Georgia's Bobby Franklin

Georgia Representative Bobby Franklin (R-43rd district) has issues regarding women. That seems pretty certain. So far this year, he has submitted two of the most mysogynistic bills before any legislature.

HB1: Pre-natal Murder Act

This bill is amazing in its scope. Not only would it require any woman who has a miscarriage to prove that she did nothing to cause it (hence, "murdering" her own child), but it would effectively prevent doctors from assisting anyone with an impending miscarriage, never mind outlawing abortion (Roe v Wade, anyone?):

Franklin's bill would classify the removal of a fetus from a woman for any reason other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus as "prenatal murder." Physicians indicted for alleged "prenatal murder" would have their license suspended until they were found innocent of the crime. (The Raw Story Article)

Note that the verbage within the proposed act amends article 5 of Georgia's Official Code, declaring specifically that a fetus is legally a person from the moment of conception. What a relief that he got that one figured out for the rest of us! (/sacasm)

I can't imagine anything more heartbreaking than miscarrying, then having to legally prove that I didn't murder my child. What insanity!

How ironic that this is the party that rails against the Democrats under the guise of being against 'Big Government!' I would expect even non-feminist libertarians to step up to battle against this one as well. This bill should never have seen the light of day, but now that it has, let it go the way of the dodo.



HB14

In Bobby Franklin's world, women who have been assaulted and raped should not be presumed 'victims,' but should carry the moniker of 'accuser,' instead. I don't know at what point it becomes ok in his mind to admit that someone who is assaulted is actually a victim of that assault.

Did women really vote for this man? If so, they and their daughters have all been seriously betrayed.



Additional Sources:
Pre-natal murder:
http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hb1.htm
Change the verbage from rape victim to rape accuser (HB14):
http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20112012/108144.pdf

ALEC needs the light of day

How ironic that I wrote yesterday about the "coincidence" of such similar bills proliferating across the country, and today, an article about ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) is brought to my attention. In this well-written blog post by Bill Cronin, he suggests that the conservative agenda is being set and coordinated by this supposedly non-partisan group that has flown under the radar for nigh on 40 years. I highly suggest you read his post and the associated comments, if you want to get a feel for what is happening on a national scale.

Some highlights from the article, in my opinion:

• ALEC has a closed membership, and does not make their rolls accessible to non-members - so, we have no idea about who is privy to the internal workings of this group.
• Since the rolls are not public information, any gathering of this group could arguably circumvent the open meetings law. I say "arguably" because, as the author points out, both major parties have exemptions for caucus meetings. Some might argue that these meetings qualify. I would disagree, partly because of the inclusion of the private sector members, but no one has asked my opinion.
• ALEC creates template bills that legislators can then use back home. An example of one of their template bills is SB1070 from Arizona (the illegal immigration bill).
• Coordination and template bills allow them to move forward with a concerted effort to transform American to their vision.
• There is currently no real equivalent on the left. Personally, I am not surprised. We liberals don't easily fall into the hierarchical, arguably militaristic, mindset that allows for this kind of lock-step approach, even if that promotes a concerted effort. In many ways, this mindset is anathema to us.

Although their web page claims to be non-partisan, the slogan of "Limited Governments, Free Markets, Federalism" seems to make it pretty clear who would be welcome. I agree that freedom to assemble gives groups like this the right to exist and even to do what they do. However, any group that is this influential in state and federal politics should, in my opinion, be pressured to release membership rolls at least! I also think that questions need to be raised about the circumvention of open meetings laws. I think it is also reasonable to shine a little more attention on their events and activities, whenever possible.

ALEC's bills include many of the anti-healthcare bills, those that are anti-EPA and regulation, anti "big" government legislations, including suggesting constitutional amendments, and much more. I recommend people spend some time browsing the site and looking at the suggestions that they do make publically available (only a small portion of the 1000 pieces of legislation they claim to introduce each election cycle).

This information is not light reading, by any means. It is easy to peek at this stuff and have our eyes glaze over as we realize that we aren't truly understanding what we are reading. Legislation tends to be that way, with all the "legalese" that is deemed necessary to define the intent of the author. I often think that legislators on both sides like it that way, as it prevents the average person from understanding what they are trying to do. If you can wade through some of these templates, I suggest you do. It is an eye-opening experience, to say the least!

