Author: Indianadem

Planned Parenthood of Indiana’s motion in U.S. District Court to stop enforcement of the new Indiana law that denies Medicaid funding to the organization was successful today along with a similar ruling denying enforcement of portions of a a strict immigration law that also came out of the Republican controlled General Assembly. Its only a beginning, but it seems a good omen, what with all the recent wingnuttiness around the midwest this spring.

A federal judge in Indianapolis on Friday blocked part of an Indiana law that cut off public funding for the state’s Planned Parenthood outlets because they provide abortions, the Associated Press reported.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, who was appointed in 2010 by President Barack Obama, granted the family planning organization an injunction that voids the portion of the Indiana law, recently signed by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.

Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) is thrilled to announce that U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt has granted its motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the enforcement of the new dangerous state law that strips Medicaid funding from PPIN.

The decision comes after a rocky week for PPIN. The organization had to stop seeing Medicaid patients Tuesday, lay off two employees, and furlough all employees for one day.

The injunction is excellent news for the organization. It means that PPIN can once again be reimbursed for the preventive health care it provides its 9,300 Medicaid patients and is now restored as a preferred provider under Medicaid and will remain as such as the lawsuit continues and until a final resolution is reached.  

“This decision will have immediate, positive consequences for our patients and our organization, the state’s largest reproductive health care provider,” said PPIN President and CEO Betty Cockrum.  “This ruling means we can once again provide Pap tests, breast exams, STD testing and treatment and birth control to both existing and new Medicaid patients.  It also means that we have avoided the difficult decision to close health centers and lay off more staff members while the permanent injunction we are seeking is pending.”

PPIN is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana (ACLU of Indiana) and the case is being led by Legal Director Ken Falk.

Also this week, voter suppression efforts in two states received setbacks from their governors.

Missouri Gov. Nixon vetoes voter-ID bill

“Disenfranchising certain classes of persons is not acceptable,” he wrote in the veto message.

North Carolina governor vetoes photo ID voter bill

“We must always be vigilant in protecting the integrity of our elections,” Perdue said in a statement. “But requiring every voter to present a government-issued photo ID is not the way to do it.”

An upset may be in the making in NY’s 26th Congressional District. Democrat Kathy Hochul is leading GOP candidate Jane Corwin 49% to 42% with 76% of the precincts reporting.

The teabagger trails at 8%.

Update [2011-5-24 22:38:41 by Indianadem]:

Kathy Hochul Defeats Jane Corwin in NY26 Special Election

While votes are still being tallied, early polling data – and inside campaign sources close to both campaigns who have spoken to Buffalo Rising – have made it clear that Kathy Hochul will defeat Jane Corwin and Jack Davis in the special election to fill Chris Lee’s vacant House of Representatives seat.

The 26th Congressional District of New York, which stretches from Amherst to Monroe County, is a Republican district and Hochul’s victory is an upset. Indeed, Republicans have held the seat for 40 out of the past 50 years.

Wisconsin Supreme Court challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg has emerged as the winner in an election billed as the first skirmish against Wisconsin governor Scott Walker’s heavy-handed union busting tactics. Her margin of victory over conservative incumbent Justice David Prosser was incredibly slim and will almost certainly be subjected to a recount.

Attorney JoAnne Kloppenburg has declared victory over incumbent state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser.

According to unofficial results, Kloppenburg had 204 more votes than Prosser. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Kloppenburg had 740,090 votes, or 50.01 percent. Prosser had 739,886 votes, or 49.99 percent. Final results could change and aren’t official until they are canvassed and certified by the Government Accountability Board.

Campaign spending by interest groups broke all previous records for a Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

Tuesday’s contest was widely considered a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s moves to weaken public employee unions and a test of the political strength of the unions to strike back.

The race also was being watched around the country as the first test of a coordinated move by Republican governors to cut state spending and undercut public employee unions, traditionally strong supporters of liberal and Democratic candidates.

