Archives for category: Women’s Rights

State of the State and NY Budget Presentation

By tpletcher
February 26, 2013 //
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Tomorrow evening, Wednesday February 27 at 6 PM, Ms. RoAnn Destito, Commissioner, Office of General Services, will lead a presentation and discussion of Governor Cuomo’s State of the State Address (“New York Rising”) and the 2013-2014 Executive Budget and Management Plan. The event will take place at the Meeting Room of the Cairo Public Library, 15 Railroad Avenue, Cairo. Everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of party affiliation. Again, the time and place are:

Wednesday, February 27
6:00 PM
Meeting Room of the Cairo Public Library
15 Railroad Avenue, Cairo, NY
Categories Economy, Education, Environment, Greene County, Gun Control, Politics, State Government, Women's Rights

Gibson Record Exposed

By tpletcher
November 4, 2012 //
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Chris Gibson’s attempts to soft-pedal his voting record and present himself as a moderate took another hit yesterday, when some 40 protesters gathered on a cold November morning to “rally for the truth” and expose the Congressman’s true colors on women’s rights. The Hudson rally was sponsored by Planned Parenthood Advocates of New York.

Women Are Watching
Women Rally Against Gibson. (Photo: PPA)

M. Tracey Brooks, president of PPA, told the Register-Star that Gibson has voted in support of every bill “that has made it more difficult and life-threatening for a woman to access abortion, and he’s done it consistently.”

The newspaper’s coverage was somewhat undercut by giving extensive space to Gibson spokeswoman Stephanie Valle, who attempted to rationalize or explain the contradictions between Gibson’s voting record and some of his recent statements, for the most part unconvincingly.

Gibson’s distortions of his record on women’s rights and freedom to choose are only his latest attempt to present himself as something he’s not. He has also presented misleading accounts of his positions on the Federal budget and Medicare, among other issues, as he tries to fight off a strong challenger in a new Congressional District.

Denying your own record is not a valid basis for re-election. Follow the lead of the women who braved the cold yesterday morning (and who would be left out in the cold by Gibson’s real policy choices). Vote for challenger Julian Schreibman on Tuesday.

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Categories 2012 Election, Chris Gibson, Congress, Julian Schreibman, Politics, Women's Rights

Help Expose Gibson—Rally Tomorrow

By tpletcher
November 2, 2012 //
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Congressman Chris Gibson has consistently tried to hide or distort his voting record during this campaign, and with good reason—it’s not a record he could reasonably run on anywhere.

One of the most outrageous examples of Gibson’s “repositioning” as a moderate concerns his supposed support of a woman’s right to choose. He now says he is in favor of reproductive rights, in favor of choice.

This is a lie. Even worse, it’s a lie that is being reproduced in various media outlets. The Albany Times Union, in its unfortunate endorsement of Gibson, repeats Gibson’s claim that he “supports a woman’s right to choose abortion”.

In reality, Gibson’s voting record has earned him a 100 percent rating from the National Right to Life Political Action Committee, which endorsed him two years ago and is endorsing him again now. In contrast, Gibson has a zero rating from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and NARAL Pro-Choice America. His opponent, Julian Schreibman, has a 100 percent rating from both groups. And Julian Schreibman offers the kind of forward-looking leadership and support for working- and middle-class families that our district needs.

Planned Parenthood Advocates of New York, a volunteer-based, grass-roots organization, is holding an anti-Gibson rally tomorrow morning to get the truth out. After the rally, which is planned for 11 AM in Hudson, volunteers plan to conduct a door-to-door canvas to continue to bring the truth to voters.

They could use your help. Please call 518-434-5678, x133 for complete details, and plan on attending the rally tomorrow morning.

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Categories 2012 Election, Chris Gibson, Congress, Julian Schreibman, Politics, Women's Rights

Obama Hits Back, Hard

By tpletcher
October 17, 2012 //
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Last night, the real President Obama showed up. In doing so, he handily won the second of the three presidential debates and likely stopped the momentum Mitt Romney had achieved from the first one.

Always ahead on substance—even in the first debate—Obama clearly outperformed Romney on style as well. To continue our boxing metaphor from the last post, all the major blows of the night were delivered by the president. These included a solid shot to the chin in the debate’s closing moments, hitting hard at Romney’s disdain for 47% of Americans.

That last shot, in fact, typified Romney’s miscues throughout the night. In his closing remarks, Romney had said he was for “100% of all Americans”. Up until that point, no one had discussed what percentage of the country he cared about. It was a perfect opening, and Obama took it: Bam!

