McCain Opposed Funding for Pregnant Teens

Teen pregnancy happens and then something worse: marriage. Levi apparently didn't want kids or marriage (how many teen boys do?). It doesn't look like Sarah Palin's daughter has a choice.

Here's what else happens with teen pregnancy, the financial burden of raising a child is placed on the mother. Often, the father bows out leaving the mother alone to fend for herself. But if you're a teen who belongs to a loving wealthy family, the challenge isn't as great. The family will financially support the teen, and care for the child, and in Sarah Palin's case, have the daughter marry.

Republican blogs are selling this as "an American story."

If they'd stop with the glorifying, bloggers wouldn't feel so compelled to blog. Palin has introduced a good reason to talk about how to reduce teen pregnancy so that it works for everyone, not just the wealthy. 

CBS: Republican John McCain, whose running mate disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require poor teen mothers to stay in school or lose their benefits.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's announcement Monday about her daughter, Bristol, was aimed at rebutting Internet rumors that Palin's youngest son, born in April, was actually her daughter's. Palin said her daughter intends to raise her child and marry the baby's father, who was identified only by his first name, Levi. The baby is due in late December.

McCain's record on issues surrounding teen pregnancy and contraceptives during his more than two decades in the Senate indicates that he and Palin have similar views. Until Monday, when the subject surfaced in a deeply personal manner, teen pregnancy and sex education were not issues in the national political campaign.

Palin herself said she opposes funding sexual-education programs in Alaska.
....
In Senate votes, McCain has opposed some proposals to pay for teen-pregnancy prevention programs. In 2006, McCain joined fellow Republicans in voting against a Senate Democratic proposal to send $100 million to communities for teen-pregnancy prevention programs that would have included sex education about contraceptives.

In 2005, McCain opposed a Senate Democratic proposal that would have spent tens of millions of dollars to pay for pregnancy prevention programs other than abstinence-only education, including education on emergency contraception such as the morning-after pill. The bill also would have required insurance companies that cover Viagra to also pay for prescription contraception.

McCain voted for the Family Support Act in 1988, which passed overwhelmingly in the Senate and required teen mothers who receive public assistance to remain in high school and, in some cases, to live with their parents.

RCP: The 2008 Republican Party platform acknowledges that "each year, more than 3 million American teenagers contract sexually transmitted diseases, causing emotional harm and serious health consequences, even death." It expresses support for "efforts to educate teens and parents about the health risks associated with early sexual activity and provide the tools needed to help teens make healthy choices."

Then it adds, "Abstinence from sexual activity is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against out-of-wedlock pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases."

Yes, but talking about abstinence turns out to be easier than abstaining. More than 60 percent of high-school seniors report having had sex at least once. The message that every family should take from Bristol Palin's pregnancy is: It can happen here.

Wasilla

McCain Doing More Vetting on Palin

They're making up for a rash decision. All of a sudden, "Sarah Barracuda" doesn't seem so cute anymore. But she's still hot and she still kills moose with her own gun and makes them into mooseburgers.

The McCain camp should be vetted on their reckless vetting. I love the spin that Sarah Palin is a hero because her daughter is pregnant by an 18-year old boy named Levi, and she's keeping the baby. I would also argue that keeping the baby isn't so extraordinary. They've made it out like abortion is the common choice. The conservative wingnuts have no other choice but to rally around their gal because they forced McCain to choose her.

I've posted this before but this is my theory: McCain wanted to pick Joe Lieberman, his best bud, but he was getting shaped and molded by radio talk show hosts and republican wingnuts. McCain the "maverick" was being tossed around by the right of right. He finally threw up his hands, picked Palin and said: Happy now. After all, it was the lowly Rush Limbaugh, who pushed for Palin, whom he called a "babe."

NYT: On Monday morning, Ms. Palin and her husband, Todd, issued a statement saying that their 17-year-old unmarried daughter, Bristol, was five months pregnant and that she intended to marry the father.

Among other less attention-grabbing news of the day: it was learned that Ms. Palin now has a private lawyer in a legislative ethics investigation in Alaska into whether she abused her power in dismissing the state’s public safety commissioner; that she was a member for two years in the 1990s of the Alaska Independence Party, which has at times sought a vote on whether the state should secede; and that Mr. Palin was arrested 22 years ago on a drunken-driving charge.

Aides to Mr. McCain said they had a team on the ground in Alaska now to look more thoroughly into Ms. Palin’s background. A Republican with ties to the campaign said the team assigned to vet Ms. Palin in Alaska had not arrived there until Thursday, a day before Mr. McCain stunned the political world with his vice-presidential choice. The campaign was still calling Republican operatives as late as Sunday night asking them to go to Alaska to deal with the unexpected candidacy of Ms. Palin

Here's more that the McCain camp should've discovered about Levi:

He also warns that if anyone messes with him, "I'll kick ass."
The Web site, before it was removed, appeared not to have been accessed for a year.
On it, he admits to having a girlfriend.
On the part where it asks about children, he wrote, "I don't want kids."
Mark Okeson, the assistant principal at Wasilla High School, told the Chicago Tribune that Bristol started her junior year last fall, in the town where Sarah Palin grew up.
He said Bristol inexplicably transferred to an Anchorage high school midyear, leaving Levi behind.
"I never heard the story why," he said.