US Supreme Court issues stay in execution of Texas inmate
- NO Duane Buck won’t be executed tonight source
» What happened: In 1995, Buck was convicted of double-murder in Houston, Texas, and sentenced to death. Buck’s guilt is not being disputed; however, during the sentencing phase, a psychologist testified that black criminals are more likely than other races to pose a threat to the public if released. Buck’s lawyers contest that this testimony—which was denounced in 2000 by then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn—played a role in Buck’s sentence, and asked Governor Rick Perry and the district attorney to grant Buck a retrial. Perry and the DA refused the request, but the US Supreme Court intervened today, issuing a stay in his execution just four hours before his execution was set to take place. The court has yet to rule on a request for a resentencing.
Rick Perry's Texas:
- Highest rate of high-school dropouts in the nation
- Crumbling education system
- Forced government intervention in personal decisions
- Low-wage economy, unlivable wages
- High poverty rates
- Corporate rule
- Over a quarter of the population does not have healthcare
- Income inequality
- Anti-Equal Rights
Rick Perry. Bad for Texas. Bad for America.
“Instead, the Texas governor’s big problem is that his state, contrary to the pitch he’s giving crowds nationally, is in trouble, big trouble. While he campaigns around the country, Texas is suffering from an historic drought which is likely to be one of the ten costliest natural disasters in recent U.S. history. The losses are mounting into the billions just as the economy in Texas is slumping, with an unemployment rate that’s now nearly equal the national average. And Perry—alone among the Republican candidates—has a moral obligation to govern. He is the only candidate who is a chief executive with responsibilities in his home state. And whether America loves or hates Rick Perry the presidential candidate, the fact is we Texans need our governor back home. Now.”
—Rick Perry, Please Come Home: Why Texas Needs Its Governor Back
Don't get Rick Perry cowboy boots for Christmas
- 90+ gifts received by Rick Perry during his tenure as Texas Governor
- 22 of those gifts were pairs of cowboy boots source
CAUGHT ON TAPE: Bank Of America’s Director Of Public Policy Tells Rick Perry ‘We’ll Help You Out’ | ThinkProgress
thinkprogress.org“A top Bank of America executive was caught on camera yesterday whispering to Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), “Bank of America. We’ll help you out,” as the GOP presidential candidate attended New Hampshire’s Politics and Eggs breakfast. The executive has been identified by the financial website Zero Hedge as James Mahoney, Director of Public Policy for the bank. …
“Over the years Gov. Perry has benefited greatly from Bank of America’s financial support, and it appears that largesse will continue as he seeks the presidency on a platform of — coincidentally enough — bank deregulation. His gubernatorial campaigns have received $125,900 from Bank of America’s PAC and executives since 2003. During the 2010 cycle alone, Perry’s campaign received $30,160 from the bank’s PAC and executives.”
Texas Loses Entire Women's Health Program Over Planned Parenthood Law
March 15, 2012
By Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post
The Department of Health and Human Services announced on Thursday that it will cut off all Medicaid funding for family planning to the state of Texas, following Gov. Rick Perry’s (R) decision to implement a new law that excludes Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid Women’s Health Program.
Cindy Mann, director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations (CMSO), wrote Texas health officials a letter on Thursday explaining that the state broke federal Medicaid rules by discriminating against qualified family planning providers and thus would be losing the entire program, which provides cancer screenings, contraceptives and basic health care to 130,000 low-income women each year.
“We very much regret the state’s decision to implement this rule, which will prevent women enrolled in the program from receiving services from the trusted health care providers they have chosen and relied upon for their care,” she wrote. “In light of Texas’ actions, CMS is not in a position to extend or renew the current [Medicaid contract].”
The federal government pays for nearly 90 percent of Texas’ $40 billion Women’s Health Program, and nearly half of the program’s providers in Texas are Planned Parenthood clinics. But the new law that went into effect earlier this month disqualified Planned Parenthood from participating in the program because some of its clinics provide abortions, even though no state or federal money can be used to pay for those abortions.
According to Medicaid law, Mann said, a state cannot restrict women’s ability to choose a provider simply because that provider offers separate services — in this case, abortion — that aren’t even paid for by the Medicaid program.
Perry wrote a letter to President Obama earlier this month accusing his administration of “mandating which health providers the state of Texas must use” in order to “continue to support abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.” He vowed to continue the Women’s Health Program in Texas without Planned Parenthood and without federal money, although he has yet to outline how his state will come up with money.
But an HHS spokesperson told reporters on Thursday that this was not Obama’s decision and that the administration’s hands are tied on the issue. “Medicaid law is very clear; a state may not restrict patients’ choice of providers of services like mammograms and other cancer screenings, if those providers are qualified to deliver care covered by Medicaid. Patients, not state government officials, should be able to choose the doctors and other health care providers that are best for them and their families. In 2005, Texas requested this same authority to restrict patients’ choices, and the Bush Administration did not grant it to them either.”
Governor Perry to sign service animal in public places law
connectamarillo.comGov. Rick Perry is signing into law a bill ensuring that restaurants and food stores must allow service dogs, including those for military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
This is the first time I’ve ever been proud of Texas Government.
“In Texas we choose life, and we will immediately begin defunding all abortion affiliates to honor and uphold that choice.”
—Rick Perry after today’s 5th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Planned Parenthood another hearing about state funding.
Add this to a list of reasons I am disappointed in my state’s government, my state’s judicial system, my state’s political leaders and my state in general. I am proud to be a Texas woman, but I am ashamed at how disrespected I am as a woman in Texas.
