Free Republic

Dem senators want to warn states against targeting Planned ParenthoodPosted by Stephanie Condon May 27, 2011 10:10 AM Thirty Democratic senators sent a letter to the Obama administration on Thursday, urging them to warn Medicaid directors at the state level that it's against the law to block Medicaid funds or Title X family planning funds from going to clinics that provide abortion services, like Planned Parenthood. The letter comes in response to Indiana's new law, which took effect May 10, barring state agencies from entering contracts with or giving grants to entities (besides hospitals) that perform abortions. Republican lawmakers in...

Chuck Schumer’s bad day just got a whole lot worse. After getting called out by John Boehner for his “inaccurate rants,” The New York Senator held a conference call with fellow his Democrats… And the press, Where he inadvertently revealed the Democrat’s talking points for the week. Moments before a conference call with reporters was scheduled to get underway on Tuesday morning, apparently unaware that many of the reporters were already on the line, Charles Schumer of New York, the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, began to instruct fellow senators on how to talk to reporters about the contentious...

The Justice Department’s Office of Personnel Responsibility (OPR) has concluded an investigation finding that politics played no role in the handling of the New Black Panther Party case, which sparked a racially charged political fight. After reviewing thousands of pages of internal e-mails and notes and conducting 44 interviews with department staff members, the OPR reported that “department attorneys did not commit professional misconduct or exercise poor judgment” and that the voter-intimidation case against the Panthers was dismissed on “a good faith assessment of the law” and “not influenced by the race of the defendants.” The OPR’s findings were released...

Just days after Gov. Scott Walker introduced his budget repair bill, public-sector-union leaders said they would accept Walker’s financial demands as long as he kept collective bargaining intact. However, in the time bought by the flight of 14 Democratic state senators, local governments have been quickly adopting new contracts in advance of Walker’s bill becoming law. In effect, the unions are spraying their benefits with Walker repellent. (In fact, an investigative report shows that there may have been collusion between the missing state senators and City of Madison officials to delay the bill so contracts could be signed.) Three days...

The Communist Party USA is promoting widespread protests across the United States in support of leftist and labor protesters in Wisconsin. Reports Ohio Communist Party leader Rick Nagin reported from Columbus; Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, the state AFL-CIO and its affiliates have called for a massive turnout for a rally Tuesday at the Statehouse in Columbus to protest a Republican bill to repeal collective bargaining for public employees. In robocalls and emails sent throughout the state, Strickland said "the fate of Ohio's middle class is on the line" and urged people "to join with the thousands who will gather...