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Since the Roe v. Wade decision, we have never seen a fight over abortion like we have been seeing recently from the right wing. Republicans across the country are introducing bill after bill, designed to assault legal abortion rights and take it apart one piece at a time. But for all the GOP claims of being “pro-life”, they are certainly hurting a lot of children.
In their crusade to change the United States as we know it, Republicans that claim to be pro-life are actually not so pro-life after all. They have constantly called abortion the mass murder of unborn children and yet, the Republican agenda being slammed through the US House of Representatives and Republican controlled state houses across the country will end up killing or harming more children around the world than abortion ever could.
According to USAID, 70,000 children around the world will die if Republicans make the cuts it wants to make. Approximately 30,000 kids would die from cuts in malaria control programs, 24,000 from lack of immunizations, and 16,000 due to unsafe birthing practices. Because of these draconian budget cuts, Republicans are essentially sentencing tens of thousands of children, both born and unborn, to certain death. That is NOT pro-life.
Children in foreign countries are not the only children facing a life and death struggle. Even American children are in danger because of the Republican agenda. Republicans are currently attempting to eliminate the ban on insurance companies that keeps them from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Up until the enactment of reform, thousands of children with a pre-existing condition were denied coverage by insurers each year. There are as many as 19.4 million children in the U.S. living with a pre-existing condition. Compared to those with insurance, children who are uninsured are less likely to get critical preventive care including immunizations and well-baby checkups, leaving them twice as likely to miss school and at much greater risk of hospitalization for avoidable conditions. Repeal of insurance company reform would empower insurance companies to once again deny these children coverage because of their pre-existing condition. That puts 19.4 million children at risk of possible harm or even death. That is NOT pro-life.
But Republicans are not through threatening the lives of children, both born and unborn. If Republicans have their way, kids will no longer be able to remain on their parents’ insurance plans until the age of 26 and pregnant women as well as breast and prostate cancer patients could be thrown off the insurance rolls. That not only puts unborn children and mothers at risk of dying, but also increases the likelihood of a child losing a parent. Republicans may not believe that they are harming children by harming their parents, but they are. Children can be affected emotionally and psychologically by the loss of a parent and putting pregnant mothers at risk will end up killing not only mothers but the unborn as well. That is NOT pro-life.
Republicans are still not finished. They are also targeting welfare, unemployment benefits, and food stamps. Nearly half of all US children depend on food stamps during childhood. If you get food stamps, you are by definition in poverty and your household doesn’t have many assets. That means half of America’s children are living in poverty and Republicans are seeking to make that poverty even worse. Without food stamps, WIC, unemployment benefits, and welfare in general, millions of children across the country are at risk of starving to death How in the hell is that pro-life? Republicans think abortion is cruel. Forcing children to starve to death is by far, crueler.
You would think that Republicans are done attacking children, right? Well, they’re not. In addition to attacking the health and nutrition of children, they are also seeking to destroy their minds and their childhoods as well. Republicans in many states, especially in Missouri and Maine, are introducing bills that will repeal child labor laws. Basically, Republicans are making it legal for corporations and factories to employ children, pay them less, and exploit them. Sick, isn’t it? Republicans are also introducing bills in states that would label molested or raped children as mere accusers instead of victims. Republicans are essentially making it easier for pedophiles to rape children. In Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, former governor and potential Republican candidate for President, pardoned a child molester while he was in office, so that molester’s wife could open a child day care center in THEIR home. That’s endangering the well being of multiple children and this could be repeated by Republicans all over the nation. I dare a Republican to try and convince me that these kinds of bills protect children. But that’s not all Republicans want to do. The GOP is also waging war against the public school system. In their effort abolish public education in favor of privately run schools, Republicans are trying to slash funding that is used for desks, books, technology, and other materials that contribute to learning. That’s all in addition to their scheme to rewrite textbooks in order to indoctrinate children to the conservative philosophy. Approximately 60 million children attend public school every year and the destruction of public education would affect at least half of them. According to the statistic mentioned earlier, nearly half of America’s children live in poverty. Thus, they would not be able to afford private education. Parents are having a hard enough time keeping their kids from starving and now Republicans want to force parents to send their child to expensive and overrated private schools. Private schools cost about $30,000 a year. That is a huge chunk of cash compared to the insignificant school tax we all pay to keep public education going. Millions of young minds will not be developed which would further weaken their ability to find excellent jobs in later life and would therefore remain in poverty as adults too. It’s a never ending cycle. When you are forced to choose between expensive education or food in your belly and heat in the winter, that is NOT pro-life.