There are watchdog groups listed in the blog, which might help in understanding this from a liberal perspective. He was unable to find any more objective / non-partisan analysis, and I admit that I am not surprised there either. These are emotional issues, and we are in a time of stark polarization in this country.


A concerned centrist's look at ALEC:
http://scholarcitizen.williamcronon.net/2011/03/15/alec/
NPR's take (I wonder if this is part of the reason they want to defund NPR so badly?):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130891396
ALEC:
http://www.alec.org/

Coincidence? Seriously?

Thinkprogress.com reports has noticed a very odd "coincidence." Maine, Missouri and New Hampshire all have quite similar bills before the legislature, all basically aimed at doing damage to collective bargaining / unions. We here in Wisconsin are so caught up in our own struggle, we don't always notice that ours is not the only battle. As important as our struggle is, we can't forget that this is one battle ... albeit a key battle! ... in an ongoing war against the middle class, and I would argue, against families.

Tennesee is also in on the fight. Ohio is under the gun as well. All across the country, collective bargaining rights are under the gun. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of peole who don't get why they should care.

There are many ways that unions impact non-union people. Labor, as a group, has a history of fighting for better working conditions, minimum wages, safety laws, overtime pay, etc. Just a little over 100 years ago, disability pay was a pipe dream:

While workers injured on the job or their heirs might sue employers for damages, winning proved difficult. Where employers could show that the worker had assumed the risk, or had been injured by the actions of a fellow employee, or had himself been partly at fault, courts would usually deny liability. (~Economic History of Workplace Safety)

If you have ever had compensation for an injury, or disability pay, even though you may never have been part of a union, you owe them a huge thank you. Labor was an instrumental player in getting an 8 hour work day established as the US norm. Some people would like to tell you that is a myth, but the history of trade unions is quite clear. Although I don't normally like to tag wiki sites, this one is a good overview and links to other sources, so feel free to read more HERE. I believe that they want to convince peole this is a myth because it is something we all appreciate. It doesn't take too much imagination to be grateful we don't have to work 12, 14 or 16 hour days, 6 or 7 days a week.

Where there are labor unions, there is much less likelihood of child labor. It isn't surprising, therefore, that when labor is under attack, there are people out there trying to repeal child labor laws. Just last week, I mentioned Jane Cunningham of Missouri who wants to roll back the clock on child labor protections.

I don't know how many times I have heard the argument that we may have needed labor unions once upon a time, but we have laws in place now, and so we don't need unions any more. I sincerely feel this is naive and will get us into a ton of hot water down the road, if we let these sentiments rule the day. Often, unions are the only champion for these laws staying in place. In a world where corporations feel their only reason for existence is for profit, do you really think that they would not try to get more out of their workers for less money, or less expensive work conditions, if they could legally get away with doing so?

Not every working person is a union worker, but I strongly believe that every working person should be a supporter of unions and the existence of collective bargaining.



Additional Sources:
Economic History:
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/aldrich.safety.workplace.us
Child Labor Public Education Project
http://www.continuetolearn.uiowa.edu/laborctr/child_labor/about/ending.html
Jane Cunningham - rolling back child labor protection:
http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=406876

Peeking at the National Scene for a Moment

Unfortunately for us all, the craziness is not confined to individual state legislatures. We currently have a situation in Washington, where Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and crew have threatened that the 47 Republican senators will allow the US to default on their loans (not raise the debt ceiling) unless Social Security is slashed.

I understand that raising the debt ceiling is abhorrent for many, and it doesn't sit none too well with me either. However, asking the poorest among us to pay more when we can't bring ourselves to ask the same of the richest among us is even worse in my mind. It is a decision that lacks empathy, compassion and a sense of justice. Why is it acceptable to rip at a social safety net that clothes the poor, gets them money for food and shelter, yet it is not acceptable to ask the rich to give even what they gave a few years ago? Remember, we couldn't allow the Bush era tax cuts to expire. That would be terrible! Those poor rich people!

I am not saying that the rich shouldn't get the fruits of their efforts (except for rare circumstances, we can't really call it their 'labor'). I am saying that it is disgusting when profitable businesses and individuals wind up paying less tax than a secretary, teacher, functionary or street cleaner. Or when we have people declaring that $250,000 per year is middle-income, but it is ok to ask people who earn ONE TENTH that amount to kick in more (see table 2, here).


Where is our moral outrage? How can this behavior be allowed to stand? Where are the people of faith? All  faiths seem to have tenets regarding caring for the poor, and I know that the Christian faith has some pretty strong words in Matthew 25. So, where are the champions?