There were several other Romney slipups as well. His phrase “binders full of women” became an instant Internet meme because it nicely encapsulates his patronizing, out-of-touch attitude on women’s issues and rights. His repeated insistence that Obama had not called the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi a “terrorist attack” until two weeks after the fact had to be forcefully refuted by the moderator, Candy Crowley. “Say it louder, Candy,” the president smilingly urged. Finally, when Romney suggested that Obama look at his own pension, the president replied “I don’t look at my pension. It’s not as big as yours….”

Last night was all Obama, all the time. If he repeats this performance next Monday in the final debate, he can put Romney down for the count.

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Categories 2012 Election, American Dream, Economy, Health Care, Military, Politics, The 99%, Women's Rights

The Akin Plank

By tpletcher
August 21, 2012 //
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"It seems to be, first of all, from what I understand from doctors, it’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down."
—Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO), explaining why pregnancy does not result from rape, and abortion bans should therefore have no exceptions.

With the quote above, Congressman Akin created a firestorm of criticism from within his own party, as well as from Democrats. There were many calls for him to resign from the Senate race in Missouri—calls which, late this afternoon, he decided to reject. He is staying in the race. And why not? He still has a narrow lead in the polls there. And he still shares co-authorship of the "Sanctity of Human Life Act," with VP nominee Paul Ryan. The act is a so-called personhood measure that defines life as beginning at fertilization and authorizes the federal and state governments to protect life from that point forward, with no exceptions.

Mitt Romney has said (after Akin’s impolitic remarks) that a Romney-Ryan administration would not oppose abortion in cases of rape. But Ryan’s (and Akin’s) authorship of the Sanctity of Human Life Act says otherwise. And so does a plank in the official Republican Party platform, which was just approved today. The party’s anti-abortion plank makes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

The whole Akin episode represents one more reason (as if we needed it) to turn back the Republicans this fall.

It’s also one more reason why the Congressional election here in NY-19 is so vitally important. Please sign up to support and/or volunteer for the Julian Schreibman campaign today.

Categories 2012 Election, Congress, Health Care, Julian Schreibman, Politics, Women's Rights

Bain of Our Existence

By tpletcher
July 17, 2012 //
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It could be argued, with a high degree of credibility, that the most serious roadblock to happiness and fulfillment, not to mention health and general well-being for the average American in 2012 is the Republican Party. Or, to be more specific, the practices and principles which are embraced and endorsed by the current incarnation of the Republican Party.

Let’s look down the list. The economy? Still in the tank, thanks to the profligate spending of the Bush administration and the crimes and predations of Wall Street and the banking industry. The environment? Drill, baby, drill—and frack you in the process. Health care? Let’s repeal it. Civil rights? Depends on whose. Women’s rights? Sure, we have lots of special laws just for women.

It is heartening, then, to watch Mitt Romney and the Republicans squirm as the candidate comes under attack for his work at Bain Capital, and for his refusal to release more than two years of tax returns.

Bain of Our Existence
Photo: Evan Vucci/AP, on csmonitor.com

It’s no wonder Romney is defensive about his time at Bain, and about when he ended it. After all, the firm is notorious for outsourcing and layoffs, and for investing in such sterling endeavors as Stericycle, a company that specialized in disposing of aborted fetuses collected from family planning clinics, among other things. And that was an investment that took place in 1999, by the way.

As for the missing tax returns … as so many others have said, the calculation must have been made that it would be more damning to release the returns than to withhold them. Hence Romney’s continued refusal to show anything earlier than his 2010 return. We already know about the offshore accounts Romney has, and we already know he makes tons of money (most of it from his Bain days). What is he hiding? And as a presidential candidate, is he really entitled to hide it?

Let’s keep the pressure on.

Categories 2012 Election, American Dream, Banking, Civil Rights, Economy, Environment, Health Care, Politics, Wall Street, Women's Rights

Rush to the Middle Ages—The Attack on Women’s Health Rights

By rl
February 17, 2012 //
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At a House Oversight Committee hearing, House Republicans convened a panel on denying access to birth control coverage with five men and no women. As Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney asked, where are the women?

The Republicans have now introduced a bill, apparently supported by Chris Gibson, that would give any and all insurance companies and employers the right to deny birth control coverage for all women for any reason—all they have to do is say they have some moral or ideological objection to providing such coverage—there doesn’t even have to be a religious basis for this.

Categories 2012 Election, Chris Gibson, Congress, Health Care, Women's Rights
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