Time’s Run Out: It’s Sudden Death for adultBasic

If you're downtown today:

Time’s Run Out: It’s Sudden Death for adultBasic

42,000 of our neighbors in PA are set to lose their health insurance on Monday, February 28th. PHAN is hosting a vigil outside the Governor's Mansion in Harrisburg at 5:30pm and is organizing a NOON RALLY in Market Square in Downtown Pittsburgh to fight back.

Please join us to send the message to Gov. Corbett that we won’t stand by while he sides with big insurance companies over hardworking PA families. Help us show the Governor that the people of PA are not ok with cutting lifesaving health insurance programs—especially when the funding exists to save them!

Just like in Wisconsin, this is not about the budget—it’s about politicians putting the agendas of wealthy special interests over the needs and priorities of their constituents. The new radical political majorities in Harrisburg and across the country must be put on notice: we will NOT give up the fight for fairness and dignity for working people and for health care justice for all.

Stand with us on Monday—we want to get at least 100 folks there, so please send this to everyone you know!

WHAT: Solidarity Action to Stand Up for the 42,000 Working People at Risk of Losing Their Health Coverage Today
WHERE: Market Square, Downtown Pittsburgh
WHEN: Monday, Feb. 28th, 12:00pm

PS. If you or anyone you know is on adultBasic, please ask them to get in touch with me. We’ll be continuing to fight for a program like adultBasic (if it does end Monday as expected) and will definitely want to help folks get connected to any other resources and options available in the meantime. egill@pahealthaccess.org

and this:

"If you haven’t seen it yet, a lot of them have been posting messages to the Governor on his Facebook page, and on our Save adultBasic Facebook group page."

Congressman Altmire In The News

From yesterday's Trib:

GOP'S ANTI-ALTMIRE EFFORT UNDER WAY. Jason Altmire received a reminder on Wednesday that Republicans already have their sights set on his congressional seat in next year's election.

The National Republican Congressional Committee launched a "robocall" campaign targeting Altmire and other Democrat U.S. representatives considered vulnerable in 2012 by the GOP.

The robocalls criticize the Dems for voting against a GOP-backed bill to fund the federal government for the rest of the year.

The calls reference the Democrats' support of the stimulus package two years ago, saying the congressional members who voted for big spending then are opposing big cuts now.

Altmire, of McCandless, isn't Pennsylvania's only U.S. House member in the GOP's cross hairs. Mark Critz of Johnstown was criticized for voting against the funding bill in radio ads airing in his district that were funded by the conservative organization Crossroads GPS.

Please note the subtle rifle imagery. Republicans have their "sights set" on Altmire and he's not the only one in the "GOP's cross hairs."

Ah, the new civility! It's at the P-G, too!

Of course the P-G has a little bit more to the story:

If you live in the Fourth Congressional District, that might be the National Republican Campaign Committee on the line. The group is targeting 10 Democratic incumbents, including Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, who voted for the stimulus bill two years ago with robocalls to remind their constituents of the vote and spit some venom about the bill itself -- which, depending on which economist you ask, either saved us from a second Great Depression or was a giant, sauce-laden slab of wasteful pork. The call also points out that Altmire voted against House Republicans' slash-and-burn government funding bill that passed early Saturday.

The P-G has the text of the robocall, by the way:

Hi, I'm calling from the National Republican Congressional Committee, 320 First Street SE, Washington, DC 20003, 202.479.7000 with an important political message. This call is a recording. Two years ago this month, your Congressman Jason Altmire helped pass Obama's stimulus. He promised it would create jobs and improve the economy, but instead Pennsylvania's unemployment rate has gone up almost 20 percent. You thought Altmire would've learned his lesson after his big-spending stimulus failed, but last week he voted against a budget bill that actually cut spending, choosing to spend more money we don't have. Call Jason Altmire at 202.225.2565 and tell him he doesn't get it... You want jobs, not more debt to pay. Paid for by the National Republican Congressional Committee. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. 202.479.7000

Meanwhile, Altmire is bragging on his non-liberal credentials at his website:

An independent study of Congressional voting records released today by National Journal – a non-partisan publication – found that U.S. Congressman Jason Altmire’s (PA-04) voting record in 2010 places him 15 slots to the right of center in the U.S. House of Representatives for the second year in a row. Congressman Altmire’s voting record in 2010 was more conservative than 54.2 percent of House Members’ voting records. Congressman Altmire is also currently the only member of the House who has never missed a vote in Congress over the past four years.

