Joe Pitts Is The Pitts... But So Is Steve Pestka

You remember the horrible Stupak Amendment that conservatives and reactionaries used to nearly derail the whole healthcare reform bill? The Republicans all opposed healthcare reform and anti-Choice psychotic Joe Pitts (R-PA) worked with equally crazy anti-Choice fanatic Bart Stupak (D-MI) to try to force more unwarranted restrictions on women's choice. The 64 Democrats who joined the Republicans to push it through were the worst of the worst of the Democratic Party and most of them were either forced to retire or were defeated in the next election, failing to persuade Democrats and left-leaning independents to even bother showing up at the polls. Here's the list of the Democratic anti-Choice assholes who joined the GOP to vote for Stupak-Pitts. (Keep in mind that every Republican, including the women, voted for it.) The bolded names were either defeated, forced into retirement or are about to retire:

Jason Altmire (Blue Dog-PA)
Joe Baca (Blue Dog-CA)
John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA)
Marion Berry (Blue Dog-AR)
Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA)
John Boccieri (D-OH)
Dan Boren (Blue Dog-OK)
Bobby Bright (Blue Dog-AL)
Dennis Cardoza (Blue Dog-CA)
Chris Carney (Blue Dog-PA)
Ben Chandler (Blue Dog-KY)
Travis Childers (Blue Dog-MS)
Jim Cooper (Blue Dog-TN)
Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)
Jerry Costello (D-IL)
Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Kathleen Dahlkemper (Blue Dog-PA)
Artur Davis (D-AL)
Lincoln Davis (Blue Dog-TN)
Joe Donnelly (Blue Dog-IN)
Mike Doyle (D-PA)
Steve Driehaus (D-OH)
Brad Ellsworth (Blue Dog-IN)
Bob Etheridge (D-NC)
Bart Gordon (Blue Dog-TN)
Parker Griffith (Blue Dog-AL)
Baron Hill (Blue Dog-IN)
Tim Holden (Blue Dog-PA)
Paul Kanjorski (D-PA)
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)
Dale Kildee (D-MI)
Jim Langevin (D-RI)
Dan Lipinski (D-IL)
Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
Jim Marshall (Blue Dog-GA)
Jim Matheson (Blue Dog-UT)
Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC)
Charlie Melancon (Blue Dog-LA)
Mike Michaud (Blue Dog-ME)
Alan Mollohan (D-WV)
Jack Murtha (D-PA)
Richard Neal (D-MA)
Jim Oberstar (D-MN)
Dave Obey (D-WI)
Solomon Ortiz (D-TX)
Tom Perriello (D-VA)
Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)
Earl Pomeroy (Blue Dog-ND)
Nick Rahall (D-WV)
Silvestre Reyes (D-TX)
Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX)
Mike Ross (Blue Dog-AR)
Tim Ryan (D-OH)
John Salazar (Blue Dog-CO)
Heath Shuler (Blue Dog-NC)
Ike Skelton (D-MO)
Vic Snyder (D-AR)
Zach Space (Blue Dog-OH)
John Spratt (D-SC)
Bart Stupak (D-MI)
John Tanner (Blue Dog-TN)
Gene Taylor (Blue Dog-MS)
Harry Teague (Blue Dog-NM)
Charlie Wilson (Blue Dog-OH)

The toll for their anti-Choice votes: 43 "Democrats down; maybe they should learn a lesson. And yet, even today Blue America-endorsed Trevor Thomas in Michigan's new Grand Rapids/Battle Creek district is fighting a primary against a multimillionaire Establishment fave, Steve Pestka who is as anti-Choice as any of those 64 Stupak votes. Actually he's even worse, having joined with the Republicans in the state legislature to defund Planned Parenthood. And, yes, he was calling himself-- as he does now-- a Democrat at the time. Pestka is trying not to address his anti-Choice fanaticism and just skate by by spending lots and lots of money and hoping he can swamp Trevor. Trevor isn't making that easy for him:

"I believe every woman should have access to healthcare services, particularly those who are hurting most in these difficult economic times. This is not a political issue, it's personal and strikes at the heart of who we are as a community. As the son of a breast cancer survivor, I can't imagine my mother being denied services that could save her life. Mr. Pestka's vote to defund these critical programs and services was wrong then, just as the continuing attacks against women are wrong today. In Congress, I will fight to make sure the folks who need healthcare the most are not cut off from it, either by the budget or extreme ideology."

And on Sunday the Grand Rapids Press published this letter to the editor from Kathleen Lee Bruinsma about why Democratic and independent women in the district are refusing to support Pestka:

In December 2001, while serving as a state legislator, 3rd Congressional District candidate Steve Pestka voted ‘Yes’ on Michigan house Bill 4655 to de-fund Planned Parenthood (Roll Call 834).

As a woman voter in the 3rd District, I’d like Pestka to explain: Would he vote the same way on the federal level if elected to the U.S. House? Cutting federal funds to Planned Parenthood has arisen more than once in the U.S. Congress; if Romney wins the presidency, he has vowed to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood. Would Pestka join Romney in this effort, or not?

Planned Parenthood plays a critical role in women’s health care. Its health care centers are essential to women who are uninsured or struggling financially. More than 90 percent of the health care that Planned Parenthood delivers is preventative – cancer and blood pressure screenings, contraception, prenatal care.

Three million Americans receive primary and preventative care from Planned Parenthood health centers each year. For many women, especially those in rural areas and underserved communities, Planned Parenthood is their only source of health care. By playing a major role in reducing unplanned pregnancies through contraception counseling, Planned Parenthood also reduces the number of abortions and saves taxpayers money.

How will Steve Pestka vote on funding Planned Parenthood-– essential to the least among us in many ways-– if he wins a seat in the U.S. Congress?

Clearly,people are worried that Pestka wants to take up where fellow Michigander Bart Stupak left off. But recall for a moment that Stupak was just the cat's paw in this amendment which is remembered for him. He was just Boehner's and Cantor's pawn and the bill was actually written by Joe Pitts and, in fact, the amendment is actually the Stupak-Pitts Amendment. With a 2.26 lifetime crucial vote score from ProgressivePunch, Pitts is the most radical right Member of Congress from Pennsylvania (other than deranged mental patient Bill Shuster)-- even to the right of crackpot freshmen teabaggers Tom Marino, Mike Kelly and Lou Barletta.

Now, if you haven't watched the video up top, now's the time to do it. Don't be surprised by the 5'2" young mother giving the speech. "Reinforcements," Aryanna Strader, a battle-hardened army vet tells the crowd, "have arrived." And she's got Pitts in her sites. "The experiences I've had in my life, have made me the woman I am today." When I first met her a couple months ago, that woman blew me away with the force of her convictions and her personality. And what makes that even better is that the Republicans gerrymandering up Pennsylvania weren't especially kind to Joe Pitts.

They took away rural, conservative deep red parts of Lancaster County and added in Reading and Coatesville, which are Democratic. Obama lost the 16th to McCain 48-51%. But under the new lines, he would have won it with 50.1%. This is now a swing district and Aryanna can win there.

This is a district that can be won, not just by a Democrat, but by a tough, fighting progressive who looks to me like a rising star for a party that really needs some rising stars to replace all those confused old Blue Dogs who are going extinct. If you can, please consider helping Aryanna Strader here at our ActBlue page.