Pres. Obama's Weekly Address Feb. 28, 2009

Keeping Promises

In the Weekly Address this morning, President Obama explains how the budget he sent to Congress will fulfill the promises he made as a candidate. On fiscal responsibility, a fair tax code, a clean energy economy, real health care reform, and education, this budget sets out a new vision for our country.

But having put his priorities on paper and having stood behind them, the President recognizes that there are those who will fight against change every step of the way.

--- Click here for TEXT OF THE ADDRESS AT THE WHITE HOUSE BLOG:!... ---

Ailing G.O.P. Risks Losing a Generation

New York Times
By MARJORIE CONNELLY
Published: February 28, 2009

Republicans have their work cut out for them. Americans identifying themselves as Democrats outnumber those who say they are Republicans by 10 percentage points, the largest gap in party identification in 24 years, according to a year-by-year averaged trends analysis of all national party identifications surveys conducted by The New York Times and CBS News from 1976 theough the end of 2009.

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Fight Looms Over Voter Photo ID Bill In Texas Legislature

According to The Houston Chronicle Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, has alerted senators he plans to bring up the Voter photo ID bill before a special Senate committee on March 10 to obtain approval of the 16 senators required to bring it to the Senate floor for debate and a vote. The Voter photo ID bill could pass in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 19-12 majority, as soon as March 16.

If the bill passes in the Senate, as it likely will, the Texas House is the only opportunity left for Democrats to mount a fight to block the measure. But, it will be a tough fight!

With the Texas House made up of 74 Democrats and 76 Republicans, after the 2008 election, the Voter ID bill will face a tougher fight in the Texas House this year than it did in 2007 when it passed the House, but failed to pass the Senate. That said, Speaker of the House, Joe Straus (R), will likely allow the voter ID bill to go the House floor for debate and an eventual vote, given his comment to reporters on Friday, 16 January 2009, that he favors Voter Photo Identification:

Straus, who voted for the Voter ID House bill in 2007, stated he thinks another examination of whether photo IDs are needed to combat voter fraud is appropriate. He said he does not yet know whether there are sufficient votes in the House to pass a bill.

The Texas Senate on Wednesday, 14 January 2009, voted 18-13, along party lines, to exempt voter identification legislation from the longstanding “Two-Thirds” Rule. The two-thirds rule requires that 21 senators must support a measure before it can be brought to the floor for debate and a vote. The vote was to exempt any bill brought forward in the Texas Senate that would require voters to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls before being allowed to vote.

Under the change, voter ID legislation can be brought up for a vote on the Senate floor with the approval of only 16 senators, not the 21 required under the customary two-thirds rule. (This is the vote now scheduled for March 10.)Democrats could have blocked voter ID legislation under the usual two-thirds rule — as they did two years ago when debate over voter photo ID in the 2007 legislative session paralyzed the State Senate for weeks before the bill was finally rejected.

While Texas proponents of voter ID legislation argue that it's needed to combat voter fraud, there is no evidence that the type of fraud that these requirements address has occurred at any point since records have been kept.

Voter Fraud is the claim that large groups of people knowingly and willingly give false information to establish voter eligibility, and knowingly and willingly vote illegally or participate in a conspiracy to encourage illegal voting by others.

Any claim that voter fraud is rampant in Texas is false.

While there is no actual evidence of voter fraud, many studies, such as conducted by the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, find that U.S. citizens of Latino, Asian American and African American heritage are less likely to vote as a result of increasingly restrictive voter ID requirements.

Each of the groups listed in the Eagleton study tend to vote for Democratic candidates and are a growing percentage of Texas voters. The success of Democratic voter registration drives among these Texas groups in 2008 threatens to tip the balance of power away from the Republicans. As the tide of Democratic voters continues to grow across Texas, voter ID legislation would be an effective way for Republicans to hold back the tide.

The Voter ID bill introduced in the House during the 2007 legislative session (HB 218) passed by a vote of 76 to 69 when the House was made up of 69 Democrats and 81 Republicans. Two Republicans, who returned for the 81st legislative session, voted against HR 218 in 2007. The voter ID bill introduced in the Senate during the 2007 legislative session was successfully blocked from advancing in the Senate by Senate Democrats.

