A GOP-majority House passed the renewal of the Violence Against Women Act... the Democratic version, the one already passed in the Senate... by a vote of 286-138. Obama of course has announced his intention to sign it.
The reversal of the GOP position was probably their only hope of not losing their House majority in 2014: can you imagine a party going into an election in a country in which women have the franchise (though some Republicans would change that if they could), having deliberately defeated renewal of such a law?
Over a period of two decades, VAWA has markedly increased reporting of "domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking," diminished murder by an intimate partner by 34% among women and 57% among men, and "saved taxpayers at least $12.6 billion in net averted social costs." (All numbers from NNEDV.)
Any law that saves lives and dollars in such quantity should never have been a partisan issue in the first place. And it wasn't, for most of two decades... until the GOP morphed into the crazy entity it has become in the past few years, actually since Obama's election in 2008.
One Republican could not resist a bit of "humor" regarding transvaginal ultrasounds: Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) said he couldn't comment on the procedure because... this is a quote... "I haven't had one." What a bastard. Wisconsin women in his district, please take note.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
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