Author: Trish
Trayvon’s Mom Asks the Big Question
The conversation now becomes, “What do we tell our kids?” Do we tell them to walk fast, do we tell them to walk slow, do we tell them to take a friend with them, or do we tell them just to stay in the house? We have no clue what to tell our kids to prevent them from going to the store and not ever coming home.
— Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin.
Obamacare: It’s Working
Will good news about health care reform trigger yet another vote in the House repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare? Bet on it.
A new analysis by the Obama administration found that in 11 states where data is available, the lowest cost “silver” plan – which covers 70 percent of medical costs – will cost, on average, 18 percent less than the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] estimated.
And an ACA provision that allows states to review any double-digit premium increases appears to have had a chilling effect on the practice. In 2010, 75 percent of insurers proposed double-digit rate increases, but that number has fallen to 14 percent in early 2013, according to senior administration officials.
In Oregon, several proposed rate hikes in the individual market were cut by amounts ranging from a few percentage points to 30 percent. Similar results were reported in Washington, D.C., Rhode Island and Vermont.
Earlier this week officials in New York announced that final rates in the individual market would be at least 50 percent lower on average than current rates.
I blame Obama for this.
Where’s Wayne LaPierre on Trayvon’s Death?
Funny how I don’t remember anyone from the NRA ever saying, “if only Trayvon Martin had been carrying a gun … .” I guess only a good guy with a gun can stop a black teenager with a bag of Skittles.
— David Herada-Stone, blogging at The Big Slice
It’s Not Just the Zimmerman Jury That’s Messed Up; It’s Also the Stand Your Ground Law
For the people out there wondering what the Zimmerman jury was smoking, I have a partial explanation, thanks to former Florida state Rep. Dan Gelber.
As Gelber explained on his blog, before the Stand Your Ground (SYG) law was passed, convicting Zimmerman would have been a slam-dunk.
Under Stand Your Ground, the George Zimmermans of the world can get themselves into all kinds of ridiculous messes and shoot their way out under no penalty of law
In 2005 the Florida Legislature fundamentally changed the analysis used by juries to assign blame in these cases. When the legislature passed the Stand Your Ground law it changed the rules of engagement. It eliminated the duty to avoid the danger and it eliminated any duty to retreat…
Here is the actual jury instruction read to Florida juries prior to the legislature’s enactment of Stand Your Ground.
“The defendant cannot justify the use of force likely to cause death or great bodily harm unless he used every reasonable means within his power and consistent with his own safety to avoid the danger before resorting to that force.
“The fact that the defendant was wrongfully attacked cannot justify his use of force likely to cause death or great bodily harm if by retreating he could have avoided the need to use that force.”
Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence: ‘Trayvon is Dead Because a Man with a Violent History Was Allowed to Carry a Gun’
The Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence issued a statement following the verdict which exonerated George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin. The statement reminds us that Trayvon would be alive today if people like George Zimmerman, who has never even had the decency to say he’s sorry for the mistakes he made the night he harassed and then shot an unarmed 17-year-old, were not trusted to carry a concealed handgun.
Even Rick Perry once said, “Oops.”
Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence today called the verdict, “part of a tragic event that could have easily been prevented.”
Gross said, “There is sharp disagreement over the verdict, but there can be no disagreement over the reason why Trayvon Martin is dead. George Zimmerman had a gun that night, and the state of Florida allowed him to carry it virtually anywhere despite a violent history. […]
Peggy Noonan Auditions for the Role of “The New Phyllis Schlafly” on Live TV
If you missed former Reagan speech writer Peggy Noonan’s over-the-top performance on ABC’s This Week, Wonkette can catch you up, in superb Wonkette style. The site has the video of Noonan, known for her soaring grandiloquence, gagging verbosity and tortured, drawn-out articulation, condescending over the filibuster by Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis.
Wonkette also points out the ridiculousness of Noonan, who is 62, dismissing Davis, who is 50, as the victim of youthful enthusiasm.
On the one hand, she’s very impressed with “the story of this young woman, she’s so spirited. You know, she has such energy and she seems to have such commitment.” You know, the young woman who is 50 years old and has been in the Texas Senate for four years, after a decade of serving on the Fort Worth City Council, the sweet li’l thing. Sure, her youthful passion is admirable, but these kids, what do they know? Especially those 50-year-old teen moms who have learned nothing from their experience?
Is Noonan queuing up to replace Phyllis Schlafly if and when the old bird finally kicks it? If so, congratulations young lady, you got the part!
Rick Perry is Unclear on the Concept of Democracy
Rick Perry’s remarks are incredibly condescending and insulting to women. This is exactly why the vast majority of Texans believe that politicians shouldn’t be involved in a woman’s personal health care decisions. Women are perfectly capable of deciding whether to choose adoption, end a pregnancy, or raise a child, and they don’t need Rick Perry’s help making that decision.
— Celine Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, commenting on Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) criticism of state Sen. Wendy Davis, whose 11-hour speech on the floor of the legislature postponed a vote on an anti-abortion bill. Perry told Right to Life members at a national conference, “I’m all about honest, open debate…But what we witnessed Tuesday was nothing more than the hijacking of the Democratic process.” Davis spoke on topic, without food or water, in pink running shoes, and was not allowed to touch furniture during the vigil.
Republican, Determined to Ignore the World as It Is, Introducing DOMA-Like Constitutional Amendment
A majority of Americans don’t like President Obama as president, but he’s still the president. What did not happen is what the court and then the folks pushing for [DOMA repeal] hoped would happen: that it would end the debate. The debate is not over.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.), showing there are at least two ways he’s delusional. A majority of Americans do approve of Pres. Obama, and the debate on marriage equality died a natural death within the past few years, as more states have granted it. Huelskamp is wasting time and effort by introducing a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage that can’t possibly pass.
Court Sticks A Knife in DOMA
CNN:
In its divided ruling on the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the high court said legally married same-sex couples must receive the same benefits provided to heterosexual couples. The act had defined marriage as only between a man and a woman, but the court said the law violated the rights of same-sex couples by demoting their marriages to second-class status when compared to their heterosexual peers.
The court said law wrongly “instructs all federal officials, and indeed all persons with whom same-sex couples interact, including their own children, that their marriage is less worthy than the marriages of others.”
Now, the federal government recognizes the marriage of those same-sex couples who are legally married in their states.
