In an error-laden letter sent to the Trump administration Thursday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton managed to conflate two different women’s health programs, misrepresent why the state lost control over federal family planning funds and mislead the public for at least the second time this week.
Paxton’s letter urges the Trump administration to give the state health agency control once again over Title X funding, the federal funding stream dedicated to family planning. In 2013, the Obama administration shifted the grant from the state’s control to a nonprofit coalition of health providers after Texas budget cuts devastated the network of family planning providers, leading tens of thousands of women to lose access to care. Now Texas wants that money back, in a looming battle that Paxton is trying to frame as one over abortion and Planned Parenthood.
“There are many things in that letter that are confusing or inaccurate,” said Stacey Pogue, a senior policy analyst at the left-leaning Center for Public Policy Priorities who has been tracking women’s health programs in Texas for years. Pogue said the biggest blunder is Paxton’s apparent conflation of Title X family planning funding and Texas’ pending Medicaid waiver for its Healthy Texas Women Program, which the state created, foregoing millions in federal funding, in order to kick Planned Parenthood out of its low-income women’s health program. The two are different programs, with different funding streams that the state lost control over for different reasons. But the letter sent by Paxton – who this week admitted to spreading misinformation about the Austin bombings in a live Fox News interview – seemed to again confuse media outlets, some of which followed Paxton in linking the Title X letter to the Healthy Texas Women Program.
In the letter, which is the first public acknowledgment that Texas will compete for Title X funding this year, Paxton wrote that federal administrators in 2012 “removed Texas from the list of eligible Title X grant recipients because of our Legislature’s commitment to protecting the lives of the unborn,” and denied Texas the funding for “ideological, not programmatic, reasons.” In fact, Texas competed for the grant and lost. The federal government determined in 2013 that a coalition of providers called Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas (WHFPT) was able to better meet the Title X objectives than the state health agency and shifted the responsibility of administering the funds to them.
Paxton writes that “because of the Obama Administration’s unconscionable, ideological pro-abortion requirements, Title X funding was discontinued to Texas in 2013.” Actually, the funds have continued. WHFPT uses them to support 28 health care providers that operate 90 clinics across Texas, including Federally Qualified Health Centers, hospitals and family planning clinics, including Planned Parenthood. More than 193,000 Texans received family planning services from Title X providers in 2017, the organization said.
Paxton’s office did not respond to the Observer‘s questions about inaccuracies in the letter, nor whether the AG is aware that Title X funds, like all taxpayer dollars, are prohibited from going toward abortions.
Family planning providers and advocates have worried since Trump’s election about what the new administration would mean for Title X funds and the network of clinics in Texas that they’re still patching back together after budget cuts. Belated new Title X rules from the Trump administration last month confirmed some of their fears. Though the rules do not explicitly exclude Planned Parenthood, the application for the grant funding emphasizes abstinence and faith-based providers, and Trump has already opened the door for states to exclude Planned Parenthood and other women’s health providers from their Title X programs. If Texas gains control of Title X funds this year, it could elect to fund faith-based crisis pregnancy centers, which spread inaccurate medical information in an attempt to dissuade women from abortions, instead of family planning clinics.
“I worry every day about the family planning safety net here in Texas, because it’s taken us a really long time to even start to get back to where we were,” said Kami Geoffray, who runs WHFPT. “If there’s another hit to this network, I don’t know how we’d bring it back.”
Family planning advocates in Texas worry about the state regaining control over Title X funds because of its track record of decimating the family planning safety net in the name of defunding Planned Parenthood. In 2011, the Legislature slashed the state family planning budget by two-thirds. Then, state lawmakers created a new tiered system that put Planned Parenthood and other dedicated family planning providers on the bottom rung for funding, while blocking any clinic affiliated with an abortion provider from receiving family planning dollars. More than 80 family planning clinics across the state closed as a result. Meanwhile, the number of Texans receiving services through Title X dropped by 50 percent from 2011 to 2012, according to a review by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
WHFPT decided to apply for Title X funding in 2013 to try to repair some of the damage. But rebuilding has been a slow process – one advocates fear could be derailed now that Texas has a conservative ally in the White House.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission did not respond to questions of how the state would maintain the current level of family planning coverage and prevent further clinic closures.