The Republican war on children doesn’t end there, however. Republicans in Michigan and other red states are pushing for laws that will only allow foster children to buy second hand clothing. What the hell do these monsters have against kids in foster care? Is it not enough that foster children already face tough childhoods? Republicans also want to ban them from owning new clothing and shoes? Despicable. And that’s not all. Thousands of foster children are being denied permanent homes because of Republican opposition to same sex marriage. That’s right, Republicans would rather a child grow up without parents, than have them be adopted by a gay couple that would feed, cloth, and love them. Republicans have no humanity left in their souls.
And believe it or not, it doesn’t end there either. Republicans also want to shatter our children’s dreams and aspirations too. Many Republicans have stated that President Obama is an illegitimate President, because he is an illegitimate child. You see what Republicans are doing? They’re saying that if you are not an American child or if you are a child born out of wedlock or if you are child born to just one American parent, you are disqualified from pursuing your dreams and a better life. That’s cold. Telling children that they can’t achieve their dreams and live the life they want to pursue is NOT pro-life.
The lives and futures of our children is the most important reason to vote against Republicans in 2012 and beyond. Their plan would take away education, health care, nutrition, clothing, fun, love, and even life from children. When you get to the ballot box to cast your vote in 2012, ask yourselves, “What kind of life do I want for my children?”, “Which party seeks to keep my children healthy and educated?”, “What do I want the future to be like for my children?” Democrats support health care for children. Democrats support public education. Democrats support children being adopted, even to gay couples. Democrats support child nutrition and assistance to families in need. Democrats also support contraceptives and condoms which prevent pregnancy, thus preventing more abortions than Republicans could ever dream of. Republicans do not believe in pregnancy prevention and therefore only escalate the number of unwanted pregnancies. Your election day decision, therefore, should be the Democratic Party candidate, the candidate that REALLY does give a damn about children. 1.2 million abortions occur each year in the United States. The Republican plan would endanger over 60 million children and countless unborn children, even unborn children of mothers that want the pregnancy. A vote against Republicans, is a vote for your children. And that IS pro-life.
The article brings up a lot of great points. HOWEVER, when they start making untrue statements, they loose the argument (IE. private school costs $30,000/year. TRUTH: There are 11 catholic private schools in town, they cost on average $4,500. The two other private schools that I know about cost $10,000 a year. The private High Schools coast about $12,000/year) When your story has credence, like this one, you don’t need to exaggerate to win – but when they DO exaggerate, they loose automatically because all the opposition will talk about is the exaggeration. This holds true in most debates, arguments, etc…
So many untruths in this article it was painful to read. Starting with the “insignificant” amount of money we spend in the form of school taxes. Out of a 10,000.00 property tax bill I pay on a modest house in the woods of pa, our township gets about 900.00 and the rest goes to the school board. It would be cheaper for me to put my child in private school and I would if I could be excused from paying the school board portion of my property tax. Also, property taxes are for life, private school for 13 years… The cost of public schools in many areas has simply gotten out of hand. Our teachers here get an automatic 5% annual pay raise and pay only 14.00 every two weeks for their own and their families health insurance. It is time to all share equally to solve our problems. No one deserves to be insulated from paying their share. Goverment just needs to stop wasting money, corruption, pandering to well funded lobbyists and financing absurdly expensive campaigns via privately donated (special interest) sources.
An abortion costs roughly a thousand dollars maybe a bit more depending. A Successful birth represents roughly a million dollars just to get the child to adult hood, and then untold dollars once the child reachs adult hood. Take those lives off government assistance, redirect those government funds directly into coperate america, and then force that person to find ways to pay for those same services out of pocket…essentially getting paid twice…Make no mistake, this war has nothing to do with life, only money.
