Punishment that keeps on punishing...

In her post on November 5, 2012, my colleague, Andrea, discusses the additional penalties and fines for being caught drinking and driving, even after fees, community service, and probation have been paid and served. She admits, having experienced the whole ordeal, that it is a very serious thing to be caught drinking and driving, but the expenses that come along with it are ridiculous.
Although I have not been through the same experience, I would have to say that I agree with Andrea. I mean, seriously? If someone has paid their fees, and served their community service and probation, why are they still being financially punished for years afterwards? Andrea states that TxDPS has a program called the "Driver Responsibility Program Surcharges," that continues to take money from those convicted of a DWI offense. This program requires those convicted of the offense to pay TxDPS $1,000 to $2,500 a year for the next three years to legally be able to drive, which most cannot afford and therefore drive illegally, risking another offense and more money.
Andrea believes that TxDPS should cut the surcharge fees in half or just get rid of them all together. She even provides alternative consequences if the surcharge fees were to be cut, like extended probation or more community service hours.
She has definitely convinced me that some things need to change. I would say that she did a really great job presenting the information and that, combined with her personal experience, makes her pretty credible.

Planned Parenthood in Texas

In August of 2012, maybe even earlier than that, Planned Parenthood became increasingly unsavory in Texas. After it was announced that Federal funding for Planned Parenthood would be cut off, the State of Texas scrambled to put alternative programs in place to take care of the 50,000 patients that Planned Parenthood treated in 2011 alone. But these programs, such as People's Community Clinic and Community Care, served only 277 and 275 patients, respectively, in 2011 (kvue.com). The question now is whether or not the programs that are being put in place will be able to support the high numbers of women in Texas that so heavily depend on Planned Parenthood. So why does the Federal Government feel that it is necessary to cut off all funding? And why won't the State of Texas pick up the slack?
When asked if he thought the programs put in place would be able to support everyone who needs it, Perry responded by turning the question around and making it about Federal versus State Control: "Here's the real goal, is to have the federal government respect the State of Texas' desire, and not try to make one size fits all," Perry elaborated. "They basically said if you don't do it the way we want it done, then you're not going to get your money back, and we don't think that's right (kvue.com)."
It is extremely important that Planned Parenthood does well at their next hearing, on November 8, because if they lose, it could mean that thousands of low income women will be without affordable health care.
Planned Parenthood will continue to receive state funding through December 31, and as the Texas Women's Health Program remains in limbo, due to technical issues, Planned Parenthood will definitely remain busy until then.
Come on Texas, if the Federal Government doesn't want to fund Planned Parenthood, the smartest thing to do is to support them with State funds or else you will have much bigger issues on your hands, like thousands of angry women who need affordable healthcare.