yesterday a month after the 40th anniversary of roe v. wade, the state of arkansas passed the most restrictive abortion ban in the country. the law known as the human heart beat protection act bans most abortions at 12 weeks of pregnancy, the point at which a fetal heart beak can be detected by an ultrasound. to say that arkansas is on a campaign to restrict freedoms, would be an understatement. there is only one clinic that provides surgery wal abortions in the whole state. it stands in brazen contradiction to current law that grants women the constitutional right to abortion svgss until the fetus is viable outside the womb. normally 24 weeks into a pregnancy. earlier this week arkansas democratic governor mike bebe vetoed the 12-week ban saying it blatantly contradicts the united states constitution, as interpreted by the supreme court. yesterday the republican-controlled statehouse and senate were able to override the governor s veto, the bill sponsor state senator is a man
just a few hours after the big rousing jobs, jobs, jobs speech, republicans went to the house floor to work on what they work on, which is another anti-abortion bill. one they put on an expedited fast track to make sure they could bring it to the floor. the bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass the that did not happen. the bill failed. don t let this make you think that republicans are giving up their laser like focus on jobs by which i mean abortion. ahead of yesterday s big anti-abortion vote, that bill sponsor told the hill newspaper that republicans might could maybe bring the bill up again later under regular rules this time so it would only need a simple majority to pass. he said yesterday s defeat was all part of republicans master plan to keep the whole focus of the congress on jobs by, which i mean abortion.
fast track to make sure they could bring it to the floor. because of that expedited process, the bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass, that did not happen so the bill failed, but don t let that make you think republicans are giving up. they laser-like focus on jobs, by which i mean abortion. ahead of yesterday s big anti-abortion vote, that bill sponsor told the hill newspaper that republicans might could maybe bring the bill up again later under regular rules this time so it would only need a simple majority to pass. in fact, he says yesterday s defeat of the big anti-abortion bill was all part of republicans master plan to keep the whole focus of the congress on jobs, by which i mean abortion. as reported in the washington post before the vote yesterday, congressman franks conceded in an interview that his
big deal with letting taxes go up by $1,000 for hard working americans. that s the romney rule. more tax breaks for folks like him, more pain for middle class folks. today president obama and vice president biden released their 2011 tax returns. democrats called on romney to do the same. the romney campaign confirmed the candidate filed for an extension. a spokesperson said romney will release his 2011 returns sometime in the next six months and prior to the election. the buffet rule bill will face its first vote in the senate on monday. bill sponsor senator sheldon whitehouse was out rallying support. what we re trying to move against is institutionalized
committee chair, greg reed, thinks it s a good bill. he happens to be an executive at preferred medical systems, a company that sells ultrasound equipment. the bill would not exempt victims of sexual assault. physicians could face up to ten years in prison and a $15,000 fine if they don t administer the medically unnecessary ultrasound first. the physician could also require a woman to under go an internal ultrasound instead of external one. that part of the bill prompted the most public outrage. late today the bill sponsor, clay scofield, says he will amend the legislation. the portion that i want to clarify that i think people say this is infringing on the rights of women is the vaginal transducer because of the language either/or. i want to make sure we leave that up to the women s choice, clarify the language.