The Political Bridge

Washington Post: Federal Task Force Makes Radical Change in Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines

Washington Post, November 16, 2009

Women in their 40s should stop routinely getting annual mammograms, and older women should cut back to one scheduled exam every other year, an influential federal task force has concluded, challenging the use of one of the most common medical tests.

In its first reevaluation of breast cancer screening since 2002, the federal panel that sets government policy on prevention recommended the radical change, citing evidence that the potential harms of all women getting annual exams beginning at age 40 outweigh the benefits

Dems Sell Women’s Rights Down River Of Health Care Denial

by Lucida Marshall, Feminist Peace Network

Women’s reproductive rights were severely compromised to appease 41 members of Congress.  The final vote on the health care bill was 220-215, so only a few of those votes were needed in the first place to secure the vote. For this, in the 11th hour, Nancy Pelosi made a deal with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Many reproductive justice advocates watched the final train wreck on C Span last night in stunned anger, trying to understand how this happened.   

To read how this happened click Reproductive Injustice.

Vote Tally on Passage of Stupak's(D-MI) Admendment to Limit Abortion Coverage in the House's Health Care Plan

  FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 884 (Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)
  H R 3962   YEA-AND-NAY   7-Nov-2009   10:20 PM
  AUTHOR(S):  Stupak of Michigan Amendment
  QUESTION:  On Agreeing to the Amendment

	Yeas	Nays	PRES	NV
Democratic	64	194
Republican	176		1
Independent
TOTALS	240	194	1

---- YEAS 240 ---

Aderholt Akin Alexander Altmire Austria Baca Bachmann Bachus Barrett (SC) Barrow Bartlett Barton (TX) Berry Biggert Bilbray Bilirakis Bishop (GA) Bishop (UT) Blackburn Blunt Boccieri Boehner Bonner Bono Mack Boozman Boren Boustany Brady (TX) Bright Broun (GA) Brown (SC) Brown-Waite, Ginny Buchanan Burgess Burton (IN) Buyer Calvert Camp Campbell Cantor Cao Capito Cardoza Carney Carter Cassidy Castle Chaffetz Chandler Childers Coble Coffman (CO) Cole Conaway Cooper Costa Costello Crenshaw Cuellar Culberson Dahlkemper Davis (AL) Davis (KY) Davis (TN) Deal (GA) Dent Diaz-Balart, L. Diaz-Balart, M. Donnelly (IN) Doyle Dreier Driehaus Duncan Ehlers Ellsworth Emerson Etheridge Fallin Flake Fleming

Forbes Fortenberry Foxx Franks (AZ) Frelinghuysen Gallegly Garrett (NJ) Gerlach Gingrey (GA) Gohmert Goodlatte Gordon (TN) Granger Graves Griffith Guthrie Hall (TX) Harper Hastings (WA) Heller Hensarling Herger Hill Hoekstra Holden Hunter Inglis Issa Jenkins Johnson (IL) Johnson, Sam Jones Jordan (OH) Kanjorski Kaptur Kildee King (IA) King (NY) Kingston Kirk Kline (MN) Lamborn Lance Langevin Latham LaTourette Latta Lee (NY) Lewis (CA) Linder Lipinski LoBiondo Lucas Luetkemeyer Lummis Lungren, Daniel E. Lynch Mack Manzullo Marchant Marshall Matheson McCarthy (CA) McCaul McClintock McCotter McHenry McIntyre McKeon McMorris Rodgers Melancon Mica Michaud Miller (FL) Miller (MI) Miller, Gary Mollohan Moran (KS) Murphy, Tim Murtha

