Monthly Archives: June 2014

Texas Politics

Texas Couple Denied Adoption Of Their Own Biological Kids?!

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Most everyone in the United States of America understands the concept of a blended family… A couple gets married, and each member of the couple already has child.  In order to become a more cohesive family, that couple may cross adopt each other’s children.  Given all the legal complexities associated with raising a child, this makes total sense to do with young children.

But apparently in the state of Texas, the basic rights of parenthood are not so simple for the LGBT community.  As one couple in Fort Worth found out, they can even be denied  rights when they are the BIOLOGICAL parents of the children.  Here’s more from LGBTQnation about the tangled web that one judge has woven for this family…

A judge in Texas has denied a same-sex couple’s petition to adopt their month-old twin boys.

Jason Hannah, 36, and Joe Riggs, 33, are the proud fathers of twins Lucas and Ethan, who were born of the same surrogate mother. Each biologically fathered one of the twins, and the boys — who are half-brothers — share an egg donor. One child is biologically Hanna’s, the other is Riggs.’

But neither Hannah nor Riggs, who were married in Washington D.C. last year, are listed as fathers on either of their sons’ birth certificates. They have petitioned to add each of their names to their biological sons’ birth certificates and to cross-adopt, or second-parent adopt, the boys, reports KDFW-TV.

But the judge, who says she “strictly follows the law,” has denied the couple’s adoption request.

Currently, only the surrogate mother — who has no biological relationship to the boys, since embryos were transferred to her — is named on the twins’ birth certificates.

In case you didn’t catch it above, Jason and Joe are the biological fathers of their children… each man fathered a child separately, found a common donor mom, and had a surrogate mother (unrelated to the children) carry them to term.  There are absolutely no disputing the facts in this either, considering that they had a fantastic profile in the Dallas Morning News before the babies were born!!  Yet the court says that not only can the men not cross-adopt, but the ACTUAL fathers of each child cannot be listed on the child’s birth certificate?  Is this even possible??  What would this judge say if a court ruled that he or she didn’t have custody of their biological children?

Whatever the outcome, this case has “United States Supreme Court” written all over it.  Hopefully Jason and Joe decide to appeal this ridiculous ruling.  Yet another example that proves the unending asininity of Texas’ same-sex marriage ban.

 

Politics

In Cantor’s Wake

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After the stunning primary defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor last week, there is definitely some “Fear and Loathing in Wash-Vegas” for the Republican Party.  Many great minds around the United States are trying to figure out one central question…

1) Why did Cantor lose?

Pretty basic stuff here, and it comes up after every election with a surprise result.  But what makes this different is because in Washington, Cantor was one of the top dogs of Congress… essentially next in line to be Speaker of the House.  He was a decision maker for the Party, and someone that commanded the attention of not just those on Capitol Hill, but across the nation.  For him to lose in his home district is a huge upset for the national GOP.

Interestingly enough, the reason for Cantor’s loss isn’t the same one that keeps the Texas GOP in power… i.e. low turnout.  In fact, the turnout for the 7th District’s GOP Primary was at an historic high.  With 65,000 Virginians showing up at the polls, they bested the previous 21st century record by almost 20,000!!  People came to vote on June 10th, and they came to vote against Cantor.   Don’t feel too bad for the Majority Leader though, as this is a House of Cards that he helped to build.

VA-7 was gerrymandered to specifically be a Republican stronghold.  They drew in more White, historically Conservative voters, and drew out voters of broader demographics and perspectives.  It’s the same game that the GOP (and to be fair many Democrats in blue states) have played all over the country… make my district so red/ so blue that I simply cannot lose.  Perhaps Mr. Cantor forgot that sometimes a district can become so red that you cannot win.  As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

The gerrymandering was of great advantage to Brat, as it allowed him to harness the most powerful force in the Republican Party… FEAR.  He took advantage of vague indications that Cantor might be willing to work on Comprehensive Immigration Reform, and lambasted the public with ads and fliers saying that he supports amnesty.  As sad as it sounds, “the minority takeover” is what a large part of today’s GOP voters are most afraid of, and that fear will surge voter turnout every time.  Of course don’t feel sorry for the lame-duck Congressman in this… after all it was he who often sowed the seeds of hatred for his own party.  But like any good Frankenstein story, fear and hatred have a tendency to turn on their master after a while.

