Bush Seeks to Slash Public Broadcast Funds
WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush took a swipe at Big Bird and his ilk Monday as he proposed slashing funds to public broadcasting by more than $150 million.
We've dealt with cuts from this White House every year, but these are the deepest he's ever presented...We see a clear and present danger here. You are not kidding....
John Lawson, president, CEO, the Association of Public Television StationsIn the president's 2007 budget request, funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will be cut by $53.5 million in 2007 and $50 million more in 2008. Those cuts don't reflect others made in funding at the Education and Commerce departments and the elimination of specific programs for digital TV conversion and satellite delivery system. Public broadcasting officials estimate that the entire budget cuts run $157 million over the two-year period.
"Oscar the Grouch has been friendlier to the Sesame Street characters than President Bush, who has chosen to make huge cuts to children's television programming," said Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass. "In a world of fast-and-furious television with ratings-driven content, the public broadcasting system represents the last stronghold of quality child-oriented programming -- we owe this to America's children."
The cuts in public broadcasting are part of an attempt by the White House to reduce the country's red ink as the administration seeks more money for the military and seeks to make Bush's first-term tax cuts permanent.
Attempts by conservative Republicans to cut CPB funds are nothing new. Many conservatives view the public broadcasting as a bastion of liberalism. While there have been attempts to make cuts, the service has wide support in Congress from Republicans and Democrats who like its dedication to public affairs and educational programming.
Last year, an overwhelming majority in Congress voted to restore cuts proposed by the administration. This year, those cuts go even deeper, and it could be more difficult to win the fight in Congress, said John Lawson, president and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations.
It took an advertising campaign from public TV stations to mobilize the service's supporters, something that might not be as effective a second time, he said.
"This is a tough environment in Washington right now, and we're competing with other priorities," Lawson said. "If you don't make your case, you lose," he said. "We won last year, but only after we asked the stations to go on the air and tell their communities what was happening. It's an effort we won't foreclose, but if you do that every year, it loses its effectiveness. We're going to try to win this one on the ground."
In his $2.77 billion budget, Bush asks Congress to sharply cut or eliminate 141 government programs. Almost one-third of the targeted programs are in education, including ones that provide money to support the arts, vocational education, parent resource centers and drug-free schools.
"My administration has focused the nation's resources on our highest priority -- protecting our citizens and our homeland," Bush said in his budget message.
Bush's spending proposals are for the 2007 budget year that begins October 1. The $2.77 trillion in spending would be up 2.3% from projected spending of $2.71 trillion this year.
The administration in its budget documents said the deficit for this year will soar to an all-time high of $423 billion, reflecting increased outlays for the Iraq war and hurricane relief. idiot
8.2.06
Social Security's cruelest cut: Bush's proposal slashes benefits for family members of workers who die before retirement
Social Security's cruelest cut: Bush's proposal slashes benefits for family members of workers who die before retirement
President Bush's plan to change Social Security includes benefit cuts for the surviving family members of workers who die before retirement. The president's plan recommends a 9.4% benefit cut—a loss of $3,009 (in today's dollars) in annual benefits—for the family of a typical worker who is now 25 but who will die at age 45. These cuts in benefits will take place through the adoption of the Pozen index for Social Security benefits, a plan put forth by Robert Pozen of the president's Commission to Strengthen Social Security and that has been endorsed by President Bush. Despite the income losses the Pozen plan would mean for many surviving family members, the debate over changing Social Security has largely ignored these proposed cuts. idiot.
Slashing the benefits to survivors and the disabled would have significant effects. Men in their twenties have a 3-in-10 chance of becoming disabled before reaching retirement. Roughly one of those three disabled men will die before reaching retirement. An additional 10% of men in between the ages of 20 and 29 will die before reaching retirement. All of these workers and their families will see benefit cuts as a result of the proposed Social Security changes. Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that such changes are completely unnecessary—the Social Security Trustees project that the Social Security system will be able to meet all scheduled benefits through 2041.
Social Security's formal name is Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance. As the name suggests, it is a comprehensive insurance program that protects American workers—and the family members who depend on that worker's earnings—should they be unable to perform a regular job because of old age, death, or disability.