Next on the menu, recall of 8 Wisconsin GOP senators.

La Crosse area Democrats have filed a petition with more than 21,700 signatures calling for a recall election of Sen. Dan Kapanke, one of eight Republicans targeted for his support of a controversial bill to curtail collective bargaining rights for public workers.

Update [2011-4-7 23:15:17 by Indianadem]: A strange and unfortunate turn of events has placed the incumbent in the lead. StevenD reports in detail over on the FP. Related story from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/07/135221696/wis-corrects-vote-count-gives-incumbent-big-lead?ft=1&f=1001

Dallas based Christian broadcaster Daystar Television Network has entered a bid to buy Orlando’s WMFE, currently a PBS TV station, the Orlando Sentinal reported yesterday.

Daystar Television Network, an evangelical Christian broadcaster based in Dallas, plans to buy public television station WMFE-Channel 24 for about $5 million, several sources knowledgeable about the deal said Sunday.

WMFE announced Friday that it was selling the PBS station because it is no longer financially viable. Jose Fajardo, WMFE president and CEO, said he couldn’t confirm the buyer and price until the information becomes public in a Federal Communications Commission filing. The information could be released today.

Some of the online comments are interesting.

I used to volunteer regularly and so did my late husband. Then they started eliminating volunteer opportunities. An answering service takes care of all callers, My husband did an awful lot of work with the volunteers and we both thought that using local people and organizations to man the phones, give tours, etc. and read to the blind on the radio among other things, was one way of introducing the local public to the station. Volunteering, meeting radio and TV “personalities”, seeing how a station works, going”backstage”, gets people excited. Jose was the fair haired guy and was very obviously groomed for the job, after a while, he didn’t care for volunteers and started farming out the work. The Reading Service went away on his watch, too. I think he ran the station into the ground. I’m sure the economy was a very major factor, but leadership is necessary to weather storms. This is a “Public Station” so why weren’t the public invited to offer solutions? Why weren’t the public involved at all?

The Dallas broadcaster’s collection so far includes:

KLTJ (TV), GALVESTON, TX (FILE NO. BALET-19990729IA )
WTSF (TV, ASHLAND, KY (FILE NO. BALCT-20030729ADC)
KDTN (TV), DENTON, TX (FILE NO. BALET-20030818ABI)
KRMT (TV), DENVER, CO (FILE NO. BALET-19970226IA)
KKAP (TV), LITTLE ROCK, AR (FILE NO.BTCET-20010309AAT)
WYDN (TV), WORCESTER, MA (FILE NO. BTCET-20000602AGO)
KDTP (TV), PHOENIX, AZ (FILE NO. BLET-20010205ABS)
KWBN (TV), HONOLULU, HI (FILE NO. BTCET-20000914AAY)
KWDK (TV), TACOMA, WA (FILE NO. BTCET-19991202ABV

currentpublicmedia has an update with a link to the FCC application.

Community Educators of Orlando Inc. — which has the same mailing address and president as Daystar religious broadcasters — has filed with the FCC to purchase WMFE in Orlando, Current learned today (April 4). Greg Guy, a managing partner at media broker Patrick Communications in Elkridge, Md., confirmed the $3 million price. The FCC application, filed by WMFE licensee Community Communications Inc., can be viewed here.

Why do I “have a bad feeling about this?”

So take that, NYT!

Today marks a significant transition for The Huffington Post Media Group, as we introduce digital subscriptions for employees of The New York Times. It’s an important step that we hope you will see as an investment in The Huffington Post, one that will strengthen our ability to provide high-quality journalism to readers around the world — and especially to our readers inside The New York Times.

The change comes in two stages. Last week, we rolled out digital subscriptions to our readers in Winnipeg, Canada, which enabled us to fine-tune the customer experience. Plus, they’re Canadians, eh? Today, we will begin offering digital subscriptions to employees of The New York Times.

