Tag Archives: Topic: Politics

Log Cabin Republicans: There has been discussion about whether we, as members of Log Cabin Republicans, are LGBT first or Republican first. Ultimately, we believe the answer is neither. We are Americans first, and as such, must stand for what we believe is right for our country.

Reuters: More than half of Latinos favor same-sex marriage, and Latino Catholics are much more supportive of President Barack Obama than Latino evangelicals, according to a Pew poll on religion and politics released Thursday.

AP: Missouri Rep. Todd Akin has raised about $1.6 million for his Senate bid in the months after party officials sought to distance themselves from him for his comments on “legitimate rape.”

Advocate.com: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is launching a super PAC with plans to spend between $10 and $15 million this election cycle to advance issues including marriage equality and candidates who show a commitment to solving problems over partisanship.

Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review: I was waiting for the moment where Governor Romney would do the educating he’s done on the campaign trail at times; some of the undecideds in New York might benefit from knowing what is going on on the religious-freedom front here.

CNBC: As president, he will receive $191,300 annually for life — win or lose in next month’s election — and receives a travel allotment as well as mailing privileges.

NY Times: According to data from Kantar Media/CMAG, the Obama campaign and Democratic groups have run commercials relating to abortion about 30,000 times since July 2 — about 10 percent of their ads — including one that falsely claimed Mr. Romney’s opposition to abortion extended to cases of rape and incest.

Naomi Schoenbaum at The Atlantic: Obamacare has been one of the yardsticks of Obama’s term in office and one of the touchstones of the 2012 election. Last night’s presidential debate was no exception, with health care reform mentioned at least half a dozen times. But an important piece of the discussion has been missing: is the health care law a tax or a penalty?

Ilya Somin at the Volokh Conspiracy: After the first presidential debate and again after the debate between the VP candidates, I lamented the fact that the candidates and moderators had almost completely ignored judicial nominations.

LifeNews: President Barack Obama has, once again, misled Americans when it comes to the issue of Planned Parenthood and what legitimate health care it does or doesn’t provide. During Tuesday night’s debate, Obama falsely claimed the abortion company does mammograms. It does not.

Mark Bauerlein at Public Discourse: Conservatives need a literary tradition that matches Russell Kirk’s political tradition in The Conservative Mind; Robert Oscar López’s new book is a pioneer in this effort.

AP: Mitt Romney’s campaign has released a new TV ad suggesting the Republican hopeful believes abortion “should be an option” in certain cases.

OutFrontOnline: Colorado has eight out state legislative candidates on the ballot this year – five new faces and three incumbents. Colorado’s other out legislator, Sen. Lucia Guzman, D-Denver, is not up for re-election this year. Two of the candidates, Democratic Sen. Pat Steadman, the incumbent, and Republican Michael Carr, are running against each other. If 7 of the 8 candidates win, Colorado will rank in the 3 most LGBT-inclusive legislatures in the U.S.

Bloomberg Business Week: NFIB spokeswoman Jean Card said the group based its endorsement on Akin’s voting record on small business issues, which gets a 100 percent approval score from the NFIB. (McCaskill gets a 45 percent.) “We really do our best to just look at the issues that are relevant to our membership,” Card says.

The Hill: The Supreme Court said Tuesday that early voting can proceed in Ohio — a major win for President Obama.

Religion Clause Blog: AP reported yesterday on the action of the Election Commission in the small, largely Buddhist nation of Bhutan banning public religious events from Jan. 1, 2013 until Parliamentary elections (expected to be held in June 2013) are completed.

CNBC: “I’ve been in this business a long time and believe me there is essentially no difference from one administration to another no matter what the platforms,” said Paul, a former hopeful for the GOP nomination. “The foreign policy stays the same, the monetary policy stays the same, there’s no proposal for any real cuts and both parties support it.”

AP: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is coming to the aid of Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin with a new advertising campaign.

BuzzFeed: And now, if Romney were to win the presidency and change course again as he told the National Organization for Marriage he would do, both the lawyers defending and those taking aim at the 1996 law agree that the Supreme Court could be entering uncharted waters.

World Net Daily: Only a month ago, Akin was trailing in polls by roughly 6 percent. But according to a Wenzel Strategies poll taken over the weekend, Akin has surged to a four-point lead, 48.9 to 44.7, with a plus-or-minus 3.07 margin of error. Nearly 87 percent of respondents said they were “firm in choice.”

