Here's some news that you may not have heard about, and that you may find interesting.
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: House bill prohibits within-grade increases in 2012
A bill in the House would prohibit within-grade pay increases through 2012 for federal employees.
The provision is part of a larger piece of legislation — the Honest Budget Act of 2012 — to root out "budget gimmicks," according to a statement by bill sponsor Rep. Martha Roby (R-Ala.)
Federal employees are currently in year two of a two-year pay freeze. The freeze does not affect within-grade pay increases.
STORY: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/722/2736148/Bill-prohibits-withingrade-increases-in-2012
Virginia House Passes Anti-Gay ‘Conscience Clause’ Adoption Bill
AP-The Virginia state House voted 71-28 to pass the
legislation Friday. Earlier in the day, a Senate committee endorsed its
version of the Republican-backed measure on an 8-7 party-line vote.
Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is expected to sign the bill.The measure, sponsored by Delegate Todd Gilbert and Senator Jeffrey
McWaters, both Republicans, allows religious agencies to discriminate
based on their ethos and is being billed as a measure to protect
religious freedoms. Others have called out the legislation as, simply,
anti-gay discrimination. Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/virginia-house-passes-anti-gay-conscience-clause-adoption-bill.html#ixzz1lhavl4gU
MORE ON THE SUSAN G KOMEN FUNDING PULL: Handel Was Behind Planned Parenthood Attack All Along
Emails released over the weekend to Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett directly contradict earlier denials by The Komen Foundation that
controversial anti-Planned Parenthood crusader and Vice President of
Public Policy Karen Handel was the force behind the decision to strip
the group of funding. In short, the group has been lying this whole
time.
According to Komen staffers, Handel has been looking for a reason to
de-fund Planned Parenthood and even coordinated messaging and efforts
with former Bush administration staffer Ari Fleisher. Handel said, “If we just say it’s about investigations, we can defund Planned Parenthood and no one can blame us for being political.”
Handel and Fleisher crafted the strategy which included a change in
guidelines that would prevent Komen from funding any organization that
was under investigation by local, state or federal authorities. This was then used to justify the funding decision, and
despite the fact that several other Komen beneficiaries are also under investigation, Planned Parenthood was the only organization that saw its funding jeopardized.
After a tidal wave of public pressure that spanned gender and political
affiliations Komen relented and announced it would continue funding
Planned Parenthood for the remaining of its grant cycle. The decision
was celebrated as a reversal, but a close look at the language shows
there’s plenty of reason to think the announcement was more PR spin to
make the bad press die down than an actual policy change. And given this
latest news there is really no reason to take the charity’s word on
anything.
Related Stories:
Susan G. Komen’s Cozy Relationship With Anti-Choice Groups
Susan G. Komen Foundation Also Stops Funding Embryonic Stem Cell Research
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