WANTED: A politician with integrity, strength of character and compassion to stand up to these bullies and help them see the light of day. It's past time. So, who will it be? Who will stand up for the poor, the infirm and the elderly? Come on senators ... time to buck up!

Arizona Tea Party has own Mad Hatter bills

The 2010 elections in Arizona were very kind to the Tea Party, though to be fair, the state has always gone to the right. Look at the illegal immigration law passed last year for a sense of how people there tend to lean. Even so, an influx of Tea Party legislators has allowed them to promote their party agenda in a very large way. Some of the bills that have been promoted include the following:

• As one of the first pieces of legislation discussed in this new term, I presume it is important to note that the Colt single-action army revolver has tentatively been named the official state firearm. Steve Gallardo (D-Phoenix) recited a long list of more pressing issues facing the state, including jobs! However, this is the one the Republican / Tea Party leaders decided to discuss. Go figure.
• Currently, Arizona joins several other states in promoting legislation to require Presidential candidates to present their birth certificates in order to be included on the state ballot. The Arizona version has the Secretary of State delegated to review the certificate and presumably give a thumb's up or down on its authenticity and correctness.
• SB1433 has Arizona joining Montana in their secessionist legislation, giving authority to a committee to review Federal laws and vote by a simple majority to 'nullify' them:

The Nullification of Federal Law bill introduced by Russell Pearce and Steve Montevendido. It creates a 12-member committee within the legislature that could 'vote by simple majority to nullify in its entirety a specific federal law or regulation that is outside the scope of the powers delegated by the people to the federal government…'

• To cap it all off, it looks like SB1402 is going to put the DMV in Arizona in the position of marketing for the Tea Party in the form of a "Don't Tread on Me" license plate. Similar to many other states, AZ donates a portion of the cost of specialty license plates to the benefitting organization toward its programs. In this case, $17 out of the $25 cost will go to a committee of 5 people, all with Tea Party affiliations. They deny that this is in any way political, of course. Senator Russel Pearce (R-Mesa) explained:

"I know the Constitution is something that not all folks have read down here," Pearce said. "And that's what this plate is about, about furthering the principles of freedom, about the movement across this country, about citizens who want certain principles followed with limited government and family values and kind of the sea-wind change that's coming across this country."

On the other hand, to do this at all, they had to modify the rules on special plates. HB 2459 was adopted specifically to allow for the possibility. In the floor amendment explanation linked below, it states specifically that the HB1402 monies are to be administered by Tea Party members. Even so, Representative Vic Williams (R-District 26) states categorically that it isn't specific to any political party. I suppose he would like us all to believe it is just coincidence that those managing it are Tea Party people and that the slogan itself has been adopted by the Tea Party of Arizona. Note that the more generic Republican and Democratic parties do not currently have fund-raising license plates in Arizona. Hmmm ....

Arizona is proud to be one of the states with the highest concenration of avowed tea party supporters. Approximately 25% of the residents are either active members or support them from the sideline.For this reason, I think it is a good idea to keep a close eye on the legislation they enact as a sampling of what this group does when in power.






Sources:
Birther Legislation:
http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-dallas/arizona-tea-party-state-birther-illegal-immigration-legislation-right-move?render=print

Nullification of Federal Laws:
http://tucsoncitizen.com/three-sonorans/2011/02/02/sb1433-the-arizona-tea-party-is-so-american-that-federal-law-does-not-apply/

Tea Party License Plate:
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_25375b64-12a1-5105-a6d8-ff4e37317fe9.html
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/1r/bills/hb2459p.pdf
http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/50leg/1r/adopted/1402shooter1001.doc.htm
http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/01/representative_vic_williams_re.php

Michigan: Attack from Within

From a fascinating (to me) commentary on the Tea Party, written by Bob Altemeyer:

"[...] the Quinnipiac poll found that 74 percent of the Tea Partiers were Republicans, or Republican-leaning Independents. Seventy-two percent had a favorable view of Sarah Palin, while the sample as a whole disliked her by a 2-1 margin. They were a little less educated than most, more female than male, older (most were over 50), and overwhelmingly white (88 percent)."

