Price, who serves as the fifth ranking Republican in the House, made the comments to ThinkProgress this morning at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. Like virtually all Republicans in Congress, he opposes the recent Obama administration rule requiring employers and insurers to offer birth control at no cost.

We asked Price, who is a medical doctor by trade, what he would say to low-income women who can’t afford birth control if it’s not covered by their insurance policies. Price responded by denying their very existence. “Bring me one woman who has been left behind,” he demanded. “Bring me one. There’s not one”:

KEYES: Obviously one of the main sticking points is whether or not contraception coverage is going to be covered health insurance plans and at hospitals and whether or not they’re going to be able to pay for it, especially for low-income women. Where do we leave these women if this rule is rescinded?

PRICE: Bring me one woman who has been left behind. Bring me one. There’s not one. The fact of the matter is, this is a trampling of religious freedom and religious liberty in this country. The president does not have the power to say that your First Amendment rights go away. That’s wrong.

In fact, there are tens of millions of women in the United States who have struggled to afford or don’t have access to contraception. A recent Hart Research survey found that one in three women voters have struggled to afford prescription birth control, including 55 percent of young women aged 18 to 34.

Fortunately, the Obama administration has moved to help these women by requiring insurers to provide birth control at no charge, a move that Price vehemently opposes.

Chester Brown (left)

Chester Brown, a high school senior in Hinesville, Georgia decided in July that he would play his college football at Georgia. Brown was so excited to play for the Bulldogs that he had the date of his commitment tattooed on his arm. But last week, Brown, the son of Samoan immigrants, abruptly announced that he was withdrawing his commitment, a decision that was likely due to an anti-immigrant policy adopted by the Georgia state college and university system in 2010, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

However, a variety of people with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to the AJC on Tuesday that Brown’s change of heart was because his admissions application to UGA was rejected because of a controversial Board of Regents policy that was adopted in October 2010.

That policy…states that an undocumented student can’t take the seat of an otherwise academically qualified Georgia resident who has been turned away because of capacity constraints.

The policy that may ultimately keep Brown from playing football at Georgia states, “A person who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible for admission to any University System institution which, for the two most recent academic years, did not admit all academically qualified applicants (except for cases in which applicants were rejected for non-academic reasons).” It was instituted in 2010 after the state Board of Regents, which oversees state colleges and universities, found that less than a hundredth of a percent of students — 521 of roughly 311,000 — were undocumented. Within the 511 was a “smaller subset” of students that were considered “illegal,” according to the AJC.

Brown’s mother “insists that he was born in the United States,” but the family lacks documentation to prove it. There is, however, still a chance Brown could realize his dream of becoming a Bulldog. His high school principal has been in contact with both admissions officials and immigration attorneys in attempts to help Brown gain admission.

Examples on the worksheet included “Each tree had 56 oranges. If 8 slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?” and “If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in 1 week?” Officials said teachers were trying to incorporate history into the math lesson as part of a cross-curricular activity based on a book the students had read about abolitionist Frederick Douglass. “Clearly, they did not do as good of a job as they should have done,” district spokeswoman Sloan Roach told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Roach said the school’s principal, Jose DeJesus, was collecting the assignments so they wouldn’t be circulated. She said the teachers were not intentionally trying to offend the students with the questions.

“It was just a poorly written question,” Roach said.

Under district policy, the worksheet should have been reviewed before being handed out to students, but that process was not followed in this situation. District officials said they would work with math teachers to come up with more appropriate questions. [...]

Parents told Channel 2 Action News, a reporting partner of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that they were shocked that the assignment was dispersed to their children.

“It kind of blew me away,” Christopher Braxton, the father of a Beaver Ridge student, told Channel 2. “I was furious. … Something like this shouldn’t be embedded into a kid of the third, fourth, fifth, any grade.”

Braxton told FOX 5 that the questions were “at best, the questions were callous and, at worst, racist.” Roach said the questions would not be used again.

She told the AJC that she was not sure if the teachers and staff at Beaver Ridge Elementary had received diversity training recently. At the school, 62 percent of the students are Hispanic or Latino, 24 percent are black or African-American, and 5 percent are white, with 87 percent of the students qualifying for free or reduced lunch.

State Rep. Judy Manning (R-GA)

The same day, after her remarks were widely circulated in the media, Manning apologized for her comments on the Mormon faith and Romney, writing on her Facebook wall that she made a “terrible mistake” with her “reckless words.” She also apologized for “offending people of Mormon faith“:

I have made a terrible mistake with my reckless words. In an attempt to compare Romney and Obama, a seasoned reported manipulated my comparison using verbal judo and made my choice for a Republican Presidential candidate appear to be motivated by religion.