President Bush's plan to change Social Security includes benefit cuts for the surviving family members of workers who die before retirement. The president's plan recommends a 9.4% benefit cut—a loss of $3,009 (in today's dollars) in annual benefits—for the family of a typical worker who is now 25 but who will die at age 45. These cuts in benefits will take place through the adoption of the Pozen index for Social Security benefits, a plan put forth by Robert Pozen of the president's Commission to Strengthen Social Security and that has been endorsed by President Bush. Despite the income losses the Pozen plan would mean for many surviving family members, the debate over changing Social Security has largely ignored these proposed cuts. idiot.
Slashing the benefits to survivors and the disabled would have significant effects. Men in their twenties have a 3-in-10 chance of becoming disabled before reaching retirement. Roughly one of those three disabled men will die before reaching retirement. An additional 10% of men in between the ages of 20 and 29 will die before reaching retirement. All of these workers and their families will see benefit cuts as a result of the proposed Social Security changes. Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that such changes are completely unnecessary—the Social Security Trustees project that the Social Security system will be able to meet all scheduled benefits through 2041.
Social Security's formal name is Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance. As the name suggests, it is a comprehensive insurance program that protects American workers—and the family members who depend on that worker's earnings—should they be unable to perform a regular job because of old age, death, or disability.
President proposes cutbacks in Teaching American History Grants
History News Network
President proposes cutbacks in Teaching American History Grants
Source: National History Coalition (2-6-06)
In the funding proposal the president asserts that “the number of quality applications for assistance under this program in recent years does not justify the current level of funding ($121 million). He therefore recommends that it be reduced to $50 million. The reduced cost reflects “the anticipated number of high-scoring applicants” and would generate about 52 new awards.”
As for the budget numbers for agencies of particular interest to the history and archives professions:For the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) a request of $141 million (about $2 million less than appropriated last year), including: $15.2 million – level funding – for the “We the People” initiative. Part of the funds would support the ”Interpreting America’s Historic Places” and “Family and Youth Programs in American History” initiatives – the purpose of the former is self evident while the latter supports inter-generational learning about significant topics in US history and culture.
There is also a major new matching fund initiative to transcribe, digitize, and post to the Internet the papers of the first four presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison); there are funds earmarked to help preserve and increase access to collections of papers of former members of Congress. Finally, the budget includes $31.08 million for Federal/State partnership programs.
For a more detailed breakdown of the NEH funding request, go to http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/2007budget.html .For the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) the request is for $338 million. Of this $45 million will go toward development of “basic preservation and access capabilities of the Electronic Records Archives.” To the disappointment of many the initial funding for a new stateside archives formula grant program did not materialize. There is, however, $2 million for the initial move of the records and for staffing and operations of the Nixon presidential library.For the NHPRC – once again zero funds for grants. The budget document states:
“The Budget proposes no new grants funding...so that NARA can focus its resources on its essential Federal records management mission.”Other items of possible interest: For the 18 museums that comprise the Smithsonian Institution – $533 million -- up slightly from FY 2006 of $527 million. For the Institute for Museum and Library Services – a total of$262.2 million (an increase of just over $15 million) of which $39.89 million (an increase of $2.5 million) in assistance to museums and $220 million for assistance to libraries. For the Woodrow Wilson Center – level funding of $9 million. And for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation level funding as well – $6 million.
idiot.
President proposes cutbacks in Teaching American History Grants
Source: National History Coalition (2-6-06)
In the funding proposal the president asserts that “the number of quality applications for assistance under this program in recent years does not justify the current level of funding ($121 million). He therefore recommends that it be reduced to $50 million. The reduced cost reflects “the anticipated number of high-scoring applicants” and would generate about 52 new awards.”
As for the budget numbers for agencies of particular interest to the history and archives professions:For the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) a request of $141 million (about $2 million less than appropriated last year), including: $15.2 million – level funding – for the “We the People” initiative. Part of the funds would support the ”Interpreting America’s Historic Places” and “Family and Youth Programs in American History” initiatives – the purpose of the former is self evident while the latter supports inter-generational learning about significant topics in US history and culture.
There is also a major new matching fund initiative to transcribe, digitize, and post to the Internet the papers of the first four presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison); there are funds earmarked to help preserve and increase access to collections of papers of former members of Congress. Finally, the budget includes $31.08 million for Federal/State partnership programs.
