Tag Archives: California

April 30, 2013 · 12:05 AM

Rick Perry ‘Disgusted’ By Cartoon Linking Deregulation To Fertilizer Plant Explosion

Cartoon of Texas Governor Rick Perry saying “Business is booming” next to the exploding fertilizer plant

Gov. Rick Perry has been going around the country trying to recruit corporations and manufacturers to Texas.  His selling point has been that Texas has weak regulation rules for Businesses and Manufacturers.

Addicting Info

When Jack Ohman, a cartoonist for The Sacramento (CA) Bee and his editor, Stuart Leavenworth, ran the above cartoon in Sunday’s paper, they must have felt like a couple of kids who’d just set off a stink bomb on their mean and ornery neighbor’s porch, and run somewhere to hide, snigger up their sleeves, and wait for the fun to begin. The cartoon shows Texas Governor Rick Perry bragging about his state’s low taxes and lax business regulations (“Business is BOOMING in Texas!”) while something – presumably the fertilizer plant that exploded in West, TX on April 18 — goes “BOOM!”

Sure enough, Perry took the bait and fumed in a letter to the editor:

It was with extreme disgust and disappointment I viewed your recent cartoon. While I will always welcome healthy policy debate, I won’t stand for someone mocking the tragic deaths of my fellow Texans and our fellow Americans.

Leavenworth sharply retorted:

Jack Ohman’s cartoon of April 25 made a strong statement about Gov. Rick Perry’s disregard for worker safety, and his attempts to market Texas as a place where industries can thrive with few regulations. It is unfortunate that Gov. Perry, and some on the blogosphere, have attempted to interpret the cartoon as being disrespectful of the victims of this tragedy. As Ohman has made clear on his blog, he has complete empathy for the victims and people living by the plant. What he finds offensive is a governor who would gamble with the lives of families by not pushing for the strongest safety regulations.Perry’s letter is an attempt to distract people from that message.

Um, HELLO? Nobody’s mocking the 15 people — mostly firefighters and other emergency responders — who died fighting flames from the atom bomb-like blasts. We’re mocking YOU, Governor Perry, for being a callous, uncaring jerk who cares more about the well-being of your state’s businesses than about the people who live there. When the West Fertilizer Plant exploded, it leveled a four block radius, and witnesses reported that the blast was “like a tornado” or “like a nuclear bomb went off.” Yet, this could have been prevented: The plant was cited for a serious violation back in 2006, after receiving complaints about “a strong ammonia smell.” The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality investigated, but apparently nobody followed up. Furthermore, Theodoric Meyer from Salon reports that plant failed a partial inspection in 2011, and hadn’t had a full inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 1985. Nor did anyone from the facility bother to tell the Department of Homeland Security — as required — about all that potentially explosive fertilizer.

Perry loves talking about getting the government off our backs. In fact, Perry ran a series of radio advertisements throughout California back in February, sneering at the Golden State’s higher taxes and regulations, and urging business owners to move to the Lone Star State:

Building a business is tough, but I hear that building a business in California is next to impossible. This is Texas governor Rick Perry, and I’ve got a message for California businesses. Come check out Texas. There are plenty of reasons Texas has been named the best state for doing business for eight years running. Visit TexasWideOpenForBusiness.Com, and see why our low taxes, sensible regulation, and fair legal system are just the thing to get your business moving … to Texas.

Yet this hypocrite still has no problem with getting help from the Federal Government when it suits him. After cutting the state’s fire department funding by 75% in 2011 — causing unprecedented levels of fire destruction and loss of life — Perry asked for federal funds to combat wild fires back in 2011. Yep, everything’s cheaper in Texas. Maybe that’s because 33% of people there are uninsured; two of your counties — Cameron and Hidalgo — have the highest poverty rates in the United States (41%); and your legislature cut $5.4 billion from education two years ago (your House’s new budget proposal will barely make a dent in them). Apparently, pro-business folks have forgotten about the old adage, “It takes money to make money.”

Last Thursday, April 25, the president attended a memorial for victims of the explosion, gave a moving speech, and promised that the nation would help the town recover and rebuild. Strange, how you don’t hear Perry and his cohorts howling about government spending now.

