james m nordlund
2005-11-01 17:31:54 UTC
Bonjorno.
JUDGE ALITOS RECORD HIGHLY TROUBLING ON WOMENS RIGHTS
President Bush today nominated Judge Samuel Alito, of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit, to Justice OConnors seat on the Supreme
Court. Its no secret that Justice OConnor was the fifth vote in many
5-4 decisions that protected womens fundamental rights and freedoms. In
nominating Judge Alito, President Bush has chosen someone who has a highly
troubling record that raises serious concerns for women in the areas of
reproductive rights, federalism, and sex discrimination in employment.
His confirmation has the potential to roll back core legal protections
that Americans, especially women, have relied on for decades.
Some troubling examples that reveal Judge Alitos judicial philosophy:
Judge Alito has opposed Congresss power to act on issues that are central
to the lives of women and all Americans. He wrote a strong dissent from a
decision upholding Congresss power to ban the possession and transfer of
machine guns. In another opinion he ruled against Congresss power to
enact important provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
On womens reproductive rights, he was the lone dissenter on his court in
Casey v. Planned Parenthood. Unlike the rest of the court, and the
majority of the Supreme Court, he would have upheld a state law requiring
women to notify their husbands before having an abortion. He also refused
to join the opinion of his court striking down a state ban on abortion
procedures that had no exception to protect a womans health, and wrote
his own opinion making clear he went along with the courts decision only
because as a lower court judge he was bound to follow a Supreme Court
decision requiring that the law be struck down.
He has issued decisions making it harder for victims of race and sex
discrimination to prove their cases. In one case, he was the lone
dissenter from a decision joined by all 12 of the Third Circuits other
judges that allowed a claim to go forward where a woman had alleged that,
because of her sex, she was denied a promotion, retaliated against for
complaining, and then forced out of her job.
Instead of naming a consensus nominee, President Bush has opted to pick
someone who meets the far rights ideological litmus test. Judge Alito
looks a lot more like Justice Scalia than Justice Sandra Day OConnor, who
had a record of being open-minded and was a key swing vote for womens
rights.
http://capwiz.com/nwlc/home/
TAKE ACTION!
1) Call your Senators today! Call your Senators at 202-224-3121 or find
their D.C. office numbers and voice your concerns about Judge Alitos
record.
2) Share this alert. Forward this alert to friends, family and
colleagues and encourage them to take action and sign up to receive
information as the confirmation process unfolds.
3) Stay informed. Check NominationWatch.org regularly and stay tuned to
e-mails from NWLC for the latest information on the Alito nomination to
the Supreme Court.
Draconian Cuts in the House Budget: Take Action!
October 28, 2005
CONGRESS POISED TO CUT VITAL SERVICES TO PAY FOR TAX BREAKS
Take action now and over the next two weeks:
Tell your Representative and Senators that these cuts are unacceptable!
http://capwiz.com/nwlc/home/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
House Committees Approve Cuts to Child Support, Child Care, Medicaid, and
Other Vital Supports
Merely five weeks after shelving plans to slash programs for the poor and
pass new tax cuts, Republican leaders in Congress have made an about-face.
And they are counting on the publics fleeting attention span to get away
with this.
The House Ways and Means Committee, which earlier this year had been
directed to cut $1 billion from its programs as part of the budget
reconciliation, this week approved more than $8 billion in cuts, mostly
from supports vital to low-income women and their families. These deeper
cuts by the Ways and Means Committee are in step with the drive by House
Republican leaders to increase from $35 to $50 billion the cuts to
programs that benefit low- and middle-income Americans to help pay for $70
billion or more in additional tax cuts they plan to pass as step two of
the budget process.
The Ways and Means Committee approved the service cuts on a vote of 22 to
17, with Republicans voting to approve the measure, and Democrats voting
against (Rep. Clay Shaw and Rep. Mark Foley, both R-FL did not vote). The
proposal would cut about $5 billion from child support enforcement, $600
million from funding for abused and neglected children, and more than $730
million from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which provides income
support for poor people with disabilities and poor elderly people.
