Tag Archives: Indiana

News

Indiana Senate candidate Joe Donelly on judges, amnesty, abortion, tax cuts, spending, welfare

4 Comments
Heritage Action Scorecard for Democrat Joe Donnelly
Heritage Action Scorecard for Democrat Joe Donnelly Indiana

A lot of American voters tend to approach elections like they approach food, clothes and entertainment. They choose what they like “in the moment”. But feelings about appearances is not the right way to measure a candidate. The right way to measure is by looking at the voting record. So let’s do that with Democrat Senate candidate Joe Donnelly of Indiana.

Democrat Senate candidate Joe Donnelly of Indiana

The Heritage Foundation is a respected Washington think tank, and they’ve collected together all the votes of the candidates.

Here are some of the votes that I found the most interesting:

For restricting choice in health insurance:

Disapproval of the Trump Administration’s “Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance” Rule10/10/2018The Senate voted on a Joint Resolution (S.J. Res. 63) providing for congressional disapproval of the rule issued by the Trump administration related to “Short-Term, Limited Duration Insurance.” Sponsored by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), S.J. Res. 63 would use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn a new Trump era rule that would expand the availability of affordable short-term, limited duration health plans to one year.

Against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh:

To confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court10/05/2018The Senate voted on the confirmation of D.C. Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Judge Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9th, 2018 and was included in The Heritage Foundation’s original list of potential Supreme Court nominees.

For wasteful government spending:

Bloated $855 Billion CROMNIBUS Spending Package09/18/2018Back in March, President Trump nearly vetoed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill promising the American people that he “will never sign another bill like this again.” One of the President’s objections to the omnibus was its lack of conservative policy riders – particularly sufficient funding for border security – combined with increases in the Democrats’ spending priorities. Six months later Republicans and the President find themselves in a similar situation.

Against defunding Planned Parenthood:

Paul Amendment to defund Planned Parenthood08/23/2018To prohibit Federal funds being made available to a Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities.

For individual mandates in health care:

Motion to table Cruz, Cotton, Lee, Johnson D.C. Individual Mandate Amendment to Senate Minibus08/01/2018The Senate will vote on an amendment offered by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to Fiscal 2019 Interior-Environment, Financial Services, Agriculture, and Transportation-HUD Appropriations Act (H.R. 6147). The amendment would prohibit funding for the District of Columbia’s Health Insurance Requirement Amendment Act, essentially Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty applied to the district. Heritage Action supports the amendment and is opposed to the motion to table it.

For welfare entitlements without work requirement:

2018 Food Stamp and Farm Bill06/28/2018This month, the Senate could vote on the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (S. 3042), more commonly known as the “farm bill.” Despite repeated calls to enact work requirements for food stamp recipients and to reform runaway farm subsidies, the Senate Agriculture Committee approved a farm bill that maintains dysfunctional and distortive status quo welfare and agricultural policies.

Against cuts in government spending:

Rescissions Package to Cut Spending from Expired and Unnecessary Programs06/20/2018This week, the Senate will vote on the Trump administration’s rescissions request to cut spending by nearly $15 billion, titled the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act (H.R. 3). Under current law, the Senate has until June 22nd to approve the House-passed bill under expedited rules.

For control of the Internet by left-wing IT corporations:

Repeal of the FCC’s “Restoring Internet Freedom” rule05/16/2018The Senate voted on a Joint Resolution (S.J. Res. 52) providing for congressional disapproval of the rule issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) related to “Restoring Internet Freedom.” Sponsored by Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), S.J. Res. 52 would use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to reestablish draconian net neutrality regulations imposed on broadband internet service providers under former President Obama’s FCC. Those net neutrality rules were recently repealed by the FCC under the courageous leadership of Chairman Ajit V. Pai.

