Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Debunking Charges Made by a Republican

One of my colleagues made plenty of charges against the Democratic Party members/backers, and didn't back it up with even a sliver of data. It seems like you're just parroting the same old GOP spiel they hand out on shows like Fox & Friends, or Rush Limbaugh.

I offer you real data in an effort not to refute, but rather to educate. I welcome data that speaks to the contrary. I have went point by point, including some comments and all links. They are not in the same order as the charges.

Knee-jerk responses not welcome.
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Abortions and Crime http://youtu.be/zk6gOeggViw
Levitt takes you through his research on the relationship between dropping crime and the legalization of abortion.

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Jimmy Carter: Animosity towards Barack Obama is due to racism
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/16/jimmy-carter-racism-barack-obama

"And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it's bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the south but around the country, that African Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It's an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply."
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Climate change: How do we know?
http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1,300 years.1

Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. Studying these climate data collected over many years reveal the signals of a changing climate.

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Disabled Recipients of Social Security Fund Face Hefty Benefits Cut
http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/disabled-recipients-social-security-fund-face-hefty-benefits-cut-n127981

“My expectation is that Republicans will demand a price for changing the allocation," said Wharton's Duggan. "I think ultimately that is what will happen, but whether or not there will be reform bundled with that will be interesting to see.”

Playing chicken with the trust fund would be devastating, Ruffing said. “If Congress allows the disability trust fund to run dry, then what will happen is benefits to all recipients will be cut by approximately 20 percent, which is obviously an unacceptable outcome,” she said. “It’s a completely unnecessary form of brinkmanship.”

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Senate Republicans Filibuster Equal Pay For Women Bill
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/senate-republicans-filibuster-equal-pay-for-women

As expected, Senate Republicans filibustered legislation on Monday aimed at helping women fight for equal pay in the workplace, a vote held by Democrats to attack the GOP ahead of the 2014 midterm elections.

The vote was 52 for, 40 against, falling short of the 60 needed to defeat a filibuster.
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Doug Cox, Republican Lawmaker, Lambasts Oklahoma GOP For Anti-Birth Control Crusade
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/29/doug-cox-republicans_n_3355162.html

"All of the new Oklahoma laws aimed at limiting abortion and contraception are great for the Republican family that lives in a gingerbread house with a two-car garage, two planned kids and a dog," Cox wrote in an op-ed published Wednesday in NewsOK. "In the real world, they are less than perfect."

"And in the world I work and live in, an unplanned pregnancy can throw up a real roadblock on a woman's path to escaping the shackles of poverty," added Cox, a practicing physician who has delivered more than 800 babies, according to NewsOK.

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Proof of the GOP War on Women
http://www.politicususa.com/proof-war-women-2

o Anti-abortion Laws

Republican legislators have introduced a wide array of laws designed to either outlaw abortion outright or to discourage it by making ridiculous and sometimes humiliating requirements of women who might consider having a pregnancy terminated. These include so-called TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) regulations.

o Legalizing the Murder of Abortion Doctors

South Dakota flirted with a law to make the murder of an abortion doctor legal as self-defense. When South Dakota was forced to drop the idea of murdering abortion doctors, Nebraska and Iowa picked up the idea. See also HB 3308 Life Defense Act of 2012 above, which has implications in this regard.

o Abstinence Education

A total of 37 states mandate abstinence education while contraception falls increasingly under attack by Republican legislatures.

o “Personhood Laws” and Fetal Rights and Mandatory Ultrasounds

In 2011 the trend in anti-abortion legislation was passage of laws that would give fertilized eggs the rights of “personhood” – in other words, fertilized eggs would have the same rights as you or me – a blatant ploy to attack women’s reproductive rights. Florida, Montana and Ohio will have “personhood” on the ballot in 2012 and according to CNN “efforts in at least five other states are in the planning stages.” Mississippi has just rejected one such extremist measure and Colorado and South Dakota have also rejected them. Robin Marty at RH Reality Check examines 20-week bans and points to the flaw at the heart of this type of legislation. In 2012, mandatory ultrasounds have become the rage. However, Republican legislators seem to be realizing that voters aren’t exactly jumping on the bandwagon.

o War on Birth Control/Contraception

Republicans have tried to define contraception not as a health but as a religious issue, claiming that the availability of contraception is a violation of their religious beliefs.

o Taxing Abortions

The newest rage, direct from 13th Century Kansas, seeks to squeeze profit from abortions by taxing them.

The War on Human Fetuses in Food

Yes, you read that correctly. And no, there are no human fetuses in food. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have laws against them being there – if you’re a Republican, that is. The Associated Press reports that Oklahoma State Senator Ralph Shortey, infamous for authoring failed bills, has proposed a bill “that would ban the use of aborted human fetuses in food, despite conceding that he’s unaware of any company using such a practice,” and even Republican Sen. Brian Crain, a self-professed “pro-lifer” and the chairman of the Senate Human Services Committee says, “I’d hate to think we’re going to spend our time coming up with possibilities of things we need to stop.” The FDA, of course, says it is “not aware of this particular concern.” Ridiculous as it sounds, the bill does also outlaw stem cell research.

The War on the Girl Scouts

From Indiana: While not taking the form of actual legislation, the actions of Rep. Bob Morris (R-Fort Wayne), who became opposed to the idea of honoring the Girl Scouts because of something he read on the Internet, were hateful. He refused to honor the Girl Scouts because, he as he told fellow lawmakers, they ” promote homosexual lifestyles” and study “feminists, lesbians, or Communists” as role models while ignoring those with a religious background.” And on the basis of some very poor research he warned against “extend[ing] legitimacy to a radicalized organization.” Raw Story reports [5.1.12] that “An Indiana lawmaker has only received a single donation in the months since he accused the Girl Scouts of becoming a ‘radicalized organization’ that promotes the ‘homosexual lifestyle.'”

The War on Divorce

o From Wisconsin comes Rep. Don Pridemore is co-sponsor of Senator Glenn Grothman’s (R-West Bend) bill (SB 507) that would list “nonmarital parenthood” as a cause of abuse. The bill states “In promoting those campaigns and materials, the [Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board] shall emphasize “nonmarital parenthood” as a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.” The bill is bad enough – TodaysTMJ4 tells us that “Senator Grothman claims there’s an epidemic of single parenthood, and he’s pointing a finger at women for it.” But what’s worse is Pridemore’s defense of it; he says that women in abusive relationships – the reason so many of them are single parents in the first place – ought to just take a beating and stay married: ‘If they can refind those reasons and get back to why they got married in the first place it might help,’

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