But these same seeds have been sown across the Republican Party, and it is why every career politician on the Right is in danger now.  Once you charge too far and embrace the fringe-right, you have to do their bidding, or you risk Cantor-style extinction.  This defeat is a huge indication that the GOP as we know it is over.  There is no Party anymore, but only a loose coalition of voters motivated by animus.  If we as a country have any hope of getting the American People’s business done, it does not lie with the GOP. 

So congratulations to you Mr. Cantor.  The garden has grown, the fruits are ripe, and you’ve been served your just deserts.

 

Politics

Obama Poised to Sign LGBT Rights Executive Order

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For those engaged in the fight for LGBT protections in the workplace, the White House revealed some very big news today.  Here’s the story from the Washington Post…

President Obama will sign an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against gays, lesbians and others on the basis of their sexual orientation – an election-year move that follows years of pressure by gay rights organizations.

Obama’s decision to proceed with the executive order, announced Monday by the White House, immediately delighted gay rights groups, even as it signaled that Obama doesn’t believe broader action by Congress is likely. Obama is set to address a fundraiser hosted by the Democratic National Committee’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender council Tuesday in New York.

“The President has directed his staff to prepare for his signature an Executive Order that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity,” a White House official said in a statement. “The action would build upon existing protections, which generally prohibit federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This is consistent with the President’s views that all Americans, LGBT or not, should be treated with dignity and respect.”

White House officials didn’t detail the timing of the executive order, which Obama originally promised to pursue in his 2008 campaign. For years since, he has declined to issue the order, citing other administration efforts to advance gay rights and a desire to avoid interfering with efforts in Congress to pass the broader Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would ban discrimination against gays in the workplace. The Senate has passed ENDA, but the House has declined.

This one action from the Obama Administration is estimated to extend protections to approximately 16 million Americans working as Federal employees, or for companies with Federal Contracts.  Equal Rights groups have been working for this Executive Order for a long time, and are simply thrilled at the prospect of the unprecedented move. The Human Rights Campaign had this to say…

“By issuing an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT people, the President will not only create fairer workplaces across the country, he will demonstrate to Congress that adopting federal employment protections for LGBT people is good policy and good for business. The White House statement today is promising, and we look forward to seeing the details of the executive order,” said HRC President Chad Griffin.

As Houston just learned from our own equal rights battle, the devil is definitely in the details.  But given how little is getting done in Congress this year, the President’s actions on this issue will be a welcome move for American workers, and set a new standard by which all companies will have to compete.  Of course when it comes to LGBT issues, President Obama has been quite good at setting new standards.  Under his administration, Congress was able to repeal the discriminatory Don’t Ask Don’t Tell practice of the US military, and with a little prodding from Vice President Biden, came out in support of marriage equality.  Hopefully this bold move on workplace protections will generate some motion from the House and Senate as well.

 

 

Politics

ACA Has Helped Create Nearly 1 Million Jobs

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Honestly this shouldn’t be too surprising, but the Affordable Care Act isn’t just giving people more access to quality healthcare.  It’s also putting Americans to work and saving many of our nation’s hospitals, as reported by Dan Diamond of Forbes magazine…

Obamacare was once called “The Job-Killing Health Care Law.” But the latest jobs report suggests that the broader economy—and the health care sector, specifically—is adding jobs at a healthy rate.

  • Since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in March 2010, the health care industry has gained nearly 1 million jobs—982,300, to be more precise—according to Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates released on Friday.
  • Meanwhile, the rest of the economy has added 7.7 million jobs since March 2010, and for the first time, more people are working since the recession began five years ago.
  • Private-sector jobs also grew for the 51st straight month, Justin Wolfers observes at The Upshot, which ties the longest consecutive streak on record and overlaps with the passage of Obamacare 50 months ago. But that streak is piddling compared to health care, which just reported its 131st straight month of job gains.

Booming growth in the heath care industry shouldn’t come as a surprise. The health care sector was gaining about 25,000 jobs per month in the years before the Affordable Care Act, and the law’s infusion of newly insured patients will help bolster providers’ bottom lines.

Besides the obvious job creation needed to handle millions of additional patients and insurance plans, the ACA has also created jobs by upping compensation for hospitals, especially in states that took some form of Medicaid expansion.  Hospitals and doctors have previously had to shoulder the cost for any patient that was treated and then could not pay for their care.  But now thanks to the ACA, those hospitals are able to provide a better quality of service because more of their overall care is compensated.  As previously discussed in this blog, the Medicaid expansion has often proven a necessary life line for our nation’s rural hospitals, some of which were forced into debt for seeing so many patients that couldn’t pay.