“It takes a day to close a clinic, it takes years to reopen one,” Geoffray told me late last year. “There are all these threads” holding the family planning provider network in Texas together at the moment, she said. “You pull on one, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
I started a community photo project called ATXSquared to document gentrification in East Austin. In this shot, R.L. waits for his ride to weekly dialysis in front of his home on East 12th Street, where rising rents are pushing out longtime residents. “You can’t fight it,” he told me. “You just make the best of every day you have.”
About 70 protesters are at the corner of 9th & Congress in downtown Austin where U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is speaking. Activists say they’re demonstrating against the Trump’s administration’s immigration priorities.
In a visit to Austin Friday, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions stoked fears of immigrant pedophiles and drug dealers and bashed sanctuary cities as havens for cop-killers. Outside, about 70 protesters chanted, held signs and eventually laid a trampled Klansman robe in front of Sessions’ motorcade.
For decades, the American people have been begging and pleading with their elected officials for an immigration system that’s lawful, Sessions said during a plodding 20-minute speech delivered at the U.S. attorney’s office in downtown Austin. Now we have a president who supports that.
Sessions lauded the White House’s recently released hardline immigration agenda as a breath of fresh air. The attorney general called for a border wall, more immigration agents and judges, a merit-based immigration system and a crackdown on purported asylum fraud.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks in Austin. Gus Bova
Sessions singled out Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, saying it had encouraged tens of thousands of vulnerable children to make the trip to the north. He recounted two instances in which DACA recipients, sometimes referred to as Dreamers, were arrested for serious crimes and claimed that 2,000 people have lost their DACA status as a result of crimes, which would constitute about 0.25 percent of total recipients. The program, which provides protection from deportation for hundreds of thousands of people, is set to end on March 5 and awaits congressional action.
But Sessions saved his strongest venom for sanctuary cities, which limit local cooperation with federal immigration agents.
So-called sanctuary policies undermine the moral authority of law and undermine the safety of the jurisdictions that adopt them, he said. Think about it: Police may be forced to release pedophiles drug dealers, arsonists back into the community where they have no right to be in the first place.
For months, Sessions has threatened to withhold federal grants from so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, but he’s been repeatedly stymied by the courts. Most recently, a federal judge in Illinois temporarily froze his effort to withhold public safety funds from cities that don’t honor immigration detainers, which are requests to extend detention of jailed immigrants so they can be deported. Sessions is appealing the decision.
Protesters at a demonstration against Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Elena Meja Lutz
Late last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 500 immigrants in cities across the country that were targeted by the feds for their sanctuary policies. That time around, Austin was left off the list, but in February, Texas’ capital was hit with raids as retaliation for a progressive county policy that rejected some detainers.
In February, Travis County adopted a policy of refusing to honor many immigration detainers. But Sheriff Sally Hernandez erased that policy last month due to an appellate court ruling that allowed parts of Senate Bill 4, Texas’ embattled sanctuary cities ban, to go into effect. Hernandez attended Sessions’ speech Friday, but like Sessions, didn’t answer questions from reporters.
Sessions commended the Texas Legislature for passing SB 4. Speaking to an audience comprised mostly of cops and federal agents, Sessions brought up cases in Texas and Kansas of police officers being killed by undocumented drunk drivers, saying sanctuary policies risk the lives of good law enforcement officers.
We will not concede a single block or a single street corner in the United States of America to lawlessness, Sessions concluded. To all of you law enforcement here we have your back.
Protesters brought a KKK hood and robe to a demonstration against Attorney General Jeff Sessions in Austin. Gus Bova
Outside the Sessions event, about 70 protesters held signs reading Go Home You Racist, Sanctuary for All and others that depicted Sessions wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit. At one point, protesters laid out a homemade Ku Klux Klan robe at the center of the demonstration for people to step on. Some disability advocates drove over the robe in their electric wheelchairs.
Claudia Muoz, immigration program director at Grassroots Leadership, a nonprofit in Austin fighting mass incarceration, said she was demonstrating in support of sanctuary cities. Muoz immigrated to Austin in 2001 after suffering abuse and violence in Mexico. She told the Observer she moved to Texas in hopes of finding a better life, but her immigration case is still tied up in court.
