So last week basically sucked (beginning with the mass shooting at Washington’s Navy Yard and concluding with the weekend’s terrorist attack at a Nairobi shopping mall — which is still happening at this writing). Cyn and Donna confess to withdrawing a little bit from the work of keeping up with the news cycle for MOMocrats readers. But now: it’s Monday, we’re back and refreshed and ready to roll (even if we are still a little leery of what awaits us in our news apps).
Congress is apparently blaming each other — er, talking budget – with no action yet in sight, so it’s been quiet on that front (other than Ted Cruz, who has been talking up a storm). Here’s what else happened in politics today:
Ignore the Teapublicans, says one former GOP senator. We wish we could, but they keep actively shredding the social safety net, hurting vulnerable people, and acting like a demented suicidal husband determined to take down his family with him. I never signed up for that script, and neither did most Americans.
The White House just did something great to reduce carbon emissions on new power plants going forward. Not a moment too soon.
The Federal Elections Commission has finally filled the two seats that have been vacant since the beginning of the Obama Administration. Congratulations to Ann Ravel of California’s Fair Political Practices Commission, which pro-actively investigated some dark money financing groups that were skirting state laws. It’s too bad the FEC was understaffed during the record-breaking Citizens United fueled 2012 campaign — but hopefully, Ravel and new Republican commissioner Lee Goodman will give the agency enough incentive to step in if needed in 2014.
Education:
Congressman Jared Polis is good on most liberal issues, but soft on bankstas. Which may explain why he was mean to Diane Ravitch and favors corporate takeover of public schools.
Are the startup brothers who are hell bent on destroying education even literate? The answer is NO.
Women’s Rights and Reproductive Health
Here’s another weapon in the anti-abortion arsenal: Few doctors are receiving training in reproductive healthcare. Never mind the lack of clinics — what’s going to happen when there are no doctors who know how to perform the procedure?
Finally: MOMocrats got another nod from a game show and our first mention in the New Yorker. We’re getting ready for our close-up. See you tomorrow.