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April 7, 2013 · 12:34 PM

10 things you need to know today: April 7, 2013

The Week

U.S. delays missile test amid North Korea tensions, Michigan and Louisville advance to the NCAA championship, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making the news and driving opinion

1. U.S. DELAYS BALLISTIC MISSILE TEST 
Amid reports that South Korea expects North Korea’s missile launch to be “days away,” a senior U.S. defense official confirmed that the Pentagon delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test that was scheduled for next week at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The official says Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel decided to postpone the test because of ongoing tensions with North Korea. According to the source, the test was “long planned and was never associated with North Korea to begin with,” but “given recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula, it’s prudent and wise to take steps that avoid any misperception or chance of manipulation, so the test has been postponed.” The U.S. will conduct another test soon, the senior defense official said, adding that the U.S. “remains strongly committed to our nuclear deterrence capabilities.” [NBC News]
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2. SEVERAL STATES CONSIDER NEW GUN TAXES
Cook County, Ill., this month began collecting a $25 tax on gun purchases, and at least six states are considering new taxes on firearms or ammunition as a way to help pay for the consequences of gun violence. These states are studying whether to tax gun and ammunition purchases as a deterrent to gun ownership, a measure that detractors denounce as a violation of Second Amendment rights. Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says the tax won’t necessarily serve as a deterrent to gun buyers, but “it’s an acknowledgment that we as a society pay a terrible price for the proliferation of guns.” Other states testing similar taxes and regulations include California, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Maryland. [Reuters]
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3. SIX AMERICANS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN ATTACKS
Six Americans and an Afghan doctor were killed in attacks on Saturday in southern and eastern Afghanistan. This marks the deadliest day for U.S. citizens in Afghanistan this year. Included in the death toll is what is believed to be the first U.S. diplomat to be killed in Afghanistan since the war began. The attacks occurred on the same day that U.S. General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Afghanistan for a visit aimed at assessing the level of training that American troops can provide to Afghan security forces after international combat forces complete their withdrawal at the end of 2014. The deaths bring the number of foreign military forces killed this year to 30, including 22 Americans. [Guardian]
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4. OBAMA WON’T IMPLEMENT ROMNEY-LIKE BUDGET PLAN
President Obama is willing to compromise on the budget, but he won’t yield to Republicans who want to enact a plan that looks like Mitt Romney’s, White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said on ABC’s This Week. It’s Obama’s hope that Democrats and Republicans can “come together and work to try to find a compromise,” whether that happens through talks with House Speaker John Boehner or getting enough Senate Republicans on board to force a deal, Pfeiffer said. Some details of the president’s 2014 budget proposal were released Friday ahead of the full rollout on Wednesday and have drawn opposition from the right and the left. But Pfeiffer suggested that’s a sign of the president’s seriousness. [Politico]
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5. IRAN NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS REACH INCONCLUSIVE END
Iran and six world powers failed to reach agreement Saturday on how to reduce fears that Tehran might use its nuclear technology to make weapons during a summit in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Expectations that the negotiations were making progress rose as an afternoon session continued into the evening, but comments by the two sides after they ended made clear that they fell far short of making enough headway to qualify the meeting as a success. ”What matters in the end is substance, and we are still a considerable distance apart,” Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s head of foreign policy, told reporters at the end of the two-day talks. Sec. of State John Kerry has since defined the timetable for continued nuclear talks with Iran as “limited.” [Huffington Post]
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6. PASTOR RICK WARREN’S SON COMMITS SUICIDE
Evangelical Pastor Rick Warren’s son Matthew committed suicide on Friday, according to the Warren family. Warren delivered the news to his congregation in an emotional letter. ”At 27 years of age, Matthew was an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate young man whose sweet spirit was encouragement and comfort to many,” Warren, the popular author of The Purpose Driven Life, said in the letter. “Unfortunately, he also suffered from mental illness resulting in deep depression and suicidal thoughts.” As a pioneer of the megachurch movement, Rick Warren looked to translate traditional evangelical messages to a wider audience. The pastor gave the invocation at President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration and penned The Purpose-Driven Life, a Christian self-help guide that became a mainstream best-seller. [CNN]
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7. JINDAL’S POPULARITY DWINDLES IN LOUISIANA
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, one of the nation’s most prominent Republicans and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has fallen out of favor with local voters, and his bold plan to scrap the state income tax is running into trouble. Jindal was re-elected to a second term with two-thirds of the vote in 2011, but his Louisiana approval rating was down to 38 percent in a recent poll, worse than Democratic President Obama in one of the most conservative states. The poll suggested voters think he is spending more time traveling outside the state and burnishing his credentials for a possible White House run than tending to local matters. [Reuters]
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8. NASA PLANS TO LASSO ASTEROID CLOSE TO THE MOON
NASA is planning for a robotic spaceship to lasso a small asteroid and park it near the moon for astronauts to explore, according to Florida Sen. Ben Nelson. The robotic ship would capture the 500-ton 25-foot asteroid in 2019. Then using an Orion space capsule, now being developed, a crew of about four astronauts would nuzzle up next to the rock in 2021 for spacewalking exploration. Nelson, who is chairman of the Senate science and space subcommittee, said Friday that President Obama is putting $100 million in planning money for the accelerated asteroid mission in the 2014 budget that comes out next week. The money would be used to find the right small asteroid, which would help NASA develop the capability to nudge away a dangerous asteroid if one headed to Earth in the future. [Politico]
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9. FORMER GEORGE W. BUSH FAITH LEADER, LATER CRITIC, DIES
J. David Kuo, an evangelical Christian who was a leader in President George W. Bush’s faith initiative but who later became a critic of it, died on Friday at the age of 44. Kuo’s wife, Kimberly, said the cause was brain cancer, which was diagnosed 10 years ago. As deputy director of Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Kuo helped implement Bush’s promise to link the nation’s religious groups with the delivery of social services. But Kuo left the administration after two years. He later wrote that the faith office did not receive the billions of dollars that Bush had pledged and said the White House had used the office as a political prop. [New York Times]
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10. MICHIGAN, LOUISVILLE TO PLAY IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
The University of Michigan advanced to the NCAA national championship game with a 61-56 victory over Syracuse in the Final Four on Saturday night. Michigan will be going for its first national title since 1989 when it faces Louisville on Monday at the Georgia Dome. Louisville defeated its unexpectedly fierce competitor, Wichita State, earlier in the evening, to advance to the championship game. [ESPN]