Overall, the bill undermines key supports that help low-income women and
children escape poverty.
The Congressional Budget Offices estimates that the proposed cuts for
child support enforcement would reduce child support collections by $8
billion over the next five years and $24 billion over the next 10 years.
In other words, custodial parentsoverwhelmingly mothersand their
children will lose billions more in child support payments than the
government will save by slashing the program.
In addition to cutting child support enforcement and other services, the
Committees action would reauthorize the Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families (TANF) programwith harsher work requirements and more
restrictions on access to education and training for mothers receiving
TANF. The bill also reauthorizes the Child Care and Development Block
Grant (CCDBG). Federal funding for child care has been frozen since 2002,
but the Committee would provide only $500 million in additional funding
for child care over the next five years. This is half of the $1 billion
increase previously approved by the House and far less than is needed to
keep pace with inflation while paying for additional demands created by
the bills increased work requirements, including the new child care
costs. There are already tens of thousands of children from low-income
families on waiting lists for child care assistance. And this bill would
mean 270,000 fewer children would be helped.
Also this week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved about
$9.5 billion in cuts to Medicaid over five years. The bill, which passed
28-22 (all Republicans present voting in favor, and all Democrats present
voting against), requires beneficiaries to make higher co-payments and
gives states more flexibility to reduce the benefits now offered to
Medicaid recipients. Today, the House Agriculture Committee will consider
$844 million in cuts to the Food Stamp Program over the next five years.
These Committee proposals will then move to the House Budget Committee,
which will combine them into one reconciliation bill likely to head to the
floor of the House in the next two weeks.
The Senate has also completed its consideration of reconciliation cuts in
the various committees, and is expected to vote next week on final
passage. While not as draconian as the House cuts, the Senate still makes
$39 billion in cuts to mandatory programs, including $10 billion from
Medicaid and Medicare. If the full Senate passes its reconciliation cuts
this coming week, it paves the way for deeper cuts when the differences in
the Senate and House bills are worked out in conference.
Some lawmakers claim these cuts are necessary to offset spending for
emergency relief and reconstruction on the Gulf Coast. But both the House
and Senate are cutting services, not to achieve savings to pay for
hurricane relief or to reduce the deficit, but to help pay for more
unnecessary and irresponsible tax cuts, which Congress will consider in
November.
TAKE ACTION NOW AND OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS!
Call your Representative and Senators at 202-224-3121 or click here to
find their D.C. office numbers and tell them that these service cuts will
hurt their constituents:
Restricting access to health care, reducing funding for child support
enforcement, cutting back on food assistance for working-poor families,
and making it tougher for low-income families to work and pay for child
care will penalize the most vulnerable Americans, including the very
people the President said the government should help in the wake of the
hurricane disasters. Those who have the least should not be asked to give
up basic necessities.
If lawmakers were serious about preserving revenue to rebuild the Gulf
Coast, addressing the poverty highlighted by Hurricane Katrina and reining
in deficits, they would re-examine tax policies that have shrunk federal
revenues. They would not propose additional tax cuts or cuts to supports
for low-income families.
Americans dont believe in punishing the poorest among us while
rewarding the richest. My Representative/Senator should recognize this and
vote against passage of the budget reconciliation bill.
Tell-A-Friend Send a note to a friend to let them know about this
alert!
NWLC Action Center Visit the NWLC Action Center to take action on other
issues affecting women and their families.
NWLC Home Get the facts. Visit the National Women's Law Center web site to
learn more about issues impacting women and their families.
NWLC E-Update and Action Alert Network Join or update your contact info.
Privacy Statement
If you no longer wish to receive mail from us, please click here.
National Women's Law Center
Copyright 2004
Au revoir.