For a more detailed breakdown of the NEH funding request, go to http://www.neh.gov/whoweare/2007budget.html .For the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) the request is for $338 million. Of this $45 million will go toward development of “basic preservation and access capabilities of the Electronic Records Archives.” To the disappointment of many the initial funding for a new stateside archives formula grant program did not materialize. There is, however, $2 million for the initial move of the records and for staffing and operations of the Nixon presidential library.For the NHPRC – once again zero funds for grants. The budget document states:
“The Budget proposes no new grants funding...so that NARA can focus its resources on its essential Federal records management mission.”Other items of possible interest: For the 18 museums that comprise the Smithsonian Institution – $533 million -- up slightly from FY 2006 of $527 million. For the Institute for Museum and Library Services – a total of$262.2 million (an increase of just over $15 million) of which $39.89 million (an increase of $2.5 million) in assistance to museums and $220 million for assistance to libraries. For the Woodrow Wilson Center – level funding of $9 million. And for the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation level funding as well – $6 million.
idiot.
National Priorities Project - Home
National Priorities Project - Home
Wednesday, 08 February 2006
Showing how federal tax and spending policies impact your community.
2005 Federal budget year in review
Friday, 06 January 2006
The Federal Budget Year in Review provides a snapshot and analysis of the past year's major federal tax and spending policies.
Military Recruitment
Tuesday, 01 November 2005
As featured in the Washington Post - Find out the number of new military recruits in 2004 coming from your high school, county, zip code and state. Get analysis with tables and charts explaining who these recruits are in terms of income levels, race/ethnicity and more.
Katrina and Iraq War demonstrate misguided federal priorities
Thursday, 22 September 2005
Americans have an historic opportunity to examine federal spending priorities in the face of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath and the Iraq War. NPP offers a two-page overview of current federal spending policies and state level numbers on the cost of the Iraq War.
Congress Cuts Clean Water
Wednesday, 21 September 2005
Congress cut the Clean Water State Revolving Fund for next year. State cuts are provided in this table.
New national security
Tuesday, 16 August 2005
The National Security section of the website offers maps, graphs and other tools describing how and where our foreign policy dollars are spent in the world.
Better Security for Less Money
Wednesday, 13 July 2005
Find out about an alternative plan to increase our national security, save money and free up dollars for domestic needs. State and city breakdowns are available.
Local Costs of the Iraq War
Tuesday, 25 October 2005
Find out how much the Iraq War is costing taxpayers in your town, city or county. State and national information is also included.
Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go?
Thursday, 31 March 2005
This publication shows how the average household's tax dollars are spent for every state and 193 cities, towns and counties.
The President's Budget: Impact on the States
Friday, 11 February 2005
The President's Budget: Impact on the States provides a state-by-state breakdown showing what each state would lose in federal funding
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Wednesday, 08 February 2006
Showing how federal tax and spending policies impact your community.
2005 Federal budget year in review
Friday, 06 January 2006
The Federal Budget Year in Review provides a snapshot and analysis of the past year's major federal tax and spending policies.
Military Recruitment
Tuesday, 01 November 2005
As featured in the Washington Post - Find out the number of new military recruits in 2004 coming from your high school, county, zip code and state. Get analysis with tables and charts explaining who these recruits are in terms of income levels, race/ethnicity and more.
Katrina and Iraq War demonstrate misguided federal priorities
Thursday, 22 September 2005
Americans have an historic opportunity to examine federal spending priorities in the face of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath and the Iraq War. NPP offers a two-page overview of current federal spending policies and state level numbers on the cost of the Iraq War.
Congress Cuts Clean Water
Wednesday, 21 September 2005
Congress cut the Clean Water State Revolving Fund for next year. State cuts are provided in this table.
New national security
Tuesday, 16 August 2005
The National Security section of the website offers maps, graphs and other tools describing how and where our foreign policy dollars are spent in the world.
Better Security for Less Money
Wednesday, 13 July 2005
Find out about an alternative plan to increase our national security, save money and free up dollars for domestic needs. State and city breakdowns are available.
Local Costs of the Iraq War
Tuesday, 25 October 2005
Find out how much the Iraq War is costing taxpayers in your town, city or county. State and national information is also included.
Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go?
Thursday, 31 March 2005
This publication shows how the average household's tax dollars are spent for every state and 193 cities, towns and counties.
The President's Budget: Impact on the States
Friday, 11 February 2005
The President's Budget: Impact on the States provides a state-by-state breakdown showing what each state would lose in federal funding
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7.2.06
This 12-Step Program Can Break U.S. Oil
This 12-Step Program Can Break U.S. Oil
Our president almost came clean in his State of the Union speech last week when he finally admitted that "America is addicted to oil." That addiction threatens our national security, our environmental health and our way of life.
