Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the inclusion of hundreds of millions of dollars for family planning services in the stimulus bill yesterday, by arguing that birth control will help the economy. On ABC's This Week Pelosi said:
The family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education, and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those — one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.While Pelosi's comments could come off as characterizing children born to poor families as nothing more than a burden on the government, there could be some logic to her argument. Unplanned pregnancies can level significant financial burdens on parents, who may turn to the government for assistance if they do not have the means. By increasing access to contraception, lower-income families would have the freedom to plan their families just like those with access to contraception. Still, others point out that population growth typically helps economic growth, and in places like Japan, the government actually encourages citizens to have more kid-producing sex.
Do you think Nancy Pelosi's argument that birth control can help the economy is far-fetched?
Marshall Ward
no lord knows the teenagers in the states need access to contraception and protection
1I laughed when I read that headline. 'Birth control will stimulate the economy'. Uh-huh.
2While I agree teens need sex education (not abstence education) and access to contraception and protection, I seriously doubt it will save the economy.
Shouldn't abstinence education be a part of sex education? Shouldn't teens be told flat out that "if you choose to have sex here are the consequences. If you don't want these consequences, don't have sex."??
3"Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the inclusion of hundreds of millions of dollars for family planning services in the stimulus bill yesterday, by arguing that birth control will help the economy."
Yes BC is necessary but it should not be a part of this stimulus package. 1
thing tacked on doesn't seem like much but when all the congress people get done we have a huge inflated so called "stimulus" that still goes to special interests..... do some researching and
you can probably find out her campaign was funded partially by big pharma or she stands to benefit in some other way.
4yep as I suspected
On July 27, 2007, 28 executives of the Thousand Oaks, Calif., pharmaceutical firm Amgen contributed more than $20,000 to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) campaign.
On Aug. 2, Pelosi (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Early Treatment for HIV Act, a bill that could boost Medicaid coverage of HIV-related drugs, including Procrit, which is manufactured by Amgen and marketed by a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, a firm in which Pelosi’s husband owns at least $250,000 in stock, according to Pelosi’s disclosure forms.
Specifically, the legislation would give states the option to allow patients who are HIV-positive, but do not have AIDS, to qualify for Medicaid coverage earlier in the course of the virus. Currently, Medicaid coverage doesn’t kick in until a patient develops AIDS.
The legislation has more than 50 co-sponsors, including some Republicans. However, considering Pelosi’s potential interest in the legislation, her sponsorship of the bill is questionable, said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative government watchdog group.
“An ethical issue pops up as a result of her investment in Johnson & Johnson,” Fitton told Cybercast News Service. “Obviously she should explain whether or not her contributions from Amgen and its executives are influencing her position on the HIV bill in an inappropriate way.”
For years we on the Right have had to endure the endless slanders of the Bush administrations ties to big oil. Well, it appears the shoe is on the other foot as the leading Democrat in the Congress has a vested interest in attaining government funds for one of her own investments. Next time a Leftist pulls out the ‘Big Oil’ card, don’t forget to mention Nancy Pelosi’s ties to ‘Big Pharmaceutical’.
5When I first saw it, I was like "huh". But I see her point. I blogged about the need for welfare reform last week because to be honest, I'm sick and tired of feeding people who are able but choose to rely on welfare. And I live in S. Florida, I see teen mothers just about everywhere I turn. One of the schools I do tutoring at, have 3 girls who are pregnant and they are only in the 7th and 8th grade. And one of the girls' mother has 5 children already and she's only 29 years old and she's about to become a grandmother.
IMHO, teen pregnancies are a burden to our economy, however I don't really see how birth control is going to help us out of it either.
6That's rediculous. Birth control is not going to stimulate the economy. If we are hell-bent on spending a ton of money let's at least use it for something that would help.
7Reaching.
This makes more sense than tax cuts?
8Birth control is not going to SAVE the economy - but it can give an assist to boosting the economy.
9'Shouldn't abstinence education be a part of sex education?'
I agree teens should understand the option to have both. There are just way too many schools that teach abstinence only. Teens who think abstinence is the only option aren't prepared to have safe sex.
