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Republicans who are mainly interested in making sure their party wins the 2012 presidential election would seem to face a catch-22. The man who currently leads the GOP race in national polls, Rick Perry, has a history of making reckless and inflammatory statements about Social Security — enough to raise serious questions about whether nominating … Continue reading
A House bill to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act has now attracted 122 cosponsors—two more than the total number of sponsors from the previous congressional term, when the legislation was first introduced. A spokesman for Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, lead House sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act, told The Advocate … Continue reading
Gay Iranians are sending a message via a new Facebook group — “We are everywhere.” London’s Guardian first noted that a string of anonymous Iranians were proclaiming their homosexuality in videos posted on the “We are everywhere” Facebook group as a protest. They live in a country that not only recently executed three men for … Continue reading
Texas Gov. Rick Perry bristled at accusations during Monday’s GOP debate that he had done the bidding of a corporate donor by ordering schoolgirls to use a new vaccine. “The company was Merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that I had received from them,” Perry said. “I raised about $30 million. And if you’re … Continue reading
Texas Governor Rick Perry says he was “taken aback” by an incident that occurred at Monday night’s Republican presidential debate after U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) was asked if a man who is sick should be left to die because he is uninsured, according to NBC News. In addressing the situation that unfolded Perry reportedly … Continue reading
The race to hold early Republican presidential primary contests is heating up. The Arizona Republic reports that Gov. Jan Brewer (R) issued a proclamation on Monday declaring that the state will hold its GOP presidential primary on February 28 of next year. Brewer’s decision breaks national party rules mandating that only Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada … Continue reading
The participant’s in last night’s GOP presidential debate once again took the opportunity to pretend that the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) put a massive dent in Medicare by cutting $500 billion from the program. Michele Bachmann told us that “We know that President Obama stole over $500 billion out of Medicare to switch it over to Obamacare.” … Continue reading
With her standing in the polls slipping, Michele Bachmann needed to find a way to capture the spotlight she held earlier this summer. She just may have done that tonight at the Tea Party Express/CNN debate in Tampa, Florida. Bachmann, the founder of the Tea Party Caucus in the House, knew her audience well and … Continue reading
Texas Gov. Rick Perry was hit both on and off the debate stage Monday night with accusations of engaging in “crony capitalism” when he issued a 2007 executive order requiring sixth grade girls receive a vaccine to protect against HPV, which causes cervical cancer. “I’m a mom and I’m a mom of three children and … Continue reading
President Obama sent his jobs bill to Congress on Monday, urging lawmakers to put aside “political games” and pass the $447 billion plan meant to increase hiring as the government struggles to curtail persistent high unemployment. But just two hours after Mr. Obama, flanked by firefighters, construction workers and teachers in the Rose Garden, waved a copy … Continue reading
Texas Gov. Rick Perry toned down his language on Social Security today, deviating from the harsh rhetoric that has fueled criticism from his Republican opponents as they gear up for the second presidential debate in less than a week. In an op-ed for USA Today, Perry replaced the term “Ponzi scheme” with descriptions of the entitlement program’s “financial … Continue reading
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has shot down legislation that would have made it easier for the state’s two largest electric utilities to raise rates in order to make improvements to the power grid. “It may be a dream come true for Commonwealth Edison, but it’s a nightmare for consumers in Illinois,” Quinn said before vetoing … Continue reading
The military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy will become history on Sept. 20, but for active-duty gays and lesbians planning to celebrate its demise, there are still plenty of do’s and don’ts to keep in mind. In a blog post Monday, the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) released guidelines on the types of parties gays … Continue reading
President Barack Obama will take to the Rose Garden on Monday to make a pitch for his jobs creation plan and announce he is sending it to Congress later that evening, the White House said. Obama will be joined by teachers, veterans, small-business owners and others who would benefit from the American Jobs Act’s passage, … Continue reading
A battle over Social Security launched last week between the top two GOP presidential contenders doesn’t show any signs of quieting down as candidates prepare for round two at the first-ever CNN/Tea Party Republican Debate on Monday night. The debate, being held at the Florida State Fairgrounds in Tampa, will also give the six other … Continue reading
KABUL—The Sept. 11 attacks that triggered the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan also uprooted 16-year-old Abdul Ghattar from his village in war-torn Helmand province, bringing him to a desolate refugee camp on the edge of Kabul. Yet Mr. Ghattar stared blankly when asked whether he knew about al Qaeda’s strike on the U.S., launched a decade … Continue reading
Daniel Tishman remembers when his dad built the Twin Towers. John Tishman was the chairman of Tishman Construction, the family-owned, New York-based construction company contracted by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to build the World Trade Center. It was the 1960s, and Dan would accompany his dad to the site. He remembers … Continue reading
Michael McAuliff — A few weeks ago, just before I went on vacation with my family, I went to my basement and retrieved a legal-sized white envelope and an old computer tote bag. I brought them to the office, where I cut a rectangle from the bag’s outer flap pocket, and sealed it and the envelope … Continue reading
In 2004, Richard Clarke wrote a piece for the January/February 2005 Atlantic predicting what the world would be like ten years after September 11, 2001. His predictions reflected the prevailing zeitgeist of the time: what people thought mattered and what was likely to happen, where we were going wrong and where we were going right. Like all … Continue reading
I was in high school, on my way to class that morning, in the backseat of a friend’s powder blue Geo Prism. While listening to Mancow’s Morning Madhouse, we heard a report that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. My two friends in the car were having an argument concerneing their thoughts on … Continue reading
Ironically, much of our attention to the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks involves our distinctively American propensity to point to our own faults. Ten years have passed, critics moan, and One World Trade Center isn’t finished. Controversy lingers over both placement and content of the memorial at the site. (Even over whether the … Continue reading
via Erik Hayden, The Atlantic Wire
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Iowa) believes Social Security, while troubled, needs to be retained for current beneficiaries and future generations. The presidential candidate said Friday that while the program is “in trouble,” the federal government has made a commitment to senior citizens that it must keep. “The United States made a decision 80 years ago about … Continue reading
Two of the three suspects believed to be involved in a potential 9/11 anniversary plot against New York or Washington are of Arab descent and traveled to the United States last week, according to a U.S. government official. Authorities are operating under the assumption that two of the suspects have arrived on U.S. soil, and … Continue reading
Armed with worrisome poll data and seeking to maintain the legislative upper hand, Congressional Republicans who have spent the balance of the year pouring buckets of criticism on the Obama administration are shifting to a more restrained approach as they ponder how to respond to the president’s jobs plan. Back from a summer break in … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 