A Court Win For Planned Parenthood

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin ruled today that state officials cannot exclude Planned Parenthood from a federally funded state health care and contraception program for low-income women.

Judge Yeakel's grant of a preliminary injunction for Planned Parenthood allows it to continue to provide health care services, which are reimbursed under the federally funded state program. Judge Yeakel must conduct a full hearing before the injunction can be made permanent. and he set a The Judge set a May 18th scheduling conference to work out details, including setting a trial date. State officials have warned that they will cancel the Women’s Health Program outright, if Planned Parenthood prevailed in its lawsuit.

Rallies were held in Texas last March 13th on the eve of the elimination of funding to the Women's Health Program through the state, and subsequently to all Planned Parenthood clinics because... well, because the far right apparently doesn't like women to have health care.

So 130,000 additional women in Texas found themselves without health care in March, in addition to the 180,000 women left without health care access to contraception and reproductive health services like pap smears and breast cancer screenings last year due to dramatic state budget cuts.

The March cuts were made because Governor Perry refuses federal funding that otherwise would go to Planned Parenthood clinics. Perry, and other opponents of women's health care in Texas, claim there are "alternatives" to Planned Parenthood clinics which provided low-income women--mothers, students, employees--with health services, but as Andrea Grimes reported for Reality Check, those alternatives just don't exist.

"The Women's Health Program [cut in March] serves an additional 130,000 women, bringing the total number of women without access to basic reproductive health care to 310,000," writes Grimes. "Some estimates put the number closer to 400,000.

Under state rules that went into effect in March, Planned Parenthood health clinics would have been excluded from participating in the program because they advocate to maintain abortion as a legal medical procedure. The state rule, Yeakel determined in his preliminary injunction ruling, violated Planned Parenthood’s rights of free speech and association.

“By requiring plaintiffs to certify that they do not ‘promote’ elective abortions and that they do not ‘affiliate’ with entities that perform or promote elective abortions … Texas is reaching beyond the scope of the government program and penalizing plaintiffs for their protected conduct,” Yeakel wrote in his order.

The Women’s Health Program, which receives 90 percent of its funding from the federal government, provides about 130,000 women a year with contraceptive care and potentially life-saving screenings for a wide range of conditions, including sexually transmitted infections, high blood pressure, cancer and diabetes.

Related:

• Women's Health Care Suffers As Republicans Slash Funding

OFA Video - Forward

The Obama campaign just released a new video titled simple, "Forward." The video outlines challenges America faced as President Obama took office in January 2009 at the height of the worst recession in almost a century. It also details the progress that has been made reclaiming the security of the middle class and building an economy that's meant to last, where hard work pays and responsibility is rewarded.

Democratic Party County Chair Candidate Debate

The TDWCC has organized a Democratic Party of Collin County Chair candidate debate for Monday, April 30, 2012 from 7:00pm to 8:30pm. The debate venue is the Preston Ridge Campus of Collin College, 9700 Wade Blvd., Frisco, Texas, Founders Hall, Shawnee Room F148. Click for detailed maps. RSVP your debate attendance by emailing to gotv@tdwcc.org.

John Lingenfelder


Shawn Stevens

Attend this debate to hear the County Chair candidates, incumbent Shawn Stevens and 2010 Congressional Candidate John Lingenfelder, debate the issues of leadership and vision needed to broaden and diversify the base of Democratic candidates, voters, and activists in the County.

This event is cosponsored by TDWCC along with CCGLA, Drinking Liberally – Plano, Muslim Caucus – Collin County, the Texas Democratic Men’s Club, and the Allen Democrats.

County Chair candidate names will appear on the Democratic Party of Collin Co. Primary Election ballot.

Early voting for the Primary Election will begin on Monday May 14, 2012 and continue through Friday May 25, 2012 at the regular Collin County early voting polling locations. Primary Election Day is on Tuesday May 29, 2012 at election precinct polling locations around county.

• Early Voting Locations & Hours
• Election Day Polling Locations
• Sample Ballots

This blog will report on the county chair candidate debate and begin a series of articles about the candidates and the Democratic Party of Collin Co. next week.

Voter Registration Card 2012-13

CLICK HERE for current 2014-15 Voter Certificate information.

