Category Archives: National Politics
Susan G. Komen Foundation Pulls Grant from Planned Parenthood
In business, there are times when you need to look over a budget carefully and decide whether or not you can give grants to certain organizations. Sometimes, it is feasible and other times, it is not quite possible to make grants to other organizations.
Yesterday, news broke that Susan G. Komen Foundation was not giving grants to Planned Parenthood. It was a move to strengthen their granting process and free up money for services to help women, who might not have access to care. According to a statement from Susan G. Komen Foundation’s Founder and CEO Ambassador Nancy Brinker, the decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood was based in part to a strategy that was meant to safeguard donor dollars, and it was not based on politics.
Since the decision was made, there has been backlash from many who support Planned Parenthood and feel the decision was made for political reasons. Planned Parenthood has been under scrutiny and investigation for their organization’s practices, involving abortions. Supporters of Planned Parenthood have been attacking Susan G. Komen on their Facebook page and on social media outlets, such as Twitter. There has been a surge in donations to Planned Parenthood in response to the decision.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation made the best decision for the future of their organization. If anything, perhaps they realize that the Congressional investigation into Planned Parenthood’s practices might harm their reputation. It is also pretty bad, considering that an undercover investigation discovered that a majority of their clinics do not offer mammograms. A Susan G. Komen Foundation donor (and potential donors) might want to know how Planned Parenthood used the money. There is no doubt that this had to be a factor in the decision to eliminate the grants.
Cross posted at Bearing Drift
Does Rand Paul Look Irate to You?
Just watch the video and tell me does Sen. Rand Paul look irate about being detained at the Nashville Airport.
He doesn’t look angry to me. Perhaps, the TSA officials at the airport that day might have added too much drama when referring to the incident.
Whatever the case may be, Sen. Paul’s incident has brought to light that it is time that the effectiveness of TSA be questioned. In an recent op-ed that appeared in The Washington Times, Paul wrote about TSA’s work should be on police work, instead of violating our Fourth Amendment rights.
If a federally funded TSA is going to exist, then its focus should be on police work and it must respect the rights of citizens. The TSA should not universally insult all travelers; it should however research, track, monitor and target people that are, in fact, threats to our nation.
This blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans against unwarranted search and seizure, has insulted many citizens, and rightfully so. I, along with many other travelers, do not view traveling as a crime that warrants government search and seizure. In fact, I view traveling as a basic right, for Americans are free to travel from state to state as they please.
I refused an unnecessary patdown and stood up for my rights as an American citizen. This is a battle Americans face every time they fly. It is my firm belief that TSA should not have such broad authority to violate our constitutional rights in ineffective and invasive physical searches, thus I will further push for the reinstatement of traveler privacy and rights. I will be proposing legislation that will allow for adults to be rescreened if they so choose.
I couldn’t agree more with Sen. Paul’s points. As Americans, we should not be subjected to a groping fiasco before boarding our flights, rather we should be able to go through a screening process that respects our privacy.
Farewell Rick Perry
With yesterday’s announcement that Rick Perry is leaving the Presidential race, I felt Talking Points Memo offered a fitting tribute.
Why Energy Matters?
The American Petroleum Institute (API) recently launched a new initiative, Vote 4 Energy, which will focus on why energy issues should concern many voters during the 2012 elections. According to API, this is not a partisan issue, rather energy is an issue that should concern many Americans, as it impacts the economy and job development for the future.
Below is a video featuring Tom of Virginia Right:
Energy is an important issue. With the potential rise in fuel prices, there is no doubt that something needs to be done to utilize our own resources to help curb our reliance on foreign oil.
New Hampshire’s “Lesser Known Candidates”
Introducing Vermin Supreme, who was one of the “lesser-known” presidential candidates. This is the new “Basil Marceaux” of 2012.
This is too funny, so the video is enough for an explanation.
Don’t You Love the Smell of Corruption
D.C. is the Nation’s capital, but it is also the capital of corruption. Needless to say, I am not surprised that some on the D.C. City Council are being accused of corruption for various money scandals. Currently, the FBI is investigating city councilman Harry Thomas, Jr. for charges of corruption and tax evasion.
