Senator Casey Stirs Local Debate Over Contraception Vote

[Curmudgeoness]

"Senator Casey voted on the Senate floor today to proceed with a debate on an amendment offered by Senator Blunt that would have allowed any employer to deny contraceptive coverage on moral or religious grounds.

"The Senator, who is up for re-election, has been active in health care issues by looking for ways for Americans to reconcile their moral and religious views with a desire to ensure that all Americans receive quality health care."

http://www.politicspa.com/senator-casey-stirs-local-debate-over-contraception-vote/32280/




Sigh. I am devastated. I have always been a supporter of Senator Casey. I always thought that he was a supporter of the same beliefs that I have.

But he has not stood with women, and as a woman, I am not going to stand with him. I will no longer make any effort to work for him and support him. This hurts.

So he can support businesses denying whatever benefits they choose on moral and religious views, even if the people working at their "businesses" (and they are businesses) are not of the same religion as they are. Will they put the brakes on this when it gets to no blood transfusions covered, or no hospital visits, or only treatment by snakes covered? Where does this end? And now we have the embarrassment of having one of our own Democrats being part of the insanity.

Sigh.

[southernyankeebelle]

1. For him it is strictly a religious issue because he is a catholic. I don't agree with his vote

either. But on the whole he does support us.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. That is what I thought too.

I thought that he supported us, and the Democratic party.

I am even more offended that it is a "strictly religious issue" with him. I am offended when any lawmakers put their religion above the voters. Polling shows that most people, men and women both, are not against birth control. Just because a church full of pedophiles who have no right to be self-righteous are in a snit does not mean that I want my Senator siding with them over us.

Sorry, I can't forgive this one.

[southernyankeebelle]

5. Yes I will agree with you on that. As a female catholic it disappoints me. I am glad to see he has

faith but I don't like in the politics.

[Old and In the Way]

3. He's wrong on this issue.

I went to the same Jesuit college and share a similar background. There's no excuse for him to support this Blunt amendment and side with Republicans who are trying to use this as a way of destroying the Democratic initiatives on healthcare in this country.

[southernyankeebelle]

6. You don't get any arguments from me on it. I think he is wrong.

[Mc Mike]

15. Holy Cross? NT

[Old and In the Way]

16. Indeed...Class of 75

[Mc Mike]

18. '87, brother (or sister). I lived in Mulledy and Wheeler.

How did the school anthem go?

Was it "Oh Holy Cross, oh Holy Cross, How lovely are your branches"?

Go to any of Father Lebran's services, by chance? How about this 'slappy' issue?

[Old and In the Way]

20. Father LeBran...an interesting Jesuit.

The 1st year women came in was 72, IIRC. I remember being in the women's dorm and leaving a room very early one morning....who did I meet coming out of one of the room's? Yep... He wore a cowboy hat back then...was he still wearing it when you were there? What's this 'slappy' thing you refer to?

Can't remember the anthem...not sure I ever heard it when I was going there. I remember some great teachers, though - Dr. Lynch in matrix logic...Dr. John Esposito - comparative religions. I also remember being invited over to the Jesuit residence...I was amazed at the bar set-up they had back then...we had bars in every dorm back then (2 in Carlin), 1 in Hanselmann...I can't tell you how much booze I drank at the "Cross on the weekends. I'm sure I'd never get in there today.

Oh yeah, last 2 years, I lived offcampus, up on Providence St. by St. Vincent's Hospital...that was, shall we say, a most interesting time in my life.

[Mc Mike]

24. A savvy moderator would move this discussion to the 'old school ties' forum.

Father LeBran had a lot of sufi influence in him. One of my buddies said he was like Yoda. I used to go to the Sunday midnight mass in his suite, and he got me into the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ig Loyola over in Rh Island, one Thanksgiving break. If he didn't remember a student's name, he would smile, joyously yell 'Bummer!", and grab their neck and head to hug them. He was the Holy Cross version of an Oxford Don. A good rank-and-file clergyman, though the Jesuits can act a bit byzantine at the command and control levels.