It’s so simple. Reducing abortions increases the number of toys for the sadists to play with, military recruits, and serfs.
The GOP is very strategic. They are planning well for when they regain control of all four houses of gummint (executive, legislative, judicial, and press).
The repuibliCON agenda is all about cheap labor. They want all those who have to work for a living to compete for limited opportunities, while the upper class pays for the advantagess for their kids. All the facts mentioned above produce the outcome of cheap labor.
REPUBLICONS ARE PRO-LIFE!!!
……….until you’re born………….then, not so much.
This article would be so much more believable if they showed an actual picture of a child in poverty, and not this fake ‘little starving/filthy poor boy’. It is obvious that what is on his face is smeared charcoal (I thought the use of charcoal to dirty a face went out in the 50′s). It’s a very poor reenactment of a ‘starving American child’. Believe me, I have seen children in poverty… this is not what they look like. First of all, just because people are poor does not mean that their children are filthy. That’s just ignorant. Second of all, if your going to depict a ‘filthy/starving child’ at least go all the way and dirty his hair, fingernails and hands, not to mention; get a child who doesn’t have perfectly groomed hair. If parents can not afford to keep them clean, how would they afford to take them to the barber for a haircut?? Just Sayin’….
You’re criticizing the picture, but are you honestly dumb enough to believe that this picture was taken by this site?
Well said, Damon. Believe me, I’ve thought more than once about moving to Canada! Even with that idiot Harper in charge, your country is *still* far more enlightened and progressive than the U.S. will ever be. You Canadians seem to understand the concept of “we’re all in this together” much better than Americans ever will. And I totally agree with you about socialism… Americans have *such* a knee-jerk reaction to what they *think* is socialism… when they really have no idea what it is. IMHO, a little socialism would be very good for this country!!
Socialism is great…when it comes to corporate losses.
The war on women and children, brought to you by the GOP. If we don’t stand up and use our voting power, we will continue to be written into third-class citizen status.
I would also very much like to see citations or references.
I have never been happier to be a Canadian then I am after reading this article. Although with the Conservative party’s… I mean the ‘Harper Party’s’ recent majority election win. And with Prime Minister, umm I mean ‘Mein Fuhrer Harper’ now in power for the next 4 years. I imagine the prospects for my country aren’t going to be much better in terms of idoitic government. But damn does the GOP take the fucking cake when it comes to short-sighted, ignorant, arrogant, greedy, holier-then-thou, and plain pathetic governance. I mean do they really not realize that if they institute these bills that cut education for that many kids. And not to mention flat out starve and deny medical coverage to that many kids. That they will in effect completely destroy your country’s economy, workforce, competitiveness, ingenuity, and the entire fucking country in the long run?! I mean for fuck sakes people do so many of you(Republicans I mean) not see what’s going to happen to your country if they do these things?! The really pathetic thing to me is the fact that most people who vote with the GOP do so because of religion. They seem to think that because the GOP is supposedly ‘christian’ that it means they’re somehow ‘righteous’ or some such bullshit. When in reality they are anything but!, and in my humble opinion the whole ‘christian’ thing is simply a ploy to get votes. Or they voted with the GOP because they don’t like the fact that there’s an African-American sitting in the white house. Which sadly(and pathetically) is a huge part of the politics of your country right now. Just watch the episode ‘White Power USA’ of the show ‘People And Power’(you can find it online), that should be a bit of a wake up call. If these bills get through you can say goodbye to the future of your country because you will be fucked. And if the GOP gets into the White House next year I beg every right thinking American . Please!, exercise your constitutional right to overthrow any government that becomes to tyrannical! Because my god if the GOP has it their way there’s going to be a bloody genocide happening if they get into power! And I’m not even kidding and I bloody damn wish I was! But with the legislation they’re introducing attacking women, children, and the poor. They’re essentially trying to enact a Eugenics program similar to Nazi Germany. And if memory serves didn’t millions of Americans give their lives to ensure that such a thing would never happen in your country? To allow these bills and the GOP to get more power would be to spit in the face of all those men and women fought to prevent! Hell and another thing I really don’t understand about so many Americans. So many of you buy into the bullshit fear-mongering