I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad
news that makes the good news irrelevant. I’ll give you the good news first so
that you understand the second part of that sentence. Texas, this is our last
year under the tyranny, sorry, that was rude, I mean, tenure, of Rick
Perry. Last Monday, Gov. Perry announced that he will not be running for a
fourth term. Now for the bad news... Attorney General, Greg Abbott (R.),
announced that he will be running in the 2014 Texas Gubernatorial election.
Most of you are probably thinking, “Well anything’s an improvement after
Perry.” HAH. Wrong. A.G. Abbott has sued the Obama administration 27 times, and
has referred to Planned Parenthood as a terrorist organization (Take a few deep
breaths now, because if you’re anything like me, that last sentence is about to
start a panic attack).
I don’t know where to begin on reasons
why you should hate this guy, but I guess I’ll start with this:
That’s right. He’s one of the many GOP
anti-choicers. And he’s not just any anti-choicer. Oh no, it’s no fun to just
stop at being against women’s rights! Abbott pushed to cut state funding for
Planned Parenthood-- I know that sounds “GOP typical,” but trust me, it gets
worse-- because government funding for terrorist organizations is illegal under
the Federal Material Support Statute. Cecile Richards, CEO of Planned
Parenthood, responded by saying that the case is not “about Planned Parenthood
— it's about the women who rely on Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings,
birth control, and well-woman exams.” Richards also took a stab at Gov. Perry,
and his partisan rulings, by saying that he has “already thrown 160,000 women
off of healthcare for partisan political reasons -- now there will be more to
come.” Abbott also said that he would cut the entire Women’s Health Program in
Texas, that serves about 130,000 women a year, if they had to fund an organization
that performed abortions. I guess he wasn’t aware that none of the eight
Planned Parenthood facilities that are involved in the program provide
abortions. Not to mention, abortions at Planned Parenthood facilities are
entirely paid for with private money (See: The Hyde Amendment, which has prohibited
taxpayer-funded abortions for decades). Abbott was also a huge supporter of the
trans-vaginal ultrasound law, which was passed in the 2012 Texas legislative
session, requiring all women in Texas to get an ultrasound 24 hours before an
abortion procedure.
If you thought Abbott only targeted
women’s rights, you must be new to the GOP’s crazy views. He spent 1.4 million
dollars investigating voter fraud. And guess how many cases of eligible-voter
impersonation he found? 000000.00000, zero, zip, nada, nothing, no one. That is
exactly what supporters say Voter ID laws would prevent, but I really don’t see
anything that needs to be prevented. Abbott is currently in his 28th lawsuit
against the Obama Administration, and he’s suing over section 5 of the Voting
Right Act. Jason Stanford, of the Huffington Post, wrote this awesome article that compares Abbott to
Joseph Heller and Franz Kafka, and said that the lawsuit is “just a $100,000
way of saying that the Texas Attorney General is suing for the right to stop
asking permission before passing laws that make it harder for minorities to
vote on the grounds that we don't make it harder for minorities to vote
anymore.” Stanford also made a sly, and appreciated, dig... “We can only get 15
percent of Tejanos to vote, and Abbott thinks we're cheating?”
Women and minorities are not the only
people Abbot’s targeting. Although he is in a wheelchair himself after being partially
paralyzed, he supported the repeal of the Americans with Disabilities Act in
2003. He called it unconstitutional, and sued over it. You can read more on
that here. Abbott has also targeted the LGBT
community. In April, this year, he released a statement on his opinion about
Austin employers providing benefits to partners. He was a strong supporter of
DOMA, and I really hope he threw a big tantrum with the SCOTUS repealed it.
I’m sure all of you are wondering... How
is Abbott a Republican because you haven’t mentioned his love of guns and his
hate for regulations on them!? Well here you go... Abbott, like most GOP
candidates, is against all gun regulations. And like most GOP candidates, he
brought religion into his fight, by saying “Texans don’t silence voices of
faith; we fight for them.”
Abbott has described his current job as
Attorney General by saying, “I go into the office, I sue Barack Obama and I go
home.” Some of his lawsuits include suing over ensuring the U.S. Supreme Court
building displays the Ten Commandments on its lawn, as well as healthcare
providers not providing coverage for birth-control drugs. If that doesn’t do it
for you, he was appointed by President George W. Bush, during his time as
Texas’ governor, to serve on the Texas Supreme Court (1995-2001). A vote for
Greg Abbott is a vote against equality for women, minorities, and the LGBT
community. Under him, abortion regulations, like those passed last week, are
sure to get harsher, and Voter ID laws are sure to stay in place. Fight
to turn Texas blue for the 2014 Government election!
Lots of love,
Two Liberal Ladies
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