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Planned Parenthood

Special Bulletin. Veterans and In Vitro Fertilization

A report on the PBS NewsHour this week brought to our attention an issue that we had previously overlooked. The report, which can be viewed here, concerned the inability of the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) to pay for in vitro fertilization (IVF) for veterans who have suffered wounds that make it impossible for them to conceive children any other way.Read More »Special Bulletin. Veterans and In Vitro Fertilization

Special Bulletin. The Planned Parenthood Wars: A Footnote.

In recent posts, we argued that an attempt to deprive Planned Parenthood of federal funding would be a mistake, and that under no circumstances should such an attempt be pursued at the risk of a government shutdown. On September 8, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial, “Government Shutdown Redux,”  in which it also argued against a government shutdown. Along the way, however, the Journal cited the controversial undercover videos of Planned Parenthood to suggest that defunding it would be a “laudable goal.” In response to that editorial, we wrote a letter explaining why the that goal was not at all laudable.

On September 12, the Journal published our letter in part–its final paragraph. The abridgement of the letter did not distort its meaning and we appreciate the Journal’s willingness to publish at least a portion of it. (We have found over the years that the Journal is considerably more more willing to publish letters expressing opposing views than is The New York Times.) Nevertheless, we thought that anyone who saw the editorial and our letter, might be intereted in the complete version. It was as follows:Read More »Special Bulletin. The Planned Parenthood Wars: A Footnote.

Blog No. 77. Embattled John Boehner: The Oozlum Caucus and the Trumpian Virus.

It has been obvious for some time that this autumn would be a contentious period in Congress. The most significant, and most immediate, issues to be resolved were approval or disapproval of the nuclear deal with Iran and the passage of a Continuing Resolution to keep the government in operation past September 30. Not much further down the road are the need to increase the debt ceiling and the issue of highway funding. All of that would have been quite challenging enough for the Republican leadership, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, dealing as they must, with not only the White House and Congressional Democrats, but the obstreperous rebels on their own right flanks. As long-time readers of RINOcracy.com will recall, our term for the latter group is the Oozlum Caucus, named for the legendary bird that flies in ever decreasing concentric circles until it flies up into itself and disappears. (See, e.g., Wikipedia.) That is, we have suggested, the kind of flight plan the Congressional Oozlums would dictate for the Republican Party.Read More »Blog No. 77. Embattled John Boehner: The Oozlum Caucus and the Trumpian Virus.

Blog No. 76. The Assault on Planned Parenthood

Republican leaders in both the House and Senate have been reported to be in a state of some panic trying to figure out how to avoid a government shutdown over the issue of defunding Planned Parenthood. The issue arises by reason of the need to pass a spending bill by the end of September in order to continue government operations. Both John Boehner and Mitch McConnell have learned the lessons of the past: that government shutdowns accomplish nothing except to damage the reputation of the Republican Party. Inexplicably,Senat but not surprisingly, those lessons have escaped the most prominent architect of the current plan to cause a shutdown, Senator Ted Cruz aka “Senator Shutdown.”Read More »Blog No. 76. The Assault on Planned Parenthood

Special Bulletin. Update to “Republicans’ Misguided Attack On Funding For Family Planning.”

In our June 20 Special Bulletin, we reported on the action of a House subcommittee in eliminating funding for two programs for family planning. One of our readers inquired in a published comment where the “media involvement”  was, and two days later The New York Times weighed in with an editorial, “Republicans Take Aim At Poor Women.” Now, The Huffington Post reports that a Senate subcommittee has taken action that is less draconian but similarly misguided:Read More »Special Bulletin. Update to “Republicans’ Misguided Attack On Funding For Family Planning.”