Updated Sept. 1, 2012@ 12:15am
If you have not already received your new yellow 2012-13 voter registration card, you may not be registered to vote in the county where you currently reside. Usually, election officials mail out new cards in December, but this election year, it's all different!
This year, drawn out court battles over the new redistricting maps pushed out Voter Registration Card mailings to late April. Please take your Voter Registration Card with you when you go to vote. Make sure you sign the card on the front by the X at the bottom left of the card.
Early voting for the Nov 6, 2012 General Election will run from Monday, Oct 22, 2012 to Friday, Nov 2, 2012 at your usual county early polling locations.
You should immediately check your registration status and take action to properly register, if you find you are not registered to vote in the county where you reside.
To check your Collin Co. registration status - click here. To check your registration status in another Texas county - click here. If you find you are not registered to vote, you can find the Voter's Registration application by clicking here.
For specific information about voting in Texas, click here to find the Secretary of State’s pamphlet on Texas Voting.
Texas' SB14 photo I.D. law is currently on hold pending an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. (see Texas Voter Photo ID FAQ, Texas Voter Photo I.D. Law Fate Rests With D.C. Circuit Court Judges & Texas Restrictive Voter Photo ID Law Blocked) Select government issued photo ID, as specified in SB14 legislation passed by the Texas legislature in 2011, has NOT received federal approval and is therefore NOT required to vote in any Texas county for the November 2012 election.
Valid forms of identification for the November 2012 General Election:

• Your Voter Registration Card
• A driver’s license or personal identification card issued to you by the Texas Department of Public Safety. You may also bring a similar document issued to you by an agency of another state, even if the license or card has expired;
• A form of identification that contains your photograph and establishes your identity;
• A birth certificate or other document confirming birth that is admissible in a court of law and establishes the person’s identity;
• Your United States citizenship papers;
• Your United States passport;
• Official mail addressed to you by a governmental entity; or
• A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address.

A statement concerning identification requirements on the back of 2012-13 Voter Registration Cards, as specified by the Texas Secretary of State, can be misinterpreted to mean that voters must present select government issue photo identification in order to vote, as specified in SB14. Here is the statement written on the back of new 2012 voter registration cards:

"Upon federal approval of a photo identification law passed by the Texas Legislature in 2011, a voter must show one of the following forms of photo identification at the polling location before the voter may be accepted for voting: Driver's license, election identification certificate, personal identification card or concealed handgun license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety; United States Military identification card that contains the person's photograph; United States citizenship certificate that contains the person's photograph; or a United States passport.
The above identification must be current and not expired, or if expired, then it must have expired no more than 60 days before it is presented for voter qualification at the polling place. Please contact the Secretary of State or your local voter registrar for information concerning when the above photo identification requirement for certain voters with disabilities, or voters with religious objections to being photographed, and voters affected by certain natural disasters.
Please visit the Secretary of State website at www.sos.state.tx.us or call toll free at 1-800-252-8683. If any information on this certificate changes or is incorrect, correct the information in the space provided below, sign and return this certificate to the voter registrar."

Description of some of the fields on the voter registration card:

Young Voters, Obama, Romney, And Paul

Will young American voters be as enthusiastic about Election 2012 as they were about Election 2008? So far, across the country, the 2012 youth vote is down. Registration is low. Voter enthusiasm for candidates has been lackluster.
Obama received a blowout 66% of the national vote among the 18-29 year old age group in 2008 compared to McCain's 33% of that vote. 18 percent of the 2008 electorate was made of the 18-29 year old age group, which is only one or two percent higher than in previous presidential election years - Obama just got an unusually large part of the vote from young voters.

President Obama Speaks on
Student Loan Interest Rates in Iowa - April 25, 2012

Obama even won the youth vote in many Republican states like Texas, where he won 54% of the vote.

The youth also voted 63% for House Democrats in 2008 -- Young voters not only voted for Obama at the top of the ballot, they also voted down ballot or straight ticket by a high margin for other Democratic candidates.

2012 polls vary widely, but a new Harvard Poll says Pres. Obama has a 17-point lead -- still a worrisome number for Democrats.

The poll was released just as Pres. Obama is discussing education and student loan debt at three college campuses in swing states, including the University of North Carolina and the University of Iowa.