NOT SO! I am supporting Newt Gingrich because he is the smartest, most qualified man for the job. [...] While I believe Newt Gingrich is the best choice for President, I can assure you, I will be supporting whomever wins the support of Republican America on the ballot in 2012. Elizabeth Kubler Ross said, “I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.” These are words to live by. I sincerely apologize to Mitt Romney and for offending people of Mormon faith.

Manning should be lauded for admitting that her words on the Mormon faith were “reckless” and wrong. However, it is notable that she did not apologize for attacking Islam. If she truly wants to repent for using her position as a public official to discriminate against Americans of different religions, she should also apologize to American Muslims for decrying their faith.

State Rep. Judy Manning (R-GA)

A Marietta Daily Journal story published yesterday demonstrates the bigotry that Romney may have to overcome. The Journal quotes Republican state Rep. Judy Manning saying that she’s scared of Romney’s Mormon faith. But at least he’s “better than a Muslim”:

“I think Mitt Romney is a nice man, but I’m afraid of his Mormon faith,” Manning said. “It’s better than a Muslim. Of course, every time you look at the TV these days you find an ad on there telling us how normal they are. So why do they have to put ads on the TV just to convince us that they’re normal if they are normal? … If the Mormon faith adhered to a past philosophy of pluralism, multi-wives, that doesn’t follow the Christian faith of one man and one woman, and that concerns me.”

Manning’s criticism of Romney’s faith and her attack on Islam as an even more inferior religion — in addition to other comments she has made against LGBT rights — demonstrates an important point. Progressives and others who oppose bigotry and preach tolerance must denounce discrimination of every kind, not just because all discrimination is wrong, but because validating discrimination against one group can lead to increased discrimination against other groups in the future. (HT: @GregFrayser)

Activists protesting a foreclosure auction.

Today Occupy Atlanta and Occupy Gwinnett successfully disrupted foreclosure auctions in three metro counties, Fulton, DeKalb, and Gwinnett, by shouting, blowing whistles, and drumming until the auctions were forced to move. In DeKalb and Gwinnett police asked the protesters to disperse; in Fulton the police stood by while speculators assaulted several protesters by punching, elbowing and shoving them. None of the assailants were arrested; however, Occupy Atlanta participant Ron Allen was arrested for having a bullhorn. He was carried away chanting “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out.”

At 10:30 a.m. Civil Rights hero and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient the Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery spoke from the Fulton County Courthouse steps, calling for a six- to nine-month moratorium on foreclosures and for property values to be assessed in order to bring all mortgages above water. He said the banks must start helping poor people or expect communities to withdraw support from the banks. Watch video of Lowery addressing protesters:

At 3 p.m., Occupy Atlanta held a press conference at the home of Valerie Pitman in Atlanta’s Old 4th Ward neighborhood. Her mother, who recently passed away, was the victim of predatory lending which left the family’s home under threat of immediate foreclosure. State Sen. Vincent Fort spoke, saying, “I don’t want to thank Occupy Atlanta like they are something distant. We are Occupy Atlanta. We wouldn’t let you steal a house from a 103 year old woman, and we won’t let you foreclose on this family.”

At 7 p.m., Joe Beasley, Fort, Brigitte Walker, and her partner Ajai all spoke passionately about the need to address the foreclosure crisis in general and the needs of disabled veterans in particular while at the Riverdale home of Walker, who is a disabled veteran.

Ovidio and Domitina Mendez’s lost their five children to foster care when the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services arrived at their home claimed the kids were malnourished. The couple, who are both undocumented immigrants from Guatemala, says they did everything the child welfare agency asked them to do to get their kids back. But three years later, the children are still in foster care with strangers. Why? Because they are undocumented immigrants who speak Spanish, according to advocates.

A recent study by the Applied Research Center revealed that at least 5,100 children are languishing in America’s foster care system because their immigrant parents were detained or deported. But the report also found that even when undocumented parents are not detained or deported, they face bias in the child welfare system as a result of cultural and language discrimination.

For instance, at the June hearing that terminated the Mendez’s parental rights, they were peppered with seemingly irrelevant questions about their English-speaking ability and immigration status. “Describe for the court why even three years after [the children went into the state’s custody] you cannot speak English without an interpreter,” asked Bruce Kling, special assistant attorney general for Whitfield County Department of Family and Children’s Service.