The new Tea Party legislators are overwhelmingly those proposing these strange new bills. This is a group of people that have never been very vocal before. They reject the economic policies of the Obama administration and the Democrats with an emotional vehemence, to the point of appearing beyond logic. When they find a mentor to their liking, they accept that person's pronouncements without question, even when presented with contrary facts. Their approach to government appears to be to dismantle it whenever possible, privatise any mandatory functions, and put as much power as possible in their own hands. It is as though they don't realize that they won't always be the ones holding the reins of power.

This brings me to Republican Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan. At his request, the Michigan Assembly put together and passed a bill that redefines the role of  Emergency Financial Managers to be Emergency Managers - without "Financial" in the title, but with significantly expanded powers. Under the new bill, they have the power to "end existing contracts, take over pension plans, reorganize departments, enter into agreements to restructure debt and dissolve or consolidate fiscally troubled towns and schools." Yup. These state-appointed positions will have the right to go in and tell the Mayor to take a hike and dissolve city councils, and even merge or disincorporate townships, all under the guise of fiscal restructuring.

Michigan is suffering some tough times, especially since the massive changes it has witnessed in the auto and steel industries once the 2008 recession kicked in. Many of the towns are headed toward bankruptcy, and everyone knew that something drastic needed to be considered. Even with that level of desperation, I doubt that many people would have thought anything like this would be the result. In many ways it is the Michigan equivalent of the Wisconsin solution to the public employee problem. Note that state Rep, Mark Meadows warns, “[O]ur state and federal constitutions contain “contract clauses,” he said, “both of which prohibit the state from enacting any law that impairs existing contractual obligations.” That doesn't seem to be slowing Mr Snyder down any.

Like Wisconsin, Michigan citizens may be forced to sue their governor and legislature, and attempt to get injunctions against bills of questionable legality. All over our country, the underpinnings of our democratic process are being attacked and redefined. There was a very low voter turnout in the 2010 elections and Tea Party voters took full advantage. If this is a wake up call to your mind, know that you have the power - and I would argue, the responsibility! - to organize and fight back. If you don't, you are making the choice to accept the changes being presented to you.

We always have a choice: We can be silent or we can take action.

Sources:
 
Tea Party History:
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/drbob/Comment%20on%20the%20Tea%20Party.pdf
 
Michigan's Emergency Manager bill:
http://michiganmessenger.com/47013/bill-offers-no-guidelines-for-use-of-emergency-managers-powers
 
http://michiganmessenger.com/46807/constitutionality-of-emergency-manager-powers-questioned
 
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-michigan-is-preparing-for-a-tsunami-of-financial-crises-2011-2

Political Geek

As I post this, the Republicans in Wisconsin have just finished with the vote to strip public unions of collective bargaining rights. To do it, they had to separate the collective bargaining out of the original bill. This is because they needed a quorum to vote on anything with a fiscal impact. Without a fiscal impact, they don't need quorum and can vote without the Democrats. Getting rid of public unions was so important to them, they were willing to let the lie of it being necessary to balance the budget see the light of day.

What could be so important that they would be willing to have the illusion of their integrity ripped away? I think it is because they plan on plundering the pension fund and needed to get those pesky unions out of the way. The pension fund in Wisconsin is set up old school ... it is fully funded, even over-funded by some estimates. Killing it and creating a new one would free up millions of dollars that could then be given to the corporate interests in the guise of "incentives." We'll see if I'm right ...

Unfortunately, Wisconsin isn't the only place seeing a rash of Tea Party activity. One of the posts I read called them Teapublicans. I kind of liked that. Anyway ...

I have had so many newsfeeds pop up lately that include stories about bills and situations that seem extremely odd, backward, or just plain insane … I post them on Facebook sometimes, but I am sure they get buried on my wall, what with all the local insanity due to HB11, the Executive Budget and the general bizarreness surrounding Scott Walker’s administration in Wisconsin. I have decided to take some time to post some of those I found to be truly bizarre on this blog. My goal is to try to expose what I perceive to be insanity sweeping across the country. Laws, bills and attitudes have erupted that are trying to take us back at least a half century in terms of rights and respect toward others.

Perhaps, you think I am kidding? Here are a few of the stories that have caught my eye recently:

• Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham (R-St Louis County) has submitted SB 222 for consideration. In it, she has suggested that the laws requiring 14 and 15 year old children to have a work permit are in need of repeal. While she’s at it, she wants to eliminate local inspections by the state Labor Board to ensure that the rules are being obeyed. According to a local report (Barb Shelley of the Kansas City Star), the legislation, as written, would actually allow 12 or 13 year old children to be put to work, “perhaps under the guise of receiving a home-school education.” Whether that is actually the case or not, the act of repealing local inspections would certainly be an encouragement to anyone prone to disobeying the laws and taking advantage of youth labor. If you want to know more, click here for the original article on this one.

