Quote of the Day

"In Part I, I made the argument that any woman who is married to a good man and who wants a happy marriage ought to consent to at least some form of sexual relations as much as possible. (Men need to understand that intercourse should not necessarily be the goal of every sexual encounter.)"

Dennis Prager, conservative radio host.

Prager's sexist op-ed from Townhall.com is getting attention because he is hosting a fundraiser for Sen. Mitch McConnell. The McConnell campaign brushes off questions about the Prager op-ed.

"Sen. McConnell has a long and distinguished record of defending and empowering Kentucky women and he's proud to run on that record. No one stands stronger for [Kentucky] women than Sen. McConnell," McConnell spokeswoman Allison Moore said in a statement according to The Hill in response to questions about Prager.

McConnell's connection to Prager isn't helping Republicans distance themselves from accusations that they are declaring war on women. McConnell also hurts himself by repeatedly filibustering and voting against the Violence Against Women Act. These are Republicans who voted against the final passage of the VAWA.

Senators who voted against the bill included Republicans John Barrasso (Wyo.), Roy Blunt (Mo.), John Boozman (Ark.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Cornyn (Texas), Ted Cruz (Texas), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), Orrin Hatch (Utah), James Inhofe (Okla.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Ron Johnson (Wisc.), Mike Lee (Utah), Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Rand Paul (Ky.), Jim Risch (Idaho), Pat Roberts (Kansas), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), John Thune (S.D.) and Tim Scott (S.C.).

The McConnell campaign have rather bizarre ideas about how their candidate has a "long and distinguished record" of empowering the women of Kentucky.

Mitch McConnell Was For VAMA Before He Was Against It

Republicans voting against the Violence Against Women Act was politically stupid. Now Republicans have to run away from their vote on the campaign trail. Case in point is Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell. The Senator from Kentucky sent out a press release attempting to mislead his constituents on his vote.

"Mitch was the co-sponsor of the original Violence Against Women Act -- and continues to advocate for stronger polices to protect women. I am proud to call him my senator," the document quotes a voter as saying.

McConnell was a co-sponsor of a previous version of VAMA. McConnell voted against VAMA when it was reauthorized in 2013. McConnell was 1 of 22 senators to vote against reauthorizing VAMA. McConnell now doesn't have the courage to stand behind his vote. Pathetic.

Anti-Stalking Laws in VAWA

Pushing Rope pal Ginger Lee wrote about how Republicans delaying passage of the Violence Against Women Act were endangering from that are being stalked.

Without VAWA, most states won’t recognize a protective order from another state. As it currently stands, attempting to cross state lines safely, and doing so in a way that will allow a protective order to be used if something occurs outside of the jurisdiction of the original order, is a complicated process. The laws vary so greatly from state to state that what may “protect” a person in TN won’t protect a person in SD unless an ‘out of state’ registration is applied for. When applying for an out of state recognition, there are states that will contact the person the protective order is against. For victims trying to “disappear” or get to a safe place outside of the state the order was written, complying with the laws correctly can put them in danger.

Go and read her post.

Florida Republicans Voting Against the Violence Against Women Act

This should be used as a helpful reminder to voters. I don't want congressional members of the Florida delegation to duck voting against the Violence Against Women Act. Here is a list of Florida elective officials voting nay on VAWA.

House of Representative

Gus Bilirakis, Ron DeSantis, John Mica, Jeff Miller, Bill Posey, Trey Radel, Tom Rooney, Dennis Ross, Steve Southerland, Ted Yoho

Senate

Marco Rubio

Remember this next time you head into the voting booth.

Why VAWA Has Helped Women

Sen. Mark Udall released this helpful graph on how the Violence Against Women Act curtailed domestic violence.

Dubious Rubio

Sen. Marco Rubio makes the argument that Congress is too busy to pass new gun regulations. The last 112th Congress was known for a lack of productivity. The current Congress doesn't promise to be any more productive. Rubio never got around to producing his much touted immigration reform bill during the last Congress. Rubio did find time to go on a book tour.

In other Rubio related news: Florida's junior senator was one of eight Republicans to vote to block the Violence Against Women Act.

Eight Senators on Monday voted not to consider the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, a bill that protects victims of domestic violence. The Senators who voted against moving to debate on the bill were: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Tim Scott (R-SC), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Rand Paul (R-KY), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and James Risch (R-ID).

It says something when Rubio is to the right of the Republican caucus. Jezebel is urging people to contact Rubio and other senators to voice their displeasure. Contact Rubio at www.rubio.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/mobile/contact.

The answers Rubio gave were at the Buzzfeed Brews. Rubio said at this event that he didn't like beer. Nothing wrong with that. Perhaps Buzzfeed should have asked Rubio first.