I’m fighting my asylum case, Muoz said at the protest. I’m just scared because my family is undocumented, and it’s really important to know my power. Everything this administration is doing directly impacts me and the people I love the most. It’s just about knowing the power the community has to defend ourselves.
Advocates from the immigration advocacy group United We Dream were also on the scene. Daniel Ramirez, 22, is one of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants protected from deportation under DACA.
Daniel Ramirez at the demonstration against Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Gus Bova
Ramirez said he came to the United States at 18 months old and recently graduated college. He depends on DACA to allow him to support his family financially. It’s not that I feel American, I am American, Ramirez said. As immigrants, your life is like a piece in a game that’s political.
Activists marched with their signs to the parking garage exit where they expected Sessions’ caravan to leave the building. They then laid out the Ku Klux Klan robe and a sign reading Jeff ‘White Supremacist’ Sessions is in ATX Today on the street.
After more than an hour of waiting, protesters were moved to the sidewalk by Austin police officers who used their bicycles as a barricade to keep people off the street. Sessions’ caravan then left the building, his vehicle driving over the Klansman robe as he left.
Regardless of how experienced a person is when it concerns grouting tiles and natural stones, there will always be residue left behind. Otherwise called grout film or a grout stain, this residue can vary from a minor film to a real deposit of grout. Cleaning natural tile is the very same as cleaning up other tile. You simply need to integrate effort with chemicals and liquids to get rid of the excess.
Mix a 50/50 option of water and vinegar in a spray bottle. Shake carefully till the liquids are thoroughly combined. Spray the service onto the grout stain. Let the service sit for at least 5 minutes Wipe the grout stain area with a wet sponge to eliminate the excess grout and the stain. Scrub away the grout with the scrub brush and use extra layers of the service, if required. Permit the solution to sit for a few minutes. Wipe up the excess, utilizing a damp sponge.
Purchase a grout-cleaning service from your local house enhancement shop if the grout stain is especially challenging and will not come off with a water and vinegar option. Follow the producer’s instructions concerning application, soaking time and elimination.
Mop the entire flooring with a vinegar/water solution if there is a grout movie covering the entire surface of the setup. Let the mixture sit for numerous minutes before cleaning it with clean water. For wall applications, spray on the solution, let it sit, then sponge it off, rinsing your sponge often.
Things You Will Need
Rubber gloves
White vinegar
Water
Spray bottle
Scrub brush
Sponge
Respirator (optional).
Grout cleaner (optional).
Tips.
Vinegar is a mild acid that will consume away concrete and excess grout. A 50/50 service is mild enough that it will not tarnish the grout, however simply loosen up the bond of the concrete enough so that you can scrub spots off with a sponge or scrub brush.
There are lots of different grout cleaner services offered at home enhancement shops. Brand does not matter, as they all work relatively equally.
Ensure to follow the instructions as each brand name will have a slightly different application, setting time and removal suggestions.
5 Management Tips On How To Survive After Losing Your Job
Job loss can one of the most devastating times in an adult’s life – both emotionally and financially. Some compare it to falling of a cliff, others see it as an opportunity to start anew. However you immediately look at it, it’s important to think about the financial implications of having one of your primary sources of income cut off.
Based on the article from goldrushcam.com, “The unemployment rate declines to 4.2% and the labor force participation rate is at 63.1 percent which shows little change year over year. A sharp employment decline in food services and drinking places and below-trend growth in some other industries likely reflected the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey.”
The possibility of families needing to sell their homes is slightly higher when unemployment rate is high a well. Some sell home fast in San Antonio just to cope with a difficult financial crisis. Although, there are ways to successfully manage finances and survive through this setback.
How To Survive After Losing A Job
With the huge number of unemployed labor workers, losing a job is never easy to take. But learning how to cope with the situation can be advantageous, especially when you start hunting for your next career.
Prioritize The Four Pillars Of Your Basic Needs
The four pillars of the basic needs are food, shelter, utilities, and transportation. As you map out a strategy to handle the short-term impact of losing a job, prioritize these four financial needs. “You pay for the goods and services you can’t live without,” says Sally Herigstad, author of the Help! I Can’t Pay my Bills book. One way of surviving this difficult time is to support yourself with whatever you have financially while still living with a little comfort.