USCCB: Last night, the following statement was made during the Vice Presidential debate regarding the decision of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to force virtually all employers to include sterilization and contraception, including drugs that may cause abortion, in the health insurance coverage they provide their employees: “With regard to the assault on the Catholic Church, let me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact.” This is not a fact.

George Weigel at National Review: But there was an opportunity here for a game changer, of the kind that has made Congressman Ryan a welcome new voice on budgetary, regulatory, and entitlement issues. Imagine this replay of the last question of the vice-presidential debate . . .

Washington Post: The lead group seeking to uphold Maryland’s same-sex marriage law on Monday announced it had received a $250,000 contribution from Paul Singer, a prominent New York-based hedge fund manager — and a major donor to Republican candidates.

Tampa Bay Times: Another Florida Supreme Court justice targeted by the Republican Party in this year’s merit retention election pleaded with Tampa attorneys Friday to help keep partisan politics out of the judiciary.

AP: A closely divided Supreme Court. Four justices in their 70s. Presidential candidates with dramatically different views of the ideal high court nominee.

WorldNetDaily: Two days after WND reported the ring Barack Obama has worn since his college years appears to feature the first part of the Shahada, the Islamic statement of faith, millions of Americans have read the story and thousands are joining the debate online. But the establishment media hasn’t touched the story.

liance Defending Freedom attorneys who are litigating numerous lawsuits against the Obama administration’s abortion pill and contraceptive mandate are calling Vice President Joe Biden’s claims that effectively denied the mandate’s existence in Thursday’s vice-presidential debate “amazingly false.”

Weekly Standard: In the spin room following the debate, I asked top Obama officials, as well as Planned Parenthood chief Cecille Richards, if Obama’s position on abortion is as extreme as what Ryan claimed. The Obama campaign denied the president favored abortion without restriction, but top Obama officials Jim Messina, Stephanie Cutter, and David Axelrod could not name a single restriction the president supports.

Detroit Free Press: A federal judge put a merciful end to Secretary of State Ruth Johnson’s inane war on voters last week, when he ruled that the citizenship checkoff box that Johnson put on ballots was confusing and unnecessary.

CBS 5: Obama had led by 22 points in the CBS 5 tracking poll released four weeks ago. Obama now leads by only 14 points, an 8-point improvement for Romney.

GateWayPundit: A bus driver told a 12 year-old student that he should have been aborted because his family had a Romney-Ryan sign in their yard. Freedom Eden reported . . .

Weekly Standard (video embedded): A GOP source sends along this video, shot by a Republican tracker, of a union member supporting Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren outside of a debate Wednesday night in Springfield, Massachusetts. The cameraman asks the union member if he was at an earlier debate between Warren and her Republican opponent, Senator Scott Brown

Fox News: A panel of three federal judges upheld a South Carolina law requiring voters to show photo identification, but delayed enforcement until next year, in a decision announced Wednesday, less than a month before this year’s presidential election. | South Carolina v. U.S., (D.C. Cir.)

Clinton Herald: Republicans hold a 59 to 40 edge in the Iowa House, while Democrats hold a 26 to 24 advantage in the Iowa Senate. If Republicans maintain their lead in the House, and take over the Iowa Senate, it would be the first time in 14 years that the GOP controlled the House, Senate and Governor’s seat in Iowa. “Win just two more Senate seats and the majority understands that the private sector creates jobs and grows the economy,” Reynolds said. Reynolds believed not only would the Iowa Senate be controlled by Republicans, but Iowa would send four Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives.

WindyCityMedia Group: Nolan Rollins, the president of NUL’s New Orleans’ chapter, was more candid about the group’s approach to same-sex marriage and indicated the organization would examine the issue on a “case-by-case basis.” Rollins noted that supporting same-sex unions would be dependent on how an endorsement “would affect the movement” in different parts of the country, allowing some chapters to back marriage equality and others to oppose the issue or take no position at all. NUL’s decentralized approach to marriage rights for gays and lesbians is indicative of how sensitive and politically volatile the issue has become for Black organizations and their leadership, as calls from a group of Black pastors grow for African-American voters to withhold support from Obama because of his marriage views.

AP: Wading into an explosive social issue, Republican Mitt Romney on Tuesday said he would not pursue any abortion-related legislation if elected president.

