Hays County Democrats

House GOP Passes Rollback of the Violence Against Women Act

Casey — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:21:36 +0000

The Progress Report | ThinkProgress

In a show of bipartisanship that is basically unprecedented these days in the dysfunctional U.S. Senate, the Senate recently reauthorized and expanded the Violence Against Women Act on an overwhelming 68-31 vote. (Unfortunately, 31 male Republican Senators still voted no.)

Today, instead of passing this [...]

Texas School Bus Safety Takes Back Seat to GOP Budget

Casey — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:26:35 +0000

Josh Hinkle | KXAN

Fewer dollars for school bus seat belts: kxan.com

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Six years have passed since the day Brad Brown sat in a hospital waiting room, hoping to hear any news of his daughter, Ashley. One by one, crews brought in members of her high school [...]

Nonprofit Prods Ron Paul for Repayment of Flights

Casey — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:21:54 +0000

Jonathan Strong | Roll Call

A libertarian organization that paid for plane tickets and other expenses for Rep. Ron Paul says after an audit that the Texas Republican defrauded the group for about $20,000. The group is pushing Paul for repayment and exploring legal remedies.

The Liberty Committee, a nonprofit headed by former [...]

White House: JPMorgan Loss Shows Need for Tough Regulations

Casey — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:17:32 +0000

Jim Puzzanghera | The Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON – The White House said Monday that the huge trading loss by JPMorgan Chase & Co. highlighted the need for tough regulations, blasting Wall Street efforts to weaken new rules in the 2010 financial reform law.

“Ever since it was passed there [...]

GOP Doubles Down On Anti-Gay Agenda

Casey — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:12:07 +0000

The Progress Report | ThinkProgress

Over the weekend, a top Republican pollster put out a memo urging Republicans to recognize the magnitude of the rapid change in public opinion about LGBT issues and start supporting a least some rights for gay people. And today, Gallup reported that societal acceptance of gays and lesbians is “the [...]

Romney Adviser: Mitt ‘Doesn’t Want To Really Engage’ On Foreign Policy Issues

Casey — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:10:12 +0000

Ben Armbruster | ThinkProgress

The New York Times published two articles this weekend highlighting the disarray that is Mitt Romney’s foreign policy positions. Romney not only appears “out of touch,” for example, on his Russia policy and “all over the map” on the war in Afghanistan, but also, the former Massachusetts governor has [...]

Is a Charter School a Cheaper School? Maybe Not.

Casey — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:06:01 +0000

Some Texas charter schools are paying a premium for their results.

Patrick Michels | The Texas Observer

Conventional wisdom goes that charter schools are models of efficiency, of “doing more with less.” They cost taxpayers less than traditional schools, charge no tuition, and freed from big district bureaucracy the best of them [...]

Backward on Domestic Violence

Casey — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:01:22 +0000

The New York Times

In an all-too-rare show of bipartisanship, 15 Senate Republicans joined with the Democratic majority last month to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, the landmark 1994 law that is key to efforts against domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.

Unfortunately, the lopsided 68-to-31 Senate vote halted G.O.P. opponents [...]

President Obama Embraces Marriage Equality

Casey — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:57:42 +0000

Igor Volsky | ThinkProgress

President Obama has come out in support of marriage equality for gay and lesbian people in an interview with ABC News’ Robin Roberts this afternoon:

OBAMA: I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I [...]

Republicans Pick Wealthy Tax Dodgers Over Students

Casey — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:50:32 +0000

The Progress Report | ThinkProgress

As we’ve discussed before, student loan interest rates are set to double on July 1 unless Congress takes action. Before it recess, House Republicans passed a mean-spirited bill thatpaid for the extension of current rates by robbing an important preventive health fund that disproportionately benefits women and [...]

House GOP Would Let Domestic Abusers Know Their Victims Called For Help

Casey — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:45:21 +0000

Annie-Rose Strasser | ThinkProgress

The GOP-led House’s version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) would not only strip away Senate-passed protections for undocumented, LGBT, and Native American victims, it also contains a dangerous provision that violates an undocumented victim’s confidentiality by allowing immigration officials to speak with, and ask for evidence from, his [...]

Republicans Block Bill To Extend Low Interest Student Loan Rates

Casey — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:39:00 +0000

Jennifer Bendery | Huffington Post

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a bill that would have frozen student loan interest rates before they are set to double on July 1.

In a partisan vote of 52 to 45, the Senate failed to reach the 60 votes needed to begin debate on [...]

Economy Has Recovered All Private Sector Jobs Lost Since Obama Took Office

Casey — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:30:08 +0000

Michael Linden | ThinkProgress

As of April, there are now more private sector jobs in the United States than there were in January 2009, when President Obama took office. You read that right. We have now replaced all of the private sector jobs lost while Obama has been president. And that [...]

