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REPORT: U.S. Funding ‘Of Critical Importance’ To Solving AIDS Crisis

By Zack Beauchamp on Jul 19, 2012 at 7:20 pm

An HIV awareness sign in Zambia.

The U.N. yesterday released its most recent research on the global AIDS epidemic. While 34.2 million people are still living with HIV, the report has some positive news — the spread of the virus is slowing, and American assistance is playing a key role:

During this difficult economic period, the leading contribution of the United States of America to the global AIDS response remains strong. Through the individual compassion and collective commitment of the American people, the United States has saved millions of lives around the world over many years. In 2003, when only about 100 000 people in sub-Saharan Africa had access to treatment and the goal of extending HIV treatment to people in low- and middle-income countries seemed beyond reach, the United States launched the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Last year, with the support of PEPFAR and other international funding sources – including through the Global Fund and domestic programmes – nearly 6.2 million people were receiving HIV treatment in Africa. In 2011, the United States continued to provide 48% of all international assistance for the global HIV response.

The PEPFAR program – a major initiative of the George W. Bush Administration – has been buoyed by a raft of favorable evidence, the U.N. being only the most recent. PEPFAR countries have seen significantly larger declines in death rates than similar non-PEPFAR states. The program “supported more than 4 million orphans and vulnerable children in 2011 alone” and has been described in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet as “the largest and most successful bilateral HIV/AIDS programme worldwide.”

During a Town Hall event last year, Mitt Romney said “I’m very reluctant to borrow lots more money” to support the PEPFAR program and suggested a preference for private charity instead. American charitable donations to HIV/AIDS issues decreased by 7 percent in 2010, to a total of $459 million. PEPFAR, by contrast, is funded to the tune of $4.23 billion.

Romney is not alone in the GOP — a number of prominent Republicans have called for an end to American foreign aid, which of course includes many more valuable programs in addition to funding for the global fight against HIV/AIDS.

Economy

New Republican Tax Plan Eliminates $11 Billion In Tax Credits For Working Families

By Jeff Spross on Jul 19, 2012 at 6:45 pm

From left to right: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Among the many other policies it enacted, 2009′s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (a.k.a. the stimulus) included provisions that provided over $11 billion in tax credits to low and moderate-income families. These policies were extended late last year, but the new Republican tax plan introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would allow them to expire at the end of 2012. A new report from Citizens for Tax Justice breaks down the details:

The child tax credit: The ARRA dropped the amount of income a household must earn to qualify for this credit — which provides any household as much as $1,000 per child — from $12,500 down to $3,000. The Hatch-McConnell plan would let this extension expire, jacking up the threshold to $13,300 next year. This would deny 8.9 million working families, with 16.4 million children, a total of $7.6 billion in assistance for 2013 alone.

The Earned Income Tax Credit: Most families that qualify for this credit have at least one child. The ARRA increased it specifically for families with three or more children, from 40 percent to 45 percent of their qualifying income. Above a certain level of income, the credit phases out, but the ARRA also pushed that phase-out back to a higher level for married couples. The Hatch-McConnell plan would allow both of these changes to expire as well, for a total loss of $3.4 billion for 6.5 million families with 15.9 million children.

Virtually all of the money from these tax credits go to families earning less than $50,000 a year. They provide a total of $11.1 billion to 13.1 million working families with 25.7 million children. And they would all be scrapped should the GOP tax plan go into effect.

Security

Bachmann Stands By Widely Condemned Islamophobic Attack, Finds Ally In Glenn Beck

By Igor Volsky on Jul 19, 2012 at 6:27 pm

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is doubling down on her Islamaphobic attacks against a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, even as a growing number of Republicans are repudiating Bachmann’s charges as “nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen.”

