Some Good

Thanks, Archbishop:

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cincinnati has announced it will support the repeal of a1993 city charter amendment that prohibits City Council from enacting gay rights laws. Cincinnati is the only city in the country with such a measure.

Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk called the amendment morally wrong, but said he still opposes blanket rights for gays and lesbians because it makes "homosexual behavior as legally acceptable as heterosexual behavior."

"Homosexual behavior is not tolerated by the church", he said in an article in the Catholic Telegraph, the newspaper of the Cincinnati Archdiocese, " but homosexuals still should be protected from discrimination."

"I believe now, as I believed at the time of its passage, that Article XII (the amendment) is as detrimental to the public good as the ordinance that it invalidated," he wrote.

His statement comes two weeks after a gay civil rights group called Citizens to Restore Fairness said it gathered the needed signatures to put the repeal on the November ballot.

Help Herseth

The Hill informs us, via Kos, that the Republicans have turned the big guns on Herseth. They're livid about Chandler's victory, and they understandably don't want to lose the SD special election, which is being held on June 1. Chandler started off the Big Mo in Kentucky, let's help continue it in South Dakota.

You can donate to the Herseth campaign here. Even if it's only $10 a pop, if 1000 people do it that's 10 grand. In a congressional race in a fairly inexpensive media market, 10 grand is a big help. If you add $.18, they'll know it comes from my readers.

Rights, Benefits, and Responsibilities of Marriage

In 1999, the GAO prepared a report listing all of the rights and benefits of civil marriage. They came up with 1,049 of them. You can read their list here.


Here's a shorter list. Obviously, if gay people had these rights civilization would end.

I've bolded a few of the ones which aren't explicitly financial and which would be difficult or impossible to establish by private contract.

Marriage Rights and Benefits
Learn some of the legal and practical ways that getting married changes your life.

Whether or not you favor marriage as a social institution, there's no denying that it confers many rights, protections, and benefits -- both legal and practical. Some of these vary from state to state, but the list typically includes:

Tax Benefits

Filing joint income tax returns with the IRS and state taxing authorities.
Creating a "family partnership" under federal tax laws, which allows you to divide business income among family members.

Estate Planning Benefits

Inheriting a share of your spouse's estate.
Receiving an exemption from both estate taxes and gift taxes for all property you give or leave to your spouse.
Creating life estate trusts that are restricted to married couples, including QTIP trusts, QDOT trusts, and marital deduction trusts.
Obtaining priority if a conservator needs to be appointed for your spouse -- that is, someone to make financial and/or medical decisions on your spouse’s behalf.

Government Benefits

Receiving Social Security, Medicare, and disability benefits for spouses.
Receiving veterans' and military benefits for spouses, such as those for education, medical care, or special loans.
Receiving public assistance benefits.

Employment Benefits
Obtaining insurance benefits through a spouse's employer.
Taking family leave to care for your spouse during an illness.
Receiving wages, workers' compensation, and retirement plan benefits for a deceased spouse.
Taking bereavement leave if your spouse or one of your spouse’s close relatives dies.

Medical Benefits
Visiting your spouse in a hospital intensive care unit or during restricted visiting hours in other parts of a medical facility.
Making medical decisions for your spouse if he or she becomes incapacitated and unable to express wishes for treatment.

Death Benefits
Consenting to after-death examinations and procedures.
Making burial or other final arrangements.

Family Benefits
Filing for stepparent or joint adoption.
Applying for joint foster care rights.
Receiving equitable division of property if you divorce.
Receiving spousal or child support, child custody, and visitation if you divorce.

Housing Benefits
Living in neighborhoods zoned for "families only."
Automatically renewing leases signed by your spouse.

Consumer Benefits
Receiving family rates for health, homeowners', auto, and other types of insurance.
Receiving tuition discounts and permission to use school facilities.
Other consumer discounts and incentives offered only to married couples or families.