about the ‘evil’s of socialism’ and associated bullshit. Without even being truly informed about what socialism even is(here’s a news flash, Canada is a Socialist Democracy and we weathered the financial meltdown, caused by Wall Street, better then any other country and have recovered faster and better). And in buying into that fear-mongering you’ve let the wolves into the hen house! I have never been more concerned about where the US is heading then after reading this article. To those who actually voted for the GOP I truly hope you realize the mistake you made. Because it’s blatantly obvious that even though they promised you they’d ‘work on the economy’ Instead they’re trying to guarantee the exact opposite!, they’re trying to destroy the future of your economy. And why?, all for the sake of a few dozen corporations, a few dozen or hundred individuals making more of the almighty dollar! While the rest of your country bleeds to death from personal debt, foreign debt, malnutrition, lack of medical care, lack of funding, starvation, lack of education, ignorance, arrogance, and hatred! Americans, my brothers and sisters of humanity it’s time to wake up to what is being done to you! It’s time to pull the wool from your eyes and break the cycle of lies and deceit! It’s time to say “NO MORE!” to a party that cares for one thing and one thing only and that is money and profits! It’s time to realize who the real enemy is and not be lead blindly and happily to the slaughter! I urge you when it comes time to vote in 2012 make the right choice and SAVE YOUR COUNTRY! And as for the here and now I urge you all to write, email, and phone every GOP member of the house and Senate everyday and DEMAND they vote NO on these bills!! I truly hope you all take these words to heart and have the courage to do what is right and necessary!
TLDR
What an amusing read. How evil the Republicans are. But, you know, their entire plan could be completely undone by accepting personal responsibility for yourself and your children. Man, how that would show them!!! You might actually like the how liberating it feels to be self-sufficient.
I would *love* to repost this on my FB wall, but w/o sources to verify the statements (e.g Pawlenty pardoning a child molester) I’m not comfortable doing so.
Sources would be *wonderful*!
What a Load! “If the GOP has its way, kids won’t be allowed to remain on their parents insurance beyond 26…” boohoo What LOSER needs mommy and daddy’s insurance beyong 18…and a TWENTY SIX Y.O. is NOT a kid. Grow up. Either one is responsible for one’s way in this world, or big momma is. Make yer choice and grow up or return to the fetal position and let mommy rub yer belly and give you some warm milk.
And how is any 18- to 26-year-old to otherwise obtain health insurance? Can they magically land a full-time job with benefits straight out of high school? Or maintain such a position while attending university? Hardly.
To anyone who’s found the way to be wholly self-sufficient at sucha young age, more power to you. But it’s not realistic to cut insurance from young adults who have no other way to get it.
Thank you Vegas for pointing to one of the problems with this rant that Republicans are so evil. There is so much hate spewed out in this article – and shame on the parent should their child, even should they be homeless, to let their child be as dirty as the one picked for this article. The photo is propaganda – should any of you believe it, then it is a product of the current administration that has had full power since 2009. I have been dirt poor, but I was never left dirty.
Moniqua, at a minimum, an adult, 18 years or older should find at least a part time job, even while attending college. At a minimum wage of $7.35 per hour, a 20 hour week adds up to a $7,644 per year. I just searched rates, Blue Cross with a high deductible, can get a rate of $30 per month. You use a high deductible because you are young and in general good health at this age. Why then can they not afford to spend 4.7% of their earnings to pay for healthcare? How do you find $30? Skip a new release movie, go to the cheap – been out for a while theaters. Stop eating out so much and never buy anything at Starbucks. Find roommates. Strive to earn more by being the best employee your boss has ever had. Should I go on…? We live in an age of excuses, where if it isn’t easy, it’s not worth doing.
Pete, you are really out of touch with what is going on in this country because of the Great Recession. An article in the National Journal this month shows that college graduates are finding it harder than ever to find a job because of the economy. The youth unemployment rate is 17% and the class of 2011 are competing with the 2008, 2009 and 2010 graduates who have not found employment. Additionally, seniors whose retirements were decimated by the economy are staying in the workforce because they can’t afford to retire now. The fastest growing job market in today’s economy are college intern positions, which mean they work for FREE. Because of this graduates are competing for the same menial jobs that college students would be seeking.