Straus, who is consider to be a somewhat more moderate conservative, took over the Speaker's Chair from hard right-winger Tom Craddick for the 2009 legislative session with the support of every Democrat in the Texas House. So far, Straus has not shown much appreciation to House Democrats for putting him in the Speaker's Chair and the he'll likely give no exception for the voter ID bill.

Locate your Collin County legislative district representatives in the House and Senate District here. Your Texas Legislative House and Senate District Numbers can be found on your Voter Registration Card. Check your voter registration card information online here.

TX Sen. Cornyn May Be Pushing Senate To 60 Dem Votes

Kentucky GOP Senator Jim Bunning is increasingly angry that the GOP senatorial committee has appearently recruited someone to run against him in the 2010 GOP primary. In a conference call with reporters this week, Bunning lashed out at Texas Senator John Cornyn, the Texan who is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which recruits and supports Republicans to run for the Senate.

Senator Cornyn confirmed Monday, in an interview with The Washington Post, that some Republicans wanted Bunning to retire, but added that "as long as he says he is running I will be supportive of him." Bunning said in the conference call with reporters, "I don't believe anything John Cornyn says. . . I've had miscommunications with John Cornyn from, I guess, the first week of this current session of the Senate. He either doesn't understand English or he doesn't understand a direct 'I'm going to run,' which I said to him in the cloakroom of our chamber when he asked me."

In recent weeks, Senate Republican leaders have all but declared open war on Senator Bunning. Minority Leader (and fellow Kentucky senator) Mitch McConnell and others reportedly believe Bunning is likely to lose his reelection race in 2010, and so are trying to nudge him into retirement by sending signals that the party establishment will not back him. According to a story in the HuffingtonPost, Bunning reportedly has said privately that, "if he is hindered in raising money for his re-election campaign he is ready with a response that would be politically devastating for Senate Republicans: his [immediate] resignation."

The implication is that Bunning would allow Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, to appoint his replacement -- a move that could give Democrats the 60 votes they need to block Republican filibusters in the Senate.

Backlash On Gov. Perry's Rejection Of Federal Stimulus Money

As Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) continues to threaten to reject millions of dollars in federal stimulus money for increased unemployment insurance, there is growing anger among the unemployed over being handed conservative ideology rather than a stimulus generated job or an unemployment insurance check.

Gov. Perry joins with the Republican governors of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Alaska and Idaho in extending to unemployed workers conservative ideology that government has no role to help them rather than a helping hand.

From the NYTimes:

For people like Henry Kight, 59, of Austin, Tex., the possibility that the money might be turned down is a deeply personal issue.

Mr. Kight, who worked for more than three decades as an engineering technician, discovered in September that because of complex state rules, he was not eligible for unemployment insurance after losing a job at a major electronics manufacturer in Texas.

Mr. Kight and other unemployed workers said they were incensed to learn they were living in one of a handful of states — many of them among the poorest in the nation — that might not provide the expanded benefits. [Unemployment regulations in these states, involving such matters as the length of a person’s work history or reason for leaving a job often disqualify newly unemployed workers from receiving benefits.]

Currently, when considering a person’s work history, most states do not include wages earned in just the current or preceding quarter. Instead, they look to see what the person earned in the four quarters before that, which can often hurt low-wage workers, people facing a second or third successive layoff and people just entering or returning to the work force.

In Mr. Kight’s case, he was unemployed for the second half of 2007, after being downsized from an earlier job at a different electronics manufacturer. As a result, when he applied for unemployment benefits after the secon layoff, he did not have enough immediate work history to qualify.

“I have worked for so many years, a total of probably 30 years, contributing to the support system that helps people when they get in a tough spot like I’m in,” Mr. Kight said. “I haven’t needed it too much in the past, but I sure could use it right now.”

About 40 percent of applicants who are now disqualified from receiving benefits because they do not earn enough would qualify if states offered an alternative base period, according to the National Employment Law Project.