10I should have clarified.
Umm, this is a little beyond "far fetched."
11What a load of BS. This shouldnt be part of the stimulus bill WHAT SO EVER.
12First of all family planning isn't just for teenagers who want to have sex. My college health services couldn't provide students with birth control because the prices were raised too much. I was lucky to have health insurance or I would have had to pay over $60 a month just to keep my body regular. Providing better access to birth control for all women isn't going to save the economy of course, but it is an important social issue all on its own.
13'Providing better access to birth control for all women isn't going to save the economy of course, but it is an important social issue all on its own. '
I totally agree with that statement.
14yes an important social issue on it's own - should not be part of the stimulus package.
and as far as sex education goes... I often wonder those who say that sex education should be taught in the schools, do they have children? I have a child in HS, one in Middle School and 2 in Elementary school and while I know each district is different, our children are definitely being taught comprehensive sex education and not just abstinence.
15"Pelosi's comments could come off as characterizing children born to poor families as nothing more than a burden on the government"
Seems like some Republicans might warm up to that line of thinking, anyway.
I don't like the idea of presenting increased and affordable access to family planning as part of an overall economic stimulus, however much I do think family planning services should be available to all. To me, trying to say it's a part of stimulating economic growth just smacks of manipulative salesmanship...I have to say I don't like that.
16This is so far from ridiculous it's not even funny.
17This is right along her lines of being the slimy, lobbyist friend, hypocrite that she is.
18That's an interesting spin to put on birth control but it makes sense and hey better for everyone to be protected right?
19Liberty you forgot to end the quote from Pelosi so it looks like the rest of the post is a quote from her.
Anyway, I'm glad this is being aired as the ridiculous POS that it is. This has no place in this legislation and I'm disappointed beyond belief that this is happening.
Pelosi is a complete idiot to be doing this. Does she not realize it? The country is in trouble and she's giving some BS answer as to how contraception will help stimulate the economy? Does she not realize that she's beginning the swing towards hating the liberals for f*cking this up?
20This is kind of especially eye-roll-worthy coming from her. She has, what, 5 kids? A dozen grandkids?
21Well then let's all do a little dance..make a little love.. get down tonight.
22Far fetched? Not at all. Unwanted pregnancies will save $ and help the economy down the line.
23I'm not sure how unwanted pregnancies will help the economy.
Myst, the school your talking about sounds like my middle school (I grew up in S. Fla). I knew a girl on my bus who was pregnant at 12 and her mom was only 25. Can you imagine being 25 and a grandmother?
24^Apples don't fall too far from the their trees do they?
25For those of you that don't remember, unwanted pregnancies usually result in a family relying on Medicaid. We know how much many republicans despise people on Medicaid, because it forces them to help others. It will help the economy based on the theory that it is cheaper to provide BC, than it is to provide for a family for years to come.
I think people are focusing too much on the buzz word "contraception" in all of this. Anything related to social issues makes people freak. The big picture is that they are HELPING STATES. Right now, many states are in dire fiscal shape, their services to help those in need are being needed more than ever, with fewer resources than ever. Yes, one of those services is "family planning", but keep in mind that includes cancer screenings like pap smears and breast exams that many females in need would miss out on if they didn't have assistance. Not to mention that the pill has more uses than just birth control, especially for younger girls.
The states need help, this is just one tiny, tiny portion of the big picture. Meanwhile, 72,000 jobs were lost today.
26Jill, I was going to mention the many uses for BC besides contraceptive, as well, so thank you. If I hadn't been put on BC when I was 15, there is a large chance that I would have developed severe endometreosis, being basically bed-ridden one week a month. My mother suffered through it when she was young, and ended up having a hysterectomy by 35. My cousin, on the opposite side of the family was forced to have one of her ovaries removed due to continuous developement of cysts, when she was 18. Being broke is no reason to be forced to suffer.
27"For those of you that don't remember, unwanted pregnancies usually result in a family relying on Medicaid. We know how much many republicans despise people on Medicaid, because it forces them to help others"
You are absolutely wrong in that quote and hilarious also.