Happy April 1 all.

Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the horror that was the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, where 146 young women, some as young as 14, and men lost their lives. The fire was a very public illustration of worker neglect and abuse by the factory owners and represented a turning point in public opinion favorable to worker issues.

From an editorial by the Philadelphia Daily News:

OVER THE DECADES, the annual commemoration of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire has provided an opportunity to look back from our enlightened time to marvel at the venality of the factory owners whose greed and indifference led to the horrific deaths of 146 people, most of them immigrant women and girls.

But on today’s 100th anniversary of the fire, here’s what’s stunning: How many of the discredited notions that contributed to the tragedy – extreme individualism, rejection of government regulation and fear of union “socialism” – are making a comeback.

Yes, we know only too well of the careful and calculated machinations of our rulers designed to strike fear into the hearts of the masses at the mention of the words union, socialism and liberal. Recently, not one, but two attorneys employed by the people of the State of Indiana lost their jobs over the worker struggle in Madison, Wisconsin, one for the incredible suggestion that live ammunition be used against peaceful protesters, the other for suggesting a false flag operation be conducted to turn public opinion away from worker organizations there. The Wisconsin Republican Party has attacked a respected university professor for his opinions, hoping, no doubt to silence others who would speak out.

Besides, factory owners believed that their factories were strictly private property and that any attempt to impose safety regulations represented an attack on the liberty of the people who drive the economy. Sound familiar? So there were no safety regulations, no minimum-wage law, no prohibition of child labor – until 146 people died.

Quickly acquitted of manslaughter charges by an all-male jury, the two owners actually made $60,000 in insurance money. But the horror touched the conscience of ordinary people, who forced a turning point in labor rights and workplace safety.

Many people assumed there was no going back. Yet the current campaign against collective-bargaining rights of public workers in several states sure looks like a step in that direction. (And U.S. House Republicans recently introduced legislation that would cut off food stamps to an entire family if one of its members is on strike.)

The Wisconsin 14 have returned home, but the Indiana House Democratic Caucus remains in exile in Illinois. Meanwhile, the cancer that is greed continues to spread.

The Guardians Of Privilege will happily return us to the world of the robber barons. Their unspoken motto is, “I got mine – fuck you”.

Same as it ever was.    

Village Idiots beware, Helen Thomas is back.

Legendary journalist and 50-year veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas has come out of a seven-month retirement to resume her weekly political affairs column today, published in print and online exclusively in the Falls Church News-Press.

According to the NYT, the Falls Church News-Press, where Thomas’ column appears, is a free weekly with a circulation of just under 30,000. Her first up topic – privatizing social security.

I’m adding the News-Press to my RSS feed. This could be fun to watch.  

Could it be that a significant number of people are finally beginning to wise up?

There’s a poll. You can go vote and help Glenn get outta town. Poll results are encouraging.

Glenn Beck may be one of the hottest talk show hosts in the country, but he apparently left New York’s WOR cold.

WOR (710 AM), one of the city’s two biggest talk radio stations, said this morning it is dropping Beck’s syndicated show as of Jan. 17 and replacing him with a familiar New York name: Mike Gallagher.

“The reason is ratings,” said WOR program director Scott Lakefield. “Somewhat to our surprise, the show wasn’t getting what we wanted.”

This clip of some wacko running for Stark County Ohio Treasurer is making the rounds. I hereby nominate him for the Bobcat Goldthwait school of political theater award instead.

GOP Wacko

Bobcat

A small step for Australia. Progress is so achingly slow.

An Aboriginal man has won a seat in Australia’s House of Representatives, becoming the first indigenous person to do so in the country’s history.

Ken Wyatt, 57, took the seat of Hasluck in Western Australia for the centre-right Liberal Party.

Mr Wyatt is the first Aboriginal man elected to the House of Representatives but two other indigenous Australians have served as senators in the upper house of parliament.