National Journal evaluated 93 different key votes in the areas of economic, social and foreign policy to formulate its ratings. A chart showing National Journal’s 2010 vote ratings for centrists in Congress is available here. For more information on Congressman Altmire’s voting record, click here.

I dunno. I am thinking that if he's being targeted from the right, he might not want to alienate too too much whatever friends he might have on the left by touting his non-liberal street cred.

But what do I know?

And Now A Message From Richard Mellon Scaife

This is so important I am keeping my commentary to a minimum.

In a piece from Today's Tribune-Review titled Don't Defund Planned Parenthood, Richard Mellon Scaife writes:

My grandmother was a friend and a supporter of Margaret Sanger, one of America's earliest, most effective advocates of birth control.

I met Sanger several times before her death in 1966 and was impressed by her intellect and her commitment to many issues, not the least of which was enabling every woman to be "the absolute mistress of her own body," as she put it.

I didn't agree with everything the formidable Mrs. Sanger espoused. Yet I respected her dedication to making health-care and birth-control services available to all Americans, especially to those with low incomes, no insurance and no other recourse to medical services.

And I admired her fearless, relentless readiness to stand up for what she believed, despite decades of angry, mean-spirited, often hypocritical attacks on her ideas and her character.

So I am aggravated by the continuing attacks on Sanger and her primary legacy, the Planned Parenthood network that still serves so many Americans today.

Now the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives -- urged on by conservatives opposed to abortion -- has voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

On this issue, Republicans and conservatives are dead wrong.

Remember, this is Richard Mellon Scaife writing, owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, financial backer of the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy and so on. His conservative bona fides are secure. He continues:

Abortions are a minor aspect of Planned Parenthood's mission to provide reproductive health care, education and other services to Americans, regardless of income.

More than 90 percent of its work focuses on preventing unintended pregnancies that almost inevitably lead to unwanted, neglected and abused children.

In Pittsburgh and across America, Planned Parenthood offices help people to make better decisions about whether to have children. They help to arrange adoptions for women or couples unable to raise a child but unwilling to end a pregnancy.

Most of their clients are poor Americans who cannot afford birth-control measures that cost as much as $1,500 a month.

Of the 10,000 to 12,000 people who use local Planned Parenthood services, about 20 percent are teenagers, half are ages 20 to 30 and the rest over 30.

Of course, no one wants teenagers to get pregnant. Yet far too many do -- and they need reliable, honest advice about what to do next. For many of them, Planned Parenthood is the only reliable source of that advice. For many others, Planned Parenthood is the only safe, reliable source of counseling to avoid getting pregnant in the first place.

If not for Margaret Sanger's vision and bravery, many poor Americans would have no place to turn for birth-control measures and counseling or for other health care services.

To take that away makes no sense.

I criticize Scaife's paper and his editorial board quote often and I plan to go on criticizing it for as long as it needs to be corrected. But in this case when the man's right, he's right.

Defunding Planned Parenthood makes no sense.

For The Climategate Files

Way back in late November 2009, Republican Senator James Inhofe announced on (of course) Fox "News" that he was calling for an investigation into the so-called Climategate emails.

Take a look (the announcement is about 3 minutes in):


And in late May of 2010, he sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Department of Commerce requesting an investigation. He also requested an investigation into Dr. Jane Lubchenco. You remember Lubchenco, right? She was quoted recently by the editorial board of the Tribune-Review. Inhofe was apparently unhappy about her testimony to Congress when she said:

The [CRU] emails really do nothing to undermine the very strong scientific consensus and the independent scientific analyses ofthousands of scientists around the world that tell us that the earth is warming and that the warming is largely a result of human activities. "

Which is the truth, apparently, but apparently annoyed Inhofe nonetheless.

So what happened with the investigation? You guessed it. From The Hill:

A Commerce Department inspector general investigation into the “Climategate” controversy finds that government scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did not manipulate climate change data.

It’s the latest investigation to clear scientists of manipulating climate data after thousands of e-mails from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit were leaked in 2009.