 

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April 6, 2013 · 9:37 AM

Was President’s Remark ‘Sexist’ or Just a Compliment

Was President’s Remark ‘Sexist’ or Just a Compliment

I  thought it was simply a nice statement.  After all, he was touting her accomplishments first and at the end he simply topped it off with a compliment.

I can’t speak for all women, but I love compliments.  I think the press is making way too much out of this…

Proud To Be An American

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said that President Obama called California Attorney General Kamala Harris to apologize.

Obama made waves during a fundraiser in which he referred to Harris’ looks.

“You have to be careful to, first of all, say she is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough, and she is exactly what you’d want in anybody who is administering the law, and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake,” Obama said according to The Washington Post.  “She also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general in the country.”

As soon as the comments became public, they were dissected everywhere.  There was a quick reaction on social media sites, with some people accusing Mr. Obama of being sexist and others defending his comment as harmless.  But the president’s aides apparently knew the potential for political damage.

Carney said Obama called Harris last night right after the trip.

“He called her to apologize for the distraction created by his comments,” Carney said.

Was it ‘Sexist’ or just an over-reaction by the public?  What are your thoughts?

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April 5, 2013 · 12:17 AM

Obama Causes Stir After Calling CA AG ‘Best Looking Attorney General’

President Barack Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012.

Obama Derangement Syndrome has been on auto pilot in America since 2006 when President Barack Obama first announced his candidacy…

TPMDC

President Obama caused a stir Thursday when he commented on the appearance of California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

“She’s brilliant and she’s dedicated, she’s tough,” Obama said at a DNC fundraiser in Atherton, Calif., according to a White House pool report. “She also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general….It’s true! C’mon.”

After the remarks began to surface on Twitter, Politico media reporter Dylan Byers decided to chime in, defending Obama.