Plan Out Your Expenses
Creating a budget plan to monitor your current and future expenses is never a fun job, but it has to be done. It gives you a foundation for the actions you must take to successfully manage finances without stressing over it. It can comfort you in some way knowing that you have some sort of plan that could help you make it through or until you find a new job.
Start by listing down your cash inflow, including severance and unemployment payments. Do you have savings or investments you could tap into if absolutely necessary? Include potential loans from trusted lenders or family. Then list down all expenses. Determine the fixed expenses that won’t change in the short term, like mortgage or rent or car payment. And identify the variable expenses that you have immediate control over like TV subscriptions or gym membership.
Cut Short The Recurring Fees
Job loss is a financial crisis on the earnings side only. Look at three months worth of credit or debit card bills, cut off all optional recurring fees, especially subscriptions that are there for convenience or entertainment and not for your basic needs.
Put A Hold On Your Savings
Although saving for a better and brighter future is essential if you want to retire comfortably and focus on activities you enjoy doing, you may need to pause on these savings account. Focus available resources on your needs now, and resume on saving up once you get a new job.
Deal With Desperation Like A Pro
Times can get harder as the days go by without a steady income. Other options might involve downsizing to reduce cost, or moving in with a relative temporarily. Another suggestion from Herigstad is to rent out your home for the cost of the mortgage payment and move somewhere cheaper. You can then move back into your house once you’re back on your feet.
When Selling A House Is The Only Option
Selling a house and moving into a smaller place to save on maintenance and utility expenses is a common solution for unemployed individuals. It can be a prudent thing to do to come up with the additional funds you need while looking for a new job. If this is a matter you’re considering, talk to one of our real estate consultants.
Here at Lamar Buys Houses, we offer timely and practical home selling solutions to homeowners in need of a rush sale. We buy ugly houses in San Antonio or any type of property that needs to go. Trust that you have a partner when there’s a need to sell home fast. Contact us today to learn more about our different selling options.
3 Types Of Divorce You Should Know About | Lamar Buys Houses
Some marriages don’t last. Either falling out of love, growing apart, or having different interests in life; there are many reasons marriages end, and many end nasty and ugly. Sarah Jacoby, from Refinery29, wrote this in a recent post:
“According to data from the National Survey of Family Growth, the probability of a first marriage lasting at least a decade was 68% for women and 70% for men between 2006 and 2010. The probability that they would make it 20 years was 52% for women and 56% for men, so that percentage is closer to the frequently-cited “half,” but still not there.
Other estimates show that three-quarters of those married in the 1990s would make it at least 15 years (compared with just 65% of those married in the 1980s). And if that current trend continues, the vast majority (about two-thirds) of marriages will never divorce.”
The Most Common Types Of Divorce
An estimated 95% of all divorces in the country are uncontested divorce because both parties are able to come to terms on issues like alimony, child custody, and the division of marital assets without interference of the court. All divorces are governed by no-fault divorce laws and the outcome will be determined on how willing both parties are to work together during the process. Here are the most common types of divorce:
No-Fault Divorce
This type is just as it’s called, no one is at fault for the failure of the marriage. Even if there was some misconduct by a spouse, in some states, it doesn’t matter because something as simple as incompatibility or irreconcilable differences can be used as reason for a legal separation. And no further explanation or proof that the marriage should continue is deemed necessary.
The idea behind no-fault separation was prevent further conflict during the process by ridding litigants of the need to show a cause for the need to separate.
Uncontested Divorce
This type takes place when both spouses reach a mutual agreement to end the marriage. They are able to come to an agreement regarding any financial issues, children and other contentious issues, and division of property. Can you sell a house as is even if the process is ongoing, one spouse may ask. Of course it is completely possible with the latest alternative method in house selling.
And because this type is simple and quick, it can sometimes cause people to give up rights they did not know they had, such as alimony, income from real estate and other sources of income, and a division of retirement benefits.
Simplified Divorce
Simplified means uncontested, no–fault divorces where there is no conflict between the spouses at all. This usually is the case in marriages of short duration where there are no children and very few marital assets to bicker over. Though state law differs on this kind of separation process, some states allow it, which is good news for both parties since it’s less costly and less stressful way to go. And it’s usually granted quickly, normally within 30 days of filing.