• They won’t go so far as to call it secession, but no other word really defines the laws currently being considered in Montana. The Billings Gazette reports that, “From health care reform to food safety laws to the Endangered Species Act, GOP lawmakers this session are targeting laws for “nullification,” proposing bills that put Montana on record as declaring these laws unconstitutional and not enforceable here.” You read it right: ‘Nullification’ is the word of the day in Montana. If you only obey some of the Federal laws and can ignore the ones you don’t like, where is the cohesion of the Union? Some of the changes would include a requirement that the FBI would need the permission of the local sheriff to arrest anyone and a declaration that Global Warming is good for business. This is so far out there, that I would expect this kind of news to come from The Onion, or be seen on an SNL skit instead of being a serious article in a local Montana newspaper. For the full article, click here.

• Then, there’s Rick Perry, the Republican governor of Texas. In a keynote address to a conservative business group, he was quoted as speaking one of the most bizarre political statements I have ever read. After suggesting that good conservative republicans should remove their children from public schools and place them in Christian private schools (I assume this is because all conservatives are both rich and Christian), he added:

"It is only fair that teachers and state employees who voted Republican should be the first to lose their tax funded jobs."

There is a twisted kind of logic here. If you really believe that Rick Perry is correct in thinking that tax payers should not be paying the salaries of workers that could have their job function privatised, then put your money where your mouth is and quit your job if you draw a public salary. That would be internally consistent with the belief system. On the other hand, if you thought he meant that those OTHER people were slackers drawing a tax-funded salary, but that YOU work your butt off and deserve every penny … well, then I am sorry to say you were very badly mistaken with your interpretation.

Among other things, Mr Perry plans quite a few tax cuts for the Texas public school system, and when asked about how that might impact Advanced Placement exam scores, he responded with:

“I really don't see why high schools should have to teach college level courses like calculus, economics, physics, chemistry or biology. Not all children go to college anyway. Texas has plenty of on the job training programs that teach skills and trades. Oil field workers need to know how to operate machines that extract oil. They don't need calculus to do their job.”

I read that and my brain shut off for a moment. This is so outrageous, I would prefer to read the actual text of his speech, or see a video of it. If he really dismissed the future of Texas in this way, I certainly hope someone caught it on tape. I haven’t found it yet, but if any of you could let me know, I would be happy to post it. I don’t doubt that he said it, as it seems consistent with his philosophy, but a video is worth a thousand blog posts, to paraphrase and modernise a famous quote.

For quotes from the speech and progressive commentary, click here.

• The Salt Lake Tribune in Utah has an interesting tidbit about a law that requires children be taught that the USA is a republic and not a democracy. Although this is technically true, the reason for legislative involvement in school curriculum is that they are concerned that socialism is being indoctrinated into our children via school curricula in other states. The argument that socialism is also a philosophy and not just a form of government (and capitalism is a philosophy, but not a form of government) is apparently a little too complex for our friends in Utah, who actually spent time debating which it is. How teaching that the USA is a republic would in any way prevent socialist philosophy from being taught was not clear from the article.

For the full article, click here.

For the curious, a nice comparison of a republic vs a democracy can be found by clicking here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I didn’t even go into the insanity in Wisconsin, letting the governor modify the social safety nets of the elderly and the infirm without legislative approval or selling off our utilities without even a bid to ensure we get good money for it. I could have posted about the Georgian legislators who think it is OK to give tax breaks to the richest in their state, but want to alter the law to charge tax for the purchase of girl scout cookies. Hmmm ... what about the Florida legislature that wants to make it a criminal offense to take a photo of a farm? I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Florida reportedly has some of the more egregious industrial farm abuses. In a similar vein, there is always the rash of laws recently passed in several states making it illegal to videotape police officers abusing their victims - I mean suspects. I find it totally bizarre that there is one set of laws for the general public, and a different set for the police. If anything, it would make sense to hold them to a higher standard, not a lower one. Yet, it is acceptable to film inside public stores to protect from thieves, and perfectly legal to photograph license plates of those running red lights, but it is illegal in several states to record the police breaking the law.

You see, I could rant quite a long time on this. We’ll see what else I find in my inbox this week!