This. Is. Important.
According to Stephen Colbert tonight, this is the link for a new GOP survey aimed at ‘younger voters.’ Oh sweet lord, the questions on this thing are hilarious and painful and EVERYONE ON TUMBLR NEEDS TO FILL THIS OUT RIGHT NOW
i’m actually a mean republican man when i play neopets
- why can’t i go to the soup kitchen just because i have 100,000 neopoints i doNt WANNA BUY FOOD
- now you’re sick with the sneezles and you want my hard earned neopoints to pay for your treatments? shouldn’t have gone bobbing for apples
- hehehe i’m gonna keep refreshing the giving tree and take food from poor people
- yeah i have an offshore neopets account i funnel neopoints through
i’m the mitt romney of neopets
House of Reps strips LGBT protections from Violence Against Women Act
queerty.comThis month, the U.S. Senate made history when they renewed the Violence Against Women Act and included provisions that provided resources for LGBT victims of domestic violence. But last week, House Republicans made it clear they were on a different page.
The new version of VAWA, put forth by Republicans in the House of Representatives, takes away the previously-listed protections for LGBT people, undocumented immigrants, and Native American women.
“This is simply unacceptable and it further demonstrates that Republicans in the House have not heard the message sent by the American people,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who co-authored the Senate version. (It passed 78-22, with all female senators—regardless of party affiliation—voting for it.)
VAWA was first passed in 1994, thanks to then-senator Joe Biden. In addition to providing resources to domestic-abuse groups, it declared that a woman’s past sexual history couldn’t be used against her in a sexual-assault trial, and that women shouldn’t be forced to pay for their own protection or rape exam.
Unbelievable. The House version of the bill will come before a committee tomorrow. Let’s see what happens.
“[In their recent self-critique,] the RNC [Republican National Convention] concludes that Republican candidates must connect with women voters using “softer language,” fewer “graphs and charts” and by assembling a strong list of female surrogates to do media appearances. That’s right. Republicans conclude that to win women voters they must use their “inside” voice and not bombard those ladybrains with all that “information.” Oh, and rather than actually place women in positions of leadership within the party, they plan to just pluck a few pretty faces to put in front of the cameras.”
—Jessica Pieklo, “RNC Concludes Women Voters Need To Hear ‘Softer’ Voices, Fewer ‘Facts’”
There Goes the GOP Again, Trying to Pretend They Like Working Moms
care2.comMary is the only wage-earner in her household. She supports her two children and her elderly mother with her hourly job. Sometimes she has to work overtime. Right now Washington is fighting over how to compensate her for that time.
Hourly workers are currently entitled to overtime pay: they must receive 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for any time they work over 40 hours in a week. A federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, guarantees that right.
Employers have two legal ways to control wage costs, both of which protect employees. One is to spread work around, so fewer people have to work overtime and people working less than full-time get the chance to work 40 hours a week. The other is to hire more people so the employer doesn’t have to make any employees work more than 40 hours in a week.
That was part of the intent of the Fair Labor Standards Act: it creates an incentive for employers to hire more workers, which reduces unemployment, and it creates a disincentive to prevent forcing employees to work too many hours.
…..
The Republicans have created a proposal to change the Fair Labor Standards Act….. It’s called the “Working Families Flexibility Act” (WFFA, H.R. 1406 in Congress), and it would give employers the choice of compensating employees for overtime either with overtime pay or with comp time.
They are branding WFFA as a gift to working moms, rolling out an ad campaign on mommy blogs promising them more choice in setting their schedule and more freedom to change it for unexpected emergencies, like a child’s sudden illness. Mommies, the Republicans are saying, if you have more time, you can manage that work/life balance problem we keep hearing about. […]