Daily Caller: President Barack Obama was a guest at the 1991 wedding of ABC senior foreign correspondent and vice presidential debate moderator Martha Raddatz, The Daily Caller has learned. Obama and groom Julius Genachowski, whom Obama would later tap to head the Federal Communications Commission, were Harvard Law School classmates at the time and members of the Harvard Law Review.

Jack Welch at the Wall Street Journal: The economy would need to be growing at breakneck speed for unemployment to drop to 7.8% from 8.3% in the course of two months.

Boston Globe: The high court, in its 3-2 decision, said the state did not prove the lower court erred in leaving the old law in effect pending resolution of the case. Two justices dissented, arguing new laws are presumed constitutional until found otherwise and thus the law should be allowed to be implemented.

Washington Post: Secretary of State Jon Husted asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the state Legislature or federal courts should set Ohio election laws.

Detroit Free Press (includes video): Rebecca Cardone, 21, who grew up Methodist in Texas, is president of the student body at California Lutheran University. But don’t call her Protestant or even Christian. Cardone is one of the new “Nones” — atheists, agnostics and folks like her who believe “nothing in particular.”

ABC: A conservative political watchdog group is raising the prospect of an “illegal-donor loophole” in the nation’s campaign finance system, and suggesting the grassroots-donor-heavy Obama Campaign may stand to benefit. In a 109-page report published at a new website CampaignFundingRisks.com, the Government Accountability Institute alleges the current online campaign contribution system lacks accountability and transparency, making it highly susceptible to foreign and fraudulent gifts.

Politico: Republican George Allen is well aware he needs to close the gender gap with women in order to win the Virginia Senate race.

Daily Caller: Unhappy with President Barack Obama‘s support of same-sex marriage, a group of African-American faith leaders have announced a campaign aimed at stripping 25 percent of the black vote that went to Obama in 2008 (95 percent).

AP: Jindal, who serves on the association’s executive committee, will chair the group in 2013 under a plan that officials say has broad support from other Republican governors. Christie, the current vice chairman, will take over in 2014.

he Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is encouraged by the strong stand for moral values expressed in the Republican Party platform adopted in Tampa; however, recent statements by Congressman Paul Ryan appear to be in conflict with the platform as it relates to standing for a strong national defense and maximizing troop readiness.

WorldNetDaily: Wayne Allyn Root – a pre-law and political science major in the class of 1983, like the president – told WND that despite a spotless tax record, he became the target of an audit in January 2011 when he received an “unsettling” call from an IRS agent who called himself a fan of his and considered it “an honor” to audit him.

Christian Institute: The widespread grassroots opposition to David Cameron’s plan to redefine marriage has been revealed by a new poll. According to the poll over 70 per cent of Conservative Party Constituency Chairmen think the proposals should be scrapped.

Harry R. Jackson, Jr. at the Church Report: The radical gay marriage, activist sect within the Democratic Party knows that their time is short. They also know that a win by President Obama is not guaranteed. Think about it this way: if President Obama loses the race this year – its internal “civil union” may turn into a political divorce within 18 to 24 months. A large number of Democrats, perhaps the majority, have not “evolved” on same-sex marriage or other major wedge issues of our day. These so called wedge issues are actually the most important moral and spiritual issues of our day. Devout Christians believe that God will either bless or curse America based on her faithful execution of His will on these issues.

AP: The AFL-CIO says it has registered more than 450,000 new voters from union households over the past 18 months . . .

KansasCity.com: Two new polls Wednesday showed Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill leading Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Akin by six points as Akin faced a new round of questions about four-year-old comments about abortion providers.

Reuters: Mitt Romney’s support of the coal industry during his debate with President Obama sent coal company stocks higher on Thursday, analysts said.

Karl Rove at the WSJ: Last week’s CBS/New York Times poll had Obama ahead by nine points in Florida. That’s not very likely.

The Church Report: Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has a narrow advantage in his fight for re-election, according to a Suffolk University/WSVN-TV poll released Tuesday.Nelson leads GOP Rep. Connie Mack, 40 percent to 34 percent.

The Church Report: A recent poll from the Omaha World-Herald had Kerrey trailing state Sen. Deb Fischer (R) by 16 points among likely voters.