It is true that our leaders are exhibiting the classic signs of an addiction denial, aggression, avoidance, blaming others and as a country we are falling far short of reaching our full potential.
America's stubborn dependence on oil erodes our bedrock values. For it, we will go to war, support unstable and undemocratic regimes, destabilize our climate, decimate our forests and parks, threaten the health of our children, and weaken our economy.
The president admitted to a national problem, but stopped well short of committing our country to a full recovery program. We already have the technology. What we desperately need is the courage to act now. It is time for nothing short of a national intervention, and a 12-step program to break America's oil addiction. Here's how:
• Step 1: Let's admit that we have a problem, and commit deeply and truthfully to a national recovery program to break our oil addiction.
Transitioning to a clean energy economy will create millions of jobs, clean our air, protect our water supplies, our forests and our climate, and will help to build a safer and more secure world for us all. But breaking our addiction requires humility and an unwavering commitment to change at every level of society. No one gets a free ride anymore.
• Step 2: Separate oil and state.
Every year, oil companies "invest" millions of dollars in political candidates. In turn, elected officials dole out more than $20 billion a year to prop up fossil fuel projects internationally. We must reduce the oil industry's influence over public governance and eliminate government handouts for dirty oil.
• Steps 3-6: Jump-start Detroit and redesign American mobility.
The transportation sector accounts for more than two-thirds of all oil consumption in the U.S. Our passenger train system scrounges for funding in Washington while one out of every seven barrels of oil in the world is consumed on America's highways alone. Led by Ford Motor Co., the American automobile industry is driving in reverse. The average Ford vehicle gets worse gas mileage than the Model T did almost 100 years ago. Thomas Friedman is right the stability and very existence of the American automotive industry depends upon American automakers building affordable, fuel-efficient cars that all patriotic Americans can support. Pioneering engineers have already built plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and new companies are inventing super-efficient biofuels made from agricultural waste with no help from Detroit or Washington. (You forgot a moral inventory, Step 4)
• Steps 7-8: Start a rooftop revolution and green the grid.
California is enacting regulations to build one million homes with rooftop solar power, generating 3,000 megawatts of power. Studies show that solar energy supports up to 10 times more jobs than dirty fossil fuel energy. A green grid powered by the wind and the sun can recharge car batteries and help us kick our transportation oil habit.
• Steps 9-10: Wean to green and fund the future.
Capital investment from the world's largest banks is the fuel in the engine, so to speak, of the oil-based economy. Through their investment decisions, large banks can either help to keep us hooked on oil, or rapidly steer us toward a clean energy future. Some banks, including Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs, are leading the way, proving that it is indeed possible to do well by doing good.
• Step 11: Adopt a "low-carb" energy diet.
Any comprehensive strategy to break our oil addiction must include aggressive measures to reduce energy consumption. A low-carbon energy diet will reduce energy costs and increase competitiveness for American businesses, lower emissions, and produce clean jobs for workers. Efficiency improvements in the last 30 years have doubled the amount of work we get from each barrel of oil. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, current proven technologies can double oil efficiency again, for less money than would be required to buy the oil we save.
• Step 12: Vote.
Could it be any clearer that we need responsible and visionary leaders at all levels of government?
Like a smoker who says he's going to quit someday even as he lights up another cigarette, the president offered little hope that he would actually break our country's oil addiction. It will take a lot more than a speech and a few research dollars to set us free from oil. Let's get to work.
Our president almost came clean in his State of the Union speech last week when he finally admitted that "America is addicted to oil." That addiction threatens our national security, our environmental health and our way of life.
It is true that our leaders are exhibiting the classic signs of an addiction denial, aggression, avoidance, blaming others and as a country we are falling far short of reaching our full potential.
America's stubborn dependence on oil erodes our bedrock values. For it, we will go to war, support unstable and undemocratic regimes, destabilize our climate, decimate our forests and parks, threaten the health of our children, and weaken our economy.
The president admitted to a national problem, but stopped well short of committing our country to a full recovery program. We already have the technology. What we desperately need is the courage to act now. It is time for nothing short of a national intervention, and a 12-step program to break America's oil addiction. Here's how:
• Step 1: Let's admit that we have a problem, and commit deeply and truthfully to a national recovery program to break our oil addiction.
Transitioning to a clean energy economy will create millions of jobs, clean our air, protect our water supplies, our forests and our climate, and will help to build a safer and more secure world for us all. But breaking our addiction requires humility and an unwavering commitment to change at every level of society. No one gets a free ride anymore.
