Jansing and Co   |  April 29, 2013

Rep. Maloney: 'The next Tamerlan can go to a gun show and buy all the guns he wants'

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney tells MSNBC's Richard Lui that in the wake of the Boston terror attacks there should be a renewed push for gun control in Congress.

Watch the MSNBC clip here

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, announced at this week’s credit union regulatory burden hearing she plans to introduce a bill that would exempt loans from the credit union member business lending cap that are made after federally declared natural disasters.

In a release, the congresswoman said the move would inject much-needed funds into local communities when they need it most.

“We all know Superstorm Sandy caused enormous destruction throughout the Northeast, and wildfires, hurricanes and tornados have wreaked similar havoc across the country,” Maloney said after the hearing on Wednesday.

“Federal disaster assistance that flows after each declaration of a disaster is essential but not sufficient to get a region back on its feet. I’ve heard from many small businesses about theirstruggle to recover from Sandy,” Maloney said.

The bill would exempt member business loans from the 12.25% of assets cap for a period of up to five years after a natural disaster declaration.

“Exempting these loans will open up a new source of credit for struggling small businesses and untie the hands of credit unions that want to provide that assistance,” she said.

“Credit unions are key members of the communities they serve and want to be there for small businesses who need assistance recovering from natural disasters. This bill will provide businesses a source of capital to help them rebuild and recover,” the New York Democrat said.

Last Thursday, Congressmember Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) attended the Presidential signing ceremony of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The bill, long delayed by conservatives in both houses of Congress, finally passed late last month by overwhelming margins. After the ceremony, she issued the following statement:
 
“As an original cosponsor of VAWA when it first passed in 1994 and a supporter of its subsequent renewals, I’m especially proud that this version of VAWA includes a bill I authored, the SAFER Act, which will help reduce the nation’s untested DNA rape kit backlog, and a bill I was the lead Democratic sponsor of, the Campus SaVE Act which will aid colleges in reducing sexual violence on campuses and help victims obtain needed services.

“The fundamental obligation of government is keeping citizens safe. And by including my two bills and extending VAWA provisions to LGBT, Native American, and immigrant victims, we have now extended protections under this law and affirmed the principle that equal protection under law are not meant just for some. They are meant for all. Furthermore, by reauthorizing the Trafficking Victims Protection Act we are renewing our commitment to ending the scourge of human trafficking.”

BACKGROUND:
Rep. Maloney was an original cosponsor of the Violence Against Women Act when Congress passed it in 1994 and supported the previous renewals in 2000 and 2005.

Read full story here

Carolyn Maloney doesn’t want you to unwittingly fork over $35 for a cup of coffee. Maloney, D-N.Y., Wednesday introduced the "Overdraft Protection Act," a bill that aims to crack down on overdraft fees. The bill aims to limit when and how banks charge consumers who try to spend more money than they have in their bank account.

If approved, the House bill would also:

Require overdraft fees to be “reasonable and proportional” to the cost of the transaction.
Limit the quantity of fees that can be charged to one per month and six per year.
Ban banks from manipulating the order in which transactions are posted. Critics say this is done deliberately to maximize overdraft fees.
The bill proposes a major expansion of consumer rights by extending the opt-in requirement to paper checks, ATMs and recurring monthly payments.

“With the rise of debit cards and the constant presence of swipe-card terminals to pay for everything from a  tank of gas to a candy bar, it’s easier than ever to overdraw an account and incur an overdraft fee,” says Maloney, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee. “That’s how a $5 cup of coffee can become a $35 cup of coffee faster than you can say ‘overdrawn!’ "

Read full story here

As gun violence legislation sputters in Congress, the idea of requiring mandatory gun liability insurance seems to be gaining more traction.

I cited the idea last December when I wrote about it here in the wake of the horrible Newtown massacre. It’s pretty simple: It wouldn’t restrict any gun sales whatsoever. You’d only be required to buy liability insurance, along with sellers.

Insurers would price the risk accordingly. Those judged by actuaries — not the government — to be the highest risks would pay the highest premiums.

As gun violence legislation sputters in Congress, the idea of requiring mandatory gun liability insurance seems to be gaining more traction.

I cited the idea last December when I wrote about it here in the wake of the horrible Newtown massacre. It’s pretty simple: It wouldn’t restrict any gun sales whatsoever. You’d only be required to buy liability insurance, along with sellers.

Insurers would price the risk accordingly. Those judged by actuaries — not the government — to be the highest risks would pay the highest premiums.

There are numerous precedents in auto, homeowners and business insurance, so there’s no 2nd Amendment conflict. Ideally, high-risk households would have to pay more and take more safety measures, so at-risk people wouldn’t have easy access to them. Responsible buyers would pay lower premiums for taking gun-safety

classes, using gun locks and safes.

The other direct measures that would directly ban the most deadly weapons such as assault rifles aren’t going anywhere because of potential 2nd Amendment challenges and lack of Congressional support. Even background checks are hitting roadblocks.