That prompted New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait to take Byers to task for suggesting that comments about women’s looks are harmless.

“For those who don’t see the problem here, the degree to which women are judged by their appearance remains an important hurdle to gender equality in the workforce,” Chait wrote. “Women have a hard time being judged purely on their merits. Discussing their appearance in the context of evaluating their job performance makes it worse.”

Chait continued, taking on the president for setting a bad example. “It’s not a compliment. And for a president who has become a cultural model for many of his supporters in so many other ways, the example he’s setting here is disgraceful.”

This isn’t the first time Obama has taken flack for a comment describing a woman. In 2008, he ultimately apologized after calling a female reporter “sweetie.”

Continue reading here…

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April 3, 2013 · 3:32 PM

Brian Banks, football player exonerated in rape case, signs with Atlanta Falcons

I’ve followed then 16 year-old Brian Banks’ rape case from beginning to end.  It’s a heartbreaking story that appears to be headed toward a happy ending.

CBS News

Brian Banks said signing with the Atlanta Falcons is his second-biggest accomplishment.

The biggest was Banks’ exoneration of rape charges one year ago.

Banks, 27, signed with the Falcons on Wednesday, giving him an opportunity he said he did not believe would be possible when he spent five years in prison and five years on probation following his conviction of rape and kidnapping charges a decade ago.

“I felt at the time in order for me to exit prison with a sane mind and be able to just function as a person I had to let go of certain dreams and goals I once held in life, football being one of them,” Banks said.

Banks said he “couldn’t have asked for a better place to be” than with the Falcons.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” he said. “It’s surreal.”

Banks was a 16-year-old junior and had made a verbal commitment to sign with Southern Cal when Wanetta Gibson, a Long Beach Poly high school classmate accused him of the rape.

Gibson recanted her claim and offered to help Banks clear his name after he was out of prison. That helped lead to the conviction being overturned by a California court and Banks’ record cleared on May 12, 2012.

Banks’ original defense attorney, Elizabeth Harris, declined to talk to “60 Minutes” as did Gibson, who has not returned the money she won in her lawsuit.

Banks said he read every book he could find while in prison and also learned to value every opportunity.

Continue reading here...

 

Video of the accuser telling someone Brian never raped here:

 

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March 27, 2013 · 1:53 PM

10 things you need to know today: March 27, 2013

Secret Service agents watch the audience while President Obama speaks in March 2012.

The Week

Petraeus apologizes, Obama names the first female Secret Service chief, and more in our roundup of the stories that are making news and driving opinion

