A Rant

Inspired by: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/gop-struggles-to-contain-birth-control-fallout.php?ref=fpb

"Blunt introduced the legislation at the height of the contretemps over the Obama administration’s contraception rule, and Republicans pushed hard to secure a vote for it as an amendment to an unrelated transportation bill."

Attaching a contraception bill to a transportation bill is a dirty move, that sort of game playing is so frustrating! This is done to get people who would otherwise disapprove or vote down the bill to pass it, they attach it to useful, reasonable legislation in order to manipulate votes. I hate it.

“[T]he Majority Leader often offers amendments on behalf of other Senators—of both parties. And I appreciate the Majority Leader pointing out that Republicans insisted on having this vote. As everyone saw from the floor speeches [Wednesday], there is significant interest in protecting religious liberty despite the President’s health care bill’s mandate.”

Deflection. I mean serious deflection. Their amendment would give ANY employer the ability to decide what employees insurance provides. That's ridiculous. This amendment would take rights away from the INDIVIDUAL and give them to Corporations and Religious Institutions. Awesome, exactly what the 1st Amendment is supposed to protect people from.

I am thrilled that this bill was defeated today. This would have been terrible for
Women's rights, for reproductive rights, and for American freedom in general! The GOP is playing some serious games right now. If they're going to play this dirty to get ideological legislation through when they aren't in charge, what lines would they be willing to cross if they get all of the power?

"Republican aides privately say the cause is not an ideal point of focus, an admission evinced by the GOP’s recent messaging blitz on fuel prices."

Oh so you mean it's not a coincidence that all of a sudden Republicans are screaming about Obama and the price of gas? I'm shocked.

The president does not control the price of gas, this correlation is nothing more than rhetoric, and grasping at straws.

"Crude oil - The biggest portion of the cost of gas goes to the crude-oil suppliers. This is determined by the world's oil-exporting nations, particularly the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which you will learn more about in the next section. The amount of crude oil these countries produce determines the price of a barrel of oil. Crude-oil prices averaged around $35 per barrel (1 barrel = 42 gallons or 158.99 L) in 2004. And, after Hurricane Katrina, some prices were almost double that. In April 2008, crude-oil prices averaged around $104.74 per barrel. During that month, the price of oil reached a record price of almost $120 a barrel [source:DOE]. By May 16, prices had topped $117 per barrel [source:MarketWatch]. On May 22, markets in New York and London reported prices past $135 per barreland, and on July 11, oil hit an all-time high of $147 [source: Forbes, New York Sun]. Analysts speculated that everything from investment in oil futures to increasing demand from countries like India and China contributed to the spike in price.

Sometimes, gas prices go up even though there is plenty of crude oil on the market. It depends on what kind of oil it is. Oil can be classified as heavy or light, and as sweet or sour (no one actually tastes the oil, that's just what they call it). Light, sweet crude is easier and cheaper to refine, but supplies have been running low. There's plenty of heavy, sour crude available in the world, but refineries, particularly those in the U.S., have to undergo costly retooling to handle it."
(Source http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/fuel-consumption/gas-price1.htm)

Do you know what did affect the price of gas? That massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. That massive oil spill that BP tried as hard as they could to not be responsible for. And do you know how they got away with it for as long as they did? That wonderful thing called Neo Liberalism and the "Free Market" which has encouraged countries to strip away regulations all in the name of Profit. So BP doesn't have to do as many checks to make sure their shit isn't going to explode so that CEO's that aren't even from the US can make money. Fucking Awesome.

Also, and I want to stress this, the Republicans are not fiscally responsible. Both Bush's and Reagan drove up MASSIVE deficits! The fiscally responsible conservative is a myth, and people really need to stop believing it.

So since they aren't fiscally responsible, and since they've done absolutely NOTHING for the economy, people who give these people their votes will be doing so based on ideological ideals alone. That means if you don't agree with their stances on abortion and Equal marriage and you vote for them, you'll be giving them license to focus on those ideologies. These Dangerous ideals that really do run the risk of taking what was once considered one of the most free countries in the world and making it unbelievably repressive, and ruled by religion.