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Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Analysis of Election Day and President Obama

Watch my analysis of what these off year elections mean when it comes to President Obama.

posted @ Tuesday, November 03, 2009 5:36 PM | Feedback (0)

Abortion Language in House Bill

The Brody File thought it would be a good idea to post the sections of the House healthcare reform bill that deal with abortion. I will pray for you before you read it because politicians put it together which means good luck trying to understand all the legislative morse code and hocus pocus.

The sections are below. I have also provided a picture of me trying to read the bill.


 

7 (e) ABORTION COVERAGE PROHIBITED AS PART OF
8 MINIMUM BENEFITS PACKAGE.—
9 (1) PROHIBITION OF REQUIRED COVERAGE.—

10 The Health Benefits Advisory Committee may not
11 recommend under section 223(b), and the Secretary
12 may not adopt in standards under section 224(b),
13 the services described in paragraph (4)(A) or (4)(B)
14 as part of the essential benefits package and the
15 Commissioner may not require such services for
16 qualified health benefits plans to participate in the
17 Health Insurance Exchange.


18 (2) VOLUNTARY CHOICE OF COVERAGE BY
19 PLAN.—
In the case of a qualified health benefits
20 plan, the plan is not required (or prohibited) under
21 this Act from providing coverage of services de22
scribed in paragraph (4)(A) or (4)(B) and the
23 QHBP offering entity shall determine whether such
24 coverage is provided.

1 (3) COVERAGE UNDER PUBLIC HEALTH INSUR2
ANCE OPTION.—
The public health insurance option
3 shall provide coverage for services described in para4
graph (4)(B). Nothing in this Act shall be construed
5 as preventing the public health insurance option
6 from providing for or prohibiting coverage of serv7
ices described in paragraph (4)(A).


8 (4) ABORTION SERVICES.—
9 (A) ABORTIONS FOR WHICH PUBLIC FUND10
ING IS PROHIBITED.—
The services described in
11 this subparagraph are abortions for which the
12 expenditure of Federal funds appropriated for
13 the Department of Health and Human Services
14 is not permitted, based on the law as in effect
15 as of the date that is 6 months before the be16
ginning of the plan year involved.


17 (B) ABORTIONS FOR WHICH PUBLIC FUND18
ING IS ALLOWED.—
The services described in
19 this subparagraph are abortions for which the
20 expenditure of Federal funds appropriated for
21 the Department of Health and Human Services
22 is permitted, based on the law as in effect as
23 of the date that is 6 months before the begin24
ning of the plan year involved.

GARDING ABORTION.
5 (a) NO PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS REGARDING
6 ABORTION.—
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to
7 preempt or otherwise have any effect on State laws regard8
ing the prohibition of (or requirement of) coverage, fund9
ing, or procedural requirements on abortions, including
10 parental notification or consent for the performance of an
11 abortion on a minor.


12 (b) NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL LAWS REGARDING
13 ABORTION.—
14 (1) IN GENERAL
.—Nothing in this Act shall be
15 construed to have any effect on Federal laws regard16
ing—
17 (A) conscience protection;
18 (B) willingness or refusal to provide abor19
tion; and
20 (C) discrimination on the basis of the will21
ingness or refusal to provide, pay for, cover, or
22 refer for abortion or to provide or participate in
23 training to provide abortion.


24 (c) NO EFFECT ON FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS LAW.—
25 Nothing in this section shall alter the rights and obliga-
1 tions of employees and employers under title VII of the
2 Civil Rights Act of 1964.


3 SEC. 259. NONDISCRIMINATION ON ABORTION AND RE4
SPECT FOR RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE.
5 (a) NONDISCRIMINATION.—
A Federal agency or pro6
gram, and any State or local government that receives
7 Federal financial assistance under this Act (or an amend8
ment made by this Act), may not—
9 (1) subject any individual or institutional health
10 care entity to discrimination; or
11 (2) require any health plan created or regulated
12 under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act)
13 to subject any individual or institutional health care
14 entity to discrimination,
15 on the basis that the health care entity does not provide,
16 pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.
17 (b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘health
18 care entity’’ includes an individual physician or other
19 health care professional, a hospital, a provider-sponsored
20 organization, a health maintenance organization, a health
21 insurance plan, or any other kind of health care facility,
22 organization, or plan.

18 (d) NO DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF PROVI19
SION OF ABORTION.—
No Exchange participating health
20 benefits plan may discriminate against any individual
21 health care provider or health care facility because of its
22 willingness or unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide
23 coverage of, or refer for abortions.

(3) PROHIBITION OF USE OF PUBLIC FUNDS
12 FOR ABORTION COVERAGE.—
An affordability credit
13 may not be used for payment for services described
14 in section 222(d)(4)(A).