1. PETRAEUS SAYS HE’S SORRY FOR AFFAIR
David Petraeus apologized Tuesday night for the extramarital affair that derailed his career, in his first public speech since he resigned as director of the Central Intelligence Agency five months ago. The retired four-star general was invited to speak at the event — an ROTC dinner at the University of Southern California — before news broke of his affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell. Petraeus said he’s “keenly aware” that his actions have tarnished his reputation since then, and that he regrets causing “such pain” for his wife, Holly, and his friends and supporters. “Perhaps my experience can be instructive to others who stumble or indeed fall as far as I did,” he said. [New York Daily News]
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2. SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS ON THE DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT
The Supreme Court is stepping into its second gay-marriage case on Wednesday, as justices hear oral arguments on a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act. The hearing comes a day after a similar one on California’s same-sex marriage ban, Proposition 8. The Defense of Marriage Act denies gay couples access to federal benefits — even if they are legally married under state law — because it defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The law was signed in 1996 by then-president Bill Clinton, who says he now believes it’s unconstitutional. DOMA has already been rejected by four federal courts and two appeals courts. [BBC News]
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3. OBAMA NAMES FIRST FEMALE SECRET SERVICE CHIEF
President Obama is appointing 30-year Secret Service veteran Julia Pierson as director of the agency, White House officials said on Tuesday. She will be the first woman ever to head the agency, which is best known for providing protection for the president. Obama’s selection of Pierson, who now serves as the agency’s chief of staff, comes a year after a prostitution scandal involving 13 agents and officers exposed a macho culture in the agency. Pierson’s predecessor, Mark Sullivan, announced his retirement last month after apologizing for the embarrassing mess. [Los Angeles Times]
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4. NORTH KOREA WARNS WAR COULD BREAK OUT SOON
North Korea cut off its last military hotline with South Korea and warned on Wednesday that “war may break out an any moment.” The isolated communist regime has been making increasingly bellicose threats since facing global condemnation and tightening sanctions after its recent missile and nuclear tests, and has threatened to launch nuclear strikes against South Korea and the U.S., although experts say it doesn’t have the technology to deliver a warhead to the U.S. mainland. [Reuters]
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5. NEW ACCOUNT BLURS STORY OF BIN LADEN RAID
A third member of Seal Team 6 has come forward offering details of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, and his account contradicts what a former comrade said in the February issue ofEsquire. A SEAL member called “The Shooter” in the Esquire article said that he had shot bin Laden as they stood face-to-face and the al Qaeda leader reached for a gun. In an interview with CNN, the latest SEAL to talk says that version of the story is “complete b.s.” The source essentially backs up the account of former SEAL “Mark Owen,” who wrote in his book, No Easy Day, that a member of the special forces team shot an unarmed bin Laden from down the hall. [CNN, Huffington Post]
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6. NORTH DAKOTA ENACTS NATION’S STRICTEST ABORTION LAW
North Dakota’s Republican governor, Jack Dalrymple, signed the nation’s most restrictive anti-abortion law on Tuesday. The measure makes abortion illegal as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detectable, which can occur as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Legal scholars say the law is likely to be overturned in federal court, as the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalized abortion until the fetus is viable outside the womb, which usually takes 22 to 24 weeks. Dalrymple concedes the likelihood of a challenge, but says “this bill is nevertheless a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v. Wade.” [Christian Science Monitor]
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7. SPAIN CONDUCTS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OF ARMSTRONG’S DOPING
Spanish authorities are investigating possible criminal charges against Lance Armstrong in connection with the former cycling champion’s doping, which was described in a U.S. Anti Doping Agency report, according to ABC News. Armstrong lived in Spain for several years during his record run of seven consecutive Tour de France titles. Under Spanish law, it isn’t a crime for an athlete to use performance-enhancing drugs, although a conviction for trafficking and distributing banned drugs carries a prison term of up to two years and fines of as much as 400,000 euros ($520,000). [ABC News]
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8. FOLLOWER ACCUSED OF TRYING TO SNEAK CHARLES MANSON A CELL PHONE
A California man, Craig Carlisle Hammond, has been arrested on charges that he tried to smuggle a cell phone to cult leader Charles Manson in prison. Manson, 78, is serving a life sentence for the 1969 “Helter Skelter” killing spree in Los Angeles, in which seven people were murdered. Over the years, Manson has reportedly been caught with a weapon and contraband cell phones, and has been accused of threatening a peace officer. Prison officials say contraband cell phones are dangerous, as they can be used for such things as planning escapes and ordering hits. [New York Daily News]
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9. SPACEX DRAGON COMPLETES SECOND SPACE STATION SUPPLY RUN
The privately built and owned SpaceX Dragon capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after its second resupply mission to the International Space Station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA. The unmanned craft brought back 1 ton of old space-station equipment and science experiments. It was launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral in early March. With the space shuttle fleet retired, SpaceX, run by billionaire PayPal and Tesla Motors founder Elon Musk, is NASA’s only option for two-way delivery to the space station, but a competitor, Orbital Sciences Corp., plans a test flight next month. [Associated Press]
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10. PICASSO PAINTING SELLS FOR $155 MILLION
Hedge-fund billionaire Steve Cohen has purchased Pablo Picasso’s Le Reve from casino owner Steve Wynn for $155 million — the most a collector has ever paid for a work of art in the U.S. Wynn had agreed to sell Cohen the painting for $139 million, but the deal was canceled after Wynn accidentally put his elbow through the canvas. Cohen remained interested, however, as the work was being restored. [Bloomberg]

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March 26, 2013 · 5:01 PM

Alito’s provocative question

The last time we visited oral arguments from The Court was in Shelby County v. Holder (a voting rights case), in which Justice Antonin Scalia famously stated that the Voting Rights Act was “perpetuation of racial entitlement”.

