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via AP, Fresno Bee California has become the first state to ban a controversial form of psychotherapy aimed at making gay teenagers straight. Gov. Jerry Brown announced Sunday that he had signed SB1172 by Democratic Senator Ted Lieu of Torrance. The law, which prohibits sexual orientation change efforts for anyone under 18, will stop children … Continue reading
via Sabrina Siddiqui, The Huffington Post If Mitt Romney was hoping to distance himself from former President George W. Bush, a new poll has some news that might trouble the Republican presidential nominee: Bush posted higher favorability ratings than Romney. The national survey, conducted by Bloomberg News and released Wednesday, found that Bush received a … Continue reading
via Ron Nixon, The New York Times Customers might complain about the flood of unsolicited credit card applications, supermarket fliers and shopping catalogs in their mail, but the Postal Service is hoping to deliver even more. Faced with multibillion-dollar losses and significant declines in first-class mail, the post office is cutting deals with businesses and … Continue reading
via Miranda Leitsinger, NBC News When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told a group of students that the Supreme Court would probably hear challenges during its upcoming term to the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages, she confirmed what many observers were already thinking: The nation’s high court is poised to … Continue reading
via AP, Los Angeles Times The Senate closed the Capitol on Saturday after sending President Obama a spending bill that will make sure the government won’t shut down Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year. The measure passed early Saturday by a 62-30 vote — and then lawmakers skipped out of town to … Continue reading
via Dan Eggen and Phillip Rucker, The Washington Post Even as it bragged about beating President Obama in fundraising over the summer, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign was so low on cash that it ended up engineering an unusual $20 million loan to meet expenses until the former Massachusetts governor was formally named as the Republican … Continue reading
via Michael McAuliff, The Huffington Post Lawyers for the Obama administration are arguing that the United States will be irreparably harmed if it has to abide by a judge’s ruling that it can no longer hold terrorism suspects indefinitely without trial in military custody. The lawyers made the argument on Friday in seeking a stay … Continue reading
via Steve Peoples, The Boston Globe Mitt Romney is promising to reduce taxes on middle-income Americans. But how does he define ‘‘middle-income”? The Republican presidential nominee defined it Friday as income of $200,000 to $250,000 a year and less. The definition of ‘‘middle income’’ or the ‘‘middle class’’ is politically charged as Romney and President … Continue reading
via Doug Barry, Jezebel After unseating herself from the cool Republicans’ table earlier this month with accusations that Huma Abedin knew someone who knew someone who was friends with a guy who once heard that someone he sat next to at an Applebee’s was involved with the Muslim Brotherhood, Michele Bachmann might very well lose … Continue reading
via Daniel Newhauser, Roll Call Caving under pressure from critics, the Democratic Party decided to restore to its platform the word “God” and language recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. But on the floor of the Time Warner Cable Arena, where the Democratic National Convention is being held, the vote to do so seemed anything but … Continue reading
via Congressman Mike Honda (D-CA), Politix This election year Americans are faced with a difficult decision on how to best move our country forward. Among the proposals to address our economic challenges and federal deficit is one filled with extreme, regressive, and deeply cynical policy choices: that of congressman and vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan. … Continue reading
via The Economist Not since 1933 had an American president taken the oath of office in an economic climate as grim as it was when Barack Obama put his left hand on the Bible in January 2009. The banking system was near collapse, two big car manufacturers were sliding towards bankruptcy; and employment, the housing … Continue reading
via Mike Blumenthal, The Huffington Post Polling tracking the impact of the Republican convention has been sparse, but on Monday the Gallup Poll weighed in with a new survey showing the convention had only a “minimal impact” on the fortunes of Republican nominee Mitt Romney. In interviews conducted over the three days since the close … Continue reading
via Alexandra Jaffe, The Hill’s Ballot Box A new poll of women nationwide shows just how steep Mitt Romney will have to climb to get out of the crater he’s in with respect to women’s vote, but indicates he could have an opening if he can win the one issue he’s been banking on all … Continue reading
via Jeremy Herb, The Hill’s Ballot Box The tight presidential race has all but ensured that Congress will not pass a bill before the election that would halt sequestration cuts to the military. President Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney have traded barbs over sequestration as the issue has amplified on the campaign trail … Continue reading
via Ken Walsh, Ken Walsh’s Washington Blog, U.S. News & World Report Gary Johnson is serene. Sitting down to a lunch of grilled shrimp and tomato salad at a Latin restaurant in historic Ybor City, the Libertarian Party presidential nominee says his less-government philosophy is gradually spreading across the country and that many pundits and … Continue reading
via Bonnie Kavoussi, The Huffington Post If Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have their way, then Americans of all ages may be spending more on health care during their retirement. If Romney becomes president and repeals the Affordable Care Act as promised, then retirement would cost $11,100 more for the average 65-year-old and $18,600 more … Continue reading
via Philip Elliot and Alan Fram, The Huffington Post Republicans emphatically approved a toughly worded party platform at their national convention Tuesday that would ban all abortions and gay marriages, reshape Medicare into a voucher-like program and cut taxes to energize the economy and create jobs. The document opens by warning that while the American … Continue reading
via Nick R. Martin, Talking Points Memo, Muckracker Gabriela Saucedo Mercer hasn’t even won the Republican primary for Congress in Arizona yet, but she is already facing attacks from the Democratic Congressman she is hoping to unseat in November over some incendiary comments she made in the past about Middle Eastern immigrants. In an interview … Continue reading
via Meredith Shiner, Roll Call Speaker John Boehner (Ohio), the Republican National Convention’s permanent chairman, said today he doesn’t believe the current four-day convention framework makes sense in a modern media environment. The length of the once-every-four-years party fete has come into question as a natural disaster threatens to cut yet another convention down, with … Continue reading
via Stephen Ohlemacher, San Francisco Chronicle Rep. Ron Paul’s delegates are trying to mount a floor fight over new GOP rules designed to limit the ability of insurgent presidential candidates to amass delegates to future Republican conventions. They are getting help from other delegates, though it is unclear whether they can rally enough support to … Continue reading
via Sterling C. Beard, The Hill’s Ballot Box The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to expedite its handling of a legal challenge to Pennsylvania’s new voter ID law, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer. The plaintiffs seeking to place an injunction on the law and prevent it from going into effect, including the American Civil Liberties … Continue reading
via David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement Former Republican Governor Charlie Crist announced he is endorsing Barack Obama for President noting his former party’s “extreme” positions have made the GOP “incapable of governing.” Citing “the failure of those who favor extreme rhetoric over sensible compromise,” Crist, 56, withdrew from the GOP in his 2009-2010 … Continue reading
via Charles P. Pierce, Esquire The remarks of Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin, and Akin’s stubborn refusal to defenestrate himself to placate the party’s leaders who want him gone for saying things that they all agree should never be said out loud, has occasioned much guffawing and posturing — and, very probably, fundraising — … Continue reading
via Frank Bruni, The New York Times It makes no strategic sense for Bob Kerrey to bring up his support for gay marriage on the campaign trail in Nebraska, where he’s the Democratic nominee for an open Senate seat. Republicans far outnumber Democrats here; the state’s voters are socially conservative; his opponents are already smearing … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 