16 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING LONGITU17
DINAL STUDY OF RELATIVE MENTAL HEALTH CON18
SEQUENCES FOR WOMEN OF RESOLVING A PREG19
NANCY.—
20 (1) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of
21 the Congress that the Director of the National Insti22
tute of Mental Health may conduct a nationally rep23
resentative longitudinal study (during the period of
24 fiscal years 2011 through 2020) on the relative men25
tal health consequences for women of resolving a
1 pregnancy (intended and unintended) in various
2 ways, including carrying the pregnancy to term and
3 parenting the child, carrying the pregnancy to term
4 and placing the child for adoption, miscarriage, and
5 having an abortion. This study may assess the inci6
dence, timing, magnitude, and duration of the imme7
diate and long-term mental health consequences
8 (positive or negative) of these pregnancy outcomes.
9 (2) REPORT.—Beginning not later than 3 years
10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and peri11
odically thereafter for the duration of the study,
12 such Director may prepare and submit to the Con13
gress reports on the findings of the study.
14 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:

1 ‘‘SEC. 804. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS APPROPRIATED
2 TO INDIAN HEALTH SERVICE.

3 ‘‘Any limitation on the use of funds contained in an
4 Act providing appropriations for the Department for a pe5
riod with respect to the performance of abortions shall
6 apply for that period with respect to the performance of
7 abortions using funds contained in an Act providing ap8
propriations for the Service.

 

posted @ Tuesday, November 03, 2009 4:52 PM | Feedback (0)

Ralph Reed's New Faith Coalition Ready to Fly High

Ralph Reed is making his mark...again..

The former head of the Christian Coalition is taking an extremely active role in the Virginia Governor's race. His group, the "Faith and Freedom Coalition" was out in force this weekend knocking on doors armed with voter guides that focus on faith and family issues. Reed was actually out there himself knocking on doors with the rest of the volunteers this weekend in Richmond. Watch the video of Reed knocking on doors below:

 

In addition, the Virginia chapter of his group got GOP heavyweights Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin to record get out the vote messages this past weekend.

Lusten to Sarah Palin's call here

Mike Huckabee's call is here

This is just the beginning for the Faith and Freedom Coalition. Get ready to hear much more about them across the country as the midterm elections get rolling. And in 2012? Watch out.  Call it a Brody File hunch but something tells me that Ralph Reed and his group are poised to be a MAJOR player. The key is always mobilization. Conservative Christians are numerous but if they are non-existant at the ballot box then it doesn't mean anything.

Below is their philosophy, goals and principles:

We believe that the greatness of America lies not in the federal government but in the character of our people — the simple virtues of faith, hard work, marriage, family, personal responsibility, and helping the least among us. If we lose sight of these values, America will cease to be great.

Never before has it been more critical for us to speak out for these values. That is why the Faith and Freedom Coalition is committed to educating, equipping, and mobilizing people of faith and like-minded individuals to be effective citizens. Together we will influence public policy and enact legislation that strengthens families, promotes time-honored values, protects the dignity of life and marriage, lowers the tax burden on small business and families, and requires government to tighten its belt and live within its means.

Our Principles

Respect for the sanctity and dignity of life, family, and marriage as the foundations of a free society

Limited government, lower taxes and fiscal responsibility to unleash the creative energy of entrepreneurs

Education reform that puts children first

Help the poor, the needy, and those who have been left behind

Free markets and free minds to create opportunity for all

Victory in the struggle with terrorism and tyranny while supporting our democratic allies, including Israel

Our Goals

Mobilize and train people of faith to be effective citizens

Speak out in the public arena and in the media on behalf of common-sense values

Influence legislation and enact sound public policy at every level of government

Train citizens for effective civic action

Protest bigotry and discrimination against people of faith

posted @ Tuesday, November 03, 2009 8:26 AM | Feedback (0)

Abortion Funding in Health Bill Could Derail Effort

The Washington Post is out with a story today about how the healthcare refomr bill could go down in flames in the House if the abortion funding language isn't changed.

Hey, Washington Post. I've been saying that now for a few months. Let me repeat it one more time: If The White House and Democratic leaders don't change the abortion language then they seriously run the risk of not getting healthcare reform through this year. Look, this is a numbers game. With all House Republicans set to vote against the bill, Nancy Pelosi can not afford 40 or so House Democrats to defect over the abortion issue. That may happen if something is not changed.

The Washington Post article is below:

While House leaders are moving toward a vote on health-care legislation by the end of the week, enough Democrats are threatening to oppose the measure over the issue of abortion to create a question about its passage.

House leaders were still negotiating Monday with the bloc of Democrats concerned about abortion provisions in the legislation, saying that they could lead to public funding of the procedure. After an evening meeting of top House Democrats, Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (Md.) said, "We are making progress," but added that they had not reached an agreement.

The outcome of those talks could be crucial in deciding the fate of the health-care bill. Democrats need the vast majority of their caucus to back the bill, since nearly all congressional Republicans have said they will oppose the legislation.

"I will continue whipping my colleagues to oppose bringing the bill to the floor for a vote until a clean vote against public funding for abortion is allowed," Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Monday in a statement. He said last week that 40 Democrats could vote with him to oppose the legislation — enough to derail the bill.

Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, cast Stupak as "attempting to ban abortion coverage in the private insurance market."



posted @ Tuesday, November 03, 2009 8:05 AM | Feedback (0)