It didn't generate much attention at the time, but Mitt Romney had an op-ed in USA Today five months ago, talking about the spending cuts he'd make while slashing taxes on the wealthy. Among the cuts: "Eliminate Title X family planning programs benefiting abortion groups like Planned Parenthood."
As the former governor sees it, the way to improve the deficit is to cut taxes, increase military spending, and block access to contraception, family planning services, pap smears, cancer screenings, and tests for sexually-transmitted diseases.
Yesterday, in an interview with the NBC affiliate in St. Louis, Romney was even more explicit, saying, "Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that," while talking about cuts he'd make to federal funding. Overnight, the DNC put together this video, going on the offensive over the issue.
There are several key angles to keep in mind in a story like this, including the ways in which this plays into the "Republican war on women" theme (Romney also enthusiastically backed the Blunt Amendment two weeks ago).
It's also worth noting that Republican support for Planned Parenthood was the norm for nearly a half-century. Barry Goldwater and George H.W. Bush championed the health organization; Reagan never balked at PP funding in the budget; and none of this was considered controversial in the slightest. There's no clearer example of the GOP's shift to the extreme than its newfound disgust for Planned Parenthood.
But the point I keep coming back to is Romney himself having supported the health organization, including having attended a Planned Parenthood fundraiser.
Our pal James Carter recently passed along a copy of a piece Romney wrote for Personal Excellence magazine in 2005 on the issue of "integrity." As the then-governor said at the time, "You have integrity when your actions mirror your values. You live in alignment with your principles and values. Your word is your bond... More lasting than a president's politics and policies is the legacy of his integrity.... Trust me, if you live in conflict with your core values, you will be unhappy, unhealthy, and less successful."
Given Romney's campaign, and his attacks on Planned Parenthood in particular, this almost reads like satire seven years later.
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He must be a very unhappy guy now a days. Being from New England, I remember a completely, and I mean completely different Willard. The folks in New England primaries have voted for the Willard he was, not for what he has become. He is a shell of his former self, trying to go to the right of Santorum, are you kidding me Willard?
Romney is trying to find himself...when he does, he's gonna really be dissappointed.
"I just want to be a real boy" said G.O.Pinocchio to G.O.Petto.
"Trust me, if you live in conflict with your core values, you will be unhappy, unhealthy, and less successful."
The guy must be one reaaaalllllllly unhappy camper then. And we all know Karmas a Bitch!!!!!
Romney has no soul. That's about the only way I can rationalize why his flip-flops and pandering don't keep him awake at night... He's probably the most blithely self-satisfied S.O.B. this side of the equator. No Soul. No integrity. No worries. Be Happy!!!!
While Mitt was never a saint his sell-out to the small-minded far right is nothing less than despicable. Santorum comes by his self-righteousness naturally and Newt has been the way he is for decades. Mitt is not qualified to be president. His candidacy is as ego-driven as G W's was. We need a thoughtful decisive president, not a panderer or a gut-feeling moralist.
We already have a thoughtful, decisive President; so we're all set.
YEP!
Planned Parenthood is the new ACORN- a shadowy, little understood, but definitely evil organization, aimed at "sapping our precious bodily fluids".
Most men do not understand the "female parts"- just as they do not understand the need for post-coital intimacy. (Get it on, get it in, get it off, go shoot some hoops. . .)
You need to find yourself better men. Real men cuddle, and sit in the waiting room at PP waiting for their loved one to get birth control and screenings so we can continue to cuddle. Rinse, repeat. :)
poor Willard - not really sure who the Mitt du Jour is .
Planned Parenthood = less abortions
What part of this equation don't these wing nuts get .
Go Rickky . We want Obama for another 4 years and you are the best guarantee of that
Sick-in-effin
Reducing abortions is not the core desire, controlling women's sexuality is. As Rush made so perfectly clear, giving women access to contraceptives allows women to be sluts and they pay no consequences. They are not punished for their sins. That is the goal-punishment for defying God's laws.
That is the real goal, controlling women.For the religious right it has never been anything but that. For proof look at when the religious right became active. It started when the birth control pill became prevalent and grew exponentially when abortion became legal. Women became free to do as they like and that, in their eyes, is a sin before God.
Well...we all know that decimating preventitive medicine saves money in the long run...yes I'm being snarky. OK that being said...I was wondering last night how much the MORMON CHURCH is playing in all this? I know they are turning out the vote, but how much are they playing in Mitt's 'new' policies? They seemed to have let 'Mitt be Mitt' when he was Governor but they seem to be a heavy hand behind the scenes now. There are little whiffs of behind the scenes these days...
They have now changed the book of Mormon again, Pepsi is allowed and now lying is allowed.
Ahhh...another 'vision thing'...I should have guessed.
They've always been big on keeping women in their place. Maybe Mitt has just noticed how "corrupt" the world outside of LDS is.
The LDS (Mormon) church doesn't support any candidate. There are views that the church has that didn't align with his views at the time he was governor, including legalizing abortion, but in my opinion, he's bowing more to the pressure of the GOP more than anything, just like all the other candidates except Ron Paul. He can't win in the GOP unless he plays hard nose against Planned Parenthood. Abortion is wrong, and it has nothing to do with women's rights. It has everything to do with a child's life. As far as Pepsi and other caffeinated drinks- it was never mentioned in the Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and Covenants (which is where the Word of Wisdom or the Mormon Law of Health is located). It does say to abstain from "strong drink" which prophets have told us includes coffee, tea, and alcohol. People in the church have misinterpreted it to also mean caffeinated beverages, and by all means it's their choice not to drink them. Personally I enjoy my Dr. Pepper, and I'm voting for Ron Paul.