• Step 2: Separate oil and state.
Every year, oil companies "invest" millions of dollars in political candidates. In turn, elected officials dole out more than $20 billion a year to prop up fossil fuel projects internationally. We must reduce the oil industry's influence over public governance and eliminate government handouts for dirty oil.
• Steps 3-6: Jump-start Detroit and redesign American mobility.
The transportation sector accounts for more than two-thirds of all oil consumption in the U.S. Our passenger train system scrounges for funding in Washington while one out of every seven barrels of oil in the world is consumed on America's highways alone. Led by Ford Motor Co., the American automobile industry is driving in reverse. The average Ford vehicle gets worse gas mileage than the Model T did almost 100 years ago. Thomas Friedman is right the stability and very existence of the American automotive industry depends upon American automakers building affordable, fuel-efficient cars that all patriotic Americans can support. Pioneering engineers have already built plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and new companies are inventing super-efficient biofuels made from agricultural waste with no help from Detroit or Washington. (You forgot a moral inventory, Step 4)
• Steps 7-8: Start a rooftop revolution and green the grid.
California is enacting regulations to build one million homes with rooftop solar power, generating 3,000 megawatts of power. Studies show that solar energy supports up to 10 times more jobs than dirty fossil fuel energy. A green grid powered by the wind and the sun can recharge car batteries and help us kick our transportation oil habit.
• Steps 9-10: Wean to green and fund the future.
Capital investment from the world's largest banks is the fuel in the engine, so to speak, of the oil-based economy. Through their investment decisions, large banks can either help to keep us hooked on oil, or rapidly steer us toward a clean energy future. Some banks, including Wall Street powerhouse Goldman Sachs, are leading the way, proving that it is indeed possible to do well by doing good.
• Step 11: Adopt a "low-carb" energy diet.
Any comprehensive strategy to break our oil addiction must include aggressive measures to reduce energy consumption. A low-carbon energy diet will reduce energy costs and increase competitiveness for American businesses, lower emissions, and produce clean jobs for workers. Efficiency improvements in the last 30 years have doubled the amount of work we get from each barrel of oil. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, current proven technologies can double oil efficiency again, for less money than would be required to buy the oil we save.
• Step 12: Vote.
Could it be any clearer that we need responsible and visionary leaders at all levels of government?
Like a smoker who says he's going to quit someday even as he lights up another cigarette, the president offered little hope that he would actually break our country's oil addiction. It will take a lot more than a speech and a few research dollars to set us free from oil. Let's get to work.
Britain Defies US with Funding to Boost Safe Abortion Services
Britain Defies US with Funding to Boost Safe Abortion Services
Attempt to replace lost dollars after 'global gag'70,000 died last year in backstreet operations
by Sarah Boseley
The British government will today publicly defy the United States by giving money for safe abortion services in developing countries to organisations that have been cut off from American funding.
Nearly 70,000 women and girls died last year because they went to back-street abortionists. Hundreds of thousands of others suffered serious injuries.
What I've never been able to figure out about American policy is why they persist in cutting down funding to organisations that are about preventing unwanted pregnancies.
Steven Sinding, director general , International Planned Parenthood FederationCritics of America's aid policy say some might have lived if the US had not withdrawn funding from clinics that provide safe services - or that simply tell women where to find them.
The "global gag" rule, as it has become known, was imposed by President George Bush in 2001. It requires any organisation applying for US funds to sign an undertaking not to counsel women on abortion - other than advising against it - or provide abortion services. Dumb a**. (I do not support abortion as a means of contraception, however in extreme circumstances, it may be necessary, and yes many of US medical programs have been cut, and more to come; There are appropriate venues to address the issue)
The UK will today become the founder donor of a fund set up specifically to attempt to replace the lost dollars and increase safe abortion services.
The Department for International Development will contribute £3m over two years. DFID and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) - whose clinics across the world have suffered badly - hope that others, particularly the Scandinavians, Dutch and Canadians, will be emboldened to put money in too.
"I think the UK is being very brave and very progressive in making this commitment," said Steven Sinding, director general of the IPPF. "We're deeply grateful for this gesture not only financially but also politically.
"Tens of thousands of women who depend on our services are not able to get them. We're committed to the expansion of safe abortion because in any society no matter how efficiently contraception is made available there will be unplanned and unwanted pregnancies."