So you brainy youngsters really didn't think that the establishment would be watching the dorms after co-education came to H.C.? Har har. Too many visits to the Hanselman(n) and Carlin bars for you.

'Slappy' is Clarence Thomas's nickname, and I think it probably came from our old alma-mater. Speaking of old school ties, I actually had a tie with the Fenwick Tower on it. I used to wear it at my work-study job guarding the door at the 1843 room, working under Chip O'C.

The tune is 'Oh Christmas Tree' for the anthem. I had Prof. Esposito's "Mystics and Zen Masters" comparative religion class. He had a good curriculum, though he was a little stuck on himself. He was more intellectual and anthropological than religious, but the flip side of Esposito would be a Santorum-style 'Opus Dei \ P-2 101' introductory course, where the main themes would be 'Adam and Eve Rode Dinosaurs', 'The Unicorn Couldn't Get on Noah's Ark", 'Stone the Heretic', 'Wicked Woman', 'Methodology Of Threading a Camel Named Lazarus Through the Eye of a Needle', 'Lot Should Blame Himself', etc.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, O&ItW.

[Old and In the Way]

28. By all rights, I should have gotten the boot my freshman year.

I had waaaay to much fun there. I can't tell you how different the place was before it went coed. Think Animal House on steroids. I came from a rather socially conservative family, so HC was quite the liberating experience. I must have had a lot of fun, because I can't remember much of that 1st year. When the school went full co-ed, it really had a moderating influence on the campus. Probably a good thing, especially for me.

I think Thomas graduated the year before I got there...I think his career there was much like his SCOTUS history. Un-noticed. Were you there when Casey attended?

[Mc Mike]

29. I was class of '87, think Casey's older.

You sound like Dude Lebowski talking about his college days, brother. The '85 class of right wing rugby hooligans in Wheeler regularly destroyed the bathrooms, the hall lighting, and the vending machines, all in the name of 'Animal House' I guess. It was inconvenient, in terms of personal hygeine maintenance, (and on the tuition\room&board bills).

I agree with you about the benefits of co-education. Currently, I'm a construction worker, and I find that having different races and genders in the field with me is beneficial. Vive la difference, variety is the spice of life, all together now, etc.

[Dawson Leery]

4. Bob Casey has placed the Vatican before his country.

[Lugnut]

7. Yes he has.

I e-mailed him to let him know that he will not be getting my vote when he runs for re-election. I voted for him only to stop Rick Santorum from retaining his seat. Under other circumstances he would never have had my vote. I will not hold my nose again.

[Curmudgeoness]

10. I felt that way too, but

when I think of all the damage that can be done by another Santorum, or other Republican, getting into the Senate instead of a Democrat, that is just not acceptable to me. I will have to vote for Casey again. But I will not be working for him like I have in the past because I no longer have that passion for him.

I cannot let a Republican take that seat just because I am pissed about one vote----and I am pissed.

[livetohike]

8. Yes he has and I am writing to him too

Apparently he doesn't care that women make up a good part of his constituency!

[Mc Mike]

19. Isn't it crazy that nobody is talking about how Santorum and gingrich are doing the same? NT

[Curmudgeoness]

22. I expect it from Santorum, not Casey.

And although I cannot imagine Gingrich becoming so religious all of a sudden, I am not surprised since he is such a political whore.

But I think that there is a lot of conversation about how they are putting their religion before all else---and there will be much more if either of them get closer to winning the primary. Right now, they are just barking at the moon.

[Mc Mike]

25. I'm with you on this one. But I paid attention to Bob's dad, the gov.

So my expectations weren't as high. Remember the 'Have a Heart, Governor Casey' campaign? I was on-board that one, as a Dem progressive attacking the Gov's repuglican leanings on health-care cuts.

Locally, we win elections, then we have to spend our time and energy to lobby the conservative Dems we can get in to office. Lobbying a repug like Toomey or Corbett (or Santorum or Gingrich) is like beating your head against the wall. Still, wouldn't it be nice if our Dems would deliver to us, the base constituents, on what they know to be our 'red meat' issues? The repugs always do so for their base.

