Foster care

The foster care system is top priority now. Greg Abbott was called upon by Sen. Charles Schwertner to add issues to a list to be discussed during the first 60 days of the 85th legislative session. There are many issues with foster care and protective services in Texas that are often looked over. Many children don't have a place to sleep and there have been cases of children dying in the system. Schwertner said "If this doesn't qualify as an emergency, frankly, I don't know what does." and I couldn't agree more, I think it's about time they start making changes to the foster care system. Some of the points they are going to focus on are accountability, prevention and early intervention.

Stage Five

Mike Pence, the tie breaker. Because of his vote Planned Parenthood may no longer be funded by federal money. States now have control over what organizations they want to fund. This new bill over turns one of former President Barrack Obama’s last bills, as it let states deny family planning funds to an organization only if it is incapable of proving services. It seems to me that the only thing republicans are worried about are abortions. President Trump offered to maintain the federal funding to Planned Parenthood only if they stopped providing abortions. Federal money is not allowed to be used on abortions, so technically that would do no good. He’s taking away basic health care for around four-hundred thousand women. It is completely contradictory and irrational to say that one is for women’s health, birth control, cancer screenings and preventative care, but then defund the organization that provides all of those services. CBS News states that “Most recipients are women, and two-thirds have incomes at or below the federal poverty level, around $12,000 for an individual. Six in 10 say the program’s services are their only or most frequent source of health care.” So let’s stop thinking only about the abortions and lets stats considering all of the good Planned Parenthood brings to those in need.

Stage Four

In his article, Obamacare can’t be ‘fixed’, Larry Elder states that health insurance shouldn’t be able to accept people with pre-existing health issues because it would destroy the whole concept of insurance; it is about covering people for possible unknown risks not pre-existing ones. I have to disagree, I think insurance companies should accept all people, how could you turn down someone when they need it the most? Elders post was directed towards democrats to explain why the health care restrictions are wrong and how he thinks they should be. He thinks that it was a “commodity”, something that can be bought or traded and should not be free to anyone, he compares it to cars, sweaters and smartphones.

Trump order mucks up the regulatory process

President Trump issued an executive order for agencies to get rid of two regulations for every one regulation they want to adopt. Meaning there is going to be fewer regulations to protect the citizens from health and safety issues. This article states that it will affect worker-safety standards, pollution limitations and consumer-fraud restrictions. The order is not going to affect the people immediately, it's going to cost agencies millions of dollars and a lot of time, even though they have promised it will save money. I would have to agree with the authors of this article, Thomas O. McGarity and Sidney A. Shapiro; it doesn't seem like the right way to go about making a positive change for businesses or the people. The authors certainly know what they are talking about as Thomas O. McGarity is a leading scholar in the fields of both administrative law and environmental law, and Sidney A. Shapiro is one of the country’s leading experts in administrative procedure and regulatory policy. Their aim is to inform the people about how this order will affect everyone day to day and how they think it is basically a waste of time and money.

Blog Stage 2

I was really moved by a blog posted on http://www.inthepinktexas.com/ by Eileen Smith. She writes to her three year old daughter about how ashamed she is that Trump won the election, and how she did everything in her power to not let that happen. She mentions how incredible it would have been to have her experience the first black president and the first woman president back to back. She wants to her to know that women can do anything and overcome sexism, but can't fully explain what that is to her yet. She said that she did the right thing, but "..now more than ever we have to fight. Fight for women’s rights, civil rights, gay rights, equal rights for all regardless of color, ethnicity, race, gender, sexual preference, religion. We have to fight for everything this man will almost certainly try to take away." This was a pretty short blog post, but I found it sweet and very inspirational.

Hello!

Hello friends!