Myrick Neal (MA) Neugebauer Nunes Oberstar Obey Olson Ortiz Paul Paulsen Pence Perriello Peterson Petri Pitts Platts Poe (TX) Pomeroy Posey Price (GA) Putnam Radanovich Rahall Rehberg Reichert Reyes Rodriguez Roe (TN) Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rogers (MI) Rohrabacher Rooney Ros-Lehtinen Roskam Ross Royce Ryan (OH) Ryan (WI) Salazar Scalise Schmidt Schock Sensenbrenner Sessions Shimkus Shuler Shuster Simpson Skelton Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smith (TX) Snyder Souder Space Spratt Stearns Stupak Sullivan Tanner Taylor Teague Terry Thompson (PA) Thornberry Tiahrt Tiberi Turner Upton Walden Wamp Westmoreland Whitfield Wilson (OH) Wilson (SC) Wittman Wolf Young (AK) Young (FL)

---- NAYS 194 ---

Abercrombie Ackerman Adler (NJ) Andrews Arcuri Baird Baldwin Bean Becerra Berkley Berman Bishop (NY) Blumenauer Boswell Boucher Boyd Brady (PA) Braley (IA) Brown, Corrine Butterfield Capps Capuano Carnahan Carson (IN) Castor (FL) Chu Clarke Clay Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Connolly (VA) Conyers Courtney Crowley Cummings Davis (CA) Davis (IL) DeFazio DeGette Delahunt DeLauro Dicks Dingell Doggett Edwards (MD) Edwards (TX) Ellison Engel Eshoo Farr Fattah Filner Foster Frank (MA) Fudge Garamendi Giffords Gonzalez Grayson Green, Al Green, Gene Grijalva Gutierrez Hall (NY)

Halvorson Hare Harman Hastings (FL) Heinrich Herseth Sandlin Higgins Himes Hinchey Hinojosa Hirono Hodes Holt Honda Hoyer Inslee Israel Jackson (IL) Jackson-Lee (TX) Johnson (GA) Johnson, E. B. Kagen Kennedy Kilpatrick (MI) Kilroy Kind Kirkpatrick (AZ) Kissell Klein (FL) Kosmas Kratovil Kucinich Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Lee (CA) Levin Lewis (GA) Loebsack Lofgren, Zoe Lowey Luján Maffei Maloney Markey (CO) Markey (MA) Massa Matsui McCarthy (NY) McCollum McDermott McGovern McMahon McNerney Meek (FL) Meeks (NY) Miller (NC) Miller, George Minnick Mitchell Moore (KS) Moore (WI) Moran (VA) Murphy (CT) Murphy (NY) Murphy, Patrick

Nadler (NY) Napolitano Nye Olver Owens Pallone Pascrell Pastor (AZ) Payne Pelosi Perlmutter Peters Pingree (ME) Polis (CO) Price (NC) Quigley Rangel Richardson Rothman (NJ) Roybal-Allard Ruppersberger Rush Sánchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sarbanes Schakowsky Schauer Schiff Schrader Schwartz Scott (GA) Scott (VA) Serrano Sestak Shea-Porter Sherman Sires Slaughter Smith (WA) Speier Stark Sutton Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Tierney Titus Tonko Towns Tsongas Van Hollen Velázquez Visclosky Walz Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Watt Waxman Weiner Welch Wexler Woolsey Wu Yarmuth

---- ANSWERED “PRESENT” 1 ---

Shadegg

---

Famed Social Activist and Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney to Speak at the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression’s 12th Annual Unity Dinner

 

Dear Friends:

Join us in welcoming Cynthia McKinney to the 12th Annual Unity Dinner sponsored by the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. It takes place on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at Mastersons on Third Street.

Tickets are $45 each. Tables of 10 are $450. We are also asking organizations and individuals to take out an ad in the program-$100 for a full page, $50 for a half page, $25 for a quarter page.

The Unity Dinner each year is a gathering place for all of Louisville's justice community to mix and mingle and celebrate our victories. We are sure this year's dinner will match the inspiring evening we had in 2008 with Dr. Joycelyn Elders that you may have attended.