The Harvard Institute of Politics poll (PDF) finds that over the last four months, the president picked up six points against presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, among young voters. Obama now leads Romney among 18-to-29-year-olds by 17 points.

The poll finds the president struggling a bit with young white voters as compared with four years ago.And here are some more selected top line data points from the poll of more than 3,000 (5 percent of whom live in New England), which was conducted March 23 to April 9 and has a margin of error of 1.7 percent:

Is Your Candidate For Office "Politically Insane"? Five Telltale Signs

Campaign for America's Future

Genuine mental illness is a human tragedy that afflicts both the sufferer and those around him or her. Our healthcare system provides inadequate resources for its treatment,. It's no joking matter.

Political craziness, on the other hand, is just crazy. It's sheer lunacy of the Marx Brothers variety.

There's no need to pity anyone who suffers from political craziness. The delusional person does just fine, thank you very much. Everybody else suffers, but the politically crazy person usually has a pretty great life. They're often rewarded for being delusional by being elected to high office. There they can count on enjoying fat campaign contributions and glowing media coverage.

Once they leave office they can look forward to the financially rewarding (and not very taxing) life of a political lobbyist. No, they don't need our sympathy - but the country needs our help. Their craziness is ruining things for everyone else.

You're probably asking yourself, "How can I tell my candidate suffers from political insanity?" Here are five warning signs to look out for during this election year:

How To Occupy Wall Street

TDP Chair Candidate Gilberto Hinojosa: The Texas Trib Interview

by Michael Handley

Gilberto Hinojosa is running for chairman of the Texas Democratic Party. If elected at the Democratic State Convention in Houston on June 8^th, he will lead a political organization that hasn't won a statewide election since 1994.

Judge Hinojosa, who is a lifelong Democrat, is passionate about rebuilding the Texas Democratic Party.

"I have decided to take on this campaign for Texas Democratic Party Chair because I believe that the people of the State of Texas deserve, and desperately need, to have a Democratic Party that will ensure that we elect fair minded, socially conscious, critical thinking and visionary Democrats to run this State, instead of the Republicans that are running it into the ditch. Texans cannot afford any less. TOO much is at stake. TOO much has been lost and we must turn things around before it's TOO late," said Judge Hinojosa when he announced his candidacy last year.

Last week Boyd Richie, the retiring Texas Democratic Party Chair endorsed Judge Hinojosa saying,

“Gilberto Hinojosa has the experience, commitment and capacity to be a great Chair for our Party. I endorse his candidacy without reservation, and I firmly believe he’s the right person to help us take back Texas.”

Judge Hinojosa grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, attended what is now the University of Texas-Pan American, and obtained his law degree at Georgetown University. He first worked as a lawyer for the Washington, D.C.-based Migrant Legal Action Program and then served as a Brownsville school trustee, a state district judge, a justice on the state's 13th Court of Appeals, on the Texas Board of Criminal Justice and Cameron County Judge. Judge Hinojosa currently practices law in Brownsville. (More history here:)

Judge Hinojosa sat down with the Texas Trib reporter Ross Ramsey on Tuesday to talk about why he wants to lead a party that's had such a long losing streak. The video of the Texas Trib interview follows:

Obama 'Slow Jams The News' With Jimmy Fallon

On Wednesday night, President Barack Obama slow jammed the news with Jimmy Fallon and The Roots on "Late Night."

Stepping in for regular news jammer Brian Williams, Obama slow jammed his policy position on college loans over the smooth vibes of house band - The Roots.

"I'm President Barack Obama, and I, too, would like to Slow Jam the News," said Obama before taking his place on a stool and laying out his agenda. "What we said is simple: Now is not the time to make school more expensive for our young people," Obama said to wild applause from the college crowd at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

Evangelicals Say It's Time To Talk About Sex

Religion News Service

The statistics, some evangelicals say, can no longer be ignored.

Eighty percent of young evangelicals have engaged in premarital sex, according to a new video from the National Association of Evangelicals. and almost a third of evangelicals' unplanned pregnancies end in abortion.

It's time to speak honestly about sex because abstinence campaigns and anti-abortion crusades often aren't resonating in their own pews, evangelical leaders say.