He really doesn't know what he is doing or saying, he's relied on his money to do all his talking for him. He is under the assumption that all he has to do is sit and wait. His money has never let him down before. That is why he went into hiding when all the controversy over the debt ceiling surfaced. Now he has to talk. He still believes that his money clip has super powers. The sad thing is that the average Republican thinks he actually cares about them. They are still suffering from the induced coma Bush left them in.
While I find the "war on women" theme a little hyperbolic-- I generally don't like "wars" like the war on drugs, terror, etc.-- the GOP is seriously playing into this in a big, dramatic way. Did they not notice how outraged and mobilized people got over a mere $700,000 grant from Komen to PP? He's talking about getting rid of all of their federal funding!?! Stupid, stupid man.
RUN MITT RUN.............when the GOP alienates the majority of American women Obama will not be a one term prez.
Planned self-destruction or mere pandering to far right evangelists? How could anyone who lives in the twenty-first century vote for this new wave of mid-evil republican party platform?
I am still concerned that he has core values--his uncritical Mormonism--and for him, nothing else has anything at all to do with 'truth.' Lie, change is mind, etc. It doesn't count, in his eyes, because the only truth is his religious truth.
Romney cannot correspond to his "core" values because he is a republican and to be this means to eliminate diversity and moderation from the rhetoric. I hope that there is a mobilization of women in this country recognizing the utter betrayel of women for their healthcare and most important reproductive rights. Why MUST we go backward? The religous right will never stop trying to take away rather than support anyone who is not white or male.
It looks like the right wing extremists are getting even more relentless.
Just spotted this proposed new law in Arizona that would allow employers to fire a woman for using birth control. I guess they thought if a woman proposed the bill it would seem less toxic. :
Fired For Using Birth Control? It Could Be Possible In Arizona
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/03/13/fired-for-using-birth-control-it-could-be-possible-in-arizona/
Excerpt:
"A proposed law in Arizona could give employers the right to fire women who use birth control. The bill, which sailed right through the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee, grants employers the right to ask for proof that contraceptives are being taken for non-contraceptive reasons.
Oh you are @!$%#ing kidding me
It is important that women across the United States hear the fact that the Republican candidates for President all are in favor of restricting women's access to adequate health care. Moreover, they favor policies that restrict women's rights to govern their own bodies. Exit polling from voters in the primaries in Mississippi and Alabama suggest that many women and men have not yet learned the truth of theses policies. Many are trying to prevent voters finding out what the candidates believe about women's rights. It will be necessary to counter these actions by a vigorous campaign to make the true positions of Candidates Romney, Santorum and Gingrich widely discussed and well known by all.
That interview is longer than what is shown in the video above.
Poor Rmoney! The vulture capitalist he used to be is so fake today that he is trying to position himself on the far right of Rick Santorum, meaning the precipice. He thought that he was going to fool the right-wingers in the red deep south: he failed after spending over $3.2M in attack ads on Santorum who spent $0.00.
I still would like to know the reason why the republicans are waging a war on women??? I would like to know how much of the deficit will Mitt Rmoney reduce by defunding Planned Parenthood or as he said in the video, getting rid of it? He said that he was against women using contraceptives; he flip-flopped on that though. He supported Mississippi's proposition 26 that bans birth control for women.
Mitt Rmoney would cut the subsidies to Amtrak (mean of transportation to hundreds of thousands of poor people), but he will keep them for the oil industry (that made over $137B in profits this past year). He will also increase the tax cuts to himself and the other 1% wealthy, including football teams owners and race-car teams owners.
There is absolutely noway this clown can be elected POTUS, not even a fake president.
Sorry, but I just don't get it. Preventive health care is the fiscally more responsible position. Doesn't Planned Parenthood fall under that catagory? Aren't the 'Conservatives' supposed to be in favor of fiscal responsibility instead of extremist, psuedo religiosity?
Your single quotes around Conservatives is telling. Real conservatives would be for Planned Parenthood for the very reason you cite: fiscal responsibility.
As governor, he was a moderate. That should be the main thing we evaluate - his record as governor. If he's in denial about that, then he has no business running for president. He's a sham and it's all caught on video.
He has no business running for President regardless of how he conducted the Governship of Massachusetts.
Someone has got to ask this man in a very public interview that if he is going to stop funding Planned Parenthood, what kind of law he will instate to curb the sexual desire of promiscuous men so they wait until they are married before having sex. Purity balls for boys and their moms?
Perhaps Mitt's core value is not having a core value.
Willard flip-flopped? REALLY?!?
I am SHOCKED.
Perhaps, Mitt's core value is not having a core value.
Or, maybe he is missing a core?
For the life of me, I cannot figure out why a man, born to privilege and raised to top positions in the Morman religion would spend the minimum of five years daily slugging it out to become president of the United States? There have to be easier routes to fame, and perhaps not all of these routes would insist on his losing his soul on the quest. Every time I see him I shake my head in amazement. What is this all about?
Power.
Or at least the perception of power.
Raised to top positions in the Mormon religion? A stake president is a leadership position, but it's not a 'top position'. Either way, he was never paid for his service in the Mormon church. None of the clergy are.
My question is, how do you pivot from some of these extreme positions? I think he is just counting on Americans short attention span at this point. I am typically a conservative, but the Christian right have highjacked this party and I can't vote for any of these guys. Gee, are we heading towards Civil War II? :(
I hate abortions!
....incidentally, no birth control for you
How is it that these people get away w/ these blatantly contradictory positions? If you or I were so contradictory in our beliefs we'd be in a psych ward. But Willard gets to run for POTUS? Wake me up when this is all over....