Cynthia McKinney is a former 6 term congressperson from Georgia, the first African-American to represent that state. She also was the 2008 Green Party candidate for president running with hip-hop artist and activist, Rosa Clemente. Ms. McKinney has taken strong stands on the rights of Palestinians to LGBT rights and everything in between and has remained principled even at risk to her own career and life (e.g being imprisoned by Israeli Defense Forces for trying to take aid to Gaza.)

We will also be recognizing former Kentucky State Senator, Georgia Davis Powers, the first African-American in the state legislature, with the Anne Braden Lifetime Achievement Award.

Honorees
Pam McMichael-Director of the Highlander Center in Tennessee and former leader of Louisville's Fairness Campaign
Khalilah Collins-Director of Women in Transition
Bud Dorsey - Longtime photojournalist recording the African American history of Louisville for the Louisville Defender

CALL 778-8130 BETWEEN 10AM AND 2PM WEEKDAYS OR CONTACT   [email protected] for tickets, program ads or more information.

Send checks to
KY Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
PO Box 1543
Louisville KY 40201

We look forward to seeing you there!

K.A. Owens, Kathleen Parks, David Lott
Kentucky Alliance co-chairs

A Must Read New Book from Barbara Ehrenreich: "Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America"

(Barbara Ehrenreich is one of America's foremost writers on economic justice and social justice, DrTed)

From Campus Progress

Inklings of Barbara Ehrenreich’s latest book, Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, are seen in Bait and Switch, a 2005 text where the author went undercover and discovered various corporate gurus dedicated to teaching a philosophy of über optimism to employees. In her most recent book, she expands upon the theme, extending her analysis to the financial meltdown and beyond.

 

The U.S. Does Not Stack Up Very Well for Those In Labor

By Ellen Bravo

A Canadian colleague told me she just got back from maternity leave.

I know that Canadian law allows for nearly a year of leave at 55 percent pay. “How long did you take?” I asked.

“Oh, the whole year,” she replied

The Family and Medical Leave Act in the U.S. provides for considerably less leave time, 12 weeks, and that time is unpaid…

Of the 20 most competitive nations in the world, the U.S. is the ONLY ONE which does not guarantee any paid sick days.  

Emerge America Launches New Statewide Kentucky Affiliate Organization to Recruit and Train Women for Elected Office from Kathy Groob

Emerge America, a national, non‐profit organization established in 2003 to recruit and train Democratic women who want to run for public office, today announced the launching of Emerge Kentucky. Emerge Kentucky will recruit Democratic women statewide and put them through an intensive seven‐month training and networking program based upon the Emerge America curriculum. Emerge Kentucky will begin its first class of women candidates in February 2010. The application process will begin this November.

“Kentucky ranks 45th among the states for women in elected office and there are no women representing Kentucky in Congress ‐‐ we must do better,” said Emerge Kentucky Board Chair, Jennifer A. Moore. “We have received an enthusiastic response from women across Kentucky about the program. Our board of advisors and board of directors is an impressive list of women committed to improving the political landscape for women in Kentucky.” Moore served as the chair of the Kentucky Democratic Party in 2007 and 2008 at the selection of Governor Steve Beshear. She is a partner in the Louisville law firm, Grossman & Moore PLLC.

In addition, Emerge Kentucky has hired Kathy Groob as its executive director. Groob is a former city councilwoman from Ft. Mitchell and ran for the state senate in 2008. She is a political consultant with November Strategies in Covington and is the publisher of ElectWomen Magazine. “I know firsthand how difficult it is for women to run for office,” said Groob. “When women go through the Emerge program, they will be ready to run and Kentucky will benefit greatly from additional women holding leadership positions.”

Emerge Kentucky’s advisory board includes the following members: former Governor Martha Layne Collins, Auditor Crit Luallen, First Lady Jane Beshear, Senator Denise Harper Angel, Senator Kathy Stein, Senator Robin Webb, Reps. Linda Belcher, Leslie Combs, Kelly Flood, Joni Jenkins, Martha Jane King, MaryLou Marzian, Sannie Overly, Ruth Ann Palumbo, Dottie Sims, and Susan Westrom, Judge Executive Carolyn Belcher, Jennifer Chandler, Teresa Isaac, Eleanor Jordan, Lillian Press, Mary Karen Stumbo, Mayor Elaine Walker, Lois Combs Weinberg, and Virginia Woodward.

