There are two gun wars. One occurs on the urban streets of New York, Chicago, Washington, DC and other urban cities around the country. Another gun war occurs in small towns, small cities and on college campuses in places like Auora, Colorado, Virginia Tech University, Tucson, Arizona and Newtown, Connecticut. Regardless of where the gun war is taking place, the end result is the same—people are being killed at an alarming rate and in large numbers. Gun legislation has been proposed in Congress and the Senate to address the gun issue. President Obama speaks of the urgency and need to curb gun violence. One thing is for sure if we do nothing, nothing different will happen. People will continue to be killed. The question is what should we need to do. The two wars are not fought in the same way. The urban war involves hand guns and the other war involves assault weapons and massive gun cartridges. The urban war is usually targeted against people of color. The small town war is … [Read more...] about Two Gun Wars Exist and More Than One Solution is Needed
Archives for March 2013
A Woman Leads the Fight for Marriage Equality
Women continue to make history and lead from Julia Pearson, the first woman appointed by President Obama to ever lead the Secret Service, the first woman to head the national clandestine service unit of the CIA to Edie Windsor, the 83 year old woman whose case is leading the Supreme Court and the country to marriage equality. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard the case of Edie Windsor who filed a lawsuit alleging the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional as it denied her federal estate tax benefits when her spouse died. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) defines marriage as between one man and one wife. In doing so, it makes clear that only heterosexual couples can receive federal benefits whether tax benefits, social security or military benefits. In all, there may be about 1000 federal benefits denied to same sex couples over their heterosexual married friends. Edie was not able to receive the estate tax benefits afforded marriage couples under DOMA. She sued and … [Read more...] about A Woman Leads the Fight for Marriage Equality
A Glance Back at Women’s History Month
Today, towards the end of Women’s History month, President Obama announced a national monument in Maryland in honor of abolitionist and freed slave Harriet Tubman. Tubman who was born in Maryland helped to free hundreds of slave without ever losing one. She embodies the symbol of freedom and the risks involved to fight for freedom. The monument will be called the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Monument to commemorate the woman who was responsible for helping slaves to reach freedom while risking her life in the process. The new national park in her memory and its monument are located on Maryland’s Eastern shore. Midway through Women’s History month, the topic of rape and sexual violence against women was the center of focus in many media outlets. The Steubenville, Ohio rape case concluded with the judge finding the two teenagers, Trent Mays and Ma’Lik Richmond responsible for raping a 16 year old girl known as “Jane Doe”. The trial was significant because most of the … [Read more...] about A Glance Back at Women’s History Month
Affordable Care Act Turns Three
The Affordable Care Act known as Obamacare turns three years old. On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, helping millions of Americans to gain access to affordable health insurance coverage. Despite the Republican controlled Congress’ efforts to block the law, prevent it from being fully implemented in states or threatening to deny state’s funding, it is the law. Republicans have voted more than 35 times to repeal health care reform, according to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D. FL). And despite the Supreme Court upholding the law in 2012, just this week, Michele Bachmann, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan vowed to continue the fight to repeal it. Some major employers are still fighting against the law by reducing employees' hours to skirt around the law. Democrats are still fighting across the country to keep Republicans out of office, who vow to continue fights against health care reform The Affordable Care Act, known as health care reform, has … [Read more...] about Affordable Care Act Turns Three
CVS’ New Health Policy is not Fooling Anyone
Ever since the Affordable Care Act was passed, some employers have been trying to find a way to circumvent it. Your neighborhood pharmacy Rhode Island based CVS has a new health insurance initiative aimed at the privacy of its employees. CVS’ new policy requires that its employees must see a doctor and provide weight and height information to an independent third party provider, WebMD or face a penalty of fine of $50 per month. CVS is also requiring that its employees with health insurance stop smoking or enter a smoke cessation program. Now just about everyone was outraged over Mayor Bloomberg’s law on limiting drinks larger than 16 ounces. An employer somehow having access to personal health information of its employees smacks of a clear privacy invasion. And even though CVS says it will not be privy to the information, I doubt if any of the employees believe it. And they would have good reason to disbelieve it. Employers who are having to provide health insurance under the … [Read more...] about CVS’ New Health Policy is not Fooling Anyone
Arizona Voting Law Heard by Supreme Court
Voting law cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court are coming fast and furious. Last month, the court heard argument on whether to drop Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. On Monday, the Supreme Court justices heard the Arizona voting law case of whether Arizona may add an additional requirement to the federal law on registering voters. It is not a voter fraud or voter ID case. This case hinges on Arizona law that requires a first time voter registrant must provide proof of citizenship. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate federal elections. Under the National Voter Registration Act (“NVRA”), the federal law for federal elections requires that a voter must only complete a form attesting under penalty of perjury that he or she is a U.S. citizen. Nothing else is required. Arizona’s law attempts to interfere with the federal regulation of federal elections. In most circumstances, a state law may not interfere with a federal one. And the previous … [Read more...] about Arizona Voting Law Heard by Supreme Court