Other Legal Benefits and Protections
Suing a third person for wrongful death of your spouse and loss of consortium (loss of intimacy).
Suing a third person for offenses that interfere with the success of your marriage, such as alienation of affection and criminal conversation (these laws are available in only a few states).
Claiming the marital communications privilege, which means a court can’t force you to disclose the contents of confidential communications between you and your spouse during your marriage.
Receiving crime victims' recovery benefits if your spouse is the victim of a crime.
Obtaining domestic violence protection orders.
Obtaining immigration and residency benefits for noncitizen spouse.
Visiting rights in jails and other places where visitors are restricted to immediate family.

Righteous Anger

Signorile's good today. Listen in.

Free Money for Big Pharma

You know, I'm just so goddamn tired of small government republi-tarians just ignoring this stuff.

Special Sauce - a Durable Good?

John Dingell writes a great letter to Greg "Dude! Where's my Reputation?" Mankiw.

Gay Republicans

Anyone who's been paying attention over the last few years knows that the Republican party went from pandering to the Christian Right to being mostly taken over by them. It is true that the other major wing of the Republican party - the corporatists - probably don't agree with them on much, but nor do they really give a shit. There's a reason for that - being wealthy insulates you from a lot. All the culture war stuff really doesn't matter when you can afford to live how you want, send your kids to private schools, etc...

As for wealthy gay Republicans - having money means that most of the effects of bigotry and discrimination are much less important. Gay marriage? Who cares if you get pension benefits when your partner dies if you're wealthy. It isn't that being wealthy means you can escape discrimination fully, it's just going to matter a hell of a lot less.

I really hope that Crazy Andy's army of a million gay people who voted Republican last time have now seen the light and will, as he's suggested in the past, not just switch their vote but actively donate and campaign for Bush's opponent. But, I really really doubt it's going to happen. Most people aren't as naive as Andy pretends to be - they knew what they were voting for.


...David E. has more.

A Note to the Media

No matter what its supporters claim, to any English speakers with a reading comprehension above about the 2nd grade level, it's obvious that the amendment proposed by Musgrave would indeed prevent states from establishing same-sex civil unions of any kind. The sweeping language could also potentially overturn anti-discrimination statutes with respect to housing and other things, allowing landlords to refuse to rent to same-sex couples, or government provided partner health benefits. Don't believe me? Call up some smart lawyers and ask them.

From the AP/NYT:

Bush's comment that the states should be left free to "define other arrangements" indicates the president does not favor using a constitutional amendment to enact a federal ban on civil union or domestic partnership laws.

The proposed amendment backed by Musgrave and others in Congress is consistent with that, but some conservatives favor going further.

It is in no way consistent with that. Yale Law professor Jack Balkin explains it to you very slowly.

This is really just ridiculous. Most news stories have at least acknowledged that some people disagree with this assessment, but the AP is telling us that this is a truly moderate position.

Bastards.


...the bastards at the NYT have aparently removed the offending line.

Contest

Public Campaign Action fund had a little contest to name Bush's $500,000 fundraisers. The 5 finalists are in, and now's your chance to go vote!

And, while you're there you can see what else they do.

Buy More Stuff!

Hey all, just the occasional reminder that I really appreciate it when you take the time to click through one of the Amazon links on the site before making a purchase there. As always, I'm not trying to tell you where to make your purchases, but if you are using Amazon anyway then it means I get a little cut. It isn't huge - 5% on most things - but over time it adds up if enough people do it and it's a way to support the site without spending a single additional cent.

And, don't worry about privacy issues or anything. I know what people buy, but not who buys them.

Crazy Davy's Website Hits the News

Poor Davy. His people made a list of baddies and he has to distance himself from it.

Consumer Confidence Plunges

Something's going on. I think after 3 years of "the recovery is just around the corner," people are finally losing hope.


...here's more on consumer confidence.

Dead Internet

My internet connection is barely working at the moment, so slow posting today. But, according to Dana Bash on CNN we can look forward to two minutes of hate in every stump speech, as Bush comes out in favor of the "Gays Are Second Class Citizens" amendment to the constitution, and plans to campaign for it strongly.

