Newt. Mitt. Rick. Ron. Is this the best we have?

Call me crazy, but I would think in a country of 350+ million, we’d be able to find a more palatable GOP candidate to run for President. Here’s my take on things: Newt Gingrich isn’t “transformational” as he likes to describe himself. The only thing he seems to transform are versions of his personal history (not to mention wives) to suit his needs. Mitt Romney is a fine businessman who has far more wins than losses on his balance sheet – but there’s something about him I don’t buy. He just doesn’t seem genuine. I like him, but. And that seems to be what a lot of people say; “I like him, but…”
I wish Mitt had the intestinal fortitude to support a woman’s right to make medical decisions about her own body – like he used to. But, he’s just too afraid the right wing of the GOP will abandon him. Well let’s be honest, they don’t like him anyway. And they won’t vote for him. They were never going to vote for him. He’s going to lose votes on this and other social issues anyway – so he may as well support more moderate positions on them. His net gain in independents, Blue Dog Democrats, and moderate Republicans such as myself is going to be far more than his net loss among right wing conservatives – there are a lot more of us when we combine the three voting blocks! As for Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, I’m sure they have the best interest of the country at heart. Really, I’m sure of it. 100%. And that’s all I can say about them – because, well, they have the best interest of the country at heart.
So, all the qualified GOP candidates, the good, reasonable, moderate people like my two favorites Tom Coburn and Chuck Hagel don’t run. They know better. They don’t want to be flayed by the press nor do they want their families to be subjected to media vivisection. I don’t blame them. Neither would I.
And that leaves us with the GOP candidates we have now.

Oklahoma Abortion Ruling: NOT OK.

“Calling all Women.” Republicans. Tea Partiers. Coffee partiers. Democrats. Indies. Yooo Hoooo. Where is your outrage? Did you somehow miss the news that the state of Oklahoma now requires every woman seeking an abortion to first undergo an ultrasound? ALL women should be incensed that a group of middle-aged, white men (a generalization – but the actual ages and races of the lawmakers bear this great majority out) has decided that even if you have been raped or are the victim of incest, you must see and hear a very detailed description of the fetus in your womb.

Talk about an invasion of privacy. Apparently, this holier-than-thou group of lawmakers has deemed women unfit to make a decision that will impact every single aspect of their lives. Noooo, we need the dogmatic legislators of morality to tell us what is best for us. “There there little lady, why aren’t you a pretty little thing, let me pressure you into carrying that fertilized egg to term so I can abandon both of you once you have given birth to a child no-one wants. You won’t be entitled to education, health, or any government sponsored assistance because we’re cutting back on all those “Socialist” programs. But by golly, you must bring that fetus to term so that it and you can suffer needlessly for the rest of time.”

Even better in this new law, if the doctor performing the ultrasound notices that the fetus has a severe disability, he doesn’t have to tell you about the birth defect; so your informed decision might not be! It’s totally his decision, his sense of morality and religious convictions, that will determine whether or not to inform you about the health of the fetus in your womb. So much for the Hippocratic oath! Disinformation, or worse, omission is a far cry from “first, do no harm.”

Preaching to women about the sanctity of life – when you abandon that very same life as soon as it actually arrives on the scene is the very essence of hypocrisy. If every life were truly precious, OK lawmakers would ensure that the lives already living and breathing were fed, clothed, educated and insured. Strong-arming a woman into birthing a child she cannot properly take care of – and the state refuses to support – is a moral crime far worse than abortion. It is sentencing two lives to a miserable hell on earth. Shame on you OK. This isn’t about religion. It’s about power. And once again, women have been bamboozled into thinking that limiting a right to choose is about protecting unborn children. It’s not. If the law were about protecting the unborn, then every legislator who voted for this would also have voted to properly fund the teaching of effective birth control methods which would do far more to prevent abortions than this over-reaching law. Nay, nay, my fellow females, this law is purely about limiting women’s power to make their own choices about their own lives.

Women of America, if you’re not wise enough to be insulted by a law that deems you incapable of making your own decisions, then perhaps you deserve to have your rights trampled upon. “There there little lady.”

Unplanned Pregnancies: The Fiscal Pain

I’ve had it up to here with the Planned Parenthood bashers around the country.
What do these right-wing, fiscal conservatives who continually and loudly preach that we need to reduce domestic spending on welfare and other entitlement programs not understand about babies costing lots of money?
Planned Parenthood, not the government, not virulently (not to mention violently) anti-abortion organizations including the Pro-Life Rescue League and Operation Rescue, is about the only group out there that is actually saving taxpayers money by reducing these very expensive social welfare and health care programs!
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, teen pregancies cost taxpayers close to $10 Billion, yes, BILLION, per year.
Teen childbearing costs to the public can be broken down to include:
*$2 billion in increased public sector health care costs.
*$2.3 billion in increased child welfare costs.
*$2.1 billion in increased costs of incarceration.
*$2.9 billion in lost revenue due to lower taxes paid by the children of teen mothers over their own adult lifetimes as a result of lower education and earnings.
It’s economics people. Dollars and cents. Cha-ching. The costs of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies are breaking the bank – which is already completely overdrawn due to tax cuts for the very wealthy and two unfunded wars.
Face it, kids are having sex. They are having a LOT of sex. Rich, poor, black, white, from public shools, from parochial schools, from private schools – they’re fornicating!
So, let’s get religion out of this economic discussion. We can’t afford to pay for unwanted children. As it is now, we can’t afford to pay for the education and health care of the wanted ones. Planned Parenthood needs more funding – not less. Because frankly, the pain of childbirth is excruciating to my wallet.