“It just seems unreasonable,” Mr. Kight said, “that when people probably need the help the most, that because of partisan activity, or partisan feelings, against the current new administration, that [Gov.] Perry is willing to sacrifice the lives of so many Texans that have been out of work in the last year.”

He was referring to Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, who has said he may decline the extra money rather than change state policy.

“I remain opposed to using these funds to expand existing government programs, burdening the state with ongoing expenditures long after the funding has dried up,” Mr. Perry wrote in a letter to Mr. Obama last week.

It is not clear why participating in the expanded unemployment insurance program would result in "ongoing expenditures." The recovery package will fund state unemployment for approximately three years, at which point Texas could — if it chose to do so — return to the more restrictive unemployment regulations. And, if the job stimulus successfully helps to put people back to work, then fewer workers will be unemployed and needing assistance.

Obama: It Begins With Energy

'Green News Report AT BRADBLOG' - February 26, 2009
With Brad Friedman & Desi Doyen...

Obama tells Congress, "It all begins with energy" ... Cool green innovations you may want to buy soon ... and flushing old-growth trees down the toilet --- literally!

Green960 (KKGN) in San Francisco and ActionPoint Online in Phoenix are running the 'GNR'. Is your favorite station? If not, tell them to pick it up for free! Contact us at GreenNews@BradBlog.com for easy details!

Download MP3 (6 mins), or listen online here...

--- Click here for REST OF STORY AT BRADBLOG!... ---

Top News Of The Day

- Joe The Plumber To Advise Young Republicans At Conservative Conference Obama Expected To Kill Hedge Fund Tax Break Jobless Claims Rise More Than Expected - Highest Since 1982 Maddow Questions Pelosi... Obama Speech Ratings... Hikes For People Making More Than $250,000 To Help Pay For More Accessible Health Care Questioning 'truth commission,' Pelosi says Bush lawbreakers should face prosecution Pres. Obama unveils budget, moves toward universal health care Obama Sends 'Hard Choices' Record $3 Trillion Budget To Cogress Obama’s Healthcare Plan: True Universality? Obama Shows Us the Money on Medicare and Health Care

GM Posts 9.6 Billion Loss Banks Scramble To Water Down Bill Rescuing Homeowners From Foreclosure Auto Suppliers Need Bailout... Fed's $1 Trillion Program... AIG May Break Up Obama Adm Projects $1.75 Trillion Budget Deficit While Nation Sees Record Layoffs and with fewer GOP'ers in now in Congress, GOP Refuses To Cut Congressional Staff, Says Reid

GOP Governor Sanford Implies Rush Limbaugh Is An "Idiot" David Brooks: Jindal Speech Was 'Nihilism' Unhinged Tom DeLay Slams Obama's Speech Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning (R) all but declared war on his own party's Senate campaign chairman, Texas Senator John Cornyn (R)

Photos: HuffingtonPost.com

Texas Gov. Perry: No Stimulus, Stem Cell Research Or Comprehensive Sex Ed In Texas

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) News Item One:

Texas Gov. Perry (R), who has taken every opportunity in recent weeks to slam President Obama's economic stimulus and recovery program, did so again Wednesday in remarks to several hundred Texas home builders gathered outside the Texas Capitol.

Gov. Perry’s opposition to the economic stimulus program isn’t shared by the Texas Association of Builders. According to a Dallas Morning News report, Scott Norman, the Association’s executive director, said he hopes Texas takes every dollar it can get. “From our industry, we need it to succeed,” Norman said. “We need the stock market to rebound. We need the credit markets to rebound. And we need people to get out there and drive our economy.”

Texas stands to get $17 billion from the just-passed federal stimulus package. It includes an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers, although Norman said, “We wanted more. We were pushing for anything, obviously.”

Perry's likely Republican primary opponent next year, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, voted against and also stands opposed to President Obama's economic stimulus and recovery program.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) News Item Two:

Gov. Rick Perry, who strongly supports teaching only "abstinence" sex education in Texas schools, greeted several hundred anti-choice activists rallying outside the Capitol. Gov. Perry promised the group that he would prevent embryonic stem cell research in Texas and touted his record for passing more restrictions on stem cell science and research than any previous Texas governor. [Apparently, Gov. Perry does not think Texas needs the high tech science dollars flowing into Texas to replace the crumbling telecom industry that is rapidly disappearing from Texas' "silicon prairie" corridor.]