The healthcare needs of the United States will only continue to grow as a larger and larger share of the population ages.  But thankfully because of actions taken back in 2010, we’ll be much better prepared for them with more people working, and more avenues to quality care.

 

Politics

Congress PASSES VA Healthcare Bill

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In the wake of everyone’s shock and awe at Eric Cantor’s stunning defeat this week, did anyone notice something on Capitol Hill that hasn’t happened in a long time??  Yes, that’s right… both houses of the United States actually did some WORK this week.  Work that was not meeting with lobbyists or calling rich folks to beg for campaign cash.  The House of Representatives passed a bill to improve VA healthcare UNANIMOUSLY!!  And on Wednesday, the Senate passed a similar bill by and overwhelming margin.  Your eyes are not deceiving you.  Here’s the story from Politico…

The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation aimed at increasing veterans’ access to health care and holding accountable bad actors in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The legislation passed 93-3 and represents rare cooperation between the House and Senate, raising hopes that Congress is moving swiftly toward a VA reform compromise to send to the president’s desk. The Senate legislation largely mirrors similar proposals from the House, and lawmakers and aides do not expect a knock-down political fight as the two chambers iron out their discrepancies over the coming days…

…With the House unanimously passing veterans’ health care and accountability legislation that senators say is extraordinarily close to the version crafted by Sanders and John McCain (R-Ariz.), lawmakers across the Capitol are increasingly confident that the president will have a new veterans’ health law on his desk by the end of the month.

So the United States Congress decides to have a rare moment of clarity and help our nation’s heroes get the healthcare and services they deserve.  This is great news, right?  Well just today over on Fox News, the critics have come out swinging saying the bill could have a huge price tag when all is said and done.

Fiscal hawks are warning that new legislation passed in both chambers of Congress this week in response to the Veteran Affairs scandal could cost taxpayers more than $500 billion over the next decade. 

A Senate source told FoxNews.com on Friday that lawmakers “passed a bill they didn’t read which led to Congress issuing a blank check with real consequences for the country down the road.” 

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget rang the alarm bells over the bill on Thursday, releasing a statement saying the Senate version of the bill “violates every principle of good budgeting, and could add substantially to the national debt.”

This Fox News commentator doesn’t think our nation’s Vets are worth the investment.  The bill may have a big price tag, and we of course would hope our legislators and their staff could always read things that they vote on, but if it helps to fix systemic problems plaguing the VA, then the American people should rally behind it.  Our heroes are worth every penny and then some.

 

 

 

 

Politics

Rick Perry: Homosexuality Is Like Alcoholism

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If anyone thought that Texas Governor Rick Perry might try to keep quiet between now in a possible 2016 run, think again.  He came out spreading falsehoods about homosexuality and the development of sexual orientation.  Here’s more from CNN…

A comparison between alcoholism and homosexuality by Texas Gov. Rick Perry is raising eyebrows.

At a speech in San Francisco, the longtime Republican governor – who ran for the White House in 2012 and is considering another bid in 2016 – was asked whether he thought homosexuality was a disorder.

“I may have the genetic coding that I’m inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that – and I look at the homosexual issue the same way,” Perry said.

According to CNN affiliate KPIX, some people in the pro-Perry audience gasped when they heard the governor’s remarks.

Perry’s address to the Commonwealth of California Club was mostly focused on economic issues. The Texas governor is in California as part of a trip to try to bring jobs and business to the Lone Star State.

Perry’s comments also came just days after Texas Republicans, meeting at their state convention, approved language in their party platform that includes support for voluntary psychological “therapy” targeted at converting homosexuals to heterosexuals. That stance stands in contrast to both California and New Jersey, which have banned such therapy.

Whatever Mr. Perry’s particular internal vices, he’s clearly behind the times on understanding sexual orientation.  And though he obviously has the right to believe whatever he wants as a private citizen, it’s important to know that saying these things in his official capacity as Governor is harmful to thousands of his constituents.  Many young Texans are taking the journey to adulthood as we all do, and for those that are LGBT, they may be struggling to figure out why they don’t match society’s well-defined expectations.  Suggesting to those young people that they need to “repair” themselves isn’t just wrong… it is downright dangerous.

In relation to current Texas politics, it’s no surprise that Perry’s comments sent a scurry through both main political parties, especially the candidates for the Governor’s job.  As Lone Star Q reports, Perry has helped to reveal another stark contrast between GOP contender Greg Abbott and his Democratic opponent Wendy Davis…

Democrat Wendy Davis would support and sign a law banning reparative therapy for minors, according to a spokesman for her campaign.

