Posts Tagged budget

President Obama stands at a podium, speaking.

The White House budget increases funding for immigrant detention

Earlier this week the White House announced its proposed budget for the 2015 financial year. Media coverage of the proposal has noted its focus on the middle class, help for low-income college students, and the steps it takes to protect the health of women and families. But what the media narrative has glossed over is the budget’s implications for our immigration system. 

Earlier this week the White House announced its proposed budget for the 2015 financial year. Media coverage of the proposal has noted its focus on the middle class, help for low-income college students, and ...

Friday Roundup: How the sequester cuts will affect women, access to reproductive health

There’s not much to say about the sequester that hasn’t already been said (except, maybe, “Don’t ask me, I’m no sequexpert.” Ok, now that’s taken care of.) But hey, I’m just a blogger on a Friday afternoon trying to meet you where you’re at. And where you’re at is in sequester hell, whether you know it or not, if lots of Washington Post and Politico bloggers are to be believed. If you’re wondering what, exactly, I’m referring to when I talk about the sequester, well then we’ve come to the part of the post where you pick your sequester breakdown:

Here’s a sequester breakdown in cute animal images.

Here’s a sequester breakdown in GIFs (a “gifquester”)

Here’s a ...

There’s not much to say about the sequester that hasn’t already been said (except, maybe, “Don’t ask me, I’m no sequexpert.” Ok, now that’s taken care of.) But hey, I’m just a blogger on a ...

Nikki Haley’s funding cuts to sexual assault and DV programs overturned

Last week, Nikki Haley got overzealous with her desire for Tea Party style cuts to the South Carolina budget. While, we all want to save money, she was shortsighted in the kinds of services she was cutting including almost half a million dollars of cuts to domestic violence crisis management and sexual assault prevention services in the state. Well, the South Carolina legislature disagreed with her vetoes of the budget and overturned them in a vote of 111-0.

via Columbia Free Times,

During the process, held July 17 in the House and July 18 in the Senate, Haley took to Facebook and live-posted the unfolding events. After lawmakers overrode her veto of funding that would go to victims of ...

Last week, Nikki Haley got overzealous with her desire for Tea Party style cuts to the South Carolina budget. While, we all want to save money, she was shortsighted in the kinds of services she ...

Super-committee predictably fails to reach deal on cuts

Color me shocked! The congressional “super-committee” given the task of reaching a bipartisan agreement on $1.2 trillion in cuts failed to reach a deal.

In other news, water is wet.

So Congress yet again failed to reach a bipartisan deal on an important issue of the day further solidifying the idea in everyone’s minds a little less than a year from an election that we need a new Congress! Seriously, we really need new folks in there who will behave like adults and vote on legislation that can be passed and signed into law. That is their job and they haven’t been doing it for so long now it can be easy to forget. Very little relief can come for ...

Color me shocked! The congressional “super-committee” given the task of reaching a bipartisan agreement on $1.2 trillion in cuts failed to reach a deal.

In other news, water is wet.

So Congress yet again failed to reach a bipartisan ...

Notes from a bitch…one woman’s story…

A lot of amazing moments happened during the multi-month battle to protect family planning funding and providers from the out-of-control cuts in the 2011 federal budget. It felt like forever, but the campaign was actually only a couple of months! As we catch our breath and work to capture lessons learned, I’d like to share a personal story from a friend who attended the St. Louis Rally to Save Women’s Lives at Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region. The rally was part of the fantabulous Pink Bus Truth Tour that swept through Missouri and several other states.

My friend requested anonymity.

This is her story.

A lot of amazing moments happened during the multi-month battle to protect family planning funding and providers from the out-of-control cuts in the 2011 federal budget. It felt like forever, but the campaign was actually only ...

In budget fight, pro-choice organizations get played again

The role of the pro-choice community in the last minute budget deal is a sad one: we were totally used.

We have not had a major victory for abortion rights at the federal level since Roe v. Wade. Instead, we’ve been losing since the passage of the Hyde Amendment. Almost 40 years of losing strategy that hasn’t changed much. And our opponents have gotten pretty good at taking advantage of this fact. Much of the debate about the budget has hinged on the issue of abortion, despite the fact the US government continues to bar federal funding for the procedure. But a lot of the public conversation was about funding for Planned Parenthood, and this is where the energy of DC-based ...

The role of the pro-choice community in the last minute budget deal is a sad one: we were totally used.

We have not had a major victory for abortion rights at the federal level since Roe v. Wade. ...

Take Action: NY set to throw homeless youth out of shelters and back onto the streets

There are an estimated 3,000 homeless youth in New York City alone. In the current version of his budget, Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing to cut all state funding for homeless youth shelters. That’s every last penny that goes to providing shelter for some of the most vulnerable people in the state.

Last weekend I heard absolutely heartbreaking stories about the realities of life for homeless LGBT youth from Carl Siciliano, the director of the Ali Forney Center, New York City’s only shelter for LGBT youth, and Ksen Pallegedara, a former Ali Forney Center client and current law student. 40% of homeless youth in NYC identify as LGBTQ, and many of them do not feel safe in shelters that are ...

There are an estimated 3,000 homeless youth in New York City alone. In the current version of his budget, Governor Andrew Cuomo is proposing to cut all state funding for homeless youth shelters. That’s every last penny ...

The Pence Amendment isn’t really about ca$h money

As infuriating as the Pence Amendment is, and as awesome as the rallying it’s inspired is, I wish folks would talk more about the greater legislative process at hand.

The fact is that before the bill can become law, the Senate has to pass its own version of the bill, and then the House and Senate need to reconcile their separate versions. And THEN the reconciled version needs to be signed into law by President Obama. The Democrat-controlled Senate will most reject any effort to de-fund Planned Parenthood, and even if a messed up bill somehow manages to make it to President Obama’s desk (unlikely), he recently announced that he would veto a GOP budget anyway.

Which means ...

As infuriating as the Pence Amendment is, and as awesome as the rallying it’s inspired is, I wish folks would talk more about the greater legislative process at hand.

The fact is that before the ...