[Curmudgeoness]

31. Isn't that the truth! Republicans deliver

to their base all the time. Democrats falter. But then again, I see this in other ways too. Take for example wording and language---the Republicans win the battle of words and phrases all the time..."women's right to know act" or "defense of marriage". And when Dems are in control, they do not push their agenda enough and try to compromise too much. Ugh.

I guess Dems try to be too nice.

[HopeHoops]

9. That's one of the few votes I don't agree with. I'm waiting for the fervor to die down a bit before

writing. I find I get a much more to-the-point reply that way. If you're in the first wave, you get the standard form letter (by e-mail).

[Curmudgeoness]

11. I see your point.

I am always in that first wave, but I will say that the form letter is always telling as well. I am curious to see his explanation.

[HopeHoops]

12. It isn't just him, that's true of all of their offices, but he at least responds.

Specter responded as well, but Platts has always been worthless. On the few occasions I've gotten anything from Platts, it had nothing to do with the issue but was just his talking points for the month. I have to give him credit though. He fought for years for a six-term limit for House members. This is the end of his sixth term and he announced a self-imposed term limit - open seat now.

[Curmudgeoness]

13. I remember the time Santorum responded to me

about an environmental issue that I had written to him about. I forget which issue, but he did respond, and it was a long-winded letter. I wish that I would have kept it---with all the words used, it basically said "I am sorry you don't feel the same way I feel, but I don't care what your opinion is.....I am not reconsidering my vote". If I had known he would be running for president, I would have kept that letter, but I was so disgusted with the tone of it I filed it in File 13 immediately.

I have a US Rep, Mike Kelly, who is just as bad. And a PA Senator, Bob Robbins, who refuses to use the email for the PA website and you have to go to his own website to send an email to him. I sent him one to the PA email, and got an email back saying that he did not accept emails sent there---and, of course, all that I had written was lost. I have not made that mistake again, but I make sure that I chastise him for that every time I do email him. The least he could do is tell the PA General Assembly website to stop listing an email for him at all. Bastard.

[HopeHoops]

14. When I moved to NH, Douglass (I think that was his name) was my rep.

Every month I'd get a newsletter (paid for with his frank) about how much he'd been like GHWB that month. Dick Swett (yes, that was his real name) replaced him in state that was very red at the time. EVERY time I wrote to him I got a timely reply that addressed the specific issue I had written about AND included updates on issues I'd written about in the past. Damn his staff had a good filing system!
Unfortunately, Swett lost to Charlie Bass a few years later. His downfall was the ill-chosen term "slippery fish" in one of their debates. That did not go over well.

[Mc Mike]

17. The West PA and West VA Dems are almost repug-level stupid.

I used to be repped in the US Congress by Bill Coyne, before western PA 'lost population' and consolidated Coyne's district with Doyle's. Now Doyle reps me. Coyne was a pro-choice Dem Congressperson, and was re-elected for decades.

Less than 20 years ago, while the rest of the nation had a pro-choice Dem running for office versus an anti-choice Repug, our region had a pro-choice Repug (Specter) vs. 'pro-life' Dems. Our region's Dems proudly jumped on board the sinking ship or losing side of the culture wars. It may be due to the Santorum - Opus Dei factor, though the Catholic church is the whore of babylon and the popes are the 'anti-christ', according to nazi repug prod rednecks.

I back Doyle against the repug challengers, and he is largely unchallenged. But Doyle has lived with the fundy-Christian 'Family' at C-Street, unlike every other Dem but one in congress. I've also campaigned, on behalf of the Dems, for Casey vs. Santorum, and Altmire vs. Hart, successfully, for decades.

Look at the geo-political area around the Mon and Ohio Valleys. Murtha was a very conservative Dem, but Rep. Critz is having him roll over in his grave. The conservative machine Dem Robert Byrd is replaced by Joe Manchin, who goes target-practicing on Democratic legislation as a campaign photo-op. Altmire is far better than Melissa Hart, but so is a cockroach. And Bob Casey is better than Santorum, but he ought to quit kow-towing to the insane repug Catholic Bishops, who have become fascists in the last 15 years, probably because they're following the money, like all good whores. Honestly, I say this with all due respect as a practicing Dem Catholic, (who isn't worried about receiving the Communion cracker).

