god tumblr is just
awash
in misinformation tonight
guys a few things:
mary gonzalez is not a senator; she ran unopposed for a seat as a texas representative. which is freaking awesome! but not as awesome as a senator
tammy baldwin and tammy duckworth are two different people
maybe you guys should do some fact-checking about tammy baldwin, just a thought. her bit with the gender identity amendment of ENDA back in 2007 was actually a pretty complex issue awash in shades of grey, which didn’t even matter because ENDA died in the senate that year and would have been vetoed by bush if it’d passed in any form. i think she’s pretty aware (for a politician) of the issues she’s representing and even though she’s damn wishy-washy i wouldn’t call her transphobic (i haven’t found anything more recent than this so feel free to prove me wrong because i love being jaded)
the current version of ENDA does protect gender identity, and it isn’t any closer to passing
also i know everyone’s going on about 51st state puerto rico, but from some of the things i have read it actually seems pretty unlikely that congress will make that a thing. i know little to nothing about this issue but it’s definitely a thing to read up on
finally what the fuck is with that post about the fucking serviceman who killed bin laden dying that one is just straight up fabrication
tumblr’s ‘pasta be dry as fuck
always ask for sauce
President Obama has shown a firm commitment to using government to help foster growth. He has formed sensible budget policies that are not dedicated to protecting the powerful, and has worked to save the social safety net to protect the powerless. Mr. Obama has impressive achievements despite the implacable wall of refusal erected by Congressional Republicans so intent on stopping him that they risked pushing the nation into depression, held its credit rating hostage, and hobbled economic recovery.
Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, has gotten this far with a guile that allows him to say whatever he thinks an audience wants to hear. But he has tied himself to the ultraconservative forces that control the Republican Party and embraced their policies, including reckless budget cuts and 30-year-old, discredited trickle-down ideas. Voters may still be confused about Mr. Romney’s true identity, but they know the Republican Party, and a Romney administration would reflect its agenda. Mr. Romney’s choice of Representative Paul Ryan as his running mate says volumes about that.
The whole thing is actually wonderfully-put, with critiques weighing Obama’s policies versus Romney’s and explaining why our current President deserves an extra term.
(LA Times)
Larry King will moderate a debate among the third-party presidential candidates on Oct. 23, the Free and Equal Elections Foundation announced on Tuesday.
The debate, which will be held in Chicago, will feature Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, Constitution Party candidate Virgil Goode, and Rocky Johnson of the newly formed Justice Party. The event will be broadcast live on Ora TV, the digital programming service where King launched his online talk show, “Larry King Now,” earlier this year. The Free and Equal Elections Foundation and, for unclear reasons, Russia Today will also stream the debate online.
“We are honored to have Larry King moderate this historic debate,” Christina Tobin, founder and chair of the foundation, said in a release. “The previous debates between President Obama and Gov. Romney have failed to address the issues that really concern everyday Americans. From foreign policy, to the economy, to taboo subjects like our diminishing civil liberties and the drug war, Americans deserve a real debate, real solutions, and real electoral options.”
_________
Have you guys even heard of the three candidates? Gary Johnson is polling at 6% across the nation. None of them will win the election, but perhaps it’s worth hearing what they have to say. We do, after all, say we care about minorities. What about the political minorities?
political bashing aside
what would rommey’s and obama’s main 6 be
Romney: Magikarps.
I was going to say something about Gyarados but I realized Romney doesn’t believe in evolution.
HELP I’M CHOKING MEL
MEL OMG
romney:
- magikcarp
- meowth because money and payday
- koffing because “clean coal”
- ditto because its just like his policies
- slowpoke (self explanatory)
- drowzee (boring and likes to feed on the dreams of children, especially happy dreams )
obama
- growlith (extremely loyal and friendly and evolves into a powerfully ally)
- gravler (rock solid and down to earth with strength behind his words)
- nidoking (alone he is very powerful but with his nidoqueen he is unstoppable)
- magneton (clean energy and a magnetic personality)
- chansey (cares for the young, old, sick, and poor)
- dragonite (said to have kindhearted disposition said to save people drowning and lead ships to shore)
wow good
These are the best GOP rape quotes I could find - but message me if you have more! Let’s hold these people accountable.
1. Todd Akin: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways of shutting that whole thing down” - mid 2012 Senate Campaign
2. Claytie Williams: “If it’s inevitable, just relax and enjoy it” - mid 1990 Gubernatorial race in Texas
3. Chuck Winder: “I would hope that when a woman goes in to a physician with a rape issue, that physician will indeed ask her about perhaps her marriage, was this pregnancy caused by normal relations in a marriage or was it truly caused by a rape. I assume that’s part of the counseling that goes on.” - March 2012
4. Ken Buck: “A jury could very well conclude that this is a case of buyer’s remorse … It appears to me … you invited him over… the appearance is of consent.” - October 2010
5. Rick Santorum: “I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created — in the sense of rape — but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you… rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” - January, 2012
PEOPLE: WE SHOULD ALL BE FURIOUS. WE SHOULD ALL GET PISSED OFF AND BE VOCAL ABOUT IT. WE SHOULD ALL VOTE.
isidewith.com is a pretty interesting website that gives you an in-depth quiz on your political views, then matches you up with candidates that gave the same answers. I had no idea who this Jill woman was, but she matched me 4% more than Obama. Still voting for him because he needs support, but it’s sort of neat to do!
