Saturday, January 31, 2009

Family Planning and Stimulus

It has been interesting to watch the hissy fits over the stimulus bill and family planning. As mentioned earlier Christopher Matthews followed the Christian Defense Coalition line about it taking lives away and making us like China. Others asked why it was there? This is a bill to spur jobs. And while it will do it to an extent, it is not as critical as others. So wile some have criticized newsreaders for questioning it, I was not as sure. That seems to be the narrative winning out in the MSM. This bill is for jobs, and that is it. Period. Really. Despite the fact the president has said repeatedly that it is not...That in a moment.

First, it is annoying to note how we are measuring job creation, "infrastructure." Nice word. What does it mean? To a lot of people it is the image of the road crew, out jack hammering, digging, and layering cement or asphalt, in your mind how many women do you see? When we are talking about putting America to work, do we just mean one part of it? If you look back to the New Deal, there were jobs to go around to men and women, to people of different skills. But we say infrastructure and a lot of people how only a certain group of people in mind. Women, white collar, tech sector, as well need to be put to work. But for some like Matthews it may just not stir the leg enough.

Back to family planning. They put up a fight on the grounds of job growth, but if you do listen and read to the presidents words, he is interested in hitting a number issues beyond jobs, including offering assistance to those that are struggling through this period. And that is where family service is invaluable. But they see it as a harm, they even have Limbaugh mocking Pelosi to further their point, not that that is new. Dem's have conceded on this, so it came out.

People are mad about this. But the president has tried to reassure people. It isn't over. Perhaps as early as next week we should see another bill dealing with health care that will include it. The fight continues and their chief argument will be gone, and they will have to fallback to their old ones.

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