But Davis’ Republican opponent in the Texas governor’s race, Attorney General Greg Abbott, isn’t taking a position on the issue.

At its state convention in Fort Worth last week, the Texas GOP amended its platform to include support for reparative therapy “for those patients seeking healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle.”

In response to the headline-grabbing plank, a spokesman for Davis’ campaign confirmed this week in an email to Lone Star Q that the Democratic gubernatorial nominee would back a statewide ban on reparative therapy for minors similar to laws that have passed in California and New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Abbott dodged a question about his party’s support for reparative therapy during a visit to East Texas on Wednesday. KYTX Channel 19 reports that Abbott “stopped short of condemning” the reparative therapy plank but said the issue isn’t near the top of his agenda.

“First is jobs, second is schools, three is roads, transportation and water, and four is making sure our border is secure,” Abbott told KYTX reporter Field Sutton.

“It sounds like reparative therapy is pretty far down on that list,” Sutton said.

“Well, if government does what it’s supposed to do, and then gets out of people’s way, everyone is a whole lot happier,” Abbott responded.

Try as he may, Abbott won’t be able to run from this question much longer.  It’s going to keep coming up in interviews and other public formats.  But the real worry for the Abbott campaign here is this… regardless of what delegates at the Republican Party convention vote for, the state of Texas is still moving at lightning speed in support of LGBT rights and marriage equality.  As we see here, the GOP is providing the ammo… but it’s up to Democrats to make sure these shameful messages get out to the public at large.  If more people knew that the only thing standing in the way of marriage for thousands of Texas’ LGBT couples was Greg Abbott’s emergency stay, maybe they would be motivated to show up for Davis in November.  From a “life” standpoint, it is right for Democrats to stand against these harmful views.  From a political standpoint, this is an issue that can motivate Davis’ base, depress GOP turnout, and really effect the outcome of the election.  Let’s hope that the campaigns and Battleground Texas figure that out.

For more on this topic, check out the great work of fellow bloggers Texpatriate and Off the Kuff.  I’ll probably have later thoughts and developments as well.

 

 

Politics

Happy Birthday Bush 41!!

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For so many people, a President’s legacy is often first viewed in how their time in office finishes up, with the central question being, “did they get re-elected?”  Clearly for the nation’s 41st President George H. W. Bush, that answer would be a no.  After a rousing 1988 campaign where the candidate boldly declared “Read my lips… NO NEW TAXES“, the realities of office led him to break that promise, and paved the way for a defeat by Bill Clinton in 1992.

But as history marches on, Americans are less bitter about Bush 41’s tax increases, and look more fondly on his time in the White House, along with all of the accomplishments he achieved.

First, it’s important to note that Presidency is only 4 years of this great American’s life.  After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bush served our country valiantly in World War II… one of a precious few remaining veterans from that time.  He even survived a harrowing attack that saw his plane shot down over the open ocean, and looks back on that day as a second chance at life. Political differences aside, no one can question Bush’s bravery and dedication to his country.  He is the last living President who is also a veteran of World War II.

George HW and Barbara Bush

(photo credit:  The Today Show)

After the battle field soon came the oil field.  Bush returned to Yale University, and while studying there he and his wife Barbara Bush (whom have now been married an astounding 69 years!!) welcomed their eldest son George W. Bush into the world.  Then they set off for Texas, where Bush quickly made a fortune in the oil business.  An entry into politics would lead Bush to represent Houstonians in the United States Congress, after a failed run for the United States Senate in 1964.  At that time, Texas a was a Democratic stronghold, and the Republican Bush was unsuccessful achieving statewide office.  But being a prominent Texan for the GOP, Bush was a valuable asset to the party.  As a result, President Nixon appointed Bush to serve as United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and other cabinet positions followed.  Though he was never elected statewide, a series of high-profile appointments would forge a path for Bush to the Vice Presidency, and the White House.

As President, Bush 41 had his ups and downs, but also some great achievements.  In 1990, he worked with a bi-partisan coalition in Congress and passed the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act. It was the most comprehensive expansion of Civil Rights since the 1960s, and gave unprecedented protections to the disabled.  As Bush stated upon its signing, the ADA was “the world’s first comprehensive declaration of equality for people with Disabilities.”  The ADA also paved the way for similar legislation to be enacted all over the world.

For these, and a whole host of other amazing reasons, Texas Leftist is proud to celebrate the 90th birthday of President George H. W. Bush, and wish the very best for the Bush family on this special day.  Happy Birthday Bush 41!!