That was more of a shocker than Justice Samuel Alito stating that assessing  the effects of “marriage equality” is a newer development than cell phones or the Internet.  Scalia’s statement was purely racist and insulting…in my opinion Alito’s argument says: “we need a lot more time on this issue…”

The Maddow Blog

Justice Samuel Alito

I’m still working my way through the transcript (pdf) of today’s Supreme Court oral argument on California’s Prop 8, but there’s one quote that already seems to be generating quite a bit of attention. It comes by way of Justice Samuel Alito:

“Traditional marriage has been around for thousands of years. Same-sex marriage is very new. I think it was first adopted in The Netherlands in 2000. So there isn’t a lot of data about its effect. And it may turn out to be a — a good thing; it may turn out not to be a good thing, as the supporters of Proposition 8 apparently believe.

“But you want us to step in and render a decision based on an assessment of the effects of this institution, which is newer than cell phones or the Internet? I mean we — we are not — we do not have the ability to see the future. On a question like that, of such fundamental importance, why should it not be left for the people, either acting through initiatives and referendums or through their elected public officials?”

Alito’s argument seems to be one focused on the calendar. Perhaps, the theory goes, millions of Americans can be denied equal rights for an indefinite period of time, and jurists can revisit the issue in the future. At that point, they can ask once more whether or not allowing two consenting adults to get married is “a good thing.”

Remember the fine print in the Declaration of Independence? We have an inalienable right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, just so long as the specific type of happiness is older than mobile telephones.

I’m not altogether sure what Alito thinks might happen, even if he had “the ability to see the future,” but the larger question seems to be the justice’s willingness to leave marriage rights “for the people.” What’s wrong with that? The answer, I suspect, has something to do with the nature of rights — they are, by definition, opportunities afforded to people that cannot be taken away without due process.

Rights are not supposed to be open to popularity contests. Throughout American history, if all contentious decisions over civil rights were left solely to popular will and the political process, progress would have been very slow, indeed. It’s precisely why Americans have turned to their last available option — the courts — as a way of ensuring their rights are protected.

What’s more, as Solicitor General Donald Virrelli reminded Alito, opponents of marriage equality aren’t seeking a pause to progress, or decisions through initiatives, referendums, or the political process — they’re seeking constitutional amendments to permanently limit the rights of same-sex couples.

Virrelli also reminded the justices:

“[T]he principal argument in 1967 with respect to Loving and that the Commonwealth of Virginia advanced was: Well, the social science is still uncertain about how biracial children will fare in this world, and so you ought to apply rational basis scrutiny and wait. And I think the Court recognized that there is a cost to waiting and that that has got to be part of the equal protection calculus.”

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· 6:35 AM

5 Key Facts About the Supreme Court Gay Marriage Cases

[Today] and Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear two cases dealing with same-sex marriage: Hollingsworth v. Perry, a review of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state, and United States v. Windsor, which challenges the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law preventing the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages performed by the states.

The outcomes of these cases could change the status of same-sex marriage substantially, or the Court could rule narrowly, altering little in the current marriage landscape. Here are the key facts about the cases and what’s behind them.

Live Science

1. Challenges in California

In May 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that marriage is a fundamental right under the state’s constitution, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in the state. In November 2008, however, California voters approved Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to state that only marriage “between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” [Same-Sex Marriage Gains Acceptance (Infographic)]

The Supreme Court case Hollingsworth v. Perry is the culmination of a string of legal challenges against Proposition 8. A federal district court judge in San Francisco overturned the proposition in 2010, but supporters appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which paused same-sex marriages in the state pending the appeal. The Ninth Circuit court then ruled that in approving Proposition 8, California voters had unfairly targeted a minority group and removed a right they once possessed, violating the Equal Protection Cause of the federal Constitution.

Nevertheless, same-sex marriages are still on hold in California, as Prop 8 proponents appeal the case to the Supreme Court, hoping to get the Ninth Circuit Court decision reversed. The justices will hear an hour of oral arguments in the case on Tuesday morning (March 26).