During an appearance on Glenn Beck’s radio show on Thursday, Bachmann reiterated her suspicions that Clinton’s deputy chief of staff, Huma Abedin, has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, noting, “her late father who’s now deceased was a part of the Muslim Brotherhood. Her brother was a part of the Muslim Brotherhood, and her mother was a part of what’s called the Muslim Sisterhood.” Earlier this week, Bachmann accused Abedin of working on behalf of the Muslim Brotherhood in a letter with four colleagues to the State Department’s Inspector General demanding an investigation.

“[D]id she have to go through the same sort of process that anyone else has to go to,” Bachmann asked. “Did they check the boxes…That’s all we’re doing is asking a question.”

Bachmann also tore into her colleague from Minnesota, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) — one of two Muslim Representatives in Congress — and complained that he is obstructing her request for an investigation into Abedin’s alleged connections to the terrorist organization:

BECK: Okay. So when you wrote this letter, then Keith Ellison comes out. And Keith Ellison is ‑‑ he has a record of being the Mafia hitman.

BACHMANN: Well, he has a long record of being associated with CAIR and with the Muslim Brotherhood. CAIR is an unindicted co‑conspirator, as stated in the large terrorist financing case that we’ve had in the United States of America and so he came out and essentially wanted to shut down the inspectors general from even looking into any of the questions that we were asking. [...]

We’re asking that the inspectors general answer these questions, and Keith Ellison is trying to shut this, these questions down from getting addressed.

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Scott Brown (R-MA) have all condemned Bachmann’s charges, which some have suspected are being used for fundraising purposes.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) also condemned Bachmann’s remarks on Thursday, noting, “I don’t know Huma, but from everything I do know of her, she has a sterling character. And I think accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous.”

NEWS FLASH

$80 Million In Grants To Fund HIV/AIDS Care Will End State Waiting Lists | Ahead of the International HIV/AIDS Conference, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced nearly $80 million in grants to ensure that low-income people living with HIV/AIDS have access to health care and medication. About $69 million will fund the Ryan White AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) in 25 states, which should eliminate any waiting lists. An additional $10 million will go to community health clinics nationwide to expand access to 14,000 new patients. In the 2013 budget proposal released in February, the Obama administration called for $75 million for ADAP to end the state waiting lists.

By Amanda Peterson Beadle on Jul 19, 2012 at 5:55 pm

NEWS FLASH

Right-Wing Daily Caller Denounces GOP Anti-Muslim Sentiment | In an op-ed for the right-wing website Daily Caller, blogger Tom Rogan denounced Rep. Michele Bachmann’s (R-MN) anti-Muslim witch-hunt and wider Islamophobic sentiment in the GOP ranks. Bachmann’s attack was “unjustified (based on a report written by a wacko), immoral and symptomatic of a casual and idiotic anti-Islamic sentiment that has crept into Republican dialogue.” he wrote. Describing a litany of Republican and conservative involvement in anti-Muslim activism — something others have avoided — Rogan added: “This casual, stupid and extreme anti-Islamic sentiment has no place in the Republican Party.” He lauds Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) repudiation of Bachmann’s attacks (House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and others distanced themselves, too). The “wacko” comment refers to the progenitor of GOP Islamophobia, Frank Gaffney.

By Ali Gharib on Jul 19, 2012 at 5:54 pm

NEWS FLASH

Defense Department: Soldiers Can March In Uniform In San Diego Pride Parade | Today, the Department of Defense announced that all active duty military may march in uniform at Saturday’s San Diego Pride Parade. “Based on our current knowledge of the event and existing policies, we hereby are granting approval for service members in uniform to participate in this year’s parade,” a memo from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense explained. Hundreds of active-duty service members have been planning to march in uniform at the parade, but were uncertain how many would get approval by their branch of service to do so. “San Diego Pride is honored to have the privilege of celebrating our country and our servicemembers with dignity and respect,” said San Diego LGBT Pride Executive Director Dwayne Crenshaw. “The fight for equality is not over and it is not easy, but this is a giant leap in the right direction.”