For amnesty for illegal immigrants:

Cloture for Schumer-Rounds-Collins Amnesty Amendment02/15/2018The Schumer-Rounds-Collins amnesty proposal, revealed by the “Common Sense Coalition” drew fire from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which said the bill would “effectively make the United States a Sanctuary Nation.” Entitled the “Immigration Security and Opportunity Act,” this legislation provides amnesty and a path to citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants, fails to end chain migration and establish a merit-based immigration system for the 21st century, fails to secure the southern border, and undermines internal enforcement immigration policy.

Against tax cuts:

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Final Vote12/20/2017This week, the House and Senate will vote on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1), the most significant tax reform and tax cut legislative initiative since the 1986 tax reform package passed under President Ronald Reagan. The bill would make sweeping changes to the individual and corporate codes, and eliminate Obamacare’s individual mandate penalty.

Against tax-deferred education savings plans:

Expanding 529 Savings Plans12/01/2017The Senate could vote on an amendment (#1725) offered by Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) that expands higher education savings plans to include K-12 private school tuition and homeschool expenses. This amendment would help expand school choice by allowing families to use 529 account funds to help pay for private elementary and secondary education, including homeschooling.

Against repeal of government-run health care:

Repeal Title I of Obamacare10/19/2017The Senate will vote on an amendment (#1430) offered by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) to H. Con. Res. 71 that would repeal Title I of Obamacare. This amendment expands the budget resolution’s existing deficit neutral reserve fund for legislation that repeals Obamacare to specifically include the repeal of Title I of Obamacare.

Against de-funding of Planned Parenthood:

Disapproval of Title X Funds for Planned Parenthood03/30/2017This week the House of Representatives is expected to vote on H.J.Res. 43, sponsored by Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), a disapproval resolution of the final rule submitted by Obama’s Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) relating to compliance with Title X requirements by project recipients in selecting sub-recipients. Title X of the Public Health Service Act provides federal funds to states for family planning grants. Once states receive the funds, they have the ability to prioritize sub-recipients, directing funds to organizations like community health centers and family health clinics. While federal law prohibits government funding for abortion, it does allows certain public dollars, like the Title X grants, to support abortion providers if the funds are directed to non-abortion related health services. Under this exception, Planned Parenthood has been eligible to receive Title X funds, per the states’ discretion.

If you live in this state, please consider sharing this article to let everyone know how this candidate has voted in the past.

If you would like to read something about his Republican rival, this article from National Review covers that.

News

Democrat Phil Bredesen’s staff say he is lying to Tennessee voters to appear moderate

6 Comments
Conservative Marsha Blackburn is running for Senate in Tennessee
Conservative Marsha Blackburn is running for Senate in Tennessee

I hope everyone knows about James O’Keefe, and the excellent undercover videos that he makes for his Project Veritas operation. One of the most important Senate races in the country is the race to fill an open seat in Tennessee. Regular readers know that I am a huge admirer of Marsha Blackburn – a pro-life conservative. She is running against a far-left progressive named Phil Bredesen.

Here is the latest from Project Veritas:

Project Veritas Action Fund has released a second undercover video from campaigns during this 2018 election season. This report exposes Tennessee staffers from Phil Bredesen’s U.S. Senate campaign revealing his willingness to court moderate voters through deceit. This was especially evidenced by Bredesen’s recent statement suggesting he would, if he was already in the Senate, vote to confirm now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

[…]Maria Amalla and Will Stewart, staffers in Bredesen’s campaign, both say on hidden camera that if he were in the Senate, Bredesen would not actually have voted to confirm then-Judge Brett Kavanaugh. They explained that the statement Bredesen issued in support of Kavanaugh was a political ploy to gain the support of moderate voters in Tennessee.

JOURNALIST: “Like he wouldn’t really vote yes [for Kavanaugh,] would he?”

AMALLA: “No, it’s a political move… He thinks that like we’re down like half a point right now. It’s like really close and we’re losing by a point or two. So he thinks that if like by saying this he’s appealing to more moderate republicans and he’ll get more of them to vote for us.”