2. The case against DOMA

United States v. Windsor, on the other hand, deals with federal law. In 1996, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which prevents same-sex married couplesfrom receiving federal benefits, such as the ability to jointly file taxes or collect Social Security survivor’s benefits.

The Supreme Court will consider whether denying these benefits violates the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. This clause, part of the 14th Amendment, says that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The courts have held that equal protection requirements apply to the federal government as well.

3. The people behind the cases

The “Windsor” in United States v. Windsor is Edith Windsor, who married Thea Spyer in Toronto, where same-sex marriage is legal, in 2007. The two New York residents had been together for 40 years. In 2009, Spyer died. New York recognized the two women’s union, but the federal government, because of DOMA, did not. Windsor was thus required to pay more than $363,000 in federal estate taxes on her wife’s estate, a payment not required by couples whose marriages are legally recognized by the federal government. [5 Myths About Gay People Debunked]

In Perry v. Hollingsworth, Kristin Perry of California, who was denied a marriage license in 2009 in Alameda County, Calif., is the prosecutor; Dennis Hollingsworth, head of ProtectMarriage.com, a group formed to promote Proposition 8, is the defendant.

4. Possible outcomes: Hollingsworth v. Perry

In dealing with Proposition 8, the Supreme Court justices have a wide range of options. They could rule that Hollingsworth and his organization don’t have “standing” to file a lawsuit challenging earlier decisions about the proposition, because same-sex marriage would not threaten them personally. That would allow same-sex marriage to stand in California without changing policy elsewhere. The justices might also keep their ruling narrow, allowing earlier decisions to overthrow Proposition 8 to stand on the basis that it was a voter initiative that took away a right gay and lesbian citizens in California already had. That ruling would re-open same-sex marriage in California, but not speak to marriage rights in other states.

Or the Court could tackle same-sex marriage broadly with Proposition 8 as its impetus, deciding whether same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry. A final possibility, urged by the federal government, would be to strike down Proposition 8 based on the fact that California allows same-sex civil unions but not marriage. According to a brief filed by the federal government, this sets up two “separate but equal” institutions, violating Constitutional promises of equal protection. A ruling striking down Proposition 8 on those grounds would affect seven other states that permit same-sex civil unions and ban marriage.

5. Possible outcomes: United States v. Windsor

The question of standing, or who has the right to argue a case in front of the Court, comes into play in United States v. Windsor as well. The Obama administration announced in 2011 that it would no longer be defending DOMA in court, believing it to be an unconstitutional law. Republicans in the House of Representatives formed a group called the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) to step in and defend the law in the administration’s stead. The Court will have to determine if BLAG has standing to defend DOMA before hearing other arguments. If the justices decide BLAG doesn’t have standing, the same-sex marriage case returns to the lower courts and would likely wind its way back to the Supreme Court eventually.

If the Court decides not to dismiss the case, they could uphold DOMA, continuing the status quo of state marriages remaining unrecognized federally. If the law is struck down, the Court could write the decision narrowly, opening federal benefits to married gay couples but not broadly addressing the question of marriage as a fundamental right. Or the justices could address whether prohibiting same-sex marriage violates the Equal Protection Clause, recognizing a constitution right to same-sex marriage.

The justice’s rulings are expected in late June.

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March 23, 2013 · 9:25 AM

On Obamacare’s Third Anniversary, Here Are Three Ways The Reform Law Has Helped Real Americans

I’m totally mystified by the opposition to Obamacare…

Think Progress

[Today] marks the three year anniversary of President Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system since the enactment of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. While some the law’s most significant provisions won’t go into full effect until next year, many of its important reforms have already taken hold — and have already changed the lives of real Americans for the better. Here are just a few ways that the Affordable Care Act has bolstered the health and financial security of Americans from all around the country:

1. Diabetic Arthur from California finally has health coverage after being uninsured for five years.

Refusing coverage and treatments for sick Americans due to their “pre-existing medical conditions” has always ranked among the insurance industry’s most reviled practices. For decades, Americans have recounted horror stories about battling insurance companies while loved ones suffered — like 4-month-old Alex Lange, who was turned away by an insurer for being born “obese.” Thanks to Obamacare, that’s no longer legal, as the consumer protection for Americans with pre-existing conditions has already gone into effect for children. It won’t be extended to all Americans until 2014 — but that doesn’t mean Obamacare hasn’t already changed the lives of adults with pre-existing conditions, too.

