Texas sues Obama administration in abortion dispute

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/texas-sues-obama-administration-abortion-dispute-230313230.html

By Jim Forsyth | Reuters – Fri, Mar 16, 2012

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The Texas attorney general on Friday sued the Obama administration to challenge its decision to shut down a women's health program over a dispute centered on the state's withholding of funds to clinics that provide abortions.

The filing of the lawsuit comes as both Republican officials in Texas and the Obama administration have expressed regret that poor women in the state who depend on the health services could be hurt by the escalating political fight.

"This is about life and the rule of law, which Texas respects and the Obama administration does not," Texas Governor Rick Perry, a former Republican presidential candidate, said in a statement on Friday.

The lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican, is against Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, and against her agency.

The federal suit argues the agency acted illegally and in a manner that was arbitrary and capricious when it decided to terminate funding for the Texas Women's Health Program, which serves more than 100,000 low-income women, due to Texas law that prohibits funding of entities that promote or perform abortions.

"(The decision) also violates the Constitution of the United States by seeking to commandeer and coerce the states' lawmaking processes into awarding taxpayer subsidies to elective abortion providers," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, one day after the Obama administration's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it would begin shutting down the Texas Women's Health Program.

The federal government pays about 90 percent of the cost of the program.

The conflict began when the Texas Legislature inserted a "poison pill" into the Medicaid funding bill passed in 2011, which mandates that no funding under the program go to any facility that provides abortion services, even if no state money directly paid for abortions.

If the federal government did not agree to the waiver, the language requires that the program be discontinued.

Cindy Mann, the director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said on Thursday the federal government had no choice but to not renew the program because Texas' denial of funds for abortion restricts the freedom of choice of health providers and is not permitted under federal law.

With the decision, Texas became the first state to have its Medicaid Family Planning Demonstration Program canceled by the federal government.

The program provides basic medical services, including breast and cervical cancer screening, and birth control, for 130,000 of the state's poorest women.

A representative from the Obama administration could not be reached for comment.

Rebecca Acuna, a spokeswoman for the Texas Democratic Party, said in a statement that Perry and Abbott are "wagering women's health in their political game of chicken."

Perry on Friday expressed his concern that Texas women should not lose out on health services and repeated his vow made earlier this week to fund those services "with or without the federal government."

The Texas attorney general's lawsuit seeks a declaration from a judge that Texas can place restrictions on abortion funding.

Edited March 18, 2012 by Why_Me

[Darnell 8,479]

Yay ! Let's see how this plays out.

I've no opinion for women's health issues, but the political fallout should swell a new quagmire.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Texas is in this mess on their own. Want Socialism and Fed money then you have to accept their terms. Don't want Fed money and want Socialism then pay for it on your own. Very simple.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Yay ! Let's see how this plays out.

I've no opinion for women's health issues, but the political fallout should swell a new quagmire.

Screw Texas. That state should be thrown out of the union along with California for kissing illegal ####### and then letting the wingnuts take over.

Texas Governor Rick Perry <------ That right there says a lot.

[MyLittlePony 340]

Texas supports steers and queers.

[Darnell 8,479]

Screw Texas. That state should be thrown out of the union along with California for kissing illegal ####### and then letting the wingnuts take over.

Texas Governor Rick Perry <------ That right there says a lot.

Hey - yer preaching to the choir - but -

why just throw us out of the Union? Why not give us Mexico in the bargain, as well?

Texas supports steers and queers.

Oh my - you've not lived till you've attended one of Jim Neighbor's parties in the Montrose.

Thankfully, I've not lived

[luckytxn 2,265]

Screw Texas. That state should be thrown out of the union along with California for kissing illegal ####### and then letting the wingnuts take over.

Texas Governor Rick Perry <------ That right there says a lot.

OK. So toss out the two states that pretty much runs the rest of the country. Smart thinking there.

It would be OK by me if Texas left the rest if we are not wanted. The state and California would be fine on our own. The U.S. would hurt but we can then sell our products we produce to y'all. We will accept gold though only as the dollar would be worthless.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

OK. So toss out the two states that pretty much runs the rest of the country. Smart thinking there.

