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Changes to Bill Inserted by Staffer?

Changes to Bill Inserted by Staffer?

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When I first saw the headline “Midnight Rider Terminates Iraq Reconstruction Watchdog,” I had no idea what it meant. Sheesh. The things that make you click.

Midnight Rider? On a horse, a motorcycle? Does he have wings? A cape?
Terminates? Kills, you mean? Or is this something to do with robots?
Iraq Reconstruction Watchdog? What breed is that? Is it allowed in the green zone?

See what I mean? I had to click just to see what it was. (Did you wonder about my headline at all? heh-heh)

What I found was a must-read by Daniel Schulman from the MoJo (Mother Jones) blog. Even with everything that I’ve seen in the last couple of years, this just kicks my tits (you should excuse the expression).

Midnight Rider Terminates Iraq Reconstruction Watchdog

Secreted into a military authorization bill that was signed by the president two weeks ago is a provision that will shutter the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction effective October 1, 2007. The office, headed by former White House official Stuart W. Bowen Jr., was established in October 2004 to investigate the potential fraud and abuse of reconstruction funds. Since then it has filed one explosive report after another, revealing, most recently, that the military could not account for hundreds of thousands of weapons it provided to Iraqi security forces. Perhaps Bowen’s agency did its job a little too well.

The New York Times reports:

“Susan Collins, a Maine Republican who followed the bill closely as chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, says that she still does not know how the provision made its way into what is called the conference report, which reconciles differences between House and Senate versions of a bill.

Neither the House nor the Senate version contained such a termination clause before the conference, all involved agree.

‘It’s truly a mystery to me,’ Ms. Collins said.

”

It’s no longer a mystery. According to the Times, the provision was placed in the bill by Congressional staffers working for Duncan Hunter, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (who recently announced he’s running for president in 2008).

“I just can’t see how one can look at this change without believing it’s political,” Rep. Henry Waxman told the Times.

Doesn’t anyone read anything over there before they give it to the President for a signature? Who is actually in charge of this “reconciliation” document when there are differences, as I’m assuming there usually are, between Senate and House versions of a bill?

Way to shut down oversight. One office is actually doing its job, so they’re shutting it down. Secretly.

Sneaky and despicable.

Bait and Switch Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Bait and Switch Crisis Pregnancy Centers

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Ask your representative to support H.R.5052 Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Services Act which requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to:

(1) promulgate rules prohibiting persons from advertising with the intent to deceptively create the impression that such persons provide abortion services; and (2) enforce violations of such rules as unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.

Even if you are pro-life/anti-choice, you should support this bill. There is no reason that CPCs can’t proudly advertise what they do offer. How about something like: “Thinking about an abortion? Come talk to us about the alternatives.”

Thanks to an investigation by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), we know exactly what they’re telling women. Female investigators called, saying they were pregnant, and recorded their conversations. 87% of CPCs provided false or misleading information about the health effects of abortion.

These centers, which are easily confused with full reproductive health and planning services, use neutral-sounding names and ads – but their agenda is very clear. They spread misinformation (let’s say “misinformation” instead of the more straightforward word, just to be nice) in order to dissuade women from having an abortion. They don’t offer abortion services at all.

It’s a services bait and switch.

Did you know that anti-choice “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs) have received $30 million of our tax dollars? According to the Guttmacher Institute, there are 2,500-4,000 centers nationwide, compared with about 1,800 abortion providers.

Take action to stop these clinics from deceiving women at their most vulnerable moments:

http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/crisis_clinics

(Planned Parenthood)