via Deborah Charles, Reuters Newt Gingrich ended his tumultuous run for U.S. president on Wednesday after dazzling in televised debates but winning only two of the dozens of nominating contests in the Republican primary race. The former U.S. House of Representatives speaker, the face of the Republican party in the mid-1990s, badly trailed front-runner Mitt … Continue reading
via The Huffington Post A controversial bill in Tennessee meant to restrict public school discussion of sexuality and LGBT issues is set to die without a vote after the key GOP sponsor announced on Monday that he simply wouldn’t bring it up. “With that assurance and the opposition of some people who didn’t want to … Continue reading
via Nick Wing, The Huffington Post A bill in Missouri meant to eliminate any mention of sexual orientation in the state’s public schools advanced to committee on Thursday after a first reading. The brief wording of HB 2051 gets right to the point: Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no instruction, material, or extracurricular … Continue reading
via Mike Sacks, The Huffington Post On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the federal government’s challenge to the Grand Canyon state’s controversial anti-immigration law, S.B. 1070. The case, Arizona v. United States, will not only be the Court’s second politically-charged blockbuster in as many months, but also a rematch between … Continue reading
via Andrea Stone, The Huffington Post Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales — who was the first person of Hispanic descent to hold that position and a lightning rod for controversy as President George W. Bush’s chief legal adviser on the war on terror — warned his fellow Republicans Thursday that the issue of immigration could … Continue reading
via Benjy Sarlin, Talking Points Memo Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), one of the most buzzed-about potential running mates for Mitt Romney, says he will not be the party’s vice presidential nominee even if Romney personally asks him. “I don’t want to be the vice president right now, or maybe ever,” Rubio said at a National … Continue reading
via Amanda Terkel, The Huffington Post Former Republican congressman Pete Hoekstra, who is now running to unseat Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI.), weighed in on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on Thursday, saying the law was a “nuisance” that shouldn’t be in place. The issue came up during a campaign event in Royal Oak, Mich. … Continue reading
via Benjy Sarlin, Talking Points Memo It’s been the dominant conventional wisdom ever since a wave of Hispanic Republicans won big races in 2010: Mitt Romney will pick a Hispanic running mate. But Romney may not be able to make that fantasy ticket a reality — even if he wants to. Picking a Hispanic politician … Continue reading
via Max J. Rosenthal, The Huffington Post After a marathon session of debate, the Connecticut Senate passed a bill early on Thursday morning abolishing the death penalty, making the state all but certain to end capital punishment within weeks. Connecticut would be the 17th state to repeal the death penalty and the first since Illinois … Continue reading
via Amanda Terkel, The Huffington Post A Wisconsin law that made it easier for victims of wage discrimination to have their day in court was repealed on Thursday, after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) quietly signed the bill. The 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act was meant to deter employers from discriminating against certain groups by … Continue reading
via The Huffington Post A recall election was officially ordered Friday against embattled first-term Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker after more than 900,000 signatures were collected on petitions to force a vote. The Government Accountability Board voted 5-0 to order the recall, a move that has been expected for weeks given the high number of signatures … Continue reading
via Lylah M. Alphonse, Yahoo! Shine In Wisconsin — yes, the same state where lawmakers have introduced a bill penalizing single mothers for being unmarried — a Republican state representative has come out against divorce for any reason — even domestic abuse. Instead of leaving an abusive situation, women should try to remember the things … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post As the only Republican Congressman at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) gave women an unexpected piece of advice: Give your money to Democrats. “I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under … Continue reading
via Norma Love, The Huffington Post New Hampshire lawmakers on Wednesday rejected a bill that would have made their state legislature the first one to repeal a gay marriage law, handing gay-rights supporters a key victory in the Northeast, where same-sex marriage is prevalent. The state House voted 211-116 to kill the measure, ending a … Continue reading
[Editress’ Note: Today marks the 40th anniversary of the day Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, which guarantees equal protection under the law regardless of sex, but today it is still not included in our Constitution. Today we are facing a War on Women. We must fight back. The ERA must be ratified … Continue reading
via Andrea Kelly, Arizona Public Media The state House education committee passed a bill Monday that would prohibit school districts and charter schools from promoting abortion as a better alternative to childbirth and adoption. SB 1009 would require schools to talk about adoption as the preferred alternative to abortion when the issue comes up in … Continue reading
via Faiz Shakir, ThinkProgress Moments ago, Netflix emailed a statement to the tech website Boing Boing indicating that the company will ensure that its ads never appear on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show again: Spotted your tweets and wanted to let you know that Netflix has not purchased and does not purchase advertising on the Rush … Continue reading
via Brian Stelter, The New York Times Emboldened by Rush Limbaugh’s public apology over the weekend to a law school student whom he had called a “slut” and a “prostitute,” critics of the radio talk show host are intensifying their online campaign against his advertisers. The apology, they said, was a signal that the campaign was … Continue reading
via Editorial Board, The New York Times State legislators in New Hampshire, who are on the verge of writing government-sanctioned discrimination back into state law, might want to take a look at a powerful ruling on marriage equality by the federal appeals court in San Francisco. A three-judge panel on the court ruled 2 to … Continue reading
via Lucia Graves, The Huffington Post As New Hampshire lawmakers gear up for a vote to repeal the state’s same-sex marriage law, state Rep. Seth Cohn (R) is warning the effort could hurt Republicans hoping to hold power after the 2012 elections. Should state lawmakers succeed in reversing the decision, New Hampshire would become the … Continue reading
via Elise Foley, The Huffington Post Republican congressional candidate Paul Babeu, who was outed as gay last week and accused of threatening his ex-boyfriend with deportation, said Monday that he supports same-sex marriage and the right of gays and lesbians to serve in the military. “If it’s not harming somebody else, then it doesn’t matter,” … Continue reading
via Laura Bassett, The Huffington Post Following news that Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) seems to have walked back his support for a GOP-sponsored bill that would require women to undergo a physically invasive transvaginal ultrasound procedure before having an abortion, members of the state legislature are speculating that Republicans are looking for a way … Continue reading
via Sam Stein, The Huffington Post The frontiers of the gay marriage debate keep on expanding. On Tuesday, Governor Susana Martinez (R-N.M.) lost a hairstylist who refused to clip her locks out of disgust with her opposition to marriage equality. Antonio Darden, who had cut Martinez’s hair on three occasions and runs Antonio’s Hair Studio … Continue reading
via Angela Delli Santi, The Huffington Post The New Jersey Assembly on Thursday passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriages, setting the stage for an expected veto by Gov. Chris Christie. The 41-33 vote sends the bill to Christie’s desk. The Republican governor who opposes gay marriage had promised “very swift action” if the bill passed … Continue reading
via Editorial Staff, The New York Times Even in the ultrapolarized atmosphere of Capitol Hill, it should be possible to secure broad bipartisan agreement on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, the 1994 law at the center of the nation’s efforts to combat domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. The law’s renewal has strong backing … Continue reading