The "global gag", he said, had increased the number of unsafe abortions by stopping funding to clinics that primarily provide contraception. "What I've never been able to figure out about American policy is why they persist in cutting down funding to organisations that are about preventing unwanted pregnancies." (and we see all to often in the news about babies being abandoned, put in trash cans, dumpsters, public toilets...)
International development minister Gareth Thomas said the government hoped the US position would change: "We work very closely with the Americans but we have a very different view from them on abortion. Friends can disagree.
"I recognise that the Americans are not going to want to contribute at the moment. We obviously continue to hope that the position will change. It is a position that has been decided by Congress so we're very aware of it and they know that."
DFID asked IPPF to produce a report on the scale of the damage caused by unsafe abortion. Death and Denial: Unsafe Abortion and Poverty, is published today. It reveals that an estimated 19 million women will risk the consequences of an unsafe abortion this year, of whom 70,000 will die. This accounts for 13% of the 500,000 maternal deaths each year. Reducing unsafe abortions is critical to reaching the UN's Millennium Development Goal on cutting maternal mortality, said Mr Thomas.
Women's low status in many poor countries makes them vulnerable to sexual coercion, abuse and exploitation, says the report. Almost 50% of sexual assaults worldwide are against girls aged 15 or less.
The death and injury toll is highest in countries where abortion is illegal or severely restricted, as in Kenya, where some 30% to 50% of maternal deaths are a result of unsafe abortion.
The Family Planning Association of Kenya, an IPPF member, chose to forfeit US funds rather than sign the "global gag" clause. It was forced to close three reproductive health clinics, scale back others and slash outreach programmes.
Many other organisations are affected by the global gag, including Marie Stopes, which is bigger in some countries than IPPF. The money from the new fund will be equitably shared among all those who have lost US funds. IPPF, which has itself lost $15m (£9m) a year for the past five years, together with the provision of contraceptives worth $2m to $4m, hopes the fund may eventually raise up to $35m.
Attempt to replace lost dollars after 'global gag'70,000 died last year in backstreet operations
by Sarah Boseley
The British government will today publicly defy the United States by giving money for safe abortion services in developing countries to organisations that have been cut off from American funding.
Nearly 70,000 women and girls died last year because they went to back-street abortionists. Hundreds of thousands of others suffered serious injuries.
What I've never been able to figure out about American policy is why they persist in cutting down funding to organisations that are about preventing unwanted pregnancies.
Steven Sinding, director general , International Planned Parenthood FederationCritics of America's aid policy say some might have lived if the US had not withdrawn funding from clinics that provide safe services - or that simply tell women where to find them.
The "global gag" rule, as it has become known, was imposed by President George Bush in 2001. It requires any organisation applying for US funds to sign an undertaking not to counsel women on abortion - other than advising against it - or provide abortion services. Dumb a**. (I do not support abortion as a means of contraception, however in extreme circumstances, it may be necessary, and yes many of US medical programs have been cut, and more to come; There are appropriate venues to address the issue)
The UK will today become the founder donor of a fund set up specifically to attempt to replace the lost dollars and increase safe abortion services.
The Department for International Development will contribute £3m over two years. DFID and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) - whose clinics across the world have suffered badly - hope that others, particularly the Scandinavians, Dutch and Canadians, will be emboldened to put money in too.
"I think the UK is being very brave and very progressive in making this commitment," said Steven Sinding, director general of the IPPF. "We're deeply grateful for this gesture not only financially but also politically.
"Tens of thousands of women who depend on our services are not able to get them. We're committed to the expansion of safe abortion because in any society no matter how efficiently contraception is made available there will be unplanned and unwanted pregnancies."
The "global gag", he said, had increased the number of unsafe abortions by stopping funding to clinics that primarily provide contraception. "What I've never been able to figure out about American policy is why they persist in cutting down funding to organisations that are about preventing unwanted pregnancies." (and we see all to often in the news about babies being abandoned, put in trash cans, dumpsters, public toilets...)
International development minister Gareth Thomas said the government hoped the US position would change: "We work very closely with the Americans but we have a very different view from them on abortion. Friends can disagree.
"I recognise that the Americans are not going to want to contribute at the moment. We obviously continue to hope that the position will change. It is a position that has been decided by Congress so we're very aware of it and they know that."
DFID asked IPPF to produce a report on the scale of the damage caused by unsafe abortion. Death and Denial: Unsafe Abortion and Poverty, is published today. It reveals that an estimated 19 million women will risk the consequences of an unsafe abortion this year, of whom 70,000 will die. This accounts for 13% of the 500,000 maternal deaths each year. Reducing unsafe abortions is critical to reaching the UN's Millennium Development Goal on cutting maternal mortality, said Mr Thomas.