Cornyn and Friends Take On Modern Family Planning

Casey — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:26:49 +0000

Texas’ congressional delegation has met the enemy, and it is Planned Parenthood.

Eileen Smith | The Texas Observer

Last year the Texas Legislature sent Planned Parenthood to death row by trying to defund it. Planned Parenthood, feeling that it had been wrongly convicted, appealed the ruling and received an eleventh-hour reprieve. But [...]

Mysterious Mitt: 5 Big Issues Romney Is Ducking

Casey — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:21:53 +0000

Igor Volsky | ThinkProgress

On Tuesday, the Republican National Committee’s National Hispanic Outreach Director claimed that Mitt Romney’s “still deciding what his position on immigration is,” kicking off a firestorm of criticism from reporters and bloggers wondering how the GOP’s presumptive nominee — a man who had been running for office for [...]

The One Thing You Need To Know About Today’s Jobs Report

Casey — Fri, 04 May 2012 21:47:22 +0000

ThinkProgress

Most of the press coverage of today’s jobs report has been focused on the two topline findings — that the economy created a less-than-expected 115,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate edged down slightly to 8.1 percent. While these numbers are certainly important, they miss the forest [...]

Obama: ‘Tide Has Turned’ In Afghanistan

Casey — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:19:27 +0000

Benjy Sarlin | Talking Points Memo

President Obama addressed the American public on national television from Kabul, Afghanistan Tuesday on the one-year anniversary of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, describing a plan to “finish the job we started in Afghanistan, and end this war responsibly.”

His remarks pointed to a [...]

Study: Texas Tops Health Insurance Rebate List

Casey — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:05:58 +0000

Susannah Jacob | The Texas Tribune

Texas consumers and businesses are poised to receive an estimated $186 million in rebates from health insurers under a requirement of the Affordable Care Act, according a study released today by the Kaiser Family [...]

Cornyn Votes Against VAWA, Is Apparently Only Against Some Women

Casey — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:37:18 +0000

Michael Hurta | Burnt Orange Report

Thursday, the United States Senate comfortably passed a re-authorization bill for the Violence Against Women Act. It passed comfortably, too, with a 68-31 margin, which obviously included a handful of Republicans (including some Republicans who even co-sponsored!)

One might ask, “Who are those 31 Senators [...]

Stimulus Spending Accounted for 250,000 Jobs in Texas

Casey — Tue, 01 May 2012 23:08:43 +0000

Emily Cadik | Burnt Orange Report

Let’s end the week with some more good news about the impact of the Recovery Act in Texas. A new studyfrom Texans for Public Justice finds that:

“Federal spending through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) saved or created at least 264,459 [...]

GOP At Root of Dysfunction Congressional Scholars Say

Casey — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:04:15 +0000

NPR

LISTEN ONLINE

Congressional scholars Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein are no strangers to D.C. politics. The two of them have been in Washington for more than 40 years — and they’re renowned for their carefully nonpartisan positions.

But now, they say, Congress is more dysfunctional than it has been [...]

Affordable Care Act Spurs $1.3 Billion in Rebates from Health Insurers

Casey — Tue, 01 May 2012 21:55:39 +0000

About 15.8 million people will receive an estimated $1.34 billion in insurance company rebates on their 2011 health care premiums under a provision of the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Teen Pregnancies Highest In States With Abstinence-Only Policies

Casey — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:06:38 +0000

Amanda Peterson Beadle | ThinkProgress

The number of teen births in the U.S.dropped again in 2010, according to a government report, with nearly every state seeing a decrease. Nationally, the rate fell 9 percent to about 34 per 1,000 girls ages 15 through 19, and the drop was seen among all racial and [...]

Romney Attended Pro-Choice Fundraiser In 1995

Casey — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:52:40 +0000

Alex Seitz-Wald | ThinkProgress

By now, it’s well known that while presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney says he wants to “get rid of Planned Parenthood” and curtail women’s rights, he was once a staunch defender of the right to choose. He even attended a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood in 1994, to whom his wife [...]

At Texas Schools, Making Do on a Shoestring

Casey — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:44:00 +0000

MANNY FERNANDEZ | The New York Times

HUTTO, Tex. — School buses passed by 16-year-old Aubrey Sandifer as he walked home one recent afternoon in this rural town northeast of Austin.

What is a humdrum routine for millions of students around the country — riding to and from school on a [...]

Romney’s Top Five Assaults To Women’s Health

Casey — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:34:09 +0000

Mitt Romney is not doing well with women voters. A new USA TODAY/Gallup pollshows that President Obama is faring much better than Mitt Romney in the swing states that will likely decide the next President of the United States – and women are part of the reason why. Of women under 50 years old, only 30 percent support Romney, while over 60 percent back the President.