__________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - Make it your home page!
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
__________________________________
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
http://farechase.yahoo.com
JUDGE ALITOS RECORD HIGHLY TROUBLING ON WOMENS RIGHTS
President Bush today nominated Judge Samuel Alito, of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit, to Justice OConnors seat on the Supreme
Court. Its no secret that Justice OConnor was the fifth vote in many
5-4 decisions that protected womens fundamental rights and freedoms. In
nominating Judge Alito, President Bush has chosen someone who has a highly
troubling record that raises serious concerns for women in the areas of
reproductive rights, federalism, and sex discrimination in employment.
His confirmation has the potential to roll back core legal protections
that Americans, especially women, have relied on for decades.
Some troubling examples that reveal Judge Alitos judicial philosophy:
Judge Alito has opposed Congresss power to act on issues that are central
to the lives of women and all Americans. He wrote a strong dissent from a
decision upholding Congresss power to ban the possession and transfer of
machine guns. In another opinion he ruled against Congresss power to
enact important provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
On womens reproductive rights, he was the lone dissenter on his court in
Casey v. Planned Parenthood. Unlike the rest of the court, and the
majority of the Supreme Court, he would have upheld a state law requiring
women to notify their husbands before having an abortion. He also refused
to join the opinion of his court striking down a state ban on abortion
procedures that had no exception to protect a womans health, and wrote
his own opinion making clear he went along with the courts decision only
because as a lower court judge he was bound to follow a Supreme Court
decision requiring that the law be struck down.
He has issued decisions making it harder for victims of race and sex
discrimination to prove their cases. In one case, he was the lone
dissenter from a decision joined by all 12 of the Third Circuits other
judges that allowed a claim to go forward where a woman had alleged that,
because of her sex, she was denied a promotion, retaliated against for
complaining, and then forced out of her job.
Instead of naming a consensus nominee, President Bush has opted to pick
someone who meets the far rights ideological litmus test. Judge Alito
looks a lot more like Justice Scalia than Justice Sandra Day OConnor, who
had a record of being open-minded and was a key swing vote for womens
rights.
http://capwiz.com/nwlc/home/
TAKE ACTION!
1) Call your Senators today! Call your Senators at 202-224-3121 or find
their D.C. office numbers and voice your concerns about Judge Alitos
record.
2) Share this alert. Forward this alert to friends, family and
colleagues and encourage them to take action and sign up to receive
information as the confirmation process unfolds.
3) Stay informed. Check NominationWatch.org regularly and stay tuned to
e-mails from NWLC for the latest information on the Alito nomination to
the Supreme Court.
Draconian Cuts in the House Budget: Take Action!
October 28, 2005
CONGRESS POISED TO CUT VITAL SERVICES TO PAY FOR TAX BREAKS
Take action now and over the next two weeks:
Tell your Representative and Senators that these cuts are unacceptable!
http://capwiz.com/nwlc/home/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
House Committees Approve Cuts to Child Support, Child Care, Medicaid, and
Other Vital Supports
Merely five weeks after shelving plans to slash programs for the poor and
pass new tax cuts, Republican leaders in Congress have made an about-face.
And they are counting on the publics fleeting attention span to get away
with this.
The House Ways and Means Committee, which earlier this year had been
directed to cut $1 billion from its programs as part of the budget
reconciliation, this week approved more than $8 billion in cuts, mostly
from supports vital to low-income women and their families. These deeper
cuts by the Ways and Means Committee are in step with the drive by House
Republican leaders to increase from $35 to $50 billion the cuts to
programs that benefit low- and middle-income Americans to help pay for $70
billion or more in additional tax cuts they plan to pass as step two of
the budget process.
The Ways and Means Committee approved the service cuts on a vote of 22 to
17, with Republicans voting to approve the measure, and Democrats voting
against (Rep. Clay Shaw and Rep. Mark Foley, both R-FL did not vote). The
proposal would cut about $5 billion from child support enforcement, $600
million from funding for abused and neglected children, and more than $730
million from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which provides income
support for poor people with disabilities and poor elderly people.