Board members from across Kentucky include: Gina Berry, Ashley Jackson, Priscilla Johnson, Virginia Johnson, Kathleen Lape, Chris McGarvey, Wanda Mitchell‐Smith, Kerry Morgan, Melinda Niemann, Vicki Prichard, Kennita Roy, Linda Scholle Cowan, Loren Wolff, and Kathy Wright.

For information about Emerge Kentucky, to volunteer, contribute or for program application information contact Kathy Groob at 859‐291‐9001 or visit www.EmergeAmerica.org.

# # #

 

The Women's Network Presents: The Kentucky Democratic Party, Building for 2010 and Beyond

Hosts Nicole Candler Linda S. Cowan Ann Elizabeth Delahanty Andrea Crider Derouen The Honorable Eleanor Jordan Christin Miller Jennifer Moore C J Parrish Carolyn Whitaker-Tandy Virginia L. Woodward Kathy Wright   Invite you to the  BIANNUAL WOMEN’S NETWORK MEMBERSHIP MEETING    “Kentucky Democratic Party: Building for 2010 and Beyond" with Kyle Cox, KDP Executive Director   Thursday, October 22, 2009 5:30-7:00 p.m. Bristol’s – 614 West Main light hors d’oeuvres and cash bar  RSVP 361-4866 or [email protected]  The Women’s Network, established in 2004 as an outgrowth of the Lois Combs Weinberg campaign for U.S. Senator, is the only statewide Democratic women’s network with a political action committee that endorses Democratic candidates for political office.   **************************************************************************************************************************

First Lady Jane Beshear is calling for volunteers to help with this year’s “Shop and Share Day” , October 24, 2009,a one-day drive to provide domestic violence shelters with needed goods. 

Kroger stores across Kentucky provide a list of items needed at the shelters, such as canned foods, toilet paper and soap, and has a bin to collect the donated goods. Volunteers are needed to help collect donated items at Kroger stores between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Volunteers will be given a list of items that are needed for shelters and bins for the items being collected. To sign up for a time, visit the volunteer sign-up page: http://firstlady. ky.gov/shopshare .htm.

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Mark your Calendar....State Network Annual Meeting is Saturday, November 14th in Shelbyville.

Abortion and Health Care Reform, A New York Times Editorial

Critics of pending health care reforms claim they want to ensure that the government does not thrust itself between patients and doctors to dictate what medical procedures can be performed. Yet many are trying to do just that when it comes to one legal and medically valid service: abortion.

Republicans and anti-abortion Democrats in both houses of Congress are seeking to prohibit millions of Americans — those who might receive tax subsidies to help them buy insurance — from purchasing plans that would cover an abortion.

In a rational system of medical care, there would be virtually no restrictions on financing abortions. But abortion is not a rational issue, and opponents have succeeded in broadly denying the use of federal dollars to pay for them, except in the case of pregnancies that result from rape or incest or that endanger a woman’s life.

Read more: The New York Times

‘Take Back the Night’ aims to raise awareness of violence against women, says The Courier-Journal

Lemlem Zellelew was one of many people joined on the University of Louisville campus on Tuesday night who had witnessed domestic abuse firsthand.

Standing at the edge of the large crowd gathered for “Take Back the Night,” an annual university event aimed at raising awareness of sexual abuse and violence against women, Zellelew said such gatherings were important in building intolerance to violence.

“It's one of those issues that keeps coming up, and unless we recognize it as a society and as students not allowing it to be present in their relationships, then it won't stop,” said Zellelew, 25, a student at Spalding University who said abuse had occurred in her family.

Read more: The Courier-Journal