28Well it is true that a lot of unwanted pregnancies result to women using Medicaid.
29Not all women on medicaid stay on it forever. Some of them use it as needed and then they get their own health insurance, if they can. It's hard to get them off of the free health care for obvious reasons. Children cost more money to raise these days because of the rising high cost with everything else that it takes to provide for them.
30Alot of special needs kids are on medicaid also, is that from unwanted pregnancies?
I deal with Medicaid everyday, and people arent trying to get off of it. on the contrary they are doing everything they can to stay on.
31You missed the point. And I think it's pretty obvious that more than young healthy children are on Medicaid. Older people are also on Medicaid as well.
32"For those of you that don't remember, unwanted pregnancies usually result in a family relying on Medicaid. We know how much many republicans despise people on Medicaid, because it forces them to help others"
What's absolutely wrong with this statement? Ok, maybe implying Republicans hate to help people is a little too much. It should say Republicans do not like to help poor people with tax dollars. But other than that, I would think that many Republicans despise Medicaid, and don't think to highly of the people on it. Especially when as you said CG most are not trying to get off of it.
Do unwanted preganancies result in more people on Medicaid? I would assume yes, poor women giving birth to poor babies creates more people on Medicaid. But that's my assumption.
33Jill I won't argue with you that family planning is a great thing. I want as many people to be on birth control as possible.
However, think about how this looks to the country. It looks like the libs are pushing their social agenda at a time when we should be uniting and focusing on rebuilding the economy.
34Saying that Republicans don't like a program is very different than saying they don't like the people on the program. Despise is also a pretty strong word.
35I said they don't think to highly of the people on the program, I would think many would say that even if they themselves were poor and qualified for Medicaid they wouldn't take the govt. assistance. Personal responsibility and all that. Hence, they wouldn't think to highly of people on Medicaid. And I think despise is an adequate term to describe general Republican feelings on Medicaid, if you think its too harsh, that your opinion.
36"It looks like the libs are pushing their social agenda at a time when we should be uniting and focusing on rebuilding the economy."
That IS what it looks like, but in reality the opposite is happening. The Dems are trying to help states in their fiscal emergency, and Republicans are turning it into an statement about social issues.
If the Republicans REALLY had the country's fiscal needs in mind, they would stop using old reports about small fractions of old bills as the basis for their opinions on the new version of the bill, and they would stop distorting FUNDS FOR STATES as some kind of liberal agenda. They have what they want in the bill (tax cuts), even more than what most of the dems want. The dems have compromised. Republicans are just trying to jockey for power position within their own party. One big c*ck waving contest, with our future at stake.
37"Despise" was used to describe the feelings towards the people, not the program. Thus, it being harsh. And yes, of course it's just my opinion as is every other comment on this site!
38Er, every one of my comments - not all comments
39I havent read any of the comments, but I just feel like this "stimulus" and the "bailout" are being used as a cover for the far left and right to push through their agendas and get funding for things that would never have gotten funding if we werent in this fiscal crisis.
40This is totally out of control. If you want to give more money to the states for family planning and contraceptives, introduce legislation with that intent and get it through the right way. This is whole thing is turning into one huge mess. The American people are getting the wool pulled over our eyes from both sides.
Right, and I said it was a big harsh to describe feelings towards the people on Medicaid. But I still think its pretty accurate in reference to the program.
And I agree with you LB, it is the buzz word of massive bill passages that are chock block full of random stuff, some good some bad.
41All it is is another earmark. Nothing to do with the economy. It's pathetic and transparent.
42All liberals walk funny and smell like sardines. Wow, generalizing and grouping an entire political ideology into small statements is fun.
43And they despise bunnies.
44Whoa GS. Comment 44 just took things one step too far.
45Well, it's true.
46I'll bet you ate the one in your av.
Or at least poked it with a sharp stick.
47Not all bunnies, only those that pop out tons of kids to boost their payout from federal aid programs.
48LOL!!
49ah, I see!
50Post New Comment
Please share your opinion with our community, but make sure it is on topic and follows our Community Rules. We moderate comments and prohibit personal attacks, threats, spam, lewd images, or the promotion of your personal website.