Women no SAFER thanks to the House GOP

So this morning we talked about the House GOP killing VAWA, and now let’s talk about them killing the SAFER Act of 2012. Don’t know what that is? No one else does either.

Mother Jones had a little written about the SAFER Act by Erika Eichelberger. The SAFER Act of 2012 is the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry Act. It was introduced by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) back in May, and by Representative Ted Poe (R-Texas) in the House in December. The SAFER Act would have reallocated $117 million to start making a dent in the national backlog of untested rape kits, which contain forensic evidence. There are about 400,000 untested rape kits across the country. The longer these kits go unprocessed the easier it is for the perpetrators to get away with rape.

This legislation would require that 75% of federal grants already allocated for rape kits to actually be used for that purpose or to increase law enforcement agencies’ capacity to process the kits…yeah, just making the money already being sent that way actually be used for the testing of the kits. It would also set up a reporting system to track localities’ progress in reducing their rape kit backlog and require yearly audits of the number of untested kits.

A bill like this of course had bipartisan support, hell Allen West was for it. Yeah, take a minute. We can get that wing nut on board, but still not get this through the House. The bill was stalled in the House judiciary committee, chaired by Representative Lamar Smith (R-Texas), because of the provision requiring local law enforcement to report the specifics of backlogged cases to the Department of Justice. The Senate addressed Smith’s concern in the version of the bill they passed (by unanimous consent by the way) changing the legislation so that law enforcement agencies only had to report aggregated case data to the DOJ instead of individual case data.

And then on Wednesday, the unthinkable happened: the House suspended its rules to take up the bill, and they passed the SAFER Act. Be in awe, but then remember this is Congress.

So the House passed it, but the measure was different than what came out of the Senate. They had no time left in the legislative session to reconcile the two versions of the bill so the legislation is all but dead.

The House bill included some amendment, which removed the language that Sens Cornyn, Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) crafted. Their language specifically authorized not just forensic labs, but all law enforcement agencies to receive grant money to process the rape kits. A Congressional staffer told Mother Jones that amending the language was the only way Smith would allow the bill to move to the House floor for a vote. Without reconciling the bills both die. Smith didn’t respond to Mother Jones’ request for comments on why the bill was amended.

So for those playing at home: the House GOP killed two bills that protect women, not involving choice stuff, just bills that keep women safer. Bills that protect women from rape and violence. Bills that would assist in the prosecution of those committing these acts. Someone want to tell me again why women would vote for people in this party?

Aside, I may be trolling John Boehner again. I can’t help it. Every time I see his Twitter feed, I’m enraged by something his people posts. His office probably prefers it this way to me calling. By the way, his office number are in Ohio 513-779-5400 and 937-339-1524, and in DC 202-225-6205. You’re very welcome. And congrats to John on his re-election as Speaker of the House. I’d hate to get used to someone knew.

MIA for the week

Hello lovelies, and by that I mean four people who click on this. I will be MIA this week because I have a ton of writing to do for another project. Unfortunately, that means I can't guarantee a post everyday.

Ohio and the Right to Work

I have to say conservatives know how to name things...who doesn't want the right to work. 


Election season approaches, and that means time for Democrat and Republicans alike to act a fool. So in Ohio, we're looking at a potential "right-to-work" ballot measure. The Ohio Ballot Board approved the petition in February to allow sponsors of the measure to collect signatures to put it on the ballot. Conservatives are claiming that: 

“Ohio has been falling … further and further behind,” said Kevin Holtsberry, president of the Buckeye Institute.

Head for the hills, ladies and gentlemen. We're so far behind! I'd break out my tiny violin, but I have to re-string it after my last round of conversations with white people. The Buckeye Institute claims that states with "right-to-work" have lower business costs than non-right-to-work states. Ross Eisenbrey, vice president of the Economic Policy Institute, says that is junk reporting stating that the report "leaves out almost all the factors that ought to be in" when conducting analysis of these laws. 


According to polling, 54% of Ohioans are in favor and 40% oppose a "right-to-work" law. 


Just to review what a "right-to-work" law is: anti-union. They prohibit union security agreements . This is allowed because of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. Those in favor see this as a Constitutional issue of freedom of association and the principle of private property ownership. Essentially, people should be free to or not to join unions. All those opposed? They argue that "right-to-work" laws restrict freedom of association by prohibiting workers and employers from agreeing to contracts. 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/03/28/how-right-to-work-would-benefit-ohio.html