Republicans Seek To Go Out With A Bang-- Reaffirming Their War Against Women In The Lame Duck Session

The House Republicans have always hated the Violence Against Women Act-- first passed in 1994-- and yesterday Roll Call reported that they plan to use the cover of the lame duck session to let it lapse. "The law was set to expire Sept. 30, but it was extended through Dec. 7 under a stopgap spending bill that expires this week. Text of another short term spending deal was released Monday and does not include a VAWA extension, according to Republican aides in both the House and Senate."

The law authorizes funding for social service agencies that aid victims affected by sexual violence, including rape crisis centers, shelters and legal-assistance programs. Reauthorizations over the years have included expanded provisions focused on reporting mechanisms for sexual violence on college campuses and extending protections for the LGBT community.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that one in three women and one in six men encounter sexual violence during their lifetime.

...House Democrats introduced a VAWA reauthorization proposal in July, sponsored by Texas’s Sheila Jackson Lee, that includes updates to the law such as provisions to help victims of domestic violence and stalking stay in stable housing situations and to bar evictions based on the actions of an abuser.

The update, backed by more than 160 Democrats and no Republicans, also includes a gun-related provision that could prove to be a poison pill for any action in the GOP-led House. The Democratic proposal would expand firearms laws to ensure that partners under protective orders or convicted of dating violence or stalking are prohibited from having a gun. Some states already have so-called red flag laws in place, with the aim of preventing escalation of violence.

Several dozen mainstream conservatives say they will vote with the Democrats to reauthorize the bill, but Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy are preventing a vote and are tossing some red meat to misogynistic Trumpists and religious fanatics in their conference who feel the GOP war against women works for them politically. Republican Brian Fitzpatrick (PA) is one of the GOP members who want to see VAWA extended: "Congress must continue to aggressively combat domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking by swiftly reauthorizing the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act.

Ryan, McCarthy and Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte have prevented Jackson Lee's bill from getting a committee hearing, let alone a floor vote. Before the pressure on Ryan and McConnell became too much for them to handle-- causing them agree to extend VAWA-- I spoke with Ted Lieu one of the rising stars on the Judiciary Committee. He pointed out that "Women ran away from Republicans in the midterm election. As a result, Republicans lost the popular vote by the largest margin in US history; lost the House by 40 seats; lost six legislative chambers; and lost 7 governorships. And what does the GOP do? Refuse to extend VAWA. Democrats will fix the Republican stupidity next year by passing an extension of VAWA. It will be one of our first priorities." I also reached out to Jamie Raskin, vice ranking member of the committee to ask him if the Democrats will be able to fix the Republican mischief once they formally take over the House in January.

Something tells me Elle Magazine didn't select Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at random to kick off their insanely powerful new "We the People" ad (which was just debuted on Morning Joe). Meanwhile... if I was a Republican congressional election strategist or operative, I'd be paying attention to the zeitgeist this "free marketplace of ideas" ad is flowing out of. It's more important than a 30 second campaign spot-- much, much more important.



UPDATE: War Against Women

And speaking about the Republican Party's war against women, an Oklahoma state senator, GOP crackpot Joseph Silk of Broken Arrow, introduced a bill that would classify abortion as a felony homicide and sentence women to a mandatory life sentence. He represents the 5th district southeast of Oklahoma City in the remote corner where Oklahoma meets Texas and Arkansas. Silk was reelected in 2016 against Stacey Ebert 14,665 (57.17%) to 10,987 (42.73%). "It’s gonna be classified as a homicide because, essentially, a fertilized egg is a human life just like a 1-year-old baby is a human life,” he said on Friday. "So, an abortion would be considered intentionally taking a human life." He calls for Oklahoma to ignore federal rulings on abortion and dismisses the idea of rape or incest as being relevent.