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Andy Colwell, Special to The Denver Post

In February 2013, in the wake of a mass shooting atan Aurora movie theater in my district, the Colorado legislature debated and then passed several measures to promote gun safety in our state. It was one of the most controversial and divisive periods in our states political history.

As a mother living with the memory of a son gunned down along with his fianc by killers connected to a gang, I carried some of the bills we passed that year.

We debated that legislation in an atmosphere of violence and intimidation. Threats of rape and violence against myself, my daughter and my granddaughters took place in an environment of hysteria and paranoia engineered by the gun industry and their political enablers. I received numerous death threats, was stalked by mentally unstable individuals and for a time was under protection by the Colorado State Patrol because of specific and heinous threats on my life.

With my life in danger, attending one town hall was deemed too risky by those protecting me.

Last week I was reminded of that traumatic period while watching many Republican members of Congress not only actively hide from their constituents, but insult and demean the people for whom they were elected to work to excuse their unavailability. In Colorado, we watched Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner use elaborate strategies to dodge constituents concerned and upset about the fundamental impacts on their lives that will come from his votes. Even worse, Gardner had the audacity to dehumanize, without evidence, his own constituents by labeling them paid protesters.

We deserve better. When a congressman like Colorados Mike Coffman isnt fleeing out back doors and into waiting cars to avoid vocal senior citizens, he and his Republican colleagues around the country attempt to justify their own frailty in the face of their constituents by saying their voices dont deserve to be heard.

I did my job despite unbalanced individuals threatening me and my family with rape, pain and death. Republicans in the U.S. Congress are simply being asked to listen to the voices of those they serve. It shouldnt have to take a profile in courage to look a cancer patient in the eye and hear what she has to say it only takes a little bit of compassion and an ounce of respect.

The real threat to these Republicans is not the violence of extremists, but the mere sound of the honest voices of regular, hard-working Americans. These politicians simply dont want to hear about the daily reality of struggling citizens who shouldnt have to sacrifice their health and economic security on the altar of right-wing ideology. That is why they turn to these pathetic conspiracy theories about paid protesters. We also witnessed the self-pitying victimhood of politicians like Sen. Marco Rubio andCongressman Jason Chaffetz the latter even describing his own constituents as bullies for daring to stand up and speak truth to power.

It is disgraceful. It is simply cowardly to say that the pain and despair of the people they work for are not really authentic and do not deserve to be heard. It is also a cynical strategy meant to rob citizens of their voices.

We cease to be a government of the people, by the people and for the people when the Republican majority in Washington, who now have great power over our futures, will not listen to or respect the voices of those of us who will have to bear in our day-to-day lives the consequences of their political agenda. At the barest minimum, at least have the courage to listen to those who stand to die for its sake.

Sen. Rhonda Fields, a Democrat, represents District 29 inthe Colorado Senate.

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Original post:
Republicans' cowardly failure to face their constituents - The Denver Post

By Alan Fram, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Wheres the Republicans embryonic health care bill?

A maverick GOP senator and top Democrats staged made-for-TV scavenger hunts across the Capitol on Thursday for a draft of the measure, momentarily overshadowing months of labor by Republicans out to reshape the nations health care system. Their goal: embarrass Republican leaders who have vowed to make the overhaul transparent and are struggling to solidify support.

Its the secret office for the secret bill, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., proclaimed to reporters after being denied entry to the ground floor room where he said the measure was being shown to some lawmakers. An aide to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., later said Paul was standing outside her office, not a hideaway for clandestine legislation.

With Republican leaders hoping to unveil the legislation next week, part of the measure is being shown privately to GOP lawmakers without distributing copies. Party leaders often closely hold major bills while striking final compromises, but this was an unusually stealthy move aimed at preventing leaks of the measure, which would replace much of former President Barack Obamas health care overhaul with Republican proposals.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., who is letting panel Republicans see his portion of the measure, issued a statement that flashed his pique. He said assertions his committee is doing anything other than the regular process of keeping its members up to speed on latest developments in its jurisdictions are false.

Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, whose House Ways and Means Committee is writing other provisions, noted he and Walden had briefed senators including Paul on Wednesday.

Clearly every senator in that room knows exactly the direction were going, Brady told reporters.

The secrecy surrounding the House draft presented a golden publicity opportunity to Paul, who like some other conservatives says the GOP plan doesnt go far enough in dismantling Obamas law.

This is being presented as if this were a national secret, as if this were a plot to invade another country, Paul told camera crews and reporters his office had alerted to his quest.

In an interview this week with NBCs Today show, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Republican leaders were not hatching some bill in a backroom and plopping it on the American peoples front door.

Also launching pursuit were No. 2 House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland and other Democrats, who rummaged through the Capitol and a nearby House office building. Parts of their expeditions were streamed on social media.

At one point, Reps. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., were turned away from the offices of Walden and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., claimed to have checked the mens room.