Gov. Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst are strongly pushing 2009 Tx legislative session legislation mandating that doctors require women seeking information about an abortion must view their own fetal ultrasound image and listen to the fetal heartbeat monitor.

Jim Dunnam, Tx House Democratic caucus chairman has observed that if Gov. Perry and other anti-abortion leaders would support broader sex education, such as provided for in the “Education Works!” 2009 Texas House and Senate legislation (HB741/SB515) – instead of strictly abstinence only – fewer abortions would be contemplated.

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New Report Sharply Criticizes Sex Education In Texas Schools

According to a report (PDF Full/Summary) released Wednesday by the Texas Freedom Network a majority of Texas schools use scare tactics and teach false information in their sex education classes. TFN's two-year study of education materials from 990 Texas school districts showed that about 94 percent of public schools use abstinence-only programs that usually pass moral judgments while giving inaccurate information on contraception and health screenings or ignoring the subjects altogether.

The report, written by David Wiley, professor of health education at Texas State University, and Kelly Wilson, assistant professor of health education at Texas State, concludes that school administrators' fear of controversy and retaliation from religious groups is a primary factor behind their reluctance to program accurate and more comprehensive sex education curricula. Wiley and Wilson analyzed curricula and district policies obtained from most of Texas’ 1,031 public school districts through requests under the Texas Public Information Act. Their report finds that most Texas students receive no instruction about human sexuality apart from the promotion of shaming and fear-based sexual abstinence instruction that often includes inaccurate or no information about contraception methods that prevent disease transmission and pregnancy.

Wiley and Wilson also found that many Texas public schools mix religious instruction and Bible study into sex education programs. "Hardly a page can be found that does not include multiple references to Bible verses, invocation of Christian principles, even attempts to proselytize students with the Christian plan of salvation," the report states about one program called "Wonderful Days" used by three districts in the Fort Worth area.

Kathy Miller's news conference announcing the report

Kathy Miller, president of the Freedom Network’s Education Fund, said in a news conference announcing the report that "we must stop burying our heads in the sand about high teen birth and STD rates and make sure young people get the medically accurate information they need to protect their health. . ." Texas continues to have one of the nation's highest teen pregnancy rates despite receiving more federal abstinence funding than any other state. (Watch TFN's "Sex Ed...Texas Style" videos)

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) a Texas teen gets pregnant every 10 minutes. Texas Medicaid paid for 173,226 deliveries in Texas last year, at an estimated total cost of $420 million. Approximately 10% of these deliveries were to teen mothers aged-13-17, at a cost of $41 million. To lower unplanned teen pregnancy rates, older children must be told more about sex than "just say no." It is a documented fact that comprehensive sex education and family planning programs do lower unplanned pregnancy rates among all age groups.

Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, has called the federally funded abstinence-only program "an utter failure that has wasted more than $1.5 billion" over the past decade. Abstinence-only sex-education programs receive about $176 million each year in federal funding. "The United States is facing a teen-pregnancy health-care crisis, and the national policy of abstinence-only programs just isn't working. It is time for everyone who cares about teenagers to start focusing on the common-sense solutions that will help solve this problem," says Richards.

After falling steadily for more than a decade, the birth rate for American teenagers again started to increase in a sharp reversal as the Bush Administration and Republican controlled congresses increased federal funding and focused emphasis on abstinence-only sex education programs.

The teen birth rate rose by 3 percent between 2005 and 2006 among 15-to-19-year-old girls, after plummeting 34 percent between 1991 and 2005, according to National Center for Health Statistics. After the teen birth rate rose sharply between 1986 and 1991, hitting an all-time high of 61.8 births per 1,000 girls, a massive comprehensive sex education campaign countered that trend and teen pregnancies plummeted between the 1990s and 2005.