Even if a student could find a job as in your example, your rudimentary number crunching is unrealistic as well. At $7,644 gross per year, that is $637/mo. The first thing that comes out of that is taxes. The federal rate is 10% up to $8,500 (after std ded.). State taxes vary from zero to 6%. So lets just round the net to $550/mo. Out of the net has to come food, shelter (including utilities), clothing, transportation and other necessities (toiletries, etc).
Taking into consideration that rents are typically higher in college or university towns, even with a roommate (most landlords have a maximum number of adults that can live in a certain sized apartment and landlords require proof of income at 3-4x the rental rate to get a lease), a two bedroom apartment would take up well over half the net income. And the closer to the college (and the more prestigious the college), the higher the rent, so the student has to weigh rent vs. transportation costs. In my city (pop. 580K) a 2 bedroom apartment can start at over $700 in the outlying areas and be well over $1000 closer to the university. Going with the lowball, that’s $350 for half the rent, which leaves $200. Estimate half the utilities to be $50/mo (and can be much worse in more extreme climates). So that leaves $150/mo.
Transportation at that income level is limited to public transportation. As an example, a bus pass for adults in our city, which has several colleges and a university is $88/month (the student fare is for those under 18). Which leaves $62 for food, toiletries, clothing, etc., AND health insurance.
Even if you use my state’s numbers (min wage = $8.50 and min state income tax = 5%) gives a gross of $736/mo. and net of ~$625, which is an additional $75/mo. the figures don’t add up, even if the student gets food stamps, but I’m sure you would rail against that as well.
If the parents can afford to cover their adult child on their employer’s health plan, good for them. Go ahead and deny your child health insurance if you choose, but don’t deny other parents the choice to make sure their kids stay healthy until they can get on their feet.
Taking the $7,644/yr, which is about right for the jobs available here, I have to look at the rent they would have to pay. Here a studio apartment runs from $800/mo up, ($9,600/yr), a room for rent in someone’s home runs $550/mo up ($6,600/yr). There is no on-campus housing or dorms at our college. Add at the very least $100/mo for their share of the utilities as a household here pays about $300.mo, which takes away another $1,200/yr. Now add food, sundries (toothpaste, toilet paper and the like), transportation to and from work and college to home, clothing and other school related supplies… exactly where is that insurance money in that equation? These kids are in college to better their lives and learn a career in which to excel. So we should punish them for not being born into a wealthy family? Yep sounds about “right”.
Pete, you seem confused about the distinction between “spewing hate” and and bringing up the real world consequences of mainstream GOP policies. It is not being hateful to warn of the potentially disastrous consequences to the poor, especially the young and elderly, from cutting programs in the name of SUPPOSED frugality.
At age 26, you’re no longer a kid. Get a job and pay your own way instead of leeching off your parents!
You obviously have no idea what it’s like out there in the real world, the difficulty and near immposibility for new graduates to find decent work – many end up in low paying minimum wage jobs for a long period of time – even years – until they can find decent work. And it’s only growing worse as those decent jobs continue to dissapear. You are just another self absorbed know nothing who is incapable of caring about any one other than yourself or understanding anything unless it affects you personally – then all of a sudden you would care.
First off it’s done this way in order to allow students to maintain their ability to receive proper health care while attending college. Plus most college students ARE NOT ALLOWED to receive government insurance even though most of them qualify for it. PER SCHOOL REGULATIONS… so how’s about you get all your facts straight before you go running your mouth about loser kids…
These losers you refer to are often college graduates who have struggled, working and assuming debt, to better themselves. What they find is that the entry jobs they get (if lucky) barely provide basic needs and student loan payments. Every product they buy, from toilet paper to cereal to gas for the work commute, costs at least half as much again as when they began their first college class. Health insurance falls into a luxury category. Not having access to dental, eye and health care means they will not be as competitive as their insured co-worker nor as healthy. Until they can work their way into better circumstances, being able to stay on parents’ insurance is a godsend. I know many who pay their parents all or most of the
premium’s cost. Being responsible for one’s own way apparently should include developing empathy for fellow human beings or at least not gleefully judging them as losers.
