Walberg’s pink tie stands for hypocrisy, not women’s issues

Eclectablog owner and publisher Chris Savage posted a terrific essay noting the hypocrisy of House Rep. Tim Walberg (Republican from MI’s 7th congressional district pointing out to Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards that he was wearing a “pink tie” to the hearing to support women’s issues.

Savage’s post notes that “Indeed, Walberg was wearing a pink tie. But his so-called “solidarity with women’s health issues” ended there. As I noted yesterday, Walberg then proceeded to tell lies about Planned Parenthood that have largely gone unanswered. Not long prior to Tuesday’s hearing, Walberg said in a floor speech, “No matter what party you belong to, we should all agree that taxpayer dollars should not be used for harvesting baby parts for profit.” This, of course, is an insanely obvious lie. Then, during the hearing, he referred to a report commissioned by Planned Parenthood to investigate the veracity of recently-released and highly-edited video meant to give people the impression that Planned Parenthood profits from the sale of fetal tissue. In his comments, he said, “The conclusion of that report says the analysis did not reveal widespread evidence of ‘substantive video manipulation’ and it shows ‘no evidence of audio manipulation.’” This, too, was a provably false statement and you need go no further than the Executive Summary of the report for that proof.​”

The rest of the post is worth the read: ​

DISGUSTING REPUBLICAN HYPOCRISY ALERT –

Tim Walberg: “I’m wearing a pink tie in solidarity with women’s health issues”
http://www.eclectablog.com/2015/10/disgusting-republican-hypocrisy-alert-tim-walberg-im-wearing-a-pink-tie-in-solidarity-with-womens-health-issues-2.html

Slip slidin’ away…

Is it any wonder the Jeb!Bush has gone — according to the latest North Carolina numbers from PublicPolicyPolling.com —  from 3rd place with 13% to 7th place with 5%? Well not when Jeb! makes statements like claiming that the poverty rate “has remained the same” even though the U.S spends $1 trillion a year on poverty programs. But, says FactCheck.org, benefits from poverty programs for food, housing and health care are not factored into the official poverty rate. Bush also said tax cuts enacted by his brother “created a dynamic effect of high growth.” Yet FactCheck.org notes that the rate of economic growth under George W. Bush is about the same as the rate that Jeb Bush says won’t reduce poverty. I have to wonder if he is even going to make the cut for the next GOP debate much less make it to the July 2016 GOP convention in Cleveland .

Jeb Bush on Poverty, Economic Growth
Posted on September 30, 2015
http://www.factcheck.org/2015/09/jeb-bush-on-poverty-economic-growth/

Enough is enough: The death penalty can only mean we are quitters

The state of Oklahoma was scheduled to execute Richard Glossip by lethal injection Sept. 30. He was sentenced to death for a murder that, the record in the case makes clear, he did not commit. And this follows the execution yesterday of the woman in Georgia who, although she conspired to have her husband killed – did not commit the murder – while the man (her lover) who in 1997 did kill her husband took a plea deal, testified against her, is serving life in prison and will become eligible for parole in 2022. We are one messed up society when we just give up and punctuate our resignation by killing the person on which we’ve given up.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
Richard Glossip and the End of the Death Penalty
BY LINCOLN CAPLAN

​ New Yorker Magazine Online​

The case of Richard Glossip, who is scheduled to be executed in Oklahoma this afternoon, illustrates the unreliability of the application of the death sentence.

Update: Richard Glossip’s execution was delayed on Wednesday afternoon by thirty-seven days because of questions concerning the chemicals used for lethal injection. 
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/richard-glossip-and-the-end-of-the-death-penalty?

Governor Rick Snyder: Things “were not fully understood” in Flint water switch

If this was a story about someone else’s state or country or planet… it might almost be funny… in a very dark humorous sort of way… from now on I think we should all agree to vote only for elected officials (especially Governor) who “fully understand things” BEFORE they make decisions which impact life and limb and liberty in our state and our country. What do you think?

Governor Rick Snyder acknowledges the decision to switch the city of Flint’s water system was not vetted the way it should have been. The city faces a crisis now that the water going to homes is contaminated by lead. “In terms of a mistake, I would say is there are probably things that were not as fully understood as when that switch was made,” he said.
http://michiganradio.org/post/snyder-things-were-not-fully-understood-flint-water-switch