links for 2010-04-27

California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina (R) won the backing of the Susan B. Anthony List Candidate Fund.

The endorsement of Fiorina by the conservative anti-abortion group is a blow to state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R) who has tried to portray himself as the most conservative candidate in the GOP Senate primary.

"From a pro-woman, pro-life perspective, there could be no greater contrast," Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president, said in a statement Tuesday. "She embraces and advances the rights of women and unborn children, following in the footsteps of the earliest women in politics. Susan B. Anthony and the early feminists understood, as Carly Fiorina does, that undermining the rights of one never advances the rights of another."
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A big blow to Chuck DeVore

State Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R) has three weeks to bring up his poll numbers or he risks becoming irrelevant in the three-way race for the California Republican Senate nomination, according to the Los Angeles Times.

DeVore has garnered the support of national conservative and Tea Party groups, as did Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) during his run, but that hasn't translated into a surge in campaign donations or support in the polls. He raised some $625,000 in the first quarter, but had only $411,000 banked at the end of March. In a recent Los Angeles Times/USC poll, he had the support of only 9 percent of likely GOP primary voters.

DeVore attributed his poor poll numbers to his title as state assemblyman.
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DeVore is little known outside his Orange County base

Former "Jon and Kate Plus 8" stars Jon and Kate Gosselin are heading back to the classroom — at least for a day. According to a new report from TMZ, both parents are being required by Berks County, Pennsylvania to attend a three-hour class entitled "Children in the Middle." The class is a requirement for divorced couples in the midst of the heated custody battle — primarily to remind them of their priorities.

For the sake of entertainment, the sad news is that both Jon and Kate are not forced to attend the class at the same time. Therefore, you can probably expect them to show up, take the class, and leave without too much public attention.
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And, what about Kate's book?

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) declared a comprehensive immigration bill dead on arrival if the government does not first do more to secure its borders.

Graham tangled with Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano during a Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday about the administration’s desire to pass an immigration measure this year.

“I would bet you everything I own that the 2007 [immigration] bill wouldn’t pass this year,” Graham told Napolitano, predicting that the administration will “crash and burn” if it moves forward with a plan to push immigration legislation through Congress before the November elections.

“If immigration comes up this year, it will be absolutely devastating to this issue” and future passage of a comprehensive bill, Graham insisted. “Most Americans think we will have lost our minds if we move forward without securing our border first.”
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Protecting McCain's ass are we?

States certainly have the right to enact policies to protect their citizens, but Arizona’s policy shows the difficulty and limitations of states trying to act piecemeal to solve what is a serious federal problem. From what I have read in news reports, I do have concerns about this legislation. While I don’t believe Arizona’s policy was based on anything other than trying to get a handle on our broken borders, I think aspects of the law, especially that dealing with ‘reasonable suspicion,’ are going to put our law enforcement officers in an incredibly difficult position. It could also unreasonably single out people who are here legally, including many American citizens. Throughout American history and throughout this administration we have seen that when government is given an inch it takes a mile.
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A lame attempt at political correctness

The law requires police to check with federal authorities on a person's immigration status, if officers have stopped that person for some legitimate reason and come to suspect that he or she might be in the U.S. illegally. The heart of the law is this provision: "For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official or a law enforcement agency…where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person…"
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Read it all!

Too many American children do not receive recommended childhood vaccines for illnesses such as polio, measles, mumps, diphtheria and pertussis that were once thought to have been eradicated but are making a comeback in some areas. According to data from 2008, almost one-quarter of children ages 19 months to 35 months did not receive the recommended vaccinations.

On Tuesday, the American Academy of Pediatrics — perhaps frustrated with the stubborn anti-vaccine tide in the United States — unveiled a new public health campaign called Protect Tomorrow that "brings to life the memories of the terrible diseases of the past and reminds parents that, unless they are vaccinated, infants and children are at risk for contracting infectious diseases that can lead to hospitalization, disability and even death," according to a statement from the organization.
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All of my children were vaccinated as I was. And, I had chicken pox at age 30 before the vaccine was available.

A damning health care report generated by actuaries at the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department was given to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius more than a week before the health care vote. She hid the report from the public until a month after democrats rammed their nationalized health care bill through Congress.

The results from the report were troubling. The report released by Medicare and Medicaid actuaries shows that medical costs will skyrocket rising $389 billion 10 years. 14 million will lose their employer-based coverage. Millions of Americans will be left without insurance. And, millions more may be dumped into the already overwhelmed Medicaid system. 4 million American families will be hit with tax penalties under this new law.