Women's low status in many poor countries makes them vulnerable to sexual coercion, abuse and exploitation, says the report. Almost 50% of sexual assaults worldwide are against girls aged 15 or less.
The death and injury toll is highest in countries where abortion is illegal or severely restricted, as in Kenya, where some 30% to 50% of maternal deaths are a result of unsafe abortion.
The Family Planning Association of Kenya, an IPPF member, chose to forfeit US funds rather than sign the "global gag" clause. It was forced to close three reproductive health clinics, scale back others and slash outreach programmes.
Many other organisations are affected by the global gag, including Marie Stopes, which is bigger in some countries than IPPF. The money from the new fund will be equitably shared among all those who have lost US funds. IPPF, which has itself lost $15m (£9m) a year for the past five years, together with the provision of contraceptives worth $2m to $4m, hopes the fund may eventually raise up to $35m.
From the Wilderness
The 75% solution
Trends in Oil & Gas Prices Point to China
U.N. adviser: West killing Africa with gun sales
Kraft to cut up to 8,000 more jobs
Plans for Raising Gasoline Production - $14b Investment Needed
Iran's really big weapon
Chavez Threatens to Jail Diplomats, Shut Refineries
Chavez steps up oil threats against U.S.
Trends in Oil & Gas Prices Point to China
U.N. adviser: West killing Africa with gun sales
Kraft to cut up to 8,000 more jobs
Plans for Raising Gasoline Production - $14b Investment Needed
Iran's really big weapon
Chavez Threatens to Jail Diplomats, Shut Refineries
Chavez steps up oil threats against U.S.
Expatica's German news in English: Germany bails man convicted of role in September 11
Expatica's German news in English: Germany bails man convicted of role in September 11
HAMBURG - German judges granted bail Tuesday to Mounir al- Motassadeq, who was jailed five months ago, the only person ever convicted of a role in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Motassadeq made no comment to waiting reporters as he was driven away by his lawyer from the jail, soon after judges in the northern city of Hamburg had ordered his release in line with a ruling earlier in the day from the German Constitutional Court.
A militant Islamist and close friend of three Hamburg students who trained as pilots and killed themselves and nearly 3,000 others, he has been in and out of jail since 2001. The 31-year-old Moroccan has always punctually shown up for his court hearings.
Motassadeq, who was not arrested till the month after the 2001 attacks, was sentenced in 2003 to 15 years, then won bail and a retrial. Last August he was convicted anew, given a seven-year term and put in pretrial custody to wait out his second appeal.
At both his trials, judges said it was inconceivable that he did not know what his friends were plotting. They convicted him of membership in the Hamburg terrorist cell but dropped charges of accessory to murder at the second trial. Tuesday's legal moves involved three separate courts. Motassadeq won an order from the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe that it was unconstitutional to have withdrawn his previous bail.
The Hamburg State Superior Court bowed to this, restoring bail Tuesday until such time as the High Court, the country's highest court in matters other than the constitution, rules in Karlsruhe on the legal issues raised by the latest conviction. Technically he was in pre-trial custody till Tuesday, because under German law, convicts are not considered to start serving their sentence till all appeals have been exhausted.
The pre-trial period is later included when officials compute a convict's release date. Prosecutors' efforts to convict Motassadeq were handicapped by a US refusal to provide Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a survivor of the Hamburg cell, as a witness. Bin al-Shibh is in the custody of US officials somewhere in the world after being captured in Pakistan.
Another associate of the hijackers, Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, was acquitted on similar evidence and moved home to Morocco. Motassadeq arrived in Germany in the late 1990s to study electrical engineering. Witnesses said he became an Islamic fundamentalist through his contacts with radical Arab students in Germany.
HAMBURG - German judges granted bail Tuesday to Mounir al- Motassadeq, who was jailed five months ago, the only person ever convicted of a role in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
Motassadeq made no comment to waiting reporters as he was driven away by his lawyer from the jail, soon after judges in the northern city of Hamburg had ordered his release in line with a ruling earlier in the day from the German Constitutional Court.
A militant Islamist and close friend of three Hamburg students who trained as pilots and killed themselves and nearly 3,000 others, he has been in and out of jail since 2001. The 31-year-old Moroccan has always punctually shown up for his court hearings.
