WASHINGTON UPDATE 10/29/2014

Share with Friends | | October 28, 2014 | Permalink The New Security Moms The media are scratching their heads that the wheels have come off of the “war on women” mantra. A CNN analysis suggests the changing “dynamic reflects the painstaking efforts among Republicans to avoid the mistakes of 2012.” But there is a much bigger dynamic here. The Middle East is in turmoil, West Africa is battling a growing plague that threatens to go global, the border is in crisis, the economy continues to struggle and yet Democratic leaders think the future of the world hinges on contraceptives? All of this is happening while America sinks under the weight of the Left’s failed policies. Can Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and company possibly be any more insulting to the female voters they claim to speak for? If liberals are such devoted feminists, why do they insist on reducing women voters to the sum of their reproductive organs? It’s an offensive -- and now failing -- strategy for the party desperate to keep its grip on the Senate. The “war on women” obsession may have opened the wallets of hard-line Democratic donors, but those soccer moms the liberals thought they were scaring with their phony war have become security moms fearful of the nation’s future because of the failed policies of the Left. While legislatures across the country raise health standards for abortion clinics, we have seen Democratic senators like Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) seek to sweep away even commonsense measures that have broad bipartisan support including waiting periods, parental involvement laws, and basic health standards. The real war on women is one driven by the profit-driven abortion industry which can’t even be bothered to clean rusty equipment, bloody operating tables, appropriately sedate patients, or monitor mutilated women. As the debate over the HHS mandate unfolded in the courts, we have seen even a majority of women opposing the mandate. Republicans have no reason to abandon the party’s core principles due to the phony “war on women” mantra. Rather, true conservatives should point to the real wars that the failed policies of this administration have given rise to, which threaten our faith, our families, and nation’s very future. Standards Poor: Common Core Support Slips FRC’s Senior Fellow Sarah Perry appeared recently on NBC’s digital program, “Meet the Press: Making the Case” to debate the efficacy of the Common Core State Standards with Carmal Martin, the Executive Vice President of the Center for American Progress. Watch the segment here. Perry’s appearance coincides with a recent Gallup poll indicating that support for Common Core among GOP parents has plummeted in recent months, with only 19 percent viewing the Standards favorably, and a full 58percent of parents expressing their opposition. It appears teachers are also souring on Common Core, as a survey of 1,600 teachers sponsored by Scholastic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has revealed. In Tennessee, home to the most recent debates on whether to scrap Common Core, Vanderbilt University reports that 56% of that state’s teachers now express their disdain for Common Core. Further, only 39 percent of Tennessee teachers now believe Common Core will improve education, in sharp contrast to last year’s 60 percent. WRAP-Up the Battle against Pornography The number of lives and families devastated by pornography is past numbering. As FRC’s Dr. Pat Fagan has written, “Pornography … distorts an individual’s concept of sexual relations by objectifying them, which, in turn, alters both sexual attitudes and behavior. It is a major threat to marriage, to family, to children, and to individual happiness.” This week marks the White Ribbon Against Pornography (WRAP) week. Sponsored by the Porn Harms Coalition (of which FRC is a member), WRAP is designed to “educate the public on the harms from pornography and the many resources available to aid those affected.” In addition to crippling the lives of the women and men who participate in it, pornography scars those who view it. It’s well documented that pornography objectifies women, hurts marriage, increases infidelity, and can be as addictive as any hard drug. Pornography, prostitution, sexually transmitted diseases, human trafficking, and prostitution are all linked, and bind millions of people in a downward spiral of moral and even physical death. Pornography is a real problem in the church, as well, and is a plague in the lives of far too many Christians. To learn more about what you can do to join the WRAP movement and the larger effort to stop the moral cancer of pornography, go to FRC’s anti-pornography resource page, visit the Porn Harms Coalition website, and check out Pastor Jay Dennis’s “One Million Men Porn Free” movement. ** If Chuck Norris ever filmed a show called "Walker, Texas Pastor," even he might risk subpoena by Houston Mayor Annise Parker. But Chuck Norris fears no mayor. In his latest column, the legendary force of nature tackles religious freedom and gives a hearty shout-out to I Stand Sunday, our November 2 event in Houston. Read Chuck's thoughts (before they read you!), then go to istandsunday.com and sign up your church or home group today. Tony Perkins' Washington Update is written with the aid of FRC senior writers.