Overall, the bill undermines key supports that help low-income women and
children escape poverty.
The Congressional Budget Offices estimates that the proposed cuts for
child support enforcement would reduce child support collections by $8
billion over the next five years and $24 billion over the next 10 years.
In other words, custodial parentsoverwhelmingly mothersand their
children will lose billions more in child support payments than the
government will save by slashing the program.
In addition to cutting child support enforcement and other services, the
Committees action would reauthorize the Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families (TANF) programwith harsher work requirements and more
restrictions on access to education and training for mothers receiving
TANF. The bill also reauthorizes the Child Care and Development Block
Grant (CCDBG). Federal funding for child care has been frozen since 2002,
but the Committee would provide only $500 million in additional funding
for child care over the next five years. This is half of the $1 billion
increase previously approved by the House and far less than is needed to
keep pace with inflation while paying for additional demands created by
the bills increased work requirements, including the new child care
costs. There are already tens of thousands of children from low-income
families on waiting lists for child care assistance. And this bill would
mean 270,000 fewer children would be helped.
Also this week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved about
$9.5 billion in cuts to Medicaid over five years. The bill, which passed
28-22 (all Republicans present voting in favor, and all Democrats present
voting against), requires beneficiaries to make higher co-payments and
gives states more flexibility to reduce the benefits now offered to
Medicaid recipients. Today, the House Agriculture Committee will consider
$844 million in cuts to the Food Stamp Program over the next five years.
These Committee proposals will then move to the House Budget Committee,
which will combine them into one reconciliation bill likely to head to the
floor of the House in the next two weeks.
The Senate has also completed its consideration of reconciliation cuts in
the various committees, and is expected to vote next week on final
passage. While not as draconian as the House cuts, the Senate still makes
$39 billion in cuts to mandatory programs, including $10 billion from
Medicaid and Medicare. If the full Senate passes its reconciliation cuts
this coming week, it paves the way for deeper cuts when the differences in
the Senate and House bills are worked out in conference.
Some lawmakers claim these cuts are necessary to offset spending for
emergency relief and reconstruction on the Gulf Coast. But both the House
and Senate are cutting services, not to achieve savings to pay for
hurricane relief or to reduce the deficit, but to help pay for more
unnecessary and irresponsible tax cuts, which Congress will consider in
November.
TAKE ACTION NOW AND OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS!
Call your Representative and Senators at 202-224-3121 or click here to
find their D.C. office numbers and tell them that these service cuts will
hurt their constituents:
Restricting access to health care, reducing funding for child support
enforcement, cutting back on food assistance for working-poor families,
and making it tougher for low-income families to work and pay for child
care will penalize the most vulnerable Americans, including the very
people the President said the government should help in the wake of the
hurricane disasters. Those who have the least should not be asked to give
up basic necessities.
If lawmakers were serious about preserving revenue to rebuild the Gulf
Coast, addressing the poverty highlighted by Hurricane Katrina and reining
in deficits, they would re-examine tax policies that have shrunk federal
revenues. They would not propose additional tax cuts or cuts to supports
for low-income families.
Americans dont believe in punishing the poorest among us while
rewarding the richest. My Representative/Senator should recognize this and
vote against passage of the budget reconciliation bill.
Tell-A-Friend Send a note to a friend to let them know about this
alert!
NWLC Action Center Visit the NWLC Action Center to take action on other
issues affecting women and their families.
NWLC Home Get the facts. Visit the National Women's Law Center web site to
learn more about issues impacting women and their families.
NWLC E-Update and Action Alert Network Join or update your contact info.
Privacy Statement
If you no longer wish to receive mail from us, please click here.
National Women's Law Center
Copyright 2004
Au revoir.
__________________________________
Start your day with Yahoo! - Make it your home page!
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
__________________________________
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
http://farechase.yahoo.com