JOURNALIST: “I was so confused because I just can’t believe he would actually vote [for Kavanaugh.]”

STEWART: “He wouldn’t. But he’s saying he would… Which I don’t know if it makes it worse or better. No, it makes it better…”

When asked to clarify that Bredesen is only saying he’d vote for Kavanaugh to “get the Republican vote,” Amalla, a field organizer for Bredesen’s campaign, affirmed, “Yes.” Amalla reiterated, “[Bredesen] thought that like by coming out in support [of Justice Kavanaugh] that it would get more republicans on his side. He wasn’t doing as well in the rural parts.”

Here’s the full video:

I have written about Marsha Blackburn 68 times since I started blogging in early 2009. She is one of my favorite conservatives. In all honesty, I would vote for her against pretty much anyone running against her. She is endorsed by the NRA , the Chamber of Commerce, and the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List.

Other Senate races: (current polls from Real Clear Politics)

Poll averages for critical Senate races
Poll averages for critical Senate races

The Tennessee Senate race is one of the most important races, but there are other close ones. If you live in one of these states, make sure you get registered and get out to vote. If you can put up a yard sign (I have three of them, one for each Republican candidate) then you should do that. I also got bumper stickers from the campaign office, and bought magnet stickers to stick them on, so that I can switch them back and forth between my cars.

Look, I believe that if we can get another 2-3 more conservative senators into the Senate, then we might see judges even more conservative than Brett Kavanaugh. My favorite candidate is Raymond Kethledge, but I’d like Amy Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We could get these two justices on the Supreme Court, but only if we take Senate elections seriously. Yard signs are good. Bumper stickers are good. Going door to door is good. Making calls to get out the vote is good. Do all you can if you’re in one of these critical states.

News

Republican governors signing pro-life legislation in several states

Leave a comment
I'm Scheming Unborn Baby, and I approve this study
I’m Scheming Unborn Baby, and I approve of red state legislatures and governors

For the rest of Easter weekend, I have scheduled 5 posts on the resurrection. But this post is all about the wonderful pro-life legislation that our Republican governors and legislatures are enacting into law in red states.

Let’s start with something from last month, with Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin.

Life Site News reports:

Kentucky governor Matt Bevin promised to make pro-life issues a top priority, and Tuesday he made good on his promise.

Matt Bevin signed an informed consent bill requiring that biological facts and medical information be given to mothers in person or by real-time video at least 24 hours before an abortion.

“The overwhelming support for Senate Bill 4 in the Kentucky legislature is a positive step toward protecting the emotional and physical health and safety of women,” Bevin said in a statement before signing the bill.

Bill supporters say the reason the bill was necessary is because many abortionists circumvent the law by having mothers listen to a prerecorded message over the phone.

[…]Gov. Bevin chose this as the very first bill he signed into law. He put his signature to it as soon as legislators delivered it to him. The bill informing mothers of the medical and biological facts related to gestation and abortion becomes the Bluegrass State’s first new pro-life law in twelve years.

Pro-life legislation was previously roadblocked by the Democrat-controlled state House.

Here’s one from earlier this month, from South Dakota Governor Dennis Gaugaard.

Life News reports:

South Dakota just became the next state to protect unborn babies from painful, late-term abortions.

On Thursday, Gov. Dennis Gaugaard signed into law a bill to ban abortions after 20 weeks and penalize doctors who do late-term abortions in non-emergency situations, the Argus Leader reports. Penalties for violations of the law include up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine, according to the report. The only exceptions would be in certain medical emergency cases, the report states.

[…]The state House passed the pro-life measure last week, LifeNews reported.

South Dakota has one abortion clinic left, a Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls that does abortions up to 14 weeks; however, the new bill would ensure that later abortions will not be done in the future in the state. More than 18,000 very late-term abortions are performed every year on perfectly healthy unborn babies in America.