Forbes: It doesn’t matter who is elected president in November, the Federal Reserve effectively runs the economy and surely is in charge of the dollar. With QE3 already in the works and some even asking whether or not a QE4 will be needed, one thing is certain: read my lips, there is more dollar weakness ahead and neither Mitt Romney or President Barack Obama can change that.

Fox News provides full video coverage of the event and a transcript.

Washington Post: In defense of his assertion, Akin’s campaign released a statement Tuesday from Abby Johnson, a former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Texas who quit in 2009 and now speaks against abortion. “I can attest that when I served as director of Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas, we often scared women into getting services they did not need — including abortion — so we could collect the fees. This included women who were not pregnant and women who were in the process of miscarrying,” Johnson said in the written statement.

Reuters: A Pennsylvania judge’s decision to block a voter ID law on Tuesday is only the latest in a series of setbacks for new state laws that require voters to show identification before voting. Voter ID laws have also been turned back in Wisconsin and Texas this year and some others may also not go into effect before the U.S. presidential election just five weeks away.

LifeNews: The ad will run on KUSA, the NBC affiliate in Denver, Colorado costing $25,000.

Blog of the Legal Times: The House records can be found here, and the Senate records can be found here.

PostBulletin.com: Marriage amendment supporters told a crowd of 200 on Monday night it’s time for them to talk to their friends and neighbors about the importance of protecting traditional marriage. “This is a social justice issue because it is about the spiritual well-being of our children. This is about their care and their needs and this is about what God has designed,” said the Rev. Randal Kasel, of St. Michael Catholic Church in Pine Island and St. Paul Catholic Church in Zumbrota.

The Hill: The Susan B. Anthony List has launched a new super-PAC to oppose President Obama and give the abortion debate a higher profile in the presidential election.

Marvin J. Folkertsma at Grove City College Center for Vision and Values: However, when the people are bereft of “reason, justice, and truth,” when few possess the virtue of restraint and none the virtue of sacrifice, then decadence occupies the empty moral public space. Decadence is the absence of virtue, it is a moral nullity, it is an ethical vacuum that is filled with the clamor of selfish demands for immediate gratification, absent any consideration for others or for a greater good. Personal decadence borders on criminality; public decadence to a large degree destroys a country.

The Hill: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says that he will do anything he can to block the Obama administration from reimbursing defense contractors for severance costs if the firms don’t send layoff notices to employees.

CNSNews: U.S. government employees and their families have thus far contributed $396,550 to President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign, making them one of the top five sources of cash for the campaign to reelect the president, according to Opensecrets.org.

The Hill: GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has never promised to slash taxes for working Americans, Sen. Roy Blunt said Sunday.

LifeSiteNews: Missouri’s U.S. Senate hopeful Todd Akin confirmed Friday that he was once arrested for his involvement in a peaceful process outside an abortion clinic.

Gary Bauer at Human Events: But so far it has no plans to support Akin financially. “We have no plans to do so,” John Cornyn, chairman of the NRSC, said last week when he was asked by The Courier-Journal whether he’d be putting money into the Akin-McCaskill race. “I just think that this is not a winnable race.” But it clearly is a winnable race. Social conservatives are making the election of Todd Akin to the Senate a top priority. It’s time for the Republican Party to do the same.

The Hill: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Sunday that he doesn’t think the GOP should back Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin’s campaign, despite emerging support from several Republican senators.

Human Events: Voter assistance programs for the military – specifically targeted for improvement with $75 million after low military turnout in 2008 – have been left to languish by the Obama administration and the result may be depressed military turnout. Again.

Michael New at National Review: Last month, an article by Brian Fung on the Atlantic Monthly website sent the media spin machine into overdrive. It provided data from the Massachusetts Department of Health which showed that abortion per capita in Massachusetts decreased after Romneycare took effect in 2007.

Politico (includes video): The pro-life, conservative group Susan B. Anthony list is going on air in Ohio with a new anti-abortion ad calling President Obama an “abortion radical.”

Wall Street Journal (via Google): Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s recall victory in June was a stinging defeat for organized labor. But just when Wisconsinites thought they were getting past this fight, the left is staging a last gasp coup in the courts. On Monday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago heard oral arguments in a federal case challenging the law’s limits on collective bargaining for government unions

CBN: Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition has now begun dropping their presidential voter guide into key battleground states. It has just posted to their site and you can check it out here: They are sending this out to roughly 17 million social conservatives.