Through its state-based transitional Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) — a bridge program for American adults with pre-existing conditions that will cover them until the law is fully implemented — Americans like 56-year-old Arthur Yu have already been gaining coverage that was once unavailable to them. After losing his job in 2008 and running through his COBRA benefits, Yu remained uninsured for a full five years due to his diabetes and high cholesterol. “If something major happened to me, my savings would get wiped out,” he said. But after Obamacare’s passage, he was able to enroll in California’s PCIP program in 2012, giving him enormous financial — and medical — peace of mind.

2. Connie from Arizona got a $79 rebate from her insurance company in the mail.

On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that Obamacare has helped seniors save over $6 billion on their prescription drug costs by closing the so-called Medicare “donut hole” — and that’s not the only way that the law is already saving Americans money.

Because of Obamacare’s “80/20 rule” requiring insurers to spend at least 80 percent of the premiums they charge customers on actual medical care rather than overhead or profits, millions of Americans have received rebate checks — totaling $1.5 billion in 2011 alone — from their insurance companies in the mail. Arizona resident Connie Kadansky spoke to CNN about her personal experience with this measure after getting a $79 rebate from her insurer last summer, saying, “It was a surprise. My insurance agent tells me that my insurance is going to skyrocket. He hates Obamacare. I read the letter and I said to myself, ‘So what’s wrong with this? This is good.’”

3. Chronically ill Jen from Illinois doesn’t have to worry about losing access to her dad’s health insurance.

One of the reform law’s most popular aspects is allowing young Americans to stay on their parents’ health plan until they’re 26. In a time of economic uncertainty, that can mean the difference between life and death, and there are bountiful stories of how this Obamacare provision has personally touched real people. Last October, teenager Jen Rubino wrote a piecefor the Huffington Post in which she recounted her struggles with a rare chronic illness, and the constant worry that she would lose access to her father’s health insurance once she got older. But as Jen put it, “everything changed when President Obama signed the Affordable Health Care Act.”

In fact, over the last several years, the percentage of uninsured young adults in America dropped by record numbers, down to 27.9 percent of young people in 2011 from 33.9 percent in 2010 — meaning that 1.6 million young Americans gained coverage in just the first year of Obamacare’s implementation.

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March 15, 2013 · 4:51 AM

WATCH: Feinstein Smacks Down Cruz Over Gun Ban: “I Am Not a 6th-Grader”

I don’t know who this McCarthy-like character, Senator Ted Cruz think he is but rest assured he picked on the wrong Senator yesterday…

Mother Jones

On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the so-called assault weapons ban on a party-line vote, paving the way for the full chamber to vote on the measure as early as next week. But not before Sen. Ted Cruz, the freshman Republican from Texas, aimed to give Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the five-term Democrat from California, a lesson about the Bill of Rights. He suggested that it was a slippery slope from banning bazookas to banning books. Feinstein was not impressed.

Watch:

Here’s the text of some of Feinstein’s remarks:

Let me just make a couple points in response. One: I’m not a sixth-grader. Senator, I’ve been on this committee for 20 years. I was a mayor for nine years. I walked in and I saw people shot. I’ve looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons. I’ve seen the bullets that implode. In Sandy Hook, youngsters were dismembered. Look, there were other weapons. I’m not a lawyer, but in 20 years I’ve been up close and personal to the Constitution. I have great respect for it. This doesn’t mean that weapons of war—and the Heller decision clearly points out three exceptions, two of which are pertinent here—and so I, you know, it’s fine you want to lecture me on the Constitution. I appreciate it. Just know that I’ve been here for a long time. I’ve passed on a number of bills. I’ve studied the Constitution myself. I am reasonably well educated… Incidentally, this does not prohibit—you use the word “prohibit”—it exempts two thousand two hundred and seventy one weapons. Isn’t that enough for the people of the United States? Do they need a bazooka?

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