“Climategate” has become something of a rallying call for climate skeptics, who have pointed to the e-mails to suggest there is a conspiracy among the world’s scientists. But a slew of investigations into the e-mails have cleared scientists of any wrongdoing.

Something we probably won't be seeing anytime soon on the Trib's Op-Ed page. The same Op-Ed page that only last November published:

If the work of blame-mankind climate "scientists" were unimpeachable, they wouldn't be gearing up for a charm offensive.

Seven hundred global-warming doomsayers have agreed to defend their dubious "science" publicly under the auspices of the American Geophysical Union. And 39 Chicken Littles have signed up for a separate "climate rapid response team" organized by a professor at Minnesota's St. Thomas University for deployment to radio and TV talk shows.

Both efforts smack of increasing desperation fueled by the blame-mankind crowd's credibility crumbling beneath the weight of the scandalous Climategate e-mails, which show data manipulation, and greater public recognition of their leftist big-government agenda. That's why skeptics of global-warming orthodoxy make up half of the new GOP members just elected to Congress.

But I digress.

Here's the report Inhofe requested. And the jackpot:

In our review of the CRU emails, we did not find any evidence that NOAA inappropriately manipulated data comprising the GHCN-M dataset or failed to adhere to appropriate peer review procedures. In addition, we found no evidence to suggest that NOAA was non-compliant with the IQA or the Shelby Amendment.

And let me write that again: No evidence NOAA inappropriately manipulated the data.

Will Senator Inhofe be making an announcement to that effect on Fox "News"? Will Scaife's braintrust?

We won't be holding our breath.

Happy Birthday, George!

Huge Turnout for “Fighting For the American Dream” Rally

Looks like a huge turnout for the “Fighting For the American Dream” Rally. Here are some photos and texts from David who was on his lunch break:


"Delano interviewing"


"huge crowd"


"So many people they have speakers outside"

"Shields, Kraus, Dowd are here"

"Tons of people there. Delano said they were expecting 700"
.

Rallies and Protests and Press Conferences, Oh My!

Looks like folks are awakening to the assault on, well, everyone (who isn't super rich)! Women, children, union members, the middle class, the working class and the working poor, public transit riders -- unless you're Donald Trump -- the Republicans have some plan to screw you.

We're not "special interests" when we are the majority!

Please attend any of these that you can:

THURSDAY, 2/24/11
Impacts of Proposed U.S. Budget Cuts on Pittsburgh Jobs & Families Press Conference (This is for the media)
TIME: 10:00 a.m.
WHERE: WGF Office, Landmarks Building, 100 W. Station Square Drive, Suite 315
WHAT: Via press release [edited]: "Women and Girls Foundation hosts. Southwest PA organizations, their local workers and service recipients, would be directly impacted by the drastic cuts included in H.R. 1 which slashes billions of dollars of funding resulting in the elimination of millions of jobs and services for working families in our region. Federal programs impacted range from early childhood education and college financial aid to nutritional assistance for infants, veterans housing, public broadcasting, and reproductive healthcare. It eliminates federal funding for Planned Parenthood and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and it defunds the implementation of health care reform and EPA pollution enforcement. It now moves to the Senate for vote later this month. Representatives from the following organizations will speak: Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children, Fair Housing Partnership, Just Harvest, WQED Multimedia, Women’s Center & Shelter, PennFuture, Planned Parenthood, Adagio Health, The Arc of Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Community Services, Action United, ACLU Pittsburgh, SEIU, Women’s Law Project, New Voices Pittsburgh, National Council of Jewish Women, National Organization for Women, Pennsylvania Health Access Network, and Health Care for America Now. (Members of the media are asked to RSVP if you plan to attend.)"

