Well, it didn't take long for the Republicans in the House of Representatives to completely cross the line and draft up legislation that is no only ludacris, but just plain stupid. H.R. 3, or the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, wants to further limit federal funding for abortions by redefining the term rape. They want to redefine what rape is? SERIOUSLY?! They have got to be kidding me. The current legal definition of rape is the commission of unlawful sexual intercourse or unlawful sexual intrusion. It simple, straight forward, and to the point, unlawful sexual intercourse of any kind is rape. Under current federal law, federal funding cannot be used for abortions, with the excemption of cases of rape and incest. 173 House Republicans, including Speaker of the House John Boehner, want to further that restriction to only forcible rape, which doesn't include cases of stautory rape.
I understand that the House GOP wants to trim thr fat of our government spending to reduce the deficit and move us closer towards a balanced budget, but this is nuts. Mother Jones presented this scenario: "If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion. Given that the bill also would forbid the use of tax benefits to pay for abortions, that 13-year-old's parents wouldn't be allowed to use money from a tax-exempt health savings account (HSA) to pay for the procedure. They also wouldn't be able to deduct the cost of the abortion or the cost of any insurance that paid for it as a medical expense." If the GOP wants to save real money, look at the largest sector of the budget, the defense. End the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, close and sell the military installations we have in around the world, and stop the international aid to countries to prop up their governments. Take that monet and reinvest it, but I digress. When will the Republicans realize that they're ideas 1) have ramifications that put people's lives at risk like what Governor Brewer did in Arizona and 2) that anything too controversial will not pass the Senate, and if it somehow does, it will be vetoed by the president. If they continue this, nothing will be passed in the next two years and everyone will blame the GOP for not working with the Democrats. I hope the House comes to their senses, but chances of that happening look slim. I will keep you updated when a vote comes to the floor.
You are right that our foreign policy is expensive and should be changed, but wrong by thinking it is a GOP phenomenon. Both parties agree on foreign policy. After all. George W ran on a humble foreign policy back in 2000. He offered to end the Democrat's interventionist foreign policies (he offered this not unlike Obama offered the Change, or Ben Bernanke said there is no housing bubble or subprime problem, or like the American people were told the Federal Reserve would bring financial stability... do you see a pattern? You can't believe what you're told).
ReplyDeleteAs far as the big bad republicans support rape bit, you're wasting everyone's time with that. We got real problems here.
I never blamed the Republicans for it, I just said we have bigger fish to fry when it comes to the budget. As for Bush wanting to pull back on the interventionist foreign policies, that is a load of bull shit. Bush was itching to invade Iraq as soon as he was elected and 9-11 gave him the opportunity to do it.
ReplyDeleteIt was the Military-Industrial Complex, and then by extension Mr Bush, who was itching to invade Iraq.
ReplyDeleteLet us just hope that Saudi Arabia continues to sell their oil only in US Dollars, and that the US Dollar remains the world's reserve currency for as long as possible.