Motassadeq, who was not arrested till the month after the 2001 attacks, was sentenced in 2003 to 15 years, then won bail and a retrial. Last August he was convicted anew, given a seven-year term and put in pretrial custody to wait out his second appeal.
At both his trials, judges said it was inconceivable that he did not know what his friends were plotting. They convicted him of membership in the Hamburg terrorist cell but dropped charges of accessory to murder at the second trial. Tuesday's legal moves involved three separate courts. Motassadeq won an order from the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe that it was unconstitutional to have withdrawn his previous bail.
The Hamburg State Superior Court bowed to this, restoring bail Tuesday until such time as the High Court, the country's highest court in matters other than the constitution, rules in Karlsruhe on the legal issues raised by the latest conviction. Technically he was in pre-trial custody till Tuesday, because under German law, convicts are not considered to start serving their sentence till all appeals have been exhausted.
The pre-trial period is later included when officials compute a convict's release date. Prosecutors' efforts to convict Motassadeq were handicapped by a US refusal to provide Ramzi bin al-Shibh, a survivor of the Hamburg cell, as a witness. Bin al-Shibh is in the custody of US officials somewhere in the world after being captured in Pakistan.
Another associate of the hijackers, Abdel-Ghani Mzoudi, was acquitted on similar evidence and moved home to Morocco. Motassadeq arrived in Germany in the late 1990s to study electrical engineering. Witnesses said he became an Islamic fundamentalist through his contacts with radical Arab students in Germany.
6.2.06
Bush's $2.8T Budget Proposal Cuts Domestic Programs
Bush's $2.8T Budget Proposal Cuts Domestic Programs
President Bush today proposed a $2.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2007 that would cut billions of dollars from domestic programs ranging from Medicare and food stamps to local law enforcement and disease control, while extending most of his tax cuts beyond their 2010 expiration date.
Under the plan, a budget deficit -- expected to reach $423 billion this year -- would fall to $183 billion by 2010, more than meeting his goal to cut the deficit in half by 2009. But it would rise again to $205 billion in 2011, reflecting the cost of the extensions in the president's tax cuts.
"We have set clear priorities that meet the most pressing needs of the American people while addressing the long-term challenges that lie ahead," Bush said FU!
They are not in the best interest of the people of america you idiot.
Watch crime take off, and the poeple will revolt against you.
Curious George and Richard Cranuim (cheney) have only foreign "investments" as their priorities.
President Bush today proposed a $2.8 trillion budget for fiscal 2007 that would cut billions of dollars from domestic programs ranging from Medicare and food stamps to local law enforcement and disease control, while extending most of his tax cuts beyond their 2010 expiration date.
Under the plan, a budget deficit -- expected to reach $423 billion this year -- would fall to $183 billion by 2010, more than meeting his goal to cut the deficit in half by 2009. But it would rise again to $205 billion in 2011, reflecting the cost of the extensions in the president's tax cuts.
"We have set clear priorities that meet the most pressing needs of the American people while addressing the long-term challenges that lie ahead," Bush said FU!
They are not in the best interest of the people of america you idiot.
Watch crime take off, and the poeple will revolt against you.
Curious George and Richard Cranuim (cheney) have only foreign "investments" as their priorities.
ARTICLE 29
ARTICLE 29
We the voters of Newfane would like Town Meeting, March 2006, to consider the following resolution:
Whereas George W. Bush has:
1. Misled the nation about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction;
2. Misled the nation about ties between Iraq and Al Quaeda;
3. Used these falsehoods to lead our nation into war unsupported by international law;
4. Not told the truth about American policy with respect to the use of torture; and
5. Has directed the government to engage in domestic spying, in direct contravention of U.S. law.
Therefore, the voters of the town of Newfane ask that our representative to the U.S. House of Representatives file articles of impeachment to remove him from office.
They missed some very major crimes, but I applaud them just the same.
We the voters of Newfane would like Town Meeting, March 2006, to consider the following resolution:
Whereas George W. Bush has:
1. Misled the nation about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction;
2. Misled the nation about ties between Iraq and Al Quaeda;
3. Used these falsehoods to lead our nation into war unsupported by international law;
4. Not told the truth about American policy with respect to the use of torture; and
5. Has directed the government to engage in domestic spying, in direct contravention of U.S. law.
Therefore, the voters of the town of Newfane ask that our representative to the U.S. House of Representatives file articles of impeachment to remove him from office.
They missed some very major crimes, but I applaud them just the same.
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