FIC Crashes Blumenthal’s Party
July 22nd, 2014 by Nicole
Holding a presser without us? I don’t think so
FIC Blog has been on vacation, but our office has in no sense been idle — in fact, we have some exciting press to share. In case you missed it, you can still view the WTNH video of my rebuttal to Sen. Blumenthal’s press conference at the site of a new Hobby Lobby under construction in Manchester. Claiming to speak for women, as usual, Blumenthal & Friends have continued to harrass the Green family business, wasting time and taxpayer dollars with a bill that would purportedly “fix” Hobby Lobby’s Supreme Court victory. Predictably, their bid to fix what ain’t broken did not go over well in the Senate. Egregiously, the former Attorney General also misrepresented state law, as reported earlier this summer by none other than the Hartford Courant:
In Connecticut, insurers broadly must offer contraceptive coverage if the plans have prescription coverage. As with federal law, the state exempts church-controlled organizations from that requirement — but the state also exempts individuals for whom contraceptives are against their religious or moral beliefs. Exempted employers must alert their employees with a brochure explaining the lack of coverage in at least 10-point type.
I am pleased with how the interview and coverage went. I am not as pleased with other aspects of the experience…
Blumenthal Gives Me the Brush?
As I was chatting with members of the press, someone asked me if I planned to try to speak to Blumenthal. I mentioned that I had not been satisfied with his response to written correspondence in the past, but I said yes, I supposed I would try. I saw him moving in our direction, walked up, shook his hand warmly and said point blank, “Senator, I want to understand why you think the owners of Hobby Lobby are imposing their religion on their employees.” Pointing a finger toward me, he replied, “Give me a phone number and we’ll talk. I have to run.” Before I could even process this, he was halfway to a car.
The young lady and young man who had prompted me before got to bear witness to this exchange and my flabbergasted expression. They pointed to a woman, who also looked preoccupied, and said, “We think she is his aide.” At that moment I decided to pass, but I did follow up by forwarding (Heaven help me!) my personal cell phone number to the contact listed on his press release, explaining who I was and what had transpired. I received no confirmation.
Two days later I tweeted:
As of today I’ve heard zip…nada. I can’t say I am surprised; after all, our Senator clearly has a very busy schedule.
Allow me to suggest a new hashtag: #NoTime4Ur?s
One of those young reporters was Fox CT’s Maggie Slysz. I have to start watching TV news more often…haha.
[…] I wrote about how Sen. Blumenthal balked when I approached him with a question after his Hobby Lobby… Video of that encounter is now available here. I was also invited on Jim Vicevich’s program, […]