It's amazing to see how our side can drop the ball around here on pro-life vs. pro-choice Womans' issues. How did Specter keep getting elected around here, over and over, as a pro-choice Jewish repug? I call triple bullshit on my region's Democratic and Catholic gender politics. Women and labor are on the same side here, screw Ratzinger and Zubic.

[Curmudgeoness]

21. You are south of me, but I remember the Altmire/Hart

election. I agree with you that getting rid of Hart was a great thing, but I have been disappointed in Altmire over and over again. His district comes close to me (I'm in the 3rd---with that puke Mike Kelly) and we worked hard up here to get him elected in his district. I will not work to help him again, but I suppose that we have a choice between people like Altmire and people like the teabagger Kelly----so what do you do!

It seems that this region is too religious and too conservative, and it is easy to be anti-woman. But this woman will not forget it. Like our buddy GW Bush said, you are with me or you are against me.

[Mc Mike]

26. I strongly believe that Hart is just Santorum in Drag, or vice versa.

Have you personally ever seen them together? The same way you never see Clark Kent and Superman together. And I don't know Kelly, but life is a blur of repugs and red-meat, like Zippy sez.

Your District 3 covers quite a bit of ground. I used to run John Deere tractor parts and Lottery tickets up your way for Pony Express shipping company, from Pgh.'s hub, so I know how much ground your district covers, intimately. I think it would be very difficult to have to campaign in 5 counties for the 3rd's Congressional seat. I see that your boundaries are very similar to the old 21st District's. It's funny how they keep gerrymandering the huge population down at Cranberry - Mars (Crider's Corner), away from the rest of Butler County. That may be the edge that puts our Kellys and Ridges over the top.

Two stats that may help you be of good cheer, c.: 1) 98% of Catholic women use contraception. (that one is on-line all over, from Maddow to Amy Poehler's SNL guest hosting Weekend Update performance.) 2) Only 28% of American Catholics think abortion should not be permitted (See Al Franken's book "The Truth" (pp. 122, 317, hard-bound edition. That stat comes from a CBS news poll, May 20 - 23, 2004.)

I believe that the 'conservative religious' stereotype around here is the result of the repugs peeing on our heads, and the subsequent corporate media's weather report that tell us it's raining. I had an amusing time backing Altmire vs. Hart, due to the chinese-firedrill-style of organizing efforts by the Dem party in '06.

[blue neen]

23. We have to choose between Altmire and Critz in our district.

This will be tough, but we're leaning towards Critz, because of Jason Altmire's vote against Health Care Reform. He acted like a tool throughout that whole process, leading on Dem leaders and the White House, then voting against in the end. I think that's why organized labor is backing Critz.

[Mc Mike]

27. I didn't know that there was a primary fight set up between Altmire and Critz.

I hope they try to 'out-progressive' each other, instead of 'out-regressive' each other. I was happy that Marcy Kaptur won against Kuchinich, because I thought he was very much like Al Sharpton, Bobby Rush, and James Trafficant.

I am currently unrepresented in the State Assembly, because my Congresswoman became the Allegheny County controller, and apparently left nobody in charge to vote Democratically for her. That swine repug Turzai is still trying to ship our district's seat to the Allentown area. But what's really funny to me, as a Dem taxpayer, is that our region keeps losing population and proportional representation, on the state and federal level, but we keep getting increasing taxes for property assessments. This violates the basic economic law of supply and demand. Less population equals less demand for real estate. But somehow, our real estate is much more valueable, though we get less and less governmental representation for our assessed tax dollars. Somewhat of a paradox.

[blue neen]

30. Their districts were combined because of the gerrymandering.

The primary vote is to determine who will run against the Republicans in the Fall.

The Repubs did the same thing to this district back in '02. They pitted the two Democrats, John Murtha and Frank Mascara against each other. Murtha won the primary, and then he won the seat in the Fall.