They dont want us to see the bill, said Pallone.

Thursdays histrionics came as Ryan and other GOP leaders try delivering on one of their and President Donald Trumps top political priorities, despite lingering disputes.

At a closed-door conference, Ryan told Republicans that leaders would draft the overhaul legislation this weekend. Lawmakers have said the goal is for the two House committees to vote next week in hopes of pushing the legislation through the House and to the Senate before an early April recess.

One conservative foe, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said leaders pushed lawmakers hard Thursday to back the bill. He said leaders showed clips of Trumps congressional address on Tuesday, when he embraced key principles of the GOP plan.

This was very unconvincing, said Massie.

One of the most contentious remaining disputes is a new tax sought by Ryan on part of the value of expensive employer-provided medical plans. Many Republicans are reluctant to vote for a tax increase a reliable way to invite challengers in primary elections.

Many conservatives oppose a proposed tax credit that would be even for people who owe no taxes and is based on age, not income. Brady said hes considering whether to target the credit, but didnt say how.

Obamas law expanded Medicaid to more lower-income people, a move that 31 states accepted, along with billions in added federal payments to cover it. The GOP plan would provide money for those states and for the 19 states, mostly run by Republicans, that didnt expand Medicaid.

___

AP Congressional Correspondent Erica Werner contributed to this report.

Continued here:
Dems, rogue GOP in scavenger hunt for a copy of Republicans' Obamacare replacement bill - The Denver Post

Congratulation, Montana GOP! Once again we are the subject of national news as we look like idiots to the rest of the world.

Do you suppose that people wonder about the sanity of a Republican House representative and a Republican Senate member proposing a mail-in ballot for the upcoming election for state representative to save the counties $750,000, only to have Jeff Essmann, GOP chair, say no dice because more people might vote? Do we need a sanity test, Republicans?

Let me see if I understand this. The clerks of every county begged their representatives in Helena to find a way to keep the counties from spending money that they don't have. Two sane people came up with a bill to save our bacon and yet Essmann is so frightened about the current atmosphere and the anger of the citizens of this state that he is bullying the sane members of his party to dump a bipartisan bill.

If you thought we were angry and outspoken before, try pulling this bull puckie. Our country is in peril. When will the patriots of this state stand up and put country before party and stop this insane action? Shame on you, Essmann! Shame on the Republican Party for raising taxes on seniors to try to keep your party in a power position, if they allow this bully to toss this bill.

Read more:
Republicans may need sanity test - The Missoulian

MADISON, Wis. Republican lawmakers want to prohibit University of Wisconsin employees from performing abortions or providing training at facilities where abortions are performed, other than hospitals.

Rep. Andre Jacque and Sen. Chris Kapenga are circulating a bill targeting an arrangement between Planned Parenthood and the University of Wisconsin in which faculty members work part-time at the organization's Madison clinic.

"The university has been acting as a contractor for Planned Parenthood," Jacque said. "That is not the role of the government."

Agreements between a handful of physicians from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin have been in place since 2008. Under the current agreement, which has been in place since 2012, physicians provide family planning, disease screening and surgery services including abortions to patients in exchange for an hourly fee of $150. The agreement estimates 16 to 20 hours of services will be provided per week.

Lisa Brunette, a spokeswoman for UW Health, said fewer than 10 faculty members provide services at Planned Parenthood. She said obstetrics-gynecology medical residents receive abortion training at the clinic. National guidelines require the school to offer such training, but residents can opt out.

The school "will vigorously defend its commitment to train medical residents in all specialties, including ob-gyn," she said.

Spokeswomen for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin did not immediately respond to several questions submitted to them.

The Planned Parenthood clinics in Madison and Milwaukee are the organization's only two Wisconsin clinics that still perform abortions. These two clinics perform about 3,400 abortions combined each year.

Under current state law, government funds cannot be used to pay for abortions, except in cases of rape or incest or when the mother's life is endangered. This proposal would also include those exceptions.

A handful of other bills proposed this session involve abortions. One GOP proposal introduced last month would ban the sale of fetal tissue, which Republicans have been trying to do for years. But Jacque and others who are staunchly anti-abortion have said the proposal would be ineffective because it essentially duplicates federal law. Support for a version Jacque introduced last session fizzled after researchers argued it could hurt potentially life-saving research. At least two other fetal tissue bills are still in the works.

Another GOP proposal this session would prohibit the state's insurance board from covering abortions for state workers and state annuitant retirees.

Democrats have proposed two measures that would protect access to abortions.

Read the original post:
Republicans target faculty's deal with Planned Parenthood - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Photo: Michael Short, Special To The Chronicle

Assemblywoman Catharine Baker listens to state Sen. Steve Glazer at the town hall.

Assemblywoman Catharine Baker listens to state Sen. Steve Glazer at the town hall.

Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon, right, speaks alongside Senator Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, during a joint town hall meeting held at City Hall in San Ramon, CA, on Thursday March 2, 2017.

Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon, right, speaks alongside Senator Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, during a joint town hall meeting held at City Hall in San Ramon, CA, on Thursday March 2, 2017.

Senator Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, left, speaks during a joint town hall meeting held with Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon, at City Hall in San Ramon, CA, on Thursday March 2, 2017.

Senator Steve Glazer, D-Orinda, left, speaks during a joint town hall meeting held with Assemblywoman Catharine Baker, R-San Ramon, at City Hall in San Ramon, CA, on Thursday March 2, 2017.

At East Bay town hall, Democrats and Republicans get along

State Assemblywoman Catharine Baker is a rare bird: a living, breathing Bay Area Republican elected representative in a sea of Democratic blue.

So at a time when town halls hosted by GOP politicians around the country have become the go-to venue for unleashing fury on the Trump administration and its policies, you would think that a Baker town hall would attract at least a bit of that wrath and protest.

But that was not the case at San Ramon City Hall on Thursday night.

In a display of bipartisan civility not seen much these days, Baker, the Republican from San Ramon, and Democratic State Sen. Steve Glazer of Orinda joined forces to give their Tri Valley constituency the latest news from the state Capitol. With more than 300 people in attendance half of them watching on a screen in the buildings rotunda the political odd couple of Contra Costa County talked about higher education, infrastructure, transportation, water storage, transgender rights, BART, high speed rail, health care and DNA testing.

What they didnt talk about, at least directly, was the man who could have a dramatic impact on all those issues: President Trump. Baker said that while attendance at her town hall meetings has doubled since Trump was elected, her constituents dont seem to hold her responsible for what comes out of Trumps mouth and administration.

I dont think you saw any of that here, Baker said afterwards. The real focus here is on exactly what it should be: what should we be doing, regardless of party, to improve the lives of people in this community. Its not are you toeing the line? What does your party say about this or that?

Republicans, with the exception of Baker, have not done well in the Bay Area over the last decade. The state Senate has 27 Democrats and 13 Republicans, but no Republicans from the Bay Area. The Assembly is made up of 55 Democrats and 25 Republicans, and only one, Baker, is from the Bay Area. None of the 14 California Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives is from the Bay Area.

And even in her own district, Baker is a minority. Republicans make up just 31 percent of her 16th Assembly District, compared with 39 percent Democrats. Trump got trounced in Contra Costa County, which covers much of the district, garnering 24.5 percent of the vote, compared with 67.5 for Hillary Clinton.

It might have helped that Baker did not endorse Trump and condemned him after audio tapes surfaced in which the president was heard bragging that he forces himself on women. I took a stand early and publicly not to support Donald Trump, and it lost me supporters, she said at the time. The most recent revelations of his taped statements about women re-affirm my stance not to vote for Trump. As a mother and a woman, I find his statements disgusting.

But while Glazer and Baker have different party affiliations, they agree on most things. Of the 1,210 bills that made it to both the Assembly and Senate for votes in 2016, Glazer and Baker voted the same 88 percent of the time. They both are unpopular with teachers unions because they support charter schools. They are both on the outs with BART workers because they think public transportation workers, like police officers and firefighters, should not be able to go out on strike.

Transit is an essential service its not a luxury, said Glazer at the town hall.

They both said they want infrastructure investment, but not waste. They both said high speed rail between San Francisco and Los Angeles is a waste of money. They both back Bakers legislation that would ensure that BART bond money is spent on system capital improvements, not administrative costs.

If we are taking money from you in the name of transportation, it needs to go to roads and infrastructure, Baker told the audience.

Perhaps out of politeness, audience members seemed to tread lightly around Bakers affiliation with the party of Trump. She was asked about the likely dismantling of the Environmental Protection Agencys greenhouse gas reduction efforts by new EPA head Scott Pruitt.

I was one of the only members of my party to support climate change and greenhouse gas reductions standards, she said. We need to blaze ahead ourselves as best we can.

In another break with the Trump administration, Baker also said she supports the right of transgender people to use whatever public facilities they feel comfortable using.

Several attendees showed up with signs that revealed their anti-Trump positions. Peggy Kroll of Danville had a sign saying Invest In People Not Jails. Connie Chilba of Moraga held a sign in support of Senate Bill 54, the California Values Act, which would prevent local and state public resources from aiding federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement in deportation actions.

Chilba said she was very concerned about the hate and fear we are living under and appreciated the bipartisanship Glazer and Baker had on display. This kind of reaching across the aisle is an example for the rest of the county.

The joint town hall was the eighth in a series, and Glazer said they would keep doing them.

Our political world is getting pretty polarized, said Glazer. It seems like people are getting in their corners and are more interested in fighting than finding common ground.

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jdineen@sfchronicle.com

Twitter: @SFJKDineen

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At East Bay town hall, Democrats and Republicans get along - SFGate