Like other critics, Cecile Richards notes that several major studies find no evidence that abstinence-only programs successfully deter teen sex and pregnancies. The most recent study, a large federal 2008 survey, again confirms previous studies in its finding that, "taking a pledge doesn't seem to make any difference at all in any sexual behavior, but it does seem to make a difference in condom use and other forms of birth control that is quite striking," according to Janet E. Rosenbaum of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Ms. Rosenbaum's report, that appears in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics, highlights that:

Teenagers who receive abstinence-only sex education and pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do, according to a large federal survey released last month.

More than half of youths became sexually active before marriage regardless of whether they had taken a "virginity pledge," but the percentage who practice precautions against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases was 10 points lower for those receiving abstinence-only education and making abstinence pledges.

Related Links:

• Planned Parenthood of North Texas: Lobbying for Women's and Teens' Reproductive Health

Planned Parenthood of North Texas: Lobbying for Women's and Teens' Reproductive Health

By Linda Magid

Every ten minutes a teen in Texas becomes pregnant.
Texas has the highest teen birth and repeat birth rates in the U.S.
60% of teen mothers fail to graduate from high school.

These are only a few of the statistics Kelly Hart and Dawna Cornelieson of Planned Parenthood of North Texas (PPNT) shared with the members of Texas Democratic Women of Collin County (TDWCC) at their January 26 meeting. Kelly Hart, Director Public Affairs, and Dawna Cornelieson, Community Advocate, gave an eye-opening presentation on the demand for reproductive services for low income women and for comprehensive sex education in schools, and how the Texas State legislature is getting in the way.

Planned Parenthood of North Texas has teamed up with Texas Freedom Network to create “Education Works!” a coalition to support the passage of comprehensive sex education legislation in the 2009 Texas state legislative session now in progress. This legislation (HB741/SB515) sponsored by Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-San Antonio) and Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) will:

…require schools to still discuss abstinence but also require information be included alongside about testing and prevention for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and complete, medically-accurate information about the health benefits and risks of contraception and condoms.

Additionally, this bill includes strategies to encourage young people to develop healthy communication with their parents and peers, and help build other living skills such as goal setting and responsible decision-making about sexuality.
Quoted from PPNT website

No Texas school district is required to offer a sex education course. If they choose to, they must emphasize abstinence over all forms of contraception. At this time, schools are not required to offer any information on contraception at all. Study after study has shown that abstinence-only education does not prevent teens from having sex.

“It is about time Texas wakes up to the reality that teens are having sex. But we need other organizations like parent organizations and medical organizations that work with teens and any group that cares about this issue to sign on to Education Works! and support this effort,” says Ms. Hart.

Following the Planned Parenthood of North Texas presentation given by Hart and Cornelieson to TDWCC members in January, the TDWCC members voted overwhelmingly to join the Education Works! initiative.

Ms. Hart also discussed a PPNT lobbying effort to change budgetary restrictions hampering the organization’s ability to serve Texas women. In 2003, certain State legislators wanted to keep Planned Parenthood from receiving state money. At first, these politicians successfully attached a rider to the budget stopping any provider who offered or worked with a provider offering abortions from receiving family planning funding. PP took the State to court and won.

In 2005, legislators attached a rider to the Texas budget to send Family Planning funds to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQs). These clinics are typically located in the poor parts of Texas and serve people who do not qualify for Medicaid. While it might seem like the money is going to the right place, women are not benefiting from this change because 1) Texas as fewer FQs than family planning clinics so they serve a smaller community, and 2) FQ’s don’t generally perform family planning services. In fact, they typically send their patients with family planning needs to clinics like Planned Parenthood. So, the $10 million in women’s health funding given to these clinics doesn’t get used and is sent back to Austin, and women who need pap smears, breast exams, STI testing and contraception are not served.

In addition, women’s health centers across Texas have been forced to either shorten their hours or close completely. For example, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Austin severely reduced its hours in 2005 and will only serve certain women – the most “necessary” population. The clinic has yet to resume full business hours or services. Texas has 300 various family planning clinics in Texas but Planned Parenthood serves the highest number of patients. These other clinics, run by county health departments and community health departments, don’t have the money or staff to lobby their State representatives. And neither do low income women.

