-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Republican opposition is solidifying to President Barack Obama’s $447 billion job creation plan, and his pending proposal to raise taxes on millionaires is already under GOP fire. “If we’re just going to do class warfare and get tax increases out of this, then I don’t think much will come of it,” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) … Continue reading
On Sunday, former President Bill Clinton laughed off former Vice President Dick Cheney’s suggestion that Hillary Clinton should challenge President Barack Obama in 2012. “Well, you know, I’m very proud of her, so I’m always gratified whenever anyone says anything nice about her. And I very much agree that she’s done a good job,” Clinton … Continue reading
I have good news and bad news about conservatives and LGBT equality. The good news is that LGBT equality will come from the right. The bad news is that this will happen only if we learn how to talk to conservatives — both gay and straight — and listen to them in return. You wouldn’t … Continue reading
The mother of a gay teenager who committed suicide last year arrived at Rep. Michele Bachmann’s office in Waite Park, Minn. Thursday carrying a box with 141,000 signatures petitioning the congresswoman to publicly address gay bullying, The Advocate reports. Tammy Aaberg met for an hour with several on Bachmann’s staff, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports, to … Continue reading
Not long after ink from the governor’s signature had dried on Illinois’ civil unions law, Todd and Mark Wathen began preparations for a June ceremony. The couple wanted to hold the event somewhere quaint in central Illinois, a place that would be convenient to family in Kentucky and Indiana and to their home in Mattoon. … Continue reading
Charles H. Percy, a former United States senator from Illinois and a moderate Republican who clashed with President Richard M. Nixon over Watergate and whose own presidential ambitions were stymied by Nixon’s resignation, died Saturday in Washington. He was 91. His death was announced by the office of his son-in-law, Senator John D. Rockefeller IV … Continue reading
Next spring’s gay marriage referendum may not just affect North Carolina’s constitution. It could change the dynamics of the May primary, particularly on the Republican side. The Legislature’s decision this week to place a statewide referendum on a same-sex marriage ban on the same day as the primary will bring out people who don’t otherwise … Continue reading
Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly battled fellow Fox News host Bill O’Reilly last night, and reiterated her support of Chaz Bono and the transgender community in an on-air segment. Kelly earlier had interviewed fellow Fox associate Dr. Keith Ablow and excoriated him for his online Fox column and later comments that children could become transgender just by … Continue reading
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned today that public frustration over joblessness in the U.S. is in danger of boiling over and could lead to riots in the streets if the government fails to create more jobs. “You have a lot of kids graduating college who can’t find jobs. That’s what happened in Cairo. … Continue reading
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) slammed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) on his foreign policy experience and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and the rest of the Republican presidential field for being anti-science. Huntsman, who most recently served as the Obama administration’s ambassador to China, has been focusing his attacks on Romney … Continue reading
House Republican leaders came out against nearly all the major proposals in President Obama’s $447 billion job-creation plan Friday, including his middle-class tax cuts and his approach to federal spending on transportation and school construction. In a memo to all House Republicans, the GOP leaders said cutting payroll taxes through 2012 would lead to a … Continue reading
Two top Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee have asked Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to delay the new policy allowing gays to serve openly in the military. In a letter to the Pentagon chief this week, California Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, the committee chairman, and South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson – two opponents of … Continue reading
Democracy may get a whole new look when it comes to presidential politics in 2012. The Electoral College will still bring the next commander in chief to the White House, but tweaks to the system could change the rules of the game. After the 2000 election recount drama, polling showed that most Americans wanted to … Continue reading
A town clerk in Ledyard, N.Y., is standing in the way of letting a same-sex couple tie the knot, even though the state legalized marriage equality in June. Rose Marie Belforti, the town clerk for the small town of Ledyard, has publicly stated that she will not sign marriage licenses for same-sex couples and refused … Continue reading
The U.S. Postal Service appears to be the latest casualty in digital technology’s slow but steady replacement of working humans. Unless an external source of funding comes in, the post office will have to scale back its operations drastically, or simply shut down altogether. That’s 600,000 people who would be out of work, and another … Continue reading
CNN has an interesting new poll comparing the attitudes of Republicans who identify with the Tea Party movement to those who don’t. Perhaps surprisingly, the survey finds that fully 51 percent of Republicans define themselves as non-Tea Party members have neutral, conflicted or negative views toward the movement. The other 49 percent say they are … Continue reading
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) criticized President Obama’s jobs plan in an economic address in Washington on Thursday, calling it “a poor substitute for the pro-growth policies that are needed to remove barriers to job creation in America.” In a speech to the Economic Club of Washington, Boehner outlined the Republican plan for job creation … Continue reading
Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) said a push in the North Carolina state legislature to add an anti-gay-marriage amendment to the state constitution has prompted him to co-sponsor federal legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). “For a couple who [have] been married legally, every state should be required to give full faith and … Continue reading
Federal prosecutors argue Rod Blagojevich could serve 30 years to life in prison, sources say — a sentencing range that will be bitterly disputed by the former governor’s defense lawyers. Blagojevich attorney Sheldon Sorosky wouldn’t discuss the government’s numbers, which were submitted in private. But he said the defense will submit its own calculations. “We … Continue reading
MIAMI — A federal judge on Wednesday blocked enforcement of a first-in-the-nation law that restricted what Florida physicians can say about guns to their patients, ruling the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s free speech guarantees and does not trample gun rights. U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke said it was important to emphasize “the free flow … Continue reading
The United States, Europe and the Middle East quartet are engaged in a last-ditch effort to set up a fresh round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in an attempt to head off a major diplomatic embarrassment over the looming Palestinian request for recognition of statehood at the UN. The US is leading diplomatic pressure on Israeli … Continue reading
A package of disaster relief funding worth $7 billion was blocked from coming up for a vote by Senate Republicans on Monday, drawing sharp condemnation from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) who lambasted the conservative party for abandoning Americans in need. “Last night, Democrats tried to move forward on a measure that would have … Continue reading
The Census Bureau reports the number of Americans in poverty jumped to 15.1 percent in 2010, a 27-year high. About 46.2 million people, or nearly 1 in 6, were in poverty. That’s up from 43.6 million, or 14.3 percent, in 2009. It was the highest level since 1983. The number of people lacking health insurance … Continue reading
On Friday, hackers broke into the main Twitter account for NBC News and reported a terrorist attack on Ground Zero. Twitter acted fast, pulling the accounts of NBC and the Script Kiddies, the LulzSec-lookalikes that took credit for the attack, but the tweet stirred some anxiety in the days before the tenth anniversary of 9/11. This is … Continue reading
Democrats suffered a major blow in two special House election losses Tuesday, leaving the party at a political low point as it gears up for 2012. Republicans pulled off an upset in New York’s 9th Congressional District, a strongly Democratic seat that should have been an easy hold. And the GOP cruised to an easy … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 