It would be OK by me if Texas left the rest if we are not wanted. The state and California would be fine on our own. The U.S. would hurt but we can then sell our products we produce to y'all. We will accept gold though only as the dollar would be worthless.

Brush up on your Spanish so you can communicate with all the illegal labor to manufacture those products.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Brush up on your Spanish so you can communicate with all the illegal labor to manufacture those products.

Be glad to. They won't be illegal anymore when Texas and California are tossed away from the union. With the gold we amass from the U.S we will buy Mexico.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

I already speak Spanish... it's a beautiful, wonderfully expressive language that is not only spoken by "illegals," by the way.

The U.S. needs Texas a lot more than Texas needs the U.S. And it's been that way since 1836.

[luckytxn 2,265]

I already speak Spanish... it's a beautiful, wonderfully expressive language that is not only spoken by "illegals," by the way.

The U.S. needs Texas a lot more than Texas needs the U.S. And it's been that way since 1836.

Love Spanish and Hispanic culture. Fantastic culture and history.

Texas and California are very important states. Two states that are the engine and bread basket of the U.S. A partnership with our neighbors to the south of us would be very beneficial for us all. I would be sad to be asked to leave the U.S. but very glad to extend my hand to ones that want us.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

OK. So toss out the two states that pretty much runs the rest of the country. Smart thinking there.

It would be OK by me if Texas left the rest if we are not wanted. The state and California would be fine on our own. The U.S. would hurt but we can then sell our products we produce to y'all. We will accept gold though only as the dollar would be worthless.

Texas-Hawaii swap creates a 'more profitable, tasteful union'

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Interior announced today that it will move Texas into the South Pacific and replace it with the Hawaiian Islands in the newly-created Gulf of New Mexico.

Officials said the land-swap, among many other benefits, will immediately help revive the nation's moribund new housing market by instantly creating nearly 3,500 miles of accessible waterfront property in five states.

"Undoubtedly," said Interior Department spokesman Delbert McCracken, "this new configuration will create a more profitable -- and tasteful -- union."

The public-private venture, financed by U.S. Treasury-backed geographic redevelopment bonds, will be effective on Oct. 1, the first day of the 2013 fiscal year, McCracken said.

The agreement creates the 800-mile wide Gulf of New Mexico, framed by New Mexico's Trans-Pecos Coast to the west, Louisiana's Sabine Coast to the east, and Oklahoma's Panhandle Bay and Red River Coast to the north.

The move puts 26 million Texas on their own island -- 750-mile wide Lone Star Island, the world's fourth-largest -- in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where the island-state's agricultural, beef, mineral extraction, and tourism industries are expected to proposer in the warm, moist climate.

"Tell the Japanese we have thousands of golf courses waiting for them -- and Texas-sized steaks," joked Texas Gov. Rick Perry as he signed the Reconfiguration Act of 2013.

As expected, McCracken said, today's announcement spurred an immediate real-estate boom in newly-created seaside towns along 1,200 miles of newly-created Gulf of New Mexico coastline in four mainland states, and along the 2,200 new miles of coastline on Lone Star Island.

McCracken said a "first flush of initial institutional investment" was particularly significant in newly-established Industrial Development Areas on the mainland, each managed by public-private port authority agencies, in newly-created seaports such as the Port of Rio Grande near La Cruces, N.M.; the Port of Texarkansas, Ark.; the Port of Oil City, near Shreveport, La.; and Port of Sulphur City, near Lake Charles, La.

Land values were also escalating in new resort areas in emerging recreation meccas on the Gulf of New Mexico, including Hobbs Beach, N.M., and Texhoma, Okla., he said.

With the move, Texarkansas, Ark., is poised to be the region's administrative anchor and primary beneficiary by proximity to Honolulu, on Oahu Island, about 300 miles southwest, in the middle of the Gulf of New Mexico, according to McCracken.

The move was praised as a viable solution for a host of national issues, including reducing energy costs by removing Texas and making it easier to drill for oil in the Gulf of New Mexico.

Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gringrich immediately claimed credit for devising the Texas-Hawaii exchange as part of his "$2.50 a gallon" plan.

Anti-immigration activitists also applauded the land-swap. "Hell," said Nativist Now spokesman John Tanton, "a sea is even better than a wall. And we'll now know who the wetbacks are -- they'll be the one's with wet backs."

The Southern Baptist Convention gave the deal its resounding endorsement as "a call from the Lord" for Texas's 4.3 million Baptists to "extend the Buckle of the Bible Belt to half a world away, across the sea."

McCracken said all Americans will benefit one way or another from the swap.

"The reconfiguration will lower the cost of flying to Hawaii, making a tropical vacation more affordable for the average American family," he said. "It will dramatically lower the cost of pineapples and Mai Tais."

[Leatherneck 693]

Quote

Texas-Hawaii swap creates a 'more profitable, tasteful union'

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Department of Interior announced today that it will move Texas into the South Pacific and replace it with the Hawaiian Islands in the newly-created Gulf of New Mexico.

Officials said the land-swap, among many other benefits, will immediately help revive the nation's moribund new housing market by instantly creating nearly 3,500 miles of accessible waterfront property in five states.

"Undoubtedly," said Interior Department spokesman Delbert McCracken, "this new configuration will create a more profitable -- and tasteful -- union."

The public-private venture, financed by U.S. Treasury-backed geographic redevelopment bonds, will be effective on Oct. 1, the first day of the 2013 fiscal year, McCracken said.

The agreement creates the 800-mile wide Gulf of New Mexico, framed by New Mexico's Trans-Pecos Coast to the west, Louisiana's Sabine Coast to the east, and Oklahoma's Panhandle Bay and Red River Coast to the north.

The move puts 26 million Texas on their own island -- 750-mile wide Lone Star Island, the world's fourth-largest -- in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where the island-state's agricultural, beef, mineral extraction, and tourism industries are expected to proposer in the warm, moist climate.

"Tell the Japanese we have thousands of golf courses waiting for them -- and Texas-sized steaks," joked Texas Gov. Rick Perry as he signed the Reconfiguration Act of 2013.

As expected, McCracken said, today's announcement spurred an immediate real-estate boom in newly-created seaside towns along 1,200 miles of newly-created Gulf of New Mexico coastline in four mainland states, and along the 2,200 new miles of coastline on Lone Star Island.

McCracken said a "first flush of initial institutional investment" was particularly significant in newly-established Industrial Development Areas on the mainland, each managed by public-private port authority agencies, in newly-created seaports such as the Port of Rio Grande near La Cruces, N.M.; the Port of Texarkansas, Ark.; the Port of Oil City, near Shreveport, La.; and Port of Sulphur City, near Lake Charles, La.

Land values were also escalating in new resort areas in emerging recreation meccas on the Gulf of New Mexico, including Hobbs Beach, N.M., and Texhoma, Okla., he said.

With the move, Texarkansas, Ark., is poised to be the region's administrative anchor and primary beneficiary by proximity to Honolulu, on Oahu Island, about 300 miles southwest, in the middle of the Gulf of New Mexico, according to McCracken.

The move was praised as a viable solution for a host of national issues, including reducing energy costs by removing Texas and making it easier to drill for oil in the Gulf of New Mexico.

Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gringrich immediately claimed credit for devising the Texas-Hawaii exchange as part of his "$2.50 a gallon" plan.

Anti-immigration activitists also applauded the land-swap. "Hell," said Nativist Now spokesman John Tanton, "a sea is even better than a wall. And we'll now know who the wetbacks are -- they'll be the one's with wet backs."

The Southern Baptist Convention gave the deal its resounding endorsement as "a call from the Lord" for Texas's 4.3 million Baptists to "extend the Buckle of the Bible Belt to half a world away, across the sea."

McCracken said all Americans will benefit one way or another from the swap.

"The reconfiguration will lower the cost of flying to Hawaii, making a tropical vacation more affordable for the average American family," he said. "It will dramatically lower the cost of pineapples and Mai Tais."

Edited March 19, 2012 by Leatherneck