Things I absolutely expected.
Go figure.
by Vyckie Garrison | Reality Check
When I moved to Canada in 2008, I was a die-hard conservative Republican. So when I found out that we were going to be covered by Canada’s Universal Health Care, I was somewhat disgusted. This meant we couldn’t choose our own health coverage, or even opt out if we wanted too. It also meant that abortion was covered by our taxes, something I had always believed was horrible. I believed based on my politics that government mandated health care was a violation of my freedom.
[…]
Fast forward a little past the Canadian births of my third and fourth babies. I had better prenatal care than I had ever had in the States. I came in regularly for appointments to check on my health and my babies’ health throughout my pregnancy, and I never had to worry about how much a test cost or how much the blood draw fee was. With my pregnancies in the States, I had limited my checkups to only a handful to keep costs down. When I went in to get the shot I needed because of my negative blood type, it was covered. In fact I got the recommended 2 doses instead of the more risky 1 dose because I didn’t have to worry about the expense. I had a wide array of options and flexibility when it came to my birth, and care providers that were more concerned with my health and the health of my baby than how much money they might make based on my birth, or what might impact their reputation best. When health care is universal, Drs are free to recommend and provide the best care for every patient instead of basing their care on what each patient can afford.
I found out that religious rights were still respected. The Catholic hospital in the area did not provide abortions, and they were not required too. I had an amazing medically safe birth, and excellent post-natal care with midwives who had to be trained, certified and approved by the medical system.
I started to feel differently about Universal government mandated and regulated Health care. I realized how many times my family had avoided hospital care because of our lack of coverage. When I mentioned to Canadians that I had been in a car accident as a teen and hadn’t gone into the hospital, they were shocked! Here, you always went to the hospital, just in case. And the back issue I had since the accident would have been helped by prescribed chiropractic care which would have been at no cost to me. When I asked for prayers for my little brother who had been burned in a camping accident, they were all puzzled why the story did not include immediately rushing him to the hospital. When they asked me to clarify and I explained that many people in the States are not insured and they try to put off medical care unless absolutely needed, they literally could not comprehend such a thing.
This is a long read but worth it. A lot of Americans have huge misconceptions about socialized healthcare, and this article goes a long way in dispelling some of the myths.
I bolded my favorite parts but here are some other things from the article I liked:
In Canada, midwives and doctors were both respected, and often worked together.
I never went to the doctor growing up, we didn’t have health insurance, and my parents preferred a conservative naturopathic doctor anyways. And the doctor I had used for my first 2 births was also a conservative Christian. So I had never seen information on birth control and STDs. One of the pamphlets read “Pregnant Unexpectedly?” so I picked it up, wondering what it would say. The pamphlet talked about adoption, parenthood, or abortion. It went through the basics of what each option would entail and ended by saying that these choices were up to you. I was horrified that they included abortion on the list of options, and the fact that the pamphlet was so balanced instead of “pro-life.”
I started to wonder why I had been so opposed to government mandated Universal Health care. Here in Canada, everyone was covered. If they worked full-time, if they worked part-time, or if they were homeless and lived on the street, they were all entitled to the same level of care if they had a medical need. People actually went in for routine check-ups and caught many of their illnesses early, before they were too advanced to treat. People were free to quit a job they hated, or even start their own business without fear of losing their medical coverage. In fact, the only real complaint I heard about the universal health care from the Canadians themselves, was that sometimes there could be a wait time before a particular medical service could be provided. But even [..] in the States most people had to wait for medical care, or even be denied based on their coverage.
In Canada, the wait times were usually short, and applied to everyone regardless of wealth.
I never experienced excessive wait times, I was accepted for maternity care within a few days or weeks, I was able to find a family care provider nearby easily and quickly, and when a child needed to be brought in for a health concern I was always able to get an appointment within that week.
the percentage rates of abortion are far lower in Canada than they are in the USA, where abortion is not covered by insurance and is often much harder to get. In 2008 Canada had an abortion rate of 15.2 per 1000 women (In other countries with government health care that number is even lower), and the USA had an abortion rate of 20.8 abortions per 1000 women. And suddenly I could see why that was the case. With Universal coverage, a mother pregnant unexpectedly would still have health care for her pregnancy and birth even if she was unemployed, had to quit her job, or lost her job.
