01.20.09
GLBT Agenda Posted to WhiteHouse.gov
Within minutes of being sworn in the Gay Agenda gets published on WhiteHouse.gov. Read it an weep!
Support for the LGBT Community
“While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.”– Barack Obama, June 1, 2007
- Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.
- Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees’ domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
- Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.
- Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
- Repeal Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.
- Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.
- Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma — too often tied to homophobia — that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.
- Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.
01.19.09
$170,000,000.00
What is the total yearly gross income for 11,333 minimum wage earning families? Yes, but it is also the cost of Obama’s inauguration extravaganza according to the Wall Street Journal.
I guess $170,000,000 for the party is chump change after you spend $1,000,000,000 for the White House, despite the fact the people of the nation face the worst economic times since the Great Depression.
01.16.09
Mormon Supporters of CA Prop 8 Are “Un-American”
Tom Hanks let it be known that the Mormon supporters of California’s Prop 8 are un-American Fox News Reports. Here is there report:
Tom Hanks, Executive Producer for HBO’s controversial polygamist series “Big Love,” made his feelings toward the Mormon Church’s involvement in California’s Prop 8 (which prohibits gay marriage) very clear at the show’s premiere party on Wednesday night.
“The truth is this takes place in Utah, the truth is these people are some bizarre offshoot of the Mormon Church, and the truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen,” he told Tarts. “There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them. I do not like to see any discrimination codified on any piece of paper, any of the 50 states in America, but here’s what happens now. A little bit of light can be shed, and people can see who’s responsible, and that can motivate the next go around of our self correcting Constitution, and hopefully we can move forward instead of backwards. So let’s have faith in not only the American, but Californian, constitutional process.”
I guess the other 52.3% of voters who voted for are also Un-American, as well as tens of millions of other voters and supperts in other states who voted for similar measures in their respective states, or would vote for similar measures if available.
01.15.09
Please Come Back, Please
Once Again the Commies Need the West to Pull Their Fat Out Of the Fire.
The International Herald Tribune (the “Global” edition of the NYT) missed the irony of situation Venezuela faces. The focus on the scarcity of oil reserves (mainly because we lock them out of so many of our largest reserves and terrorists threaten most of the Middle East).
The real story is glossed over: “President Hugo Chávez, buffeted by falling oil prices that threaten to damage his efforts to establish a Socialist-inspired state, is quietly courting Western oil companies once again.”
The irony is that Chavez must build his Socialist inspired state upon the back of capitalism. And, if he (and the Arabs) are not completely sticking it to the Western economies, they cannot make it even on the back of capitalism. This is happening when gas was over $50 a barrel and falling. And, it has fallen since. Oil was less than $20 a barrel before 9/11. If Hugo can’t build his state on inflated $50+ oil he could not make it at the pre-9/11 prices, as we saw in the riots and coup he has experienced. It takes $100 to $150 oil for him to keep his Communist Dreamland afloat.
If Pelosi Will Not Work With Her Own Committee Chairs, What Can the Opposition Expect?
The Hill reports that House committee “chairmen [are] fighting mad over snubs by Pelosi.” Continuring:
As congressional Democrats take the lead in responding to the sinking economy, subcommittee and even some full-committee chairmen — who normally wield significant influence in writing legislation — have been forced to wait on the sidelines as monumental bills are written in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office.
That often leaves room for cursory input from lawmakers who have carved out expert niches for themselves.
Many of these members are complaining louder and more often to Democratic leaders that a return to regular order, where bills are written in committee, is long overdue. And some warn that if the closed-door, truncated legislative process doesn’t end with the economic recovery bill, frustration could boil over, perhaps onto the floor.
01.07.09
Dumb and Dumber: We Love Roland
Harry and Dick do a jig trying to explain why they are about to cave on the Roland Burris appointment unless someone else (like the Illinois Supreme Court) pulls their fat out of the fire.
Jesse White: My Signature Not Needed; They Could Have Seated Burris
Jesse White states that his signature is not necessary to seat Burris in the United States Senate. He believes they (opponents of Burris) are trying to make him (White) the bad guy in all this. He says the Senate has the power to seat Burris.
Senate Dems: Blagojevich “Called Our Bluff”
CNN reports that a senior US Senate Democrat said that they [Senate Dems] had to change their their tone about Roland Burris becoming a senator because Blagojevich “called our bluff” and appointed someone over their wishes.
“We tried to send a political signal to Blagojevich that we would not seat someone he appointed. He called our bluff, in a reckless way,” the Democratic source said.
Another Dem said that the “heightened situation” had to be dealth with by a face to face meeting with Reid and Durbin.
01.04.09
Mitch McConnell On Obama/Democrat Stimulus Plan
US Senator Mitch McConnell on This Week talking with George Stephanopoulos about the stimulus plan proposed by the Democrats.
By his estimation 600,000 new federal government jobs would be created (as many as the Post Office currently has). The number comes from the number of jobs Obama claims will be created and subtracting the 80 percent he says would be private sector.
He also calls for a middle-class tax cut and making loans to the stats versus grants.
Says Israel’s move against Hamas understandable and what we would do if same thing was happening to us.