– Ben Sherman

By Guest Blogger on Jul 19, 2012 at 5:50 pm

Climate Progress

Have U.S. CO2 Emissions Peaked (As We Predicted)? Breaking Down The Good And Bad Drivers

By Joe Romm and Climate Guest Blogger on Jul 19, 2012 at 5:45 pm

JR: Back in May 2009, Climate Progress predicted that U.S. CO2 emissions had peaked (see “I predict U.S. carbon dioxide emissions peaked in 2007!“). Of course, I had been thinking the U.S. would pass the Waxman-Markey climate and clean energy bill putting a price on carbon, “which will lead to steadily declining coal emissions.”

Ironically, one of the reasons I thought the U.S. would pass a climate bill is that, as I wrote the following month, “unconventional natural gas makes the 2020 Waxman-Markey target so damn easy and cheap to meet.” I didn’t imagine natural gas would become so darn cheap it would get us so far to the 2020 target without a carbon price.  I stand by my original prediction, “that U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions will never exceed 2007 levels.”  I believe this country will have a carbon price within a decade, and maybe considerable sooner if we are homo “sapiens” rather than, say, brainless frogs.

Uber-blogger David Roberts has a chart-filled discussion of some key trends underlying the drop in CO2 emissions over the past 5 years — and why few folks outside of the blogosphere are talking about it. It is reprinted in full below with permission.

U.S. leads the world in cutting CO2 emissions — so why aren’t we talking about it?

By David Roberts, via Grist

Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. is making progress on climate change.

We have cut our carbon emissions more than any other country in the world in recent years — 7.7 percent since 2006. U.S. emissions fell 1.9 percent last year and are projected to fall 1.9 percent again this year, which will put us back at 1996 levels. It will not be easy to achieve the reductions Obama promised in Copenhagen — 17 percent (from 2005 levels) by 2020 — but that goal no longer looks out of reach, even in the absence of comprehensive legislation.

Why isn’t this extraordinary story a bigger deal in U.S. politics? You’d think Obama would be boasting about it! Turns out, though, it’s a little awkward for him, since several of the drivers responsible are things for which he can’t (or might not want to) take credit.

Awkward: that whole recession thing

First off there’s the Great Recession, which flattened electricity demand in 2008. It has never recovered — in fact, in part due to 2011′s mild winter, it has even declined slightly:

US electricity consumption, 2000-2011

For obvious reasons, boasting about the environmental benefits of the recession is not something Obama’s eager to do.

Awkward: frack-o-mania

The second big driver is the glut of cheap natural gas, which is currently trading at the 10-year low of about $3 per million British thermal units. This is absolutely crushing coal, the biggest source of CO2 in the electric sector:

The share of U.S. electricity that comes from coal is forecast to fall below 40% for the year, its lowest level since World War II. Four years ago, it was 50%. By the end of this decade, it is likely to be near 30%.

Here’s U.S. electricity generation from 2000-2012. Look how dramatic coal’s recent plunge is:

NEWS FLASH

REPORT: Bottom Half Of American Households Have Just 1 Percent Of Nation’s Wealth | The bottom 50 percent of American households hold just 1.1 percent of the nation’s wealth, after its share declined steadily following the financial crisis, a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found. The richest one percent, meanwhile, hold 34.5 percent of the wealth, as the chart below shows. The top 10 percent’s share of wealth has risen over the last two decades, the report found, but it has fallen for households in every group below that.

(click to enlarge)

Justice

ACLU Sues On Behalf Of PA Man Arrested For Recording Police Officer

By Guest Blogger on Jul 19, 2012 at 5:30 pm

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Pennsylvania resident Gregory Rizer, who was arrested in January for recording a police officer aggressively questioning his quadriplegic friend. The officer also confiscated Rizer’s cell phone.