If she was informed that she had a special needs baby on the way, she could rest assured knowing in Canada her child’s health care needs would be covered. Whether your child needs therapy, medicines, a caregiver, a wheelchair, or repeated surgeries, it would be covered by the health care system. Here, you never heard of parents joining the army just so their child’s “pre-existing” health care needs would be covered.
In fact, when a special needs person becomes an adult in Canada, they are eligible for a personal care assistant covered by the government. We saw far more developmentally or physically disabled persons out and about in Canada, than I ever see here in the USA. They would be getting their groceries at the store, doing their business at the bank, and even working job, all with their personal care assistant alongside them, encouraging them and helping them when they needed it. When my sister came up to visit, she even commented on how visible special needs people were
I also discovered that the Canadian government looked out for it’s families in other ways. The country mandates one year of paid maternity leave, meaning a woman having a baby gets an entire year after the birth of her baby to recover and parent her new baby full-time, while still receiving 55% of her salary and their job back at the end of that year. Either parent can use the leave, so some split it, with one parent staying at home for 6 months and the other staying at home for 6 months.
Since all of these benefits are available to everyone, I never heard Canadians talking about capping their incomes to remain lower income and not lose their government provided health coverage. Older people in Canada don’t have to clean out their assets to qualify for some Medicare or Social Security programs,
God, just read the whole thing. It’s awesome.
Love,
Rabble
Whaaa? Universal healthcare isn’t evil? WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT
yall:
Trent Franks, the Arizona Republican who proposed a 20-week abortion ban in Washington, DC and then barred DC’s pro-choice female delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton from speaking out against the measure has a new problem on his hands: a flood of DC residents who are bringing their municipal complaints directly to the Congressman, who they’re calling “Mayor.” From potholes to rodent problems to public transportation complaints, DC residents have followed Franks’ lead and begun funneling their problems to him rather than the city’s own government. Well played, smartasses. Well fucking played.
….
When confronted on the absurdity of a man from Arizona trying to legislate the rights of women in DC, Franks explained that it wasn’t about Arizona, or DC, or women. It’s about “the pain of the fetus.”The fetuses of Washington had nothing to add, but rumor has it they suspect that their mailman hasn’t been showing up every day, and they’d like Franks to do something about that.
See, back in them “good ol’ days” that a lot of them are trying to move back into, the left side was considered evil. It was associated with the Devil. So, if you were lefty, they would make you use your right hand despite your orientation.
So just by them calling themselves “right-wing,” they’re trying to put themselves on a religious moral pedestal - “Look! We’re not on the side of the Devil.” And they try to antagonize anyone that opposes their beliefs by putting them to the “left.”
Maybe I’m just slow to catch on, but my mind has been blown, woah.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left%E2%80%93right_politics
My friend also showed me that, but the belief of “evil left vs good right” still dates much earlier than the French Revolution… It was probably the base for the King’s decision.
See, back in them “good ol’ days” that a lot of them are trying to move back into, the left side was considered evil. It was associated with the Devil. So, if you were lefty, they would make you use your right hand despite your orientation.
So just by them calling themselves “right-wing,” they’re trying to put themselves on a religious moral pedestal - “Look! We’re not on the side of the Devil.” And they try to antagonize anyone that opposes their beliefs by putting them to the “left.”
Maybe I’m just slow to catch on, but my mind has been blown, woah.
Republicans have blocked so many potential job-creating bills in Congress, it almost makes you think they’re doing it on purpose.
Mitt Romney said we need fewer teachers, firefighters, and cops. His campaign wants you to know that he really means it.
Timi sent in this note about why Obamacare is important to her:
Recently I was diagnosed with a condition called Intracranial Hypertension, which means the level of spinal fluid in my brain is too high. This causes severe headaches and vision loss. This happened to me about three weeks before I graduated from college.
If this had happened just three weeks later and before Obamacare, I wouldn’t have had insurance and would now be facing thousands of dollars in medical bills plus my student loan debt which is around $30k.
If it wasn’t for Obamacare, I could have potentially had to live with this debilitating condition without affordable medical care, and be fearful of not only going blind but possibly slipping into a coma.
If you’ve got a story of your own, take a minute to share it here.
Ok, guys. I’m sorry, but I really have to get this off my chest.
I think I’ve realized what the worst fandom is.
These people in my class every morning, complaining about what happened last night in this and that.
Grown men get into fights about it, and children/teens hate…
Lisa? Did you secretly write this and not tell me?
I did not, sadly. And actually, I think there may be an argument for the politics fandom to be the worst. There’s a lot of lying and backstabbing and occasionally actual violence in that one.
Politics is a close runner-up, but at least all the fans are aware of their own issues…
too bad they can’t fix them sigh
Federal spending, taxes, and the annual budget deficit are all lower now than when President Obama first took office. Facts! (via ThinkProgress)