How Dems lose to the republican crime syndicate is beyond belief!
Dude, you don’t know the half of it. They do this type stuff, but more importantly, you look at how they raise their kids, in a complete cocoon. I myself was raised by these horrid people, my daddy was a navy man, so we moved every few years, turns out there’s research that says that moving often makes you more likely to have psychological problems later on. Bing! My brother is a suicidal depressive, I am a suicidal druggy that overcam
e most of my issues, but nobody can deny the link that mr. navy killer man destroyed his kids for his career. And when you look further back, you see that my grandma is an abusive piece of shit that somehow gets respected by everyone in my family, even though she basically had 8 kids because she needed farmhands. I could write a book on this shit.
So, you have no culpability in what a loser you turned out to be? Interesting.
Just as much culpability you have for how spiteful you turned out.
While I do not agree with a lot of the things that the Republicans are doing at the moment, I agree that judging them as a whole is extremely immature. It’s exactly what the bad Republicans do!
Also, I would like to say that this article seems to be extremely biased with no real sources to prove such intense ramblings. I think I would take this much more seriously if curse words were removed and the article as a whole were written much more professionally. That is not to say that I’m conservative with my language, I simply believe that in this setting, professionalism = credibility. And that is what’s important in these sorts of discussions. There are my 2 cents!
Good expose on the myriad of ways the right is attacking women and children to benefit the ultrarich and big business. Less government and government by and for the wealthy has disastrous effects in other parts of the world, there is no reason to think it would be any different here. The disconnect between the far right’s “christian values” (one of which is, I believe, charity) and “reverence for life” and their all out war on women and children is astounding.
Maternal and child malnutrition can kill, yes, but an outcome that is perhaps even more damaging to society and the overall success of the nation is the physical and intellectual stunting that is evident in chronically malnourished populations in, for example, Guatemala. The cost of programs to provide adequate nutrition must be small compared to the lost productive capacity of those who do not reach their full potential because of chronic malnutrition.
Interestingly, and of course hypocritical too, is that one of the things mentioned in one of the Palin books (Dunn’s, if I recall) is that Sarah Palin was pregnant with Track when she married Todd, and Sarah’s mother was also pregnant with her first child when she married. Both of these are supported by looking at the marriage documents vs. birth dates. So much for Ms. Family Values, and her own daughter prego out of wedlock also. So, how’s that abstinence thing workin’ for ya?
I didn’t know that. Any other sources? It seems being a bit of a skank runs in the family…
Note: I’m not saying premarital sex is skanky. It’s actually pretty awesome. Unsafe sex when you’re not trying to make a baby is skanky. And they have 3 generations of pulling the short straw on this one.
Love it, though, could you please edit this with appropriate sources so I could look at the individual bills myself?
Might also help anyone who thinks you’re blowing this out of proportion see where you’re coming from.
The GOP is not “pro-life” party, it’s the “anti-women/anti-abortion party”!!!
Second Amendment Democrat: I agreed with you up until you attacked the individual person with your comments about a Republican husband. Yes, as a whole the party is pretty screwed up right now. Yes, Republicans have tried to push through some truly atrocious bills and amendments. But this does not make every Republican an awful person. Saying that every Republican man is an adulterous pedofile who sleeps with animals, don’t you think that is going too far?
Excellent article. But what is unaddressed is WHY does the GOP do these things? And as always, the answer, the mantra, is the same – profit and control. The GOP is trying to establish droit-du-seigneur, and reducing women to chattel. Just like the fundamentalist Muslims, and isn’t THAT an interesting coincidence… The legal phrase is “depraved indifference,” and I believe we can have the whole fucking PARTY arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a million minors.
Who is the true terrorist, the one who kills for what he believes in or the one the kills because he feels he is better than you? At least Bin Laden hated us for a REASON. The GOP hates us simply because we dare to exist, and that means there is less for them.
Women, be prepared – out of the kitchen and into the firing range. Nothing else will stop them. Got a Republican husband? Can’t even cut him off, he hasn’t had sex with his OWN wife in ten years -only hookers, boys and farm animals…
Uhh, who do you think taught my wife to shoot? Yep, evil me.