The state also argued that the Mendezes’ should not regain custody because, as undocumented immigrants, they could not attain driver’s licenses and therefore couldn’t transport their children. ARC found that many county child welfare departments give this justification for why undocumented parents can’t be trusted as caregivers.

The suggestion that undocumented immigrants are unfit parents (usually for reasons related to their poverty) is often used to separate them from their children. But children then remain in foster care because of the barriers that undocumented mothers and fathers face in trying to regain custody. Parents’ undocumented status also works against them by preventing them from accessing state services that would enable them to better provide for their children.

Wal-Mart is facing stiff opposition from Athens residents.

Yesterday, Occupy Athens, Edwards, and the thousands of Athens residents who signed a petition assembled by Edwards against the Wal-Mart’s construction won a small victory. Two Athens-Clarke County commissions, Alice Kinman and Kelly Girtz placed a 90-day hold on the construction “under a local law that allows the commission to stop historic buildings from being torn down.” Girtz explained that the hold will give everyone “breathing room” to discuss the retail development.

“I strongly suggest we email Alice Kinman and Kelly Girtz and thank them for their action. We have long said that the commissioners have courses of actions than can be taken. Thanking them would show good faith,” writes Georgia Politico’s Dustin Baker, noting the following e-mail addresses for the two commissioners: kelly.girtz@athensclarkecounty.com and alice.kinman@athensclarkecounty.com. Meanwhile, Edwards’s petition against the construction has reached almost 15,000 signatures.

It should be noted that there are already two Wal-Mart locations in the city of Athens that are fully accessible to residents.

Judge Blackmon has no tolerance for bailed-out banks.

Judge Dennis Blackmon of the Superior Court of Carroll County, Georgia, stood proudly for the 99 Percent earlier this month when he released an opinion siding against U.S. Bank and for homeowner Otis Phillips in a foreclosure case where Phillips was suing the bank for violating its agreements.

He started his opinion by saying that sometimes only the courts can protect taxpayers, and that sometimes “is now” and the place is the “Great State of Georgia.” The judge then went on to point out that U.S. Bank received 20 billion dollars of taxpayer cash as a part of the financial bailouts and participated in the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) while offering no meaningful help for the homeowner in this case.

Blackmon blasted U.S. Bank for failing to approve a HAMP modification for Phillips, saying that if he did not qualify for the modifications that the bank could’ve shown this with actual documentation, which they failed to do. The judge jokes that maybe the bank ran out of the 20 billion dollars of taxpayer funds it received so it didn’t have the ink to do so. Read Blackmon’s full opinion denying U.S. Bank:

Us Bank Opinion

Prisoners held in this remote facility depend on the prison’s phones to communicate with their lawyers and loved ones. Exploiting inmates’ need, CCA charges detainees here $5 per minute to make phone calls. Yet the prison only pays inmates who work at the facility $1 a day. At that rate, it would take five days to pay for just one minute.

Watch this report on the conditions Stewart detainees face:

CCA’s abuse doesn’t stop at outrageously priced phone services. One woman reported that her diabetic husband does not receive enough food, so she has to deposit money for him to buy more. Occupy Nashville recently protested outside of the company by holding a “human auction” to illustrate how CCA profits off of human suffering.

As Alternet points out, in the past few years, CCA has spent $14.8 million “lobbying for anti-immigration laws to ensure they have continuous access to fresh inmates and keep their money racket going.” Recent anti-immigration laws in Alabama and Georgia keep their facilities full and CCA profits high.

Since more prisoners translate into more profit, private prisons like CCA continually push lawmakers to enact harsher policies and longer sentences, according to a report by Justice Policy Institute (JPI).

Georgia Democratic Party Treasurer Russell Edwards

Yesterday, Russell Edwards, the Georgia Democratic Party’s Treasurer and co-host of True South Radio, attended a meeting of Occupy Athens in the town where the University of Georgia, the state’s largest university, is based. Edwards, an attorney, offered to defend anyone who was arrested pro bono and encouraged everyone there to move their money from big banks to local community banks or credit unions. He also destroyed his Bank of America card in front of the audience:

EDWARDS: My name is Russell Edwards. I am a practicing attorney. My office is right between Taco Stand and 5 Star Day. If anyone in Occupy Athens gets arrested, I will provide my services and glad and proudly represent them pro bono. This is the last thing I will say before I leave and the last act I have in my hand a [expletive] Bank of America card. And I will now destroy it. I am sorry of my obscene language. I apologize to the children present. My choice word reflects my severe frustration with the big banks in this country, with the serves they DO NOT provide the people and the utter greed that they have shown again and again. It is time for all of us to our money away form them. Take your money out of the big banks, give it to the small community banks – or better yet, the credit unions.