On March 12, PPNT holds a Legislative Day, bringing volunteers from North Texas to Austin to ask State representatives to support Education Works! bills. It costs $25 (scholarships are available). No experience is necessary, just a willingness to support this important bill.

Visit http://www.ppnt.org/lobbyday2009.html for more information.

Listen to a October 8, 2007 Texas Public Radio report by Terry Gildea that highlights a missed opportunity when the 2007 Texas legislative session failed to pass a bill similar to this year's Education Works! bill that could have provided more resources for teens and parents.


Related Posts:

• New Report Sharply Criticizes Sex Education In Texas Schools

Additional Reading Suggestions:

• Teen Birth Rate Rises in U.S., Reversing a 14-Year Decline
• Premarital Abstinence Pledges Ineffective, Study Finds
• Many Teens Don't Keep Virginity Pledges

Linda Magid was Campaign Manager for Tom Daley, Democratic Candidate, District 3, 2008. Currently, Magid is Assistant Chair of a campaign development committee in Collin County.

President Obama’s Approval Rating Remains High

Several national polls conducted over the past few days show President Obama’s job approval rating remains high. The polls also find that the public believes Obama has made a good faith effort to work in a bipartisan manner to address America’s problems:

WaPo/ABC News: 73 percent say Obama is “trying to compromise with the Republican leaders in Congress” while just 34 percent believe Republican leaders are trying to compromise with Obama.

NYT/CBS News: 74 percent think Obama is “trying to work with Republicans in Congress” while just 31 percent think Republicans in Congress are trying to work with Obama.

Fox News/Opinion Dynamics: 68 percent believe that Obama “has sincerely tried to reach out to Republicans and be bipartisan” while only 33 percent believe Republicans have “sincerely tried to be helpful to Barack Obama and be bipartisan.”

As Greg Sargent points out, the New York Times/CBS News poll had a particularly interesting finding regarding bipartisanship. According to the poll, “a sizable majority wants Obama to pursue his policies with or without Republican support” while “a huge majority says that Republicans should emphasize working with Obama in a bipartisan way over pursuing their policy ideas.”

Pres. Obama To GOP Governors: No Time For Politics

According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll a majority of people surveyed in both parties said Mr. Obama was striving to work in a bipartisan way, but most faulted Republicans for their political response to the president and believe he should continue to pursue his stated priorities rather than seek middle ground with GOP.

	President Obama, responding to conservative Republican Governors' public criticism of the economic stimulus package, said the criticism has more to do with politics than policy. Texas Gov. Rick Perry waged a weeks long aggressive campaign and co-wrote an op-ed piece with South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford opposing the stimulus bill. Last week Gov. Perry grudgingly informed the White House that he'll accept "some" stimulus money, but left the door open to not taking all of the money allocated to Texas. Several southern conservative governors including Texas Gov. Perry (R), South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jinda (R) have made public statements that they are considering rejecting part of the money because they do not want to accept money that would fund social programs, like unemployment insurance to every unemployed worker, to which they are opposed.
Obama speech to governors 22nd February : no time for politics. Part 1
Obama speech to governors 22nd February : no time for politics. Part 2

Directing comments to those Republican governors, President Obama said, "I just want to make sure that we're having an honest debate. . . I don't want us to...get caught up in the same old stuff that prevents us from accomplishing something for the American people. . .If we agree on 90 percent of this stuff and are spending all our time on television arguing about one, two, three percent of the spending ... that starts sounding more like politics. . .There will be ample time for campaigns down the road."

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) also has a message for Republican governors hemming and hawing over whether to accept the stimulus money. "No one would dispute that these governors should be given the choice as to whether to accept the funds or not. But it should not be multiple choice. To protect the integrity of the recovery program, I urge the administration to issue implementation guidance clarifying that while any Governor may exercise his or her discretion to accept or reject the federal funds provided in the stimulus, no Governor should have the authority to arbitrarily adopt a select subset of the overall package," Schumer writes in a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag.