"No Thanks, Bernie: Virginia Abortion Rights Advocates Know Better" (Title)

I have referenced the Virginia Governor's race in several of my posts. It seems not many here are not familiar with this important (governors) Democratic primary. This is a crucial race and we need to keep Virginia in the Democratic fold:particularly when the census is around the corner...gerrymandering Virginia would be a certainty if the Republican wins Virginia's governorship...so why did Perriello a flawed candidate with an anti-choice past decide to run in a race that a NARAL endorsed candidate pretty much had in the bag? Why risk losing the seat? Also, why was Perriello endorsed in the primary by Sen. Sanders (who held a rally for him) and Elizabeth Warren? I can understand holding your nose and voting for the Democrat during an election but I do not understand endorsing an anti-choice candidate in a primary. As far as I am concerned Perriello came close to stopping the ACA and threw all women under the anti-choice bus with the Stupak amendment...details provide below. This is a long article but worth the read...I have excepted some of what I consider important.

https://rewire.news/article/2017/04/07/no-thanks-bernie-virginia-abortion-rights-advocates-know-better/

"...In my personal capacity as an abortion rights activist and the mother of a young daughter in Virginia, I am proud to witness Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D-VA)’s continuous unwavering support for reproductive freedoms as he campaigns for the governor’s mansion. Northam has a long history of championing reproductive rights. As a state senator from Norfolk, he was the first to reference “transvaginal” ultrasound in the General Assembly in 2012, framing that ultimately forced then-Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) to sign a watered-down version of the law.
From day one, Northam has been part of the successful team that delivered upon Gov. McAuliffe’s promise to roll back the abortion clinic shutdown restrictions designed to force abortion clinics to close...

...As far as reproductive rights are concerned, the lieutenant governor couldn’t be more different than Tom Perriello, who voted for the Stupak-Pitts amendment in the Affordable Care Act—one of the worst moments in the history of the Democratic Party’s sell-outs on reproductive rights—and has since offered “regret” for that vote, saying he’s “always been pro-choice and a supporter of Roe v. Wade.” Problem is, he’s made contradicting statements. And he’s led a scorched-earth strategy with abortion rights advocates on the ground, who look at his troubling record and ask the legitimate, necessary questions about why women in Virginia should trust a man who betrayed not just them, but women across the nation.

[Perriello voted for the Stupak amendment]

"...The Stupak amendment was an anti-abortion, poison-pill addition to the Affordable Care Act that nearly prevented health-care reform from passing. In a breathtaking act of masculine ego, former Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) and 63 other Democrats, including then-congressman Perriello, threatened to block a vote on Obamacare unless people who received subsidies were prevented from using their own private dollars to purchase plans including coverage for abortion care. This was not a continuation of the Hyde Amendment that bans federal funding for abortion, as suggested by Perriello at a campaign speech for Arlington Young Democrats three weeks ago, but rather a massive departure from insurance industry norms.

When Stupak’s amendment was introduced, the vast majority of employer-based insurance plans—87 percent—covered abortion care, and the net effect of that amendment would have been to, in the words of a George Washington University study at the time, “move the entire health benefits industry away from its current inclusive coverage norms [regarding abortion] and toward a new norm of exclusion …. Thus, if the result of national health reform is to move millions of women into a market that operates subject to the exclusion, then it is fair to predict that the entire market for coverage ultimately will be affected as a product tipping point is reached.”

While the Stupak amendment failed to make its way into the bill that ultimately passed, it did pave the way for deep gashes to abortion coverage within the Affordable Care Act, and an insulting executive order signed by President Obama affirming the Hyde Amendment in the insurance market—again, a departure from what had been inclusive coverage norms for abortion coverage in the private insurance market."

Bye Bye Bernie...There is no economic populism without abortion rights and civil rights.

"To the extent that Democrats are looking for their progressive soul, Sen. Bernie Sanders is not where they should be fixing their gaze. Sanders is clear that he is not a Democrat — except when he needs to be one in order to run for president. Yet he is demanding that the Democratic Party head for what Rebecca Traister last week called “third-way centrist bullshit.”

Economic populism and what are commonly erroneously and dismissively referred to as “social issues” — such as reproductive rights, immigration reform and civil rights for people of color, those who have disabilities, people of all faiths, LGBT people and
women..."

http://www.salon.com/2017/04/24/bye-bye-bernie-the-self-appointed-captain-of-the-democratic-ship-needs-to-stop-chasing-the-great-white-male/

Question submitted by Demsrule86

At a Unity Stop in Nebraska, Democrats Find Anything But

I have been informed several times that the quote found below in red is not true. It is true it comes from the New York Times. The title is given above and I have provide the link. I thought I would post the article to remove any doubt of the truth of my comment. I did not see where it was posted on this site previously.

"Mr. Sanders and the new leadership of the Democratic National Committee touched a party sore spot this week when they took their “Unity Tour” to Omaha to rally for a mayoral candidate who opposes abortion rights. [font color="red" size="3" face="face"]Mr. Sanders, repurposing the themes of his presidential bid, told a crowd of about 6,000 on Thursday night that the candidate, Heath Mello, 37, would be a future star in the Democratic Party who could help break the grip of big money on the nation’s politics..[/font]


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/us/politics/bernie-sanders-democrats-nebraska.html

Abortion Access Is an Economic Justice Issue, and Democrats Should Remember That.

"This frequent perspective in the Democratic Party is one that concerns and agitates many progressive women, particularly progressive women of color. Access to reproductive health care, specifically abortion, is not a wedge issue. Rather, it is fundamentally important to economic justice for women."

https://rewire.news/article/2017/04/19/abortion-access-economic-justice-issue-democrats-remember/


We must stand up for Abortion rights...this is not a wedge issue but a civil rights issue.

Deplorable Care is back next week...start calling Congress now.

White House plans Obamacare showdown next week.

The White House is pushing for another showdown vote on repealing Obamacare next week, to coincide with President Donald Trump hitting his 100-day milestone in office.

Legislative text of a new deal that could revive the House Republican bid to repeal Obamacare is likely to be circulated Friday "or by the weekend," according to two senior White House officials, with an eye toward holding a House floor vote next Wednesday or Thursday.

But Republican congressional leaders are skeptical the vote can happen so quickly. “The question is whether it can get 216 votes in the House and the answer isn't clear at this time,” said a senior GOP aide. “There is no legislative text and therefore no agreement to do a whip count on."

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/20/obamacare-repeal-republicans-new-deal-237397

JANESVILLE: AN AMERICAN STORY When the nation's oldest operating General Motors plant closes...

"At 7:07 a.m., the last Tahoe reached the end of the assembly line. Outside it was still dark, 15 degrees with 33 inches of snow — nearly a December record — piled up and drifting as a stinging wind swept across the acres of parking lots.

Inside the Janesville Assembly Plant, the lights were blazing, and the crowd was thick. Workers who were about to walk out of the plant into uncertain futures stood alongside pensioned retirees who had walked back in, their chests tight with incredulity and nostalgia. All these GM’ers had followed the Tahoe as it snaked down the line. They were cheering, hugging, weeping.

The final Tahoe was a beauty. It was a black LTZ, fully loaded with heated seats, aluminum wheels, a nine-speaker Bose audio system and a sticker price of $57,745.

Five men, including one in a Santa hat, stood in front of the shiny black SUV holding a wide banner, its white spaces crammed with workers’ signatures. “Last Vehicle off the Janesville Assembly Line,” the banner said, with the date, Dec. 23, 2008. It was destined for the county historical society."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2017/04/15/janesville/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_janesville-900am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.ea941327ce6f



I have tears in my eyes reading this. We left the plant in August so were fortunate not to be there on that terrible day in December. We were laid off for almost two years...as the Ohio plan went down soon after our arrival...I will always be grateful to President Obama for saving my husband's job and the American auto industry.

Please Stop the divisive posts.

The Primary is over and the election is over. Time to rally around the Democratic Party and kick some Republicans ass. Many of you know where my loyalties were during the primary and election. But notice, I have removed the pictures and quotes of 2016...not because I am trying to 'hide' anything but because we must let it go. It is over folks time to move into the future. I don't know what the future will be but I hope like hell it includes electoral success for Democrats. Thus, I will trash any OP that asks why are we not being more friendly to the left? (even though I like the Poster) or ones that use Bernie Sanders to fight an ongoing proxy war to divide Democrats.That is not to say news about our party leaders is not welcome and useful. I will also trash any post that mentions 'corporate Democrats' because there is no such thing. Let's practice tolerance and party loyalty. WE are big tent and all are welcome and needed. All hands on deck. So, I am gearing up for taking my country back from the nightmare president before he blows up the safety net and possibly the world. Please join me and leave the bitterness of 2016 behind. Cheers folks!

How Democrats are faring in first tests of the Trump backlash

President Donald Trump’s election has sparked an enormous groundswell of activism from rank-and-file voters angry about his policies.

Political analysts have wondered whether Democrats can turn this wave of progressive enthusiasm into concrete electoral gains in the 2018 midterms. One way to test that: special elections to fill empty state legislature and congressional seats.

Special elections, which typically motivate much lower turnout than ordinary races, are an important indicator of partisan enthusiasm. That’s why a Delaware state senate race in late February got so much national attention.

As of April 10, there have been 15 special elections for state house and senate seats since Nov. 9, 2016. Between now and November 2017, there will be special elections for 32 more state legislature seats, five U.S. House seats and one U.S. Senate seat. Some Democratic candidates in U.S. House races are generating excitement, including the Bernie Sanders-backing banjo player Rob Quist in Montana and 30-year-old documentary filmmaker Jon Ossoff in Georgia..................................................It's not all good news for Democrats, however. In Connecticut’s 2nd Senate District, for example, Republicans decreased their loss margin by some 20 percentage points.

But Democrats see promising signs in other areas. In Iowa’s 45th Senate District, where Clinton defeated Trump by about 16 percentage points, Democrat Jim Lykam defeated Mike Gonzales, the GOP candidate, by an almost 50 percentage-point margin in a December special election. And in Minnesota’s House of Representatives District 32B, where Clinton lost to Trump by 29 percentage points, Democrat Laurie Warner lost to Republican Anne Neu by just 6 percentage points.

Check out each of the special election results in greater detail below.





http://data.huffingtonpost.com/2017/special-elections

Donate to Jon Ossoff for Prices seat in GA...paypal and all credit card...secure.

Lets put the fear of God into the GOP.