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via David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court struck down a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act on Wednesday and declared that same-sex couples who are legally married deserve equal rights to the benefits under federal law that go to all other married couples. The decision is a … Continue reading
A Letter From The Editress: I’ve been trying all day to find the right words to meaningfully express how I feel about today’s historic U.S. Supreme Court decisions on DOMA and Prop 8. This morning, I was one of the hundreds (thousands?) of people standing outside the Supreme Court building anxiously awaiting the verdict. The … Continue reading
via Richard Wolf and Brad Heath, USA Today WASHINGTON — A fractured Supreme Court effectively opened the door for same-sex marriages to resume throughout California on Wednesday, saying it did not have the authority to hear a case challenging that state’s ban on gay and lesbian weddings. The court’s 5-4 decision, written by Chief Justice … Continue reading
via Richard Wolf, USA Today WASHINGTON — If the range of possible Supreme Court rulings on gay marriage this month requires a scorecard, the potential confusion arising from those decisions may demand a manual. It’s not as simple as whether gays and lesbians can marry or not, and whether they become eligible for federal benefits. … Continue reading
via New Jersey Area News Group Things were so bad for Speaker John Boehner Thursday night, support for his Plan B tax bill so diminished, the limits of his power with his own party laid bare, that he stood in front of the House Republican Conference and recited the Serenity Prayer. “God grant me the … Continue reading
via Patricia Zengerle and Susan Heavey, Reuters A growing number of lawmakers – including a leading pro-gun senator – called on Monday for a look at curbing assault weapons like the one used in a massacre at a Connecticut grade school, a sign that attitudes toward gun control could be shifting. Senator Joe Manchin, a … Continue reading
via Lauren McGaughy, New Orleans Times Picayune Gov. Bobby Jindal said oral contraceptives should be available over-the-counter in a Thursday evening op-ed for the Wall Street Journal. The self-described “unapologetic pro-life Republican” governor of Louisiana said this would lower health-care costs, prevent government intrusion into citizens’ lives and fight the influence of big pharmaceutical companies. … Continue reading
via Susan Heavey, Reuters President Barack Obama says federal authorities should not target recreational marijuana use in two Western states where it has been made legal given limited government resources and growing public acceptance of the controlled substance. His first comments on the issue come weeks after Washington state and Colorado voters supported legalizing pot, … Continue reading
via Matthew Dolan and Kris Maher, The Wall Street Journal The Republican-led Michigan legislature approved a pair of right-to-work bills, sending them on for the governor’s expected signature, as thousands of union activists continued protesting outside the state capitol. Two votes in the state House approved bills to allow workers in unionized workplaces in the … Continue reading
via Mark Sherman, Associated Press The Supreme Court plunged into the contentious issue of gay marriage Friday when it agreed to take up California’s ban on same-sex unions and a separate dispute about federal benefits for legally married gay couples. The court’s action gives the justices the chance to say by late June whether gay … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post In a historic bipartisan vote on Tuesday, the Senate passed Sen. Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-N.H.) amendment to the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act that would extend abortion insurance coverage to victims of rape in the military. If the House of Representatives decides to include the measure in its version of … Continue reading
via Terry Baynes, Reuters The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday remained silent about whether it will enter the legal fray over same-sex marriage and hear one of several pending appeals on the issue. The court’s nine justices met in private on Friday to consider whether to review challenges to the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act, … Continue reading
via Chris Good, ABC News As Congress wrangles over the fiscal cliff, one tiny document will loom large over the negotiations. Known in Republican circles simply as “The Pledge,” the Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) Taxpayer Protection Pledge has steered GOP tax policy for decades, applying pressure to any candidate, lawmaker, or president who would … Continue reading
via Peter Henderson, Reuters The American Civil Liberties Union and four servicewomen sued the U.S. Defense Department on Tuesday to end a ban on women in combat, calling the military the last bastion of discrimination by the federal government and saying modern warfare has already put women in the line of fire. The civil rights … Continue reading
via Chicago Sun-Times The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an Illinois prosecutor’s plea to allow enforcement of a law aimed at stopping people from recording police officers on the job. The justices on Monday left in place a lower court ruling that found that the state’s anti-eavesdropping law violates free speech rights when used against … Continue reading
via Dan Eggen, The Washington Post Ten days after failing to sail into the White House, Mitt Romney is already being tossed overboard by his party. The former Massachusetts governor — who attracted $1 billion in funding and 59 million votes in his bid to unseat President Obama — has rapidly become persona non grata … Continue reading
via Paul Kane, The Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will remain atop the Democratic caucus for at least two more years, extending her role as Congress’s most vocal liberal voice opposing the Republican agenda despite a second straight election in which her party failed to win back the majority. She said she … Continue reading
via Erin Fuchs, Business Insider A whopping 75 percent of Montana’s voters approved an initiative Tuesday stating corporations are not people. Montana voters specifically said “corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights because they are not human beings,” Courthouse News Service reported. The measure was a stinging rebuke to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision … Continue reading
via John Dickerson, Slate Mitt Romney says he is a numbers guy, but in the end he got the numbers wrong. His campaign was adamant that public polls in the swing states were mistaken. They claimed the pollsters were over-estimating the number of Democrats who would turn out on Election Day. Romney’s campaign was certain … Continue reading
via Robert Hulshof-Schmidt, The Examiner Three days after the 2012 general election Washington became the ninth state to achieve marriage equality for same sex couples. Referendum 74, a measure allowing voters to approve or reject legislatively-approved equality, is headed to passage with over 52% of the vote. With the matter decided, same sex couples in … Continue reading
via Tyler Kingkade, The Huffington Post Mitt Romney lost the youth vote by a huge margin, and with it, he lost the presidency. Sixty percent of young voters who cast ballots chose to reelect President Barack Obama, against the 36 percent who voted for Mitt Romney. That’s a six point slide in youth support for … Continue reading
via WBEZ Chicago A slim majority of Puerto Ricans Tuesday sought to change their ties with the United States and become the 51st U.S. state in a non-binding referendum that would require final approval from Congress. The two-part referendum asked whether the island wanted to change its 114-year relationship with the United States. Nearly 54 … Continue reading
via CNN Three states voted on referendums Tuesday on legalizing marijuana for recreational use: Colorado passes marijuana legalization, but there’s a catch Colorado voters have approved a referendum that supports the legalization of marijuana on a recreational basis. Amendment 64 in Colorado will amend the state constitution to legalize and regulate the production, possession, and … Continue reading
via Joel Connelly, San Francisco Chronicle Statewide ballot measures to legalize same-sex marriage took the lead in Washington and passed in Maryland and Maine on Tuesday, as proponents of marriage equality broke a string of 32 consecutive losses in statewide votes on the contentious social issue. Referendum 74 in this state was leading 51.8 percent … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 