Repealing ‘Obamacare’ Would Explode Debt, Says Government Auditor

Casey — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:27:23 +0000

A new report by an independent government auditor concludes that implementing President Obama’s health care law as intended will make a significant dent in the long-term debt forecast.

Republican budget: Ryan plan would cost one million students their Pell Grants

Casey — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:21:37 +0000

Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans don't just want lower-income Americans to be hungrier, poorer, and more unhealthy, they want them to be uneducated, too. They Ryan budget, adopted by House Republicans last week, would drastically cut Pell Grants and make college education even more unaffordable for low-income and middle class students alike.

How Mitt Romney Funded an Effort to Divide Blacks and Gays

Casey — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 12:15:33 +0000

Mitt Romney helped bankroll California's anti-gay-marriage campaign in 2008. But on Friday, Huffington Post's Sam Stein presented new details—specifically that Romney's $10,000 donation (did he lose a bet?) to National Organization for Marriage, the nation's leading stop-gay-marriage outfit, came via his network of state PACs that we reported on last July.

Women Voters Abandon GOP In Key Battleground States

Casey — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:57:09 +0000

President Obama has emerged with an impressive lead in swing states around the country — thanks to women voters abandoning the GOP in droves, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll showing President Obama leading among women voters in the top dozen battleground states by a whopping 18 points — greater than the 12-point gender gap he won with in 2008.

Hays County Democratic Convention: Fighting for Texas Schools and Women

Casey — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:50:30 +0000

Mark your calendar for Saturday, April 21, San Marcos Cafetorium for our 2012 County Convention. Sign-in will begin at 9 and go until 10:15. We’ll “gavel down” at 10:30, so please be sure to be there on time! We plan on being done by 3:30, and hopefully sooner.

This year, with the power grab [...]

Hays County Democratic Convention Update: Resolutions

Casey — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:39:52 +0000

As you know, the Hays County Democratic Party will be meeting in convention on Saturday, April 21, at San Marcos High School. One of the most important jobs the convention delegates will have is the consideration of resolutions generated by Democrats in Hays County. Those that are approved will be submitted to the [...]

Health Insurers: We’ll Deny Coverage For Pre-Existing Conditions If Health Mandate Is Repealed

Casey — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:51:04 +0000

The insurance industry argues that premiums are likely to skyrocket without the individual mandate in place to aid in pushing millions of new enrollees into the marketplace, as healthy people will be less likely to buy insurance, while insurers will still be required to sell policies to all applicants. In fact, a repeal of the individual mandate would increase insurance premiums by 25 percent, according to a study released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Americans like President Obama … and they really dislike Mitt Romney

Casey — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:44:42 +0000

Jed Lewison | Daily Kos

ABC/Washington Post (PDF). March 21-25. American adults. ±3.5%.
(Romney photo Rebecca Cook/Reuters, Obama photo Jim Young/Reuters)

ABC News:

Mitt Romney trails Barack Obama by 19 points in basic popularity as the 2012 presidential contest inches closer to the main event, with a record 50 [...]

Poll: Fewer Americans Than Ever See The Supreme Court Positively

Casey — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:39:53 +0000

Court prepares to decide one of the most politicized lawsuits in decades, a new poll finds that public support for the nine justices has cratered.

Health Care Reform A Leap Forward For Women’s Health Care

Casey — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:30:52 +0000

The Supreme Court is again at the center of a highly controversial policy debate as it hears arguments for the Affordable Care Act. There’s been much discussion about the justices’ supposed political agendas. I’ve heard fearmongering about government takeovers and rumors of increased business costs. But I haven’t heard much about what’s really at stake: the welfare of the American people — specifically women. Women like my mother and the other mothers, wives, sisters and daughters who need preventive services to ensure that they are healthy.

Cantor’s ‘Small Business’ Jobs Bill Gives Millionaires An Average Tax Cut Of $45,000

Casey — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 04:14:12 +0000

The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to approve a proposal by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) that is misleadingly entitled the Small Business Tax Cut Act. People who have read the bill and not just its title, however, have noted that it is extremely poorly targeted at small businesses. It is, in fact, just another tax cut for rich people.

Prescription for Profit: The New GOP Medicaid Outsourcing Scheme

Casey — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 03:12:45 +0000

On March 1, Texas ushered in a bold new system to repay pharmacies for their Medicaid customers’ prescriptions. Used to be, Texas reimbursed all pharmacies at the same rate, based on a price list posted online. For each transaction, pharmacies got a $6.35 dispensing fee. Simple enough. Under the new plan, the state contracts with a handful of managed care organizations, which, in turn, hire outside companies called pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to negotiate lower rates with pharmacies, and pass the savings on to taxpayers. The pharmacy benefit managers act as middlemen in this new system. They, of course, take a little profit for their troubles.

