americans bought health coverage on their own,
rather than receiving it through a job or government program. But maybe
since he has never purchased insurance in the individual market, he does
not know the challenge
it presents for Americans with preexisting conditions." ... "A recent
study showed that nearly nine
out of every ten people seeking individual coverage on the private
insurance market never got it. Insurers will
disqualify you for just taking certain medicines because of the possibility
of future costs, including common drugs as Lipitor, Zocor, Nexium, and
Advair. People who have had cancer are denied coverage and those who get
cancer run the risk of simply being
dropped by their insurer for any excuse that can be found. And insurers
make it a practice to deny
coverage to individuals in high risk occupations, such as firefighting,
lumber work, telecom installation, and pretty much anything more risky
than working in an office." -By Elizabeth Edwards
-ThinkProgress.org /Wonk
Room
20080420
-
 Don
Young -  Abramoff
-  Bob
Schaffer - Money
- Politics
- Mariana
Islands
-  Chinese
-  Garment
- Factory
- Industry
- Labor
- Women
- Abortion
- Human
Rights -  Investigations
- Government
- Immigration
- Law- History
- US
-  Colorado
-  Alaska
- "Records
expose Young-Abramoff ties: MARIANA ISLANDS." ...
"[Alaska Republican Represenative] Rep. Don Young has said he never allowed
convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to be an influential force over him in
Congress." ... "But now a trove of old billing records from two of Abramoff's
firms show that his team of lobbyists had more than 120 contacts with Young's
personal and committee staffs over 25 months, including at least 10 with
Young himself." ... "The available records cover a single Abramoff client,
the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. [United States]
territory in the Pacific that Young oversaw when he chaired the House Resources
Committee from 1995 to 2001." ... "The records show that one of the looming
concerns of Abramoff and his fellow lobbyists at the time was a bill introduced
by Young's fellow Alaskan, [Republican Senator] Sen. Frank Murkowski, to
reform labor and immigration practices feeding the island's notorious Chinese-owned
sweatshops. In 2000, Murkowski's bill passed the Senate unanimously, but
Young stopped it cold in his committee, refusing to hold even a hearing."
... "Investigations by the government, media and human rights groups uncovered
widespread abuses in the garment industry and among sex workers there starting
in the mid-1990s, but Young asserted those investigations were bogus."
... "As a member of Young's Resources Committee, [Colorado Republican Representative
and 2008 Election Colorado Senator Candidate Bob] Schaffer took a free
trip to the Mariana Islands arranged by Abramoff's law firm, then played
a central role in a 1989 committee hearing investigating Interior department
officials in the [Democratic President Bill] Clinton administration who
were trying to rein in the Saipan government [Saipan is the Commonwealth
of the Northern Mariana Islands' capital]." ... "A growing number of reports
spoke of near slave-labor conditions, with workers kept in sealed compounds,
required to work seven days a week without overtime, and sometimes getting
no paycheck at all. There were widespread reports of women coerced into
getting abortions to keep their jobs. Some women hired abroad found themselves
working not in garment factories at all, but sex clubs." -By
Richard Mauer -ADN.com
20080414
-
John
McCain - Criminal
- Abortion
- Women
- Medical
- Law
- Parent
- Federal
- Money
- Gay
- US
- Iraq
- Military
- 2008
Election - "McCain:
More Conservative Than His Image." ... "The likely
Republican presidential nominee is much more conservative than voters appear
to realize. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain
leans to the right on issue after issue, not just on the Iraq war but also
on abortion, gay rights, gun control and other issues that matter to his
party's social conservatives." ... "_Abortion. McCain promises to appoint
judges who, in the mold of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, are likely
to limit the reach of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
McCain's record is not spotless on abortion: He said once, in 1999, that
Roe v. Wade should not be overturned." ... "But that was an aberration
in an otherwise unbroken record of opposing abortion rights for women.
McCain voted repeatedly to ban federal funding for abortion; he once voted
against Medicaid funds for abortion even in cases of rape or incest." ...
"He voted to require parental consent for abortion and voted to criminalize
anyone but a parent crossing state lines with a minor to help get an abortion.
McCain also supported a ban preventing women in the military from getting
abortions with their own money at overseas military hospitals." ... ""I
am pro-life and an advocate for the rights of man everywhere in the world,"
McCain told the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. "Because
to be denied liberty is an offense to nature and nature's Creator."" (1,
2)
-By Libby Quaid -AP
via -WTOPnews.com
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