Under Attack

Here in Connecticut a woman got attacked in the bathroom at a Walmart in Danbury because a woman thought she was a trans woman and this is happening around the country.

I lived as a transgender woman in peace for years. Then the GOP got involved.
Since the "bathroom bills," I've experienced newfound humiliation, threats and harassment. The Republican National Convention will only make it worse.
The Washington Post
By Janice Dodero
July 19, 2016

I’m not unlike many other 67-year-old women. I dote on my two beautiful granddaughters. My daughter, an only child, has always been special to me. I retired a few years ago and moved to California to be with my 92-year-old mother, who has Alzheimer’s. I also happen to be a transgender woman.
[…]
But something has changed. Since March, when the North Carolina “bathroom bill” was first introduced and a leading presidential candidate saw fit to launch his own crusade to net a few primary votes, I have experienced harassment unlike anything since I first transitioned in the ’90s. Any hope that this would be a passing phase has steadily eroded as state after state has chosen to double down on anti-trans legislation as a way to push back on President Obama’s directives. And now we find ourselves heading into what is sure to be continued vilification during the Republican National Convention, as the party puts forth the most anti-LGBTQ platform in history.

But something has changed. Since March, when the North Carolina “bathroom bill” was first introduced and a leading presidential candidate saw fit to launch his own crusade to net a few primary votes, I have experienced harassment unlike anything since I first transitioned in the ’90s. Any hope that this would be a passing phase has steadily eroded as state after state has chosen to double down on anti-trans legislation as a way to push back on President Obama’s directives. And now we find ourselves heading into what is sure to be continued vilification during the Republican National Convention, as the party puts forth the most anti-LGBTQ platform in history.

This is what the Republicans are doing to us; they are doing this because they think they can get votes. They are stirring people up to get them angry so they go out and vote Republican and also to get them to send “hate money” to the party. They are catering to the right wing Christians.

You have heard that this year the Republicans have to most hateful anti-LGBT party platform ever!

I am not a fan of Dan Savage got it right in this article,

The Utter Failure of the Log Cabin Republicans
By Dan Savage
July 18, 2016

So this happened last week:

Republicans moved on Tuesday toward adopting a staunchly conservative platform that takes a strict, traditionalist view of the family... [it] amounts to a rightward lurch even from the party’s hard-line platform in 2012—especially as it addresses gay men, lesbians and transgender people.... Nearly every provision that expressed disapproval of homosexuality, same-sex marriage or transgender rights passed.

The proposed 2016 GOP platform condemns same-sex marriage and calls for the appointment of judges who will overturn Obergefell, the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states; it endorses "pray away the gay" conversion "therapies" that have been proven to be just as ineffective as they are dangerous; it backs bans on transgender Americans using appropriate public restrooms, i.e. the ones that align with their gender identities.

The Log Cabin Republicans, the most ineffectual political advocacy org this side of NAMBLA, condemned the proposed 2016 platform and tried to raise money off it too:

The country's largest organization representing LGBT conservatives has slammed the GOP for its draft platform, which remains opposed to same-sex marriage and bathroom choice for transgender people. "There’s no way to sugarcoat this: I’m mad as hell — and I know you are too," Gregory T. Angelo, the president of the Log Cabin Republicans, wrote in a fundraising email sent Tuesday evening. "Moments ago, the Republican Party passed the most anti-LGBT platform in the party’s 162-year history."

The Log Cabin Republicans begged people to send them "$500, $250, $100, or whatever you can give," money they would use to "take back the platform" and "take back the party." They were going to be on the floor of the RNC! They weren't going to "go quietly into the night!" They were going to fight!
[…]
Log Cabin Republicans have been working to "transform the GOP from the inside" for forty years and not only hasn't it gotten better, it has gotten worse. The 2016 Republican Platform, adopted today without a peep of protest from Log Cabin Republicans, is worse on LGBT issues than any Republican Party Platform in history. Worse than the GOP platform in 1980, when the religious right was ascendent; worse than the GOP platform in 1984, when AIDS hysteria was at its peak; worse than the GOP platform in 1992, when delegates to the RNC were waving "Family Values Forever! Gay Rights Never!" signs on the floor of the convention in Houston. Worst. Platform. Ever. Log Cabin Republicans spent months wriggling their tongues up Donald Trump's ass and this is the thanks they get.

Let’s face it. The Republicans say they are a party of financial conservatives and want to get government out of our lives but in reality they are the exact opposite. They keep cut the budget but at the same time they give big business massive tax breaks and forcing the tax burden on to the states, cities, and towns. Governor Pence boasts a $200 million dollar surplus but how did he get that surplus?

Fact Check reports,

Unemployment Rate
Trump said the “primary reason” for selecting Pence was the decline in his state’s unemployment rate, which Trump said dropped to “less than 5 percent” this year. That’s close to accurate. As of May, the state’s rate was 5 percent — down from 8.4 percent in January 2013, when Pence became governor, as Trump said. That’s a drop of 3.4 percentage points, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, Indiana’s unemployment rate has roughly tracked the national average. During that same time, the national unemployment rate declined from 8 percent to 4.7 percent — a drop of 3.3 percentage points, according to BLS.

Indiana has added 147,800 jobs since 2013, according to BLS. But 18 other states added more jobs. Predictably, larger states such as California (1.3 million) and Texas (840,000) had larger gains, but so did states with smaller populations, such as South Carolina (152,000) and Oregon (157,000).

More importantly, Indiana’s private-sector job growth rate — the percent change in the state’s number of private-sector jobs — lagged behind 20 states and the District of Columbia, according to our analysis of BLS data.

Balanced Budgets
Like nearly all states, Indiana is legally required to balance the budget. “All the states except Vermont have a legal requirement of a balanced budget,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Indiana’s Bond Rating
Trump also touted Indiana’s bond rating. “It’s also rated triple A — their bonds, are rated triple A. Very few states have that,” Trump said.
[…]
As of July 11, 2016, 14 other states currently have AAA ratings, so Trump exaggerates when he says that “very few states have that.” They are: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming. That’s nearly one third of all states.

Education Week reported that,

"A darling of the extreme Republicans and the Tea Party, Mike Pence has been terrible for Indiana's students, families and public schools. As an unpopular and divisive governor, he pushed for draconian cuts to K-12 public schools at the same time that he diverted funds via private vouchers schemes from public to private schools and significantly expanded the number of corporate-run, unaccountable charter schools," said the union's president, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, in a statement.

In the Indy Star they reported that the Democrats said that instead of stockpiling $2 billion in reserves and having a $200 million dollar surplus that they could have,

Rep. Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis, said that caution carries a cost.

“With an extra $12 million or so, we could add pre-school programs for five or six more counties,” he said. “Throw in an extra $80 million and we could double the amount of money that local units of government can use to fill potholes and fix a few streets.”

He balanced the budget by shifting the burden on the cities.

As for getting the government off our backs what could be more invasive then telling people who they can marry or which bathrooms to use. And what women can do with their bodies, in one state a Republican legislator proposed a bill to require women to get a vaginal ultrasound before they get an abortion.