This is where the Democrats' position becomes untenable. "We're against gay marriage! But we're against an amendment which outlaws it too!" That just doesn't make anybody happy.



Over to you, Andy...

...and over to you, Mary...

Beefcake

Two hot Democrats need your help!

From Alaska, we have the rugged yet suave Tony Knowles.


Click here to show him some love.

And, from South Dakota we have the elegant yet warm Stephanie Herseth.




Click here to show her some love.

Halliburton Investigation Whitewash

Sorry, all, I'm not going to get excited about the fact that the Pentagon has opened a criminal fraud investigation into Halliburton.

The investigation is being handled by the Pentagon's Defense Criminal investigation Service, which is a part of the Inspector General's office.


The chief of staff of the Inspector General's office is... L. Jean Lewis.


And, Jeff Gerth still has a job.

Love Triangle

I haven't been paying all that much attention to the machinations - real or rumored - among the Dem candidates. But, it does seem that Dean and Edwards have been playing a little footsie lately, which is a bit odd. I like Dean, but I'm not sure he makes sense as a Veep candidate. And, assuming Kerry is the likely - but not inevitable - candidate one would assume Edwards would be on the short list for his Veep. And, if Dean pushes Edwards more explicitly than he already has, he presumably marginalizes his organization almost completely if Kerry does win, and also may drive a wedge between Kerry and Edwards...

so complicated.

Grow the Audience

Charles Kuffner has a good point - if politicians want to use blogs to help them then they would be well-advised to do their part to grow the audience. And, this goes beyond simple fundraising - encouraging a few more eyeballs to get their news through a different filter will help them as well.

I've never been a blog evangelist. You'll see no Jarvis-esque revolutionary rhetoric from me. There are plenty of people who will never spend their time reading blogs, even if they're interested in news and politics. But, there are also plenty of additional people who would if they became aware of them.

Fun TV

John Aravosis, one of the people behind Dearmary.com, will be on O'Reilly's show, with Kasich guest hosting, tonight at 8PM EST.

Politics, DeLay Style

From Roll Call:

When Dick Armey was House Majority Leader, he was known for saying whatever was on his mind. In the 13 months since he left Congress, the Texas Republican’s outspokenness has continued to draw attention and, increasingly, the wrath of his former colleagues in the GOP leadership.
Armey, who now splits his time between the conservative group Citizens for a Sound Economy and the law and lobbying firm Piper Rudnick, has in recent months loudly criticized the current House GOP majority for its alleged free-spending ways.
Armey’s comments have angered Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and other top Republicans, prompting some of them to look for ways to retaliate or, at the very least, portray him as a hypocrite.
“We have started looking very hard at all of Piper Rudnick’s earmarks,” said a House Republican leadership aide.
As a senior policy adviser at Piper Rudnick, Armey leads the firm’s Homeland Security team. According to the company’s Web site, he helps to “counsel clients on emerging issues, obligations, and opportunities in the area” of Homeland Security.
In an interview, Armey said he did not see any conflict between his position with the fiscally conservative CSE and his work for Piper Rudnick, explaining that his advice to clients would simply help them compete for a share of existing federal spending rather than adding to the overall total.
“Money is going to be spent. There are going to be appropriations,” Armey said.

I really don't even know where to begin here. Consider that statement "...very hard at all of Piper Rudnick's earmarks."

(from reader ag)


...on a somewhat related note, Kicking Ass lets us know that even Orrin Hatch is persona non grata these day. They really are all starting to just go totally bonkers. Cheers!

Bush Administration Predicts Worst Jobs Record Since Hoover

We've been over the various job predictions of the Bush administration many times, but I just want to make the point that now that they have officially backed off of their official prediction, it means that their new unofficial official prediction is that Bush will be the first president since Hoover to end his term with fewer jobs than when he started.