[…]The bill is modeled after the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which has become law in 12 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

The next one is from Indiana, where pro-life Governor Mike Pence signed a pro-life bill into law this week. This bill will prevent abortions of babies who are the “wrong sex”, the “wrong race”, or who have disabilities such as Down syndrome.

Life News reports:

Indiana has become the second state in the nation, following North Dakota, to ban abortions on babies who are diagnosed in the womb as having Down syndrome. Gov. Mike Pence signed the bill today to protect unborn babies from being aborted simply because of a disability, race or sex.

Pence signed House Bill 1337, which would ban abortion doctors from knowingly aborting an unborn baby solely because of a genetic disability such as Down syndrome, the unborn baby’s race or sex. The bill also has several other abortion-related measures, including a requirement that aborted or miscarried babies’ bodies be cremated or buried and another requirement that abortionists who have hospital admitting privileges renew them annually. The burial/cremation requirement backs up a law passed in 2015 by Gov. Pence requiring that aborted babies’ bodies be disposed of in a humane way.

“Throughout my public career, I have stood for the sanctity of life. HEA 1337 is a comprehensive pro-life measure that affirms the value of all human life, which is why I signed it into law today,” Governor Pence said in a statement.

Pence continued: “I believe that a society can be judged by how it deals with its most vulnerable—the aged, the infirm, the disabled and the unborn. HEA 1337 will ensure the dignified final treatment of the unborn and prohibits abortions that are based only on the unborn child’s sex, race, color, national origin, ancestry, or disability, including Down syndrome.”

The next one concerns Arizona, where pro-life Governor Doug Ducey is set to sign three pro-life bills into law.

Life News reports:

Three pro-life bills are on their way through the Arizona legislature and soon could be on Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk.

On Wednesday, the Arizona House gave preliminary approval to the bills, and a final vote is expected on Thursday, according to the Arizona Daily Star. The bills, already passed in the state Senate, would regulate the use of dangerous chemical abortion drugs, ban the trafficking of aborted babies’ body parts and remove abortion groups from the state employee charitable giving program.

Specifically, state Senate Bill 1324 would ban dangerous chemical abortions after the seventh week of pregnancy, as the drug label recommends. Abortion clinics often use the chemical abortion drug regimen RU-486 later in pregnancy and give smaller doses than recommended, likely in an effort to save money.

[…]The second bill, state Senate Bill 1474, would end the inhumane treatment of aborted babies’ bodies by abortion clinics and research facilities. Arizona state Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, introduced the bill earlier this year, saying she was “shocked” by the undercover videos by the Center for Medical Progress showing top Planned Parenthood officials selling aborted babies’ body parts.

[…]The final bill, Arizona Senate Bill 1485, would ban abortion groups from the state employee charitable giving program. The ban is a continuation of a move last year by Gov. Ducey to kick out Planned Parenthood from the program.

[…]State legislators in the Senate also are considering a separate bill that would make it easier to defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business.

The fourth story is about South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who recently endorsed Ted Cruz for President.

The Daily Wire reports:

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is openly pro-life, will sign a bill into law that would ban killing babies in the womb after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The bill, titled the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, was already passed by the South Dakota legislature on March 9; it has already been made law in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Nebraska was the first state to pass the law, in 2010.

Last September, Senate Democrats blocked the Senate’s version of the bill, as the vote was in favor, 54-42, but fell short of a 60-vote sum that would have prevented a filibuster. Ted Cruz voted for the bill while Bernie Sanders opposed the bill; Hillary Clinton has opposed the measure.

[…]In 2012, Haley signed the Opt Out of Abortion Act and the Born-Alive Infant Protection Act. The Born-Alive Infant Protection Act would protect unborn children who are born alive after a failed abortion but would be left to die afterward.

And finally, for those who like some religious liberty along with their defending the lives of unborn children, Campus Reform reports that Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed into law a bill to protect the religious liberty of student groups on public university campuses.

It was a great week!