New GOP Budget Cuts $200 Billion from Pell Grants

Casey — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:41:11 +0000

Joy Resmovits | Huffington Post
More than 1 million students would lose Pell grants entirely over the next 10 years under Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget, according to an analysis that the national reform organization Education Trust provided to The Huffington Post.

And by the looks of it, the Ryan budget, which [...]

County Convention Registration

Casey — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:32:34 +0000

First Name(required) Last Name(required) Email(valid email required) Phone #(required) Address(required) City Austin Buda Dripping Springs Driftwood Kyle San Marcos Wimberley (required) I want to be a state delegate! Yes No You will be redirected to ActBlue to purchase your meal tickets, meals are $6 each, and all come with a dessert (cookie or brownie) a [...]

At Least 48 Million Could Become Uninsured Under New GOP Budget

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:58:54 +0000

Since Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) new budget eliminates $1.5 trillion from the Affordable Care Act, cuts $770 billion from Medicaid and reduces Medicare spending by $200 billion, Ezra Klein points out that “it would be very interesting to see an estimate of the uninsured population under Ryan’s budget.” The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of Ryan’s plan does not provide those numbers, but a rough back-of-the-envelope estimate suggests that at least 48 million Americans could lose their health insurance.

Health Insurance Discrimination Costs Women $1 Billion a Year

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:52:59 +0000

Women routinely pay $1 billion more a year than men for the same premium coverage due to “gender rating” practices, according to a new report released by The National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). The report, Turning to Fairness: Insurance discrimination against women today and the Affordable Care Act, “documents how insurers on the individual market use discriminatory practices that make it difficult for women to obtain affordable health care.”

Romney To Women: ‘Vote For The Other Guy’ If You Want Birth Control

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:44:45 +0000

Mitt Romney found himself in hot water over his opposition to expanding women’s access to contraception, less than a week after suggesting that he would “get rid of” Planned Parenthood, among other programs, to reduce the deficit. During a town hall in Illinois Monday evening, the former Massachusetts governor told a voter to “vote for the other guy” if she wanted access to “free birth control” and said that the federal government should not subsidize women’s health care through Planned Parenthood.

Global Warming: Texas Drought Cost Farmers $7.6 Billion

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:33:45 +0000

Texas Agronomists have revised estimates for the cost of Texas’ devastating drought, finding that it cost the agricultural sector $2 billion more than originally thought. According to the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, the Texas drought has caused $7.62 billion in damages to crops and farming operations. That’s up from $5.3 billion reported last August.

Texas Had ‘Fewer Than Five’ Voter Impersonation Cases Over Three Years

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:16:02 +0000

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice blocked a new Texas state law that would institute strict photo identification requirements for all citizens trying to vote. The DOJ refused to grant the law pre-clearance under the Voting Rights Act, noting that the bill would unfairly disenfranchise Hispanic voters.

Wall Street’s Huge Bet on Romney

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 03:03:28 +0000

Let there be no doubt where Wall Street's political loyalties lie: Of all the money the securities and investment industry has poured into the 2012 presidential contest so far -- to the candidates and the super PACs behind them -- an unambiguous 92 percent has gone to the GOP, according to a new Center for Responsive Politics analysis.

The NRA Wants the Law Protecting Trayvon Martin’s Killer in All 50 States

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:54:04 +0000

The National Rifle Association continues to press more states to adopt Florida-style "stand your ground" laws like the one that's made it difficult to prosecute George Zimmerman, the self-appointed neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, in late February.

GOP Budget Pads Big Oil’s Pockets While Americans Pay At The Pump

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:47:31 +0000

Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposed FY 2013 budget resolution would retain a decade’s worth of oil tax breaks worth $40 billion and would cut billions of dollars from investments to develop alternative fuels and clean energy technologies that would serve as substitutes for oil and help protect middle-class families from volatile energy prices as well as create jobs.

Jim Crow Redux? Why Millions May Be Denied The Right To Vote In 2012

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:35:27 +0000

Last year, Republicans opened up an attack on voting rights unseen since the Jim Crow era. In states as varied as Kansas, South Carolina, and Wisconsin, conservative legislators passed a range of new laws directly intended to make it more difficult to vote. Voter ID laws, which require certain forms of government-issued photo ID in order to vote, were passed in Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Mississippi via citizen referendum.

College Democrats Meeting with Rebecca Bell-Metereau

Casey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:27:19 +0000

Wednesday | March 28 | 4:30pm | Details