Watch Edward’s appearance in the following recording (it appears at the end):

Edwards is one of the highest-ranking Democratic Party officials to appear at one of the occupations and declare his support for the 99 Percent by disavowing a big bank.

Last week, Tawanna Rorey’s husband, a police officer based in Gwinnett County, e-mailed Occupy Atlanta to explain that his home was going to be foreclosed on and his family was in danger of being evicted on Monday. So within a few hours Occupy Atlanta developed an action plan to move to Snellville, Georgia on Monday to stop the foreclosure. At least two dozen protesters encamped on the family’s lawn, to the applause of neighbors and bystanders:

Nearly two dozen protesters assembled Monday afternoon at Tawanna Rorey’s four-bedroom home in a neighborhood just south of Snellville, clogging the narrow, winding street that runs in front of the house with cars, vans and TV trucks. Many neighbors stopped to gawk at the spectacle and even honked their car horns in support of the crowd. [...] [The protesters] set up two tents in the front yard, draped a “This Home is Occupied” sign over the porch railing and handed out bottled water and granola bars to other members.

A local CBS station filed a report about the new occupation. Watch it:

The Sheriff’s Department did not come to evict the Roreys that day. A spokesman for the department told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the foreclosure process is still ongoing and that it has not scheduled an eviction. “It’s a good cause,” said Diona Murray, one of the Roreys’ neighbors, about the occupation. “If we don’t take a stand, who will?”

CNN's Erick Erickson, editor of RedState

In a document filed with the Northern District of Georgia, parts of the transcript of the alleged domestic terrorists were released. “There is no way for us, as militiamen, to save this country, to save Georgia, without doing something that’s highly, highly illegal: murder,” said one of the accused terrorists, Frederick Thomas. Thomas also planned to target the ATF and the IRS. “We’d have to blow the whole building like Timothy McVeigh,” said Thomas, according to the Associated Press. The AP also notes that court documents accused Samuel Crump, a co-conspirator, of suggesting ricin could be “dropped from an airplane or blown out of a car along an interstate highway to attack people in Washington, Newark, NJ, Jacksonville, FL, Atlanta and New Orleans.”

Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a broader picture of the four men accused of the terror plan. Dustin Baker at the blog GAPolitico flags one important part of the AJC story: that accused terrorist Fred Thomas blogged on RedState.com, the website edited by CNN’s Erick Erickson. The Thomas blog post highlighted by Baker and AJC revealed that at one point, he did not “advocate a general rebellion against the U.S. Government for cause,” but seemed conflicted about the idea of violent revolution. Something apparently changed between that unpromoted post, published in July of 2008 and this year, when the alleged plot began taking shape.

A ThinkProgress examination of Thomas’s online writing in the following years shows that the alleged terrorist grew more and more upset, and expressed sympathy with the anti-Obama conspiracies posted on RedState. Last year, he posted a comment to a popular RedState post about the evils of health reform. Thomas claimed that the “ObummerCare Bill” not only “won’t be forgiven,” but will lead to “TYRANNY of the worst order” and “civil war.” (view a screenshot of the comment here)

The other blog Thomas mentions in his RedState comment is apparently the militia website run by Mike Vanderboegh, who gained infamy for calling for violence over the health reform bill and for writing an online series advocating a new civil war against President Obama. ThinkProgress has covered Vanderboegh, who recently signed up as a commentator for Fox News, here and here.

Thomas posted other comments on RedState, and indicated he was a regular reader. In one comment, Thomas asked how to gain promoted posts on the website, to which RedState editor Neil Stevens responded with a link and suggestion on the guidelines (view a screenshot here).

As GAPolitico notes, RedState editor Erick Erickson has a long history of fostering a blog filled with violent rhetoric and unhinged conspiracy theories. Earlier this year, Erickson suggested that “mass bloodshed” may be necessary if Roe v. Wade isn’t overturned, as Media Matters reported. During the health reform debate, when Thomas was an apparent fan of the site, Erickson promoted the debunked “death panels” smear, that health reform would give Obama the power to kill his political opponents and the elderly.

Erickson is not responsible for every comment left on his site, and he has no connection at all to the alleged terrorist plot in Georgia. His RedState website’s rhetoric of health reform “tyranny” and calls for violence, however, were embraced by at least one of the alleged conspirators.