However, the most recent allegation plaguing the city council is one that is more damning. According to The Washington Examiner, a live feed from a D.C. Council was recently cut during a press conference, as Council Chairman Kwame Brown was being questions about the ethics scandal and the poor approval ratings. While the press conference was about upcoming legislation, reporters wanted to focus on the ethics scandal. After all, people are outraged and questions need to be answered. The excuse was that Brown, nor his Chief of Staff did not know that the feed was turned off.
What does the D.C. Council have to be afraid of? The live feed was turned off, which results in a lack of transparency. Transparency is essential in government. Shouldn’t the Council answer for their actions? Whatever the case may be, the people don’t deserve to be left out in the cold in terms of what is happening on the D.C. City Council.
The Problem with Pharmacy Consolidation
Recently, there was an excellent op-ed on the Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions merger by Steven Pearlstein in The Washington Post. I have been covering the potential hazards that this merger would have not only on local community pharmacies, but on the consumers. Pearlstein really outlines why this merger, and in particular, why the merger of two large entities can have a negative impact.
With the merger of Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions, you would have one major pharmacy benefit management company, who would make the small community pharmacies face the pressures from big retailers and the PBMs. Pearlstein noted:
The independent pharmacists have good reason to be concerned — because of competition from the big retail chains and the PBMs, they’ve become an endangered species. Some of this is the result of competition that is thuggish and unfair and results in inferior and less-convenient service for customers. But some of it reflects the hard economic reality that mail order is a cheaper and more efficient way to fill prescriptions and scale is important when negotiating prices with patent-wielding monopolists in the pharmaceutical industry. Over time, we will miss them the way we miss the local ice cream parlor and dressmaker.
The other issue that arises from this merger is the fact that consumers will not receive the care and attention that the pharmacists at the local pharmacies provide. Many of these pharmacists know their customers and their medical backgrounds, especially in terms of which medication interferes with another.
Will the consumer be able to benefit from this merger without having to pay more? Pearlstein noted that it would all have to depend on the competition of other regional PBMs. With Express Scripts and Medco (two of the larger PBMs) merging, this will reduce the price competition, thus causing the prices to rise.
This merger is a bad idea, and one that could be detrimental to many who use local pharmacies and those who own them. Perhaps, it is time for the Federal Trade Commission to wake up and stop this merger.
Your Tax Dollars at Work…Careful What You Tweet
Here’s an example of your tax dollars at work. It appears that three staffers from Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wa.)’s office were tweeting about their wild escapades of drinking during work hours and insulting their boss.
You can read about the exchange here, but below is a little example of the tweets.
“My coworker just took a shot of Jack crouching behind my desk. We have unabashedly given up on just about all things work related. #D2R
D2R was referred to as December to Remember, which was to mark their month of debauchery. Now, these three staffers are going to have a rough time convincing future employers that they will not fall prey to the behavior they displayed at Rep. Larsen’s office.
Lessons learned from this: Don’t be a dumbass and tweet about your bad behavior while on the job. Social networking can be fun and provide essential news/information, but it was not designed to air your dirty laundry.
Peyton Hillis Supports Ron Paul
Granted, I am a Steelers fan, but I really like Peyton Hillis. Hillis has not been having a really great season for the Cleveland Browns (he did last season…and even made it on the cover of Madden 2012), but I like his politics, as he supports Ron Paul. Just listen to the clip below.
Ron Paul 2012. We need a President, who will stand on principle and one who will get us out of the economic mess we are in.
The Occupy Crowd Wants to Shut Down Wall Street
Reuters reports that the Occupy crowd wants to shut down Wall Street. Didn’t they try to do this already? I know things have been busy with the election, and maybe, I have neglected a few things when it came to the Occupy crowd. Oh well, I wonder if it will be as successful as it has been in cities like Oakland and Portland, where they have been booted out.
They are probably not succeeding in Springfield.