When Rizer complained to the mayor’s office about the arrest, the Point Marion Police Department arrested him at home and charged him with violating Pennsylvania’s wiretap law, which bans audio recording unless all parties consent. The district attorney has since removed the charges and returned Rizer’s cell phone – without the recording. The ACLU argues that Rizer was within his rights to record the officer because “the state’s Wiretap Act does not apply if the person being recorded does not have a reasonable ‘expectation of privacy.’” ACLU cooperating lawyer Glen Downey explained,

“The explosion of technology that allows almost every citizen to document and record the interactions between police and civilians makes it incumbent that both the officers and those seeking to record them understand that officers cannot shield themselves from public scrutiny by invoking wiretap laws. Police officers performing their official duties do not possess the requisite reasonable expectation of privacy necessary to be covered by the statute.”

There have been reports from across the country of police officers interfering with cell phone recording of their actions. Earlier this month, the New York City Police Department put out a flyer warning against a couple who record “stop-and-frisk” searches in the city. New York’s ACLU chapter released a phone app, “Stop-and-Frisk Watch,” to help New Yorkers hold police officers executing these controversial searches accountable.

Last week, New Jersey’s ACLU chapter released a similar app, “Police Tape,” an Android phone app that allows users to discreetly videotape and record police officers. The app also explains American civil rights and allows users to send recordings to ACLU databases for backup storage.

– Ben Sherman

LGBT

Former NOM Chair Explains How Conservatives Moved The ‘Religious Freedom’ Goalposts On Marriage Equality

By Zack Ford on Jul 19, 2012 at 5:12 pm

Robert George is a significant — though not often visible — force within the anti-equality movement. As the founding chairman of the National Organization for Marriage, co-author of the anti-gay Manhattan Declaration, and a board member of the homophobic and Islamophobic Bradley Foundation, his fingerprints can be found throughout efforts to oppose the freedom to marry. Today at the Witherspoon Institute, another anti-gay think tank with which George is affiliated, he took time to pontificate on the issue of same-sex marriage and “religious freedom,” explaining exactly how those opposed to equality (supporters of “conjugal marriage”) shifted the goalposts on the issue:

The fundamental error made by some supporters of conjugal marriage was and is, I believe, to imagine that a grand bargain could be struck with their opponents: “We will accept the legal redefinition of marriage; you will respect our right to act on our consciences without penalty, discrimination, or civil disabilities of any type. Same-sex partners will get marriage licenses, but no one will be forced for any reason to recognize those marriages or suffer discrimination or disabilities for declining to recognize them.” There was never any hope of such a bargain being accepted.

Perhaps parts of such a bargain would be accepted by liberal forces temporarily for strategic or tactical reasons, as part of the political project of getting marriage redefined; but guarantees of religious liberty and non-discrimination for people who cannot in conscience accept same-sex marriage could then be eroded and eventually removed. After all, “full equality” requires that no quarter be given to the “bigots” who want to engage in “discrimination” (people with a “separate but equal” mindset) in the name of their retrograde religious beliefs. “Dignitarian” harm must be opposed as resolutely as more palpable forms of harm.

Note the conflation George makes between whether or not religious organizations have to recognize same-sex marriage versus whether society as a whole does. Surely he’s not so narrow-minded as to believe that same-sex couples wanted to get married just so that nobody would recognize their unions! Indeed, the whole goal of marriage equality is ensuring that same-sex couples have equal access to both the legal and societal benefits and protections for their relationship and family. It’s quite pompous to believe that gays and lesbians ever offered any sort of “bargain” in which respect was sacrificed for the mere opportunity to sign a piece of paper.

What the LGBT movement has always conceded is that no church should ever have to officiate a wedding that is out of accordance with its beliefs. Otherwise, married same-sex couples should be treated like all married couples throughout society, including recognition by the government, all public accommodations, and all state-subsidized private organizations. But George doesn’t see it that way — he argues that such a simple expectation of equal treatment is actually “discrimination” against the “religious liberty” of individuals like him.

That is the flipped script that conservatives now operate from. There is no room for compromise, accommodation, or “bargain.” They argue that they have a right to treat same-sex couples as second-class citizens no matter how laws may change, and they will surely advocate that odious position for years to come.

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