Finding Assistance In Difficult Times | We Buy Ugly Houses in San Antonio
Lamar Buys Houses, one of the leading home buying companies in San Antonio, offers alternative solutions to households in need of an immediate and speedy home sale. Whether it’s to relocate to a different state or as part of a retirement plan, we buy houses fast in exchange for fair cash offer.
In difficult times, know that you have a reputable company to lean to. Talk to us today to learn how you can get a fair cash offer in as little as 5 days! Or visit lamarbuyshouses.com
Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello, Madison-Eastend, Sandtown-Winchester and Berea all have average costs under $50,000 with the C-H-M being the least pricey at $42,800. The majority of these communities supplied the setting for large portions of “The Wire,” a TELEVISION show set in Baltimore’s hardest communities. Regrettably for these neighborhoods, prices aren’t enhancing much either. Learn more about Lamar Buys Houses here!
The least costly area in the city, Mattapan, still carries a typical rate of $239,800. Roxbury and East Boston aren’t much better at around $253,000– and these costs are largely for apartments and apartment or condos.
South Park, Seattle
The least expensive location to buy a home in Seattle is South Park, where the mean home rate is $194,900, over half the city’s typical rate of $417,900. There’s a reason the area is so affordable– it’s surrounded by the city’s industrial sector, contaminating much of the area. Northgate, understood for its shopping center and the surrounding advancement, is also low-cost, with an average cost at $209,100.
River Terrace, Washington, D.C.
River Terrace, Marshall Heights and Fairfax Village– all neighborhoods sandwiched between the Anacostia River and the border of Maryland and surrounding Fort Dupont Park– have median costs between $167,000 and $188,500. The locations aren’t nearly as bustling and inhabited as Capitol Hill, however they’re not far from it either– simply a couple of miles.
Windsor, Denver
Windsor, situated in between Aurora and Denver, centers on Windsor Lake and is flanked by golf clubs and a large cemetery. The median cost is $92,400, much less than Denver’s $242,900 typical cost. The location has a great deal of apartments on the market, meaning that it’s normally less expensive to purchase there, though don’t anticipate a yard.
Lackawanna, Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville was one of many Florida cities that were definitely bombarded with foreclosures throughout the housing crisis. House rates are still greatly deflated by the variety of foreclosures still working their way through the system. The most affordable community is Lackawanna, which has an average prices of $40,700, followed by Edgewood’s $41,500 average rate and Grand Park’s $42,300 typical cost. Costs don’t seem to be headed in the right instructions either– at least not yet– as most of these neighborhoods are still dropping in value.
The residents in Southampton have a mean income of $407,601 and is thought about to be one of the most interesting locations in the Hamptons. For tourists, a trip rental in Southampton can easily cost $1 million for just one month. Learn more about Lamar Buys Houses here!
In surrounding areas, leasings for the summer can quickly cost $1.5 million for 2 months. It’s not a surprise that numerous celebrities and entertainment specialists reside in the Hamptons, consisting of Tory Burch, Brooke Shields and Kelly Ripa. Other celebrities who call the Hamptons house consist of Jennifer Lopez, Steven Spielberg and Russell Simmons. Visitors and residents can enjoy the night life in downtown Southampton at places such as the Southampton Puclick House, which brews its own Belgian-style white beer and other ales. Other things to do in the location include the Parrish Art Museum which shops a historical art collection that dates all the method back to 1898.
While the state of Kansas is not understood for having luxury locations, Mission Hills has a typical income of $219,107. Developer J.C. Nichols initially developed Mission Hills as part of a Country Club District plan back in the 1920s as a high end neighborhood. Forbes also noted the community at number three for America’s a lot of upscale neighborhoods.
Tourists and residents who are in the mood for an adrenaline rush can examine out The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Show. The talented actors are dressed simply like every other visitor in the establishment so that it’s difficult to pick out who is part of the program. When the show is over, guests are provided with rewards if they helped fixed the crime.
How To Survive After Losing A Job
The Most Common Types Of Divorce
Lamar Buys Houses 