MoveOn / Democracy for Pittsburgh: Invest in America!
TIME: 11:30 AM;11:45 AM
WHERE: Gather @ Aldo Coffee Shop, 675 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), PA 15228; Proceed to Office of Rep. Murphy, which is at 504 Washington Road, Pittsburgh (Mt. Lebanon), Pa 15228
WHAT: "We are going to go to Rep. Murphy and let him know that cutting billions from funding health care, education, and science will do nothing to turn our economy around, but it will hurt the other 98% of us that are barely getting through the worst recession since the Great Depression. We will go to the office of Rep. Murphy with our Invest in America message, and share our personal stories of why we need support for our broken economy and communities." Please RSVP for the event by clicking on the link below: http://pol.moveon.org/event/invest2011/112639

“Fighting For the American Dream” Rally
Stand in Solidarity with the Wisconsin Workers
TIME: Noon (lunch provided)
WHERE: USW International HQ, Downtown Pittsburgh, 5 Gateway Center, 60 Boulevard of the Allies, Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: "Our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and other states are in a fight for the very survival of their jobs and their union. This is our moment to stand and show solidarity with them and let their Governor and the extremist organizations financing these attacks know: WE STAND TOGETHER! "


FRIDAY, 2/25/11
People's Rally For Public Transportation
TIME: 8:30 - 11:30 AM
WHERE: Mellon Square Park, 6th & Smithfiled, Downtown Pittsburgh PA
WHAT: Protest the drastic cutbacks in public transit.


SATURDAY, 2/26/11
Rally to Save the American Dream, Harrisburg, PA
TIME: 12:00pm - 3:00pm
WHERE: Capitol Steps, 3rd St., Harrisburg, PA 17101
WHAT: "Americans who believe in the right to organize are standing up on Saturday. It's time to stop the dismantling of organizations opposed to the right wing agenda."
RSVP: http://www.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=112822&is_manage=1

DOMA = Unconstitutional

From AP/The Huffington Post:

In a major policy reversal, the Obama administration said Wednesday it will no longer defend the constitutionality of a federal law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.

Attorney General Eric Holder said President Barack Obama has concluded that the administration cannot defend the federal law that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. He noted that the congressional debate during passage of the Defense of Marriage Act "contains numerous expressions reflecting moral disapproval of gays and lesbians and their intimate and family relationships - precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus the (Constitution's)Equal Protection Clause is designed to guard against."

But we all know this by now.

What's been the reaction to all this Administration fairness?

House Speaker John Boehner (from Politico):

Since the anemic economy will probably dominate the national agenda for the foreseeable future, advocates contend there was little political risk for the president in meeting a long-standing demand of the gay community and declaring the 15-year-old law — which bans federal recognition of same-sex marriages — unconstitutional. It was telling that House Speaker John Boehner, one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington, criticized the decision as a distraction, but didn’t attack its substance.

“While Americans want Washington to focus on creating jobs and cutting spending, the President will have to explain why he thinks now is the appropriate time to stir up a controversial issue that sharply divides the nation,” Boehner said.

TPM calls this the Tell of the Day:

Buried in a packed news day, I think one of the telling responses to the president's DOMA decision was that from Speaker John Boehner. Asked for comment, Boehner spokesman Michael Steel released a statement that could only barely manage to criticize the president's decision.

On the other hand, the crazies are out in full force.

Representative Michele Bachmann:

Michele Bachmann is fundraising off President Obama's decision to no longer defend the constitutionality of a law banning federal recognition of same-sex unions.

Just hours after the president's reversal on a Defense of Marriage Act provision, Bachmann, who is considering a White House run next year, blasted an e-mail to supporters. "I'm sending you this urgent message because if we don't join together and take action today, it could be a crushing blow to the traditional marriage movement," she writes.

Bachmann urges them to sign her "Support Traditional Marriage" petition, setting a goal of collecting 50,000 names in 48 hours. And then she asks supporters to "consider making a generous donation of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more" so she can circulate the petition to other activists around the country.

"This is just the beginning in our fight to repeal Barack Obama in 2012," she writes. "Had Barack Obama been on the ballot in 2010, he would have gone down in a fiery defeat. Yet he continues to push his far-left, socialist agenda on the American people. And today, he has declared war on marriage. As conservatives, we must push for a new type of 'change' in our country and fight for our shared values."

And former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum:

In a statement released tonight, Santorum said President Obama's decision on DOMA is "is yet another example of our president's effort to erode the very traditions that have made our country the greatest nation on earth."

Obama's "refusal to defend a law that was overwhelmingly supported on both sides of the aisle and signed into law by a president of his own party is an affront to the will of the people," Santorum said.

Of course "will of the people" is not a factor in the constitutionality of a law. But I am not a lawyer, you know.

I'm also not an anti-gay bigot.