To date, California, Massachusetts, Maryland and Connecticut have considered mandatory insurance legislation. Now comes Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), with a new bill entitled “The Firearm Risk Protection Act.” It would require that gun owners purchase liability insurance. The bill’s introductory statement in the

Congressional Record was pretty straightforward and brief:

Read the full story here

Opinion

There are limitations to all American rights, a point that opponents of President Obama’s gun-control push should consider when reciting chapter and verse on the Second Amendment. It is no more absolute than the First.

No one is trying to take away guns. But in the wake of some of the worst massacres in recent history, it is fair and appropriate to push for gun controls that could ultimately save lives.

Obama was recently in Denver to drum up public support for his agenda, strategically using a tour of a police academy to put pressure on Congress. The president’s task is monumental. He has to somehow reignite Americans’ short-term memories surrounding recent tragic events.

He needs to keep it up. The effort is important, even if the National Rifle Association and other gun lobby groups insist the only answer to violence is more guns – even in schools.

The details are hard to forget for those living in Colorado, where two of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history occurred – the 1999 killings at Columbine High School and last summer’s attack at a movie theater in Aurora.

Colorado gets it. State legislators there have enacted stronger gun laws regarding background checks.

As for the latest tragedy, it’s barely been 100 days since 20 children – babies, really – and six adults were killed in a mass attack in Newtown, Conn. Not that long ago, and certainly not to the parents and grandparents of those killed and surely not to those young survivors from Sandy Hook Elementary School.

And yet, public opinion polls show a drop-off in support for the gun-control initiatives. What short memories. Gun-control advocates are worried time is running out for the administration. Obama is pulling out the stops, but public support for gun control is losing steam.

Meanwhile, the Connecticut Senate approved wide-ranging gun-control legislation, including measures that ban the sale of large-capacity ammunition magazines and 100 weapons that previously had been legal. Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed the bill. New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo offered praise for Connecticut.

Cuomo has taken an enormous amount of criticism for New York’s SAFE Act, but he delivered a fiery defense of the law during a visit to The News editorial board last week. He said he had worked on gun control for decades, throughout his career. Quick passage of the New York law had less to do with political points than passion for saving even one life, Cuomo said. He seemed sincere, but even if he wasn’t he was accurate: The law has cost him support upstate.

New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney should be able to do the same without fear for her life. The congresswoman said she received death threats over her proposed gun-control legislation. The bill would require weapons owners to hold liability insurance.

Gun-control laws do not have to infringe upon the Second Amendment, as has already been demonstrated, and the government isn’t coming to take away Americans’ guns. But this country has to learn from tragedies to reduce the chance that they will be repeated.

Read Original Story Here

Politics on the Hudson

03 April 2013 by Jessica Bakeman

A New York congresswoman received death threats from callers to her office Tuesday in response to her sponsorship of gun-control bills.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat from New York City, said in a statement Wednesday that the calls were frightening but would not stop her from working toward gun-control legislation that would make “our communities safer.”

She has authored a bill that would require gun owners to carry insurance, like drivers.

Here’s the full statement:

“Yesterday, several death threats were phoned into my New York office in response to news reports about a bill I authored requiring gun owners to have insurance. The calls were fielded by young interns, who were understandably shaken by this experience.
“Law enforcement has been notified and they are investigating the calls, and so no further comment from me on the details of the calls would be appropriate at this time.

“I am proud of my work to help curb gun violence. I strongly support the comprehensive package of gun reforms proposed by the Obama Administration and I have authored two common sense pieces of legislation aimed at keeping our communities safer. One bill would put some teeth in the law against gun trafficking and straw purchases. Another would require that gun owners carry liability insurance, just like car owners, to give innocent victims of gun violence some recourse if they are injured. 100,000 Americans are injured by guns every year. Carrying insurance is the responsible thing to do.

“Given all the acts of gun violence we have seen in the past two years, the shootings in Aurora and Newtown, the attack on my friend and colleague Gabby Gifford, I take the threat of more gun violence very seriously. But it is not something that I will allow to stop me from doing my work.”

Read original story here

For my appearance on MSNBC today, here is a press release from August 28th on the Top Ten Ways the Romney Ryan Ticket is wrong for women.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney

Top Ten Ways the Romney/Ryan Ticket Is Bad

on Issues Affecting Women

August 28, 2012

During the last two years the Republicans have conducted an unrelenting attack on women’s basic rights.  Right-wing Republicans have threatened to slash programs that help women, erode hard-fought policies like Title IX which guarantees equality in sports education, and dismantle programs that provide family planning funding.  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have made clear that they will lead the attacks if they are elected in November.  As a result, reproductive freedom, workplace equality, programs to prevent violence against women and a host of other programs and policies will be in jeopardy if they prevail.   Here are the top ten ways in which the Republican ticket is bad for women.

Fair Pay

      Romney has refused to say whether he would have signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act or to take a position on the Paycheck Fairness Act.  His running mate Ryan, however, could not be clearer – he voted against Lily Ledbetter and the Paycheck Fairness Act in 2009.

Insurance

      Romney has vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) “on Day One” of his Presidency, stripping health care from 19 million American women who are covered because of the ACA.

      The ACA ends blatant discrimination by insurance companies, who, through the process of “gender rating,” charge women an extra billion dollars every year. In states that have not outlawed gender rating, 92% of insurance plans charge women more than men.  

      The ACA requires maternal health coverage in all insurance plans.  Currently 62% of all individual market enrollees do not have maternity coverage.  What is more, in 25 states, not one plan on the individual market covers maternity services.

Violence Against Women

      Romney has refused to take a position on whether the Violence Against Women Act should extend to women in disadvantaged communities such as American Indian women, the LGBT community, and immigrants.  Ryan voted not to cover these communities.

Family Planning

      Romney announced that he wants to eliminate Title X, the only national program dedicated to family planning. In 2009, Title X services helped 5.3 million patients, 70% of whom were impoverished.

      As Governor of Massachusetts, Romney vetoed a bill that would have required hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims – making it harder for a traumatized rape victim to prevent an unwanted pregnancy.

The Right to Choose

      Romney says he would “absolutely” support a personhood bill and Ryan even co-sponsored one, HR 212: The Sanctity of Human Life Act. This would define life as beginning at conception, completely outlawing abortion, many common types of contraception, and in-vitro fertilization.

      Ryan also supported HR 358, the so-called Protect Life Act – or, as critics dubbed it, the Let Women Die Act, which allows hospitals to refuse to perform abortions, even when they were deemed medically necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman. Even worse, it would have let them refuse to transfer her to a hospital that would save her life.

Women’s Health

      Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans now have to cover preventative care without requiring a co-payment, including mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, and contraception.  Romney would repeal the Act.

      In an interview with St. Louis TV station KDSK, Romney said that he would ‘get rid of’ funding for Planned Parenthood. Ryan has even co-sponsored a bill to defund the organization. Planned Parenthood provides almost 770,000 Pap tests and 750,00 breast exams per year, helping women catch cancer early, while it’s still in its most treatable stages. Planned Parenthood also provides more than four million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections.

Economic Security

      Ryan’s 2013 budget would cut $1.9 trillion from food stamps, unemployment, and federal employee pensions, disproportionately affecting American women. 

      Romney criticized President Obama for wanting to reinvest in American education and public works. Women make up more than 75% of all public school teachers, 61% of local government workers and 52% of state government workers.  Cuts to the public sector disproportionately affect women. The Ryan budget proposes to cut 33% of funding for “education, training, employment, and social services”.

Medicare/Medicaid

      Ryan’s budget would end Medicare as we know it, changing Medicare into a defined contribution plan, which allowed the government to give seniors vouchers to buy private insurance without guaranteeing that the voucher would cover the cost of the plan.  Health care experts tell us seniors would end up with an average of $6,400 in extra costs annually. Because women live longer, they comprise the majority of Medicare beneficiaries; they also have a much lower annual income, lower Social Security benefits, and are far more likely to live at or near poverty.

      The Ryan plan would turn Medicaid into a block grant and fund it far below current levels, leading to massive cuts in the program. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 14 - 27 million people would lose coverage under the Ryan plan. Women constitute 70% of adult Medicaid beneficiaries.

Paid Sick Leave

      Romney will not go on record supporting the Healthy Families Act, under which workers could earn up to seven paid sick days each year. Forty percent of private sector workers do not have a single paid sick day – and they are disproportionately employed in industries dominated by women. Women are the most likely to need to miss work to care for a sick child or parent.

Day Care

      The Ryan budget would cut 200,000 children from Head Start and roughly 80,000 children would lose subsidies as a result of cuts to the Child Care and Development Block Grant.  As a result, more women will have to choose between working and supporting their families or providing childcare.

In the hallways of the CGI, where all the action is, I ran into two women who have done a great deal to be sure this issue of human trafficking gets the attention it deserves, and I asked them about their views on the president's action. They are U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) and former Ambassador Swanee Hunt. Both said felt the action was meaningful and they hoped it would be productive, although they did express some disappointment that it did not bring increased funding to the effort.

"The Clinton Global Initiative is all about commitments, and the president came in and made a strong commitment to coordinate efforts and to direct resources at tackling this problem of human trafficking. This has real meaning and now it's up us, the members of congress on both sides of the aisle, to see this gets done," said Maloney.

I'm Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney from the great state of New York. When President Obama made health care a right, not a privilege, for all Americans, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. Now women are beginning to get the preventive services—including birth control—that they deserve. If they get sick or pregnant, they won't lose their insurance. And soon, for the first time, no longer will being a woman be a pre-existing medical condition!

Healthy moms mean healthy families. When my Republican colleagues held a hearing about birth control and refused to include a single woman on the first panel as a witness, I asked, "Where are the women?"

Where are the women? The women are here. And we are on our way to re-elect our President. The Democratic women of the House are committed to women's health and to moving America forward.