2010: Year of the Bible?

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) has introduced a bill to declare 2010 "The Year of the Bible" in the US in the hopes of "calling upon citizens of all faiths to rediscover and apply the priceless, timeless message of the Holy Scripture." In responses:

"Does that mean 2009 is not the year of the Bible?" asked Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is Jewish. Referring to the Islamic holy book, he added, "What is 2012 the year of, the Quran?"

HA! Well done, Barney, even though I'm not happy with you most days, right on!

You know, back in my American Government class in high school, we had a discussion about the House versus the Senate. One of the purposes of the House, with its huge membership and short term lengths, was to allow the crazies a place at the table. Sure, a few nutjob ideas and bills would come out of the larger (or "lesser") house, but it would be chopped off first by the "elder statesmen" (the Senate) and, of course, the President (though we've discovered in recent years a nutjob can get in there, as well). Anyways, we'll chalk this up to one of those and hope for the best.

The bill has 15 (!!!) co-sponsors and has been referred to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Updates on Ohio Issues

Equality Ohio has put a lot of great alerts out these last few days covering what's been going in the state, and I thought I might go ahead and steal some of the news to keep everyone informed.

First, in Cleveland, thanks to the fierce activism of folks in this state -- House Dems credit the LGBT community for assisting in this decision -- Cleveland City Councilmember Roosevelt Coats will not be getting promoted to the 10th District State House of Representatives seat being exited by Rep. Eugene Miller. Coats, as you may remember, publically opposed Cleveland's Domestic Partner Registry by quoting Bible passages, angering a lot of us (and our friend Bo over at BearsLeft.com who put everyone onto the issue) and leaving us wondering whether he would be a fair-minded representative for all of his constituents... or if he may become another religious idealogue turned represenative. The House Democratic caucus, however, selected Cleveland lawyer Robin Belcher to take over. I do love me some women in politics.

Onto the Equal Housing and Employment Act (HB 176)... the first round of hearings for the sexual orientation and gender protections bill, this time in the State Government Committee in the House, was held yesterday with two primary speakers: sponsors Rep. Stewart and Rep. McGregor. Equality Ohio reports positive feedback and states that they are taking what they learned from the questions and responses to further refine their arguments and address specific concerns for folks.

I got a copy of four testimonies -- Stewart, McGregor, EO Executive Director Lynne Bowman, and Toledo resident Brandi Fasnaugh -- that will be available on Do What's Right, Ohio later today, but I thought I'd give you the most rocking-est part, thanks to Republican sponsor Rep. McGregor:

The Declaration of Independence declared before the world that in this country, ”all Men arecreated equal.‘ In the nearly two hundred and twenty-three years since that document was authored, we as a nation have worked to ensure that all People are treated equally in the eyesof the law. It has not always been an easy task, and often, it has taken government action tohelp to move that process along. The law protects citizens, regardless of race, color, religion,gender, national origin, age, ancestry, or disability from being discriminated again inemployment and housing rights. And, yet, in Ohio, people can lose their jobs or be denied housing, solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

There is no more controversial issue being debated in this nation today that that of the issue ofequal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals. However in my view, the debate surrounding this legislation is not an issue of morality. Representative Stewart and I arenot asking you to vote in support of a lifestyle that you may or may not agree with. We standbefore you today to vote in support of fairness and equality. We stand before you today to vote against discrimination.

Some will argue that this legislation is not necessary because homosexuality is a choice, alifestyle that an individual chooses to subscribe to. While opinions and scientific research varyon whether or not homosexuality is a choice that is not what this debate is about. House Bill 176‘s sole intention is to protect basic constitutional rights when it comes to housing,employment and public accommodation, just as we already prevent discrimination of individuals based on religious affiliation.

Holla!!!!

The next round of testimony -- this from proponents -- will be next Wednesday at 2:30pm (Room 17 in the Statehouse) in committee. EO has been asked to keep it down to six people -- sigh -- but, hopefully, that means the next week's (June 10th? I'm losing track of days ... is that the next week or the next next week) testimony from opponents will be kept that short, as well. You'll be sure to hear from me if it isn't. EO is asking people to attend the committees as best they can; you can contact the organization by visiting their website, or through the website Do What's Right Ohio.

Looks like we may be slated to a committee vote -- and from there onto the House floor -- by the end of June. Let's get this shit done, folks, keep contacting your Representatives (and your State Senators, while you're at it... let's prime that pump!).

Jon Stewart on Hate Crimes Bill

As usual, Jon Stewart says it best.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
House DC - College Bowls & Hate Crimes
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

His commentary on the hate crimes law begins at around 2:18, the rest is on the College Bowl "Controversy." Totally worth your time.

Utah Rep. Trying to Stop DC Marriage Recognition

I was right!

A far-right Representative (from Utah) named Jason Chaffetz is trying to intercede in Washington, DC Council's decision to recognize out-of-district same-sex marriages. Chaffetz is a freshman Represenative -- elected for the first time in 2008 -- and, get this, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee. Wow. They were really stretched thin for leadership, there.

From the Washington Post, this is what he said:

"Some things are worth fighting for, and this is one of them. It's not something I can let go softly into the night. . . . I recognize the Democrats are in the majority, but I represent the majority of Americans on this issue."

Why does it matter? Thank goodness for his Twitter account, and the Washington City Paper, we get to find out: "Why am I involved? Congress is set up to oversee the affairs of D.C. I am one of the Members on the relevant committee."

Oh, OK. That explains it.

For the record, Mr. Chaffetz is also against DC representation in Congress -- believing, instead, that the District should be retroceded (is that the word?) into Maryland, despite the Constitutional mandate for an independent District to house the capital.

My Prediction on DC

Based off a news article on Yahoo! News...

The only way the DC vote to recognize out-of-state same-sex unions can be stopped once the Mayor signs it is intervention by Congress. To overturn the laws set forward by the City of Washington, DC would require a vote by both House and Senate, and then signed on by the President.

My prediction: this will not happen. It will break down as such:

• Obama: Continue to remain silent -- he has not commented on any of this yet. We are all pretty sure he has no problem with marriage privately, but has publically only supported civil unions and the repeal of the 1996 Federal DOMA. By saying nothing, he registers as a "no vote," thus not angering conservatives by celebrating the marriages, and not angering the liberals by coming off as half-hearted.
• House: A far-right wing Representative (from the South, perhaps?) will introduce the bill, but the House leadership will never let it see the light of day. Pelosi is all ready saying that they have bigger things to deal with and wrangling over simple recognition is not on their plate. This is a political win for both parties, for the reason stated above. The Republicans, especially in the Midwest, are starting to realize that they will win no friends and gain little more support by coming off as anti-gay, and they can play it off like they have been -- "it's the right of the elected officials to make those decisions, and not ours to intervene."
• Senate: Likely, nothing will even come up. Senators will be too dignified to bother with it, even if they are privately fuming,

What may happen, and the situation that I'm excited to see: the DC Council proposes and passes marriage equality, bringing same-sex couples from all over the country to the front door of the US government to get married... then some fast-thinking activist starts redirecting the newly wed couples towards their local Senator/Representative, marriage certificates in hand, and demanding the repeal of DOMA.

In my head, marriage equality in DC should be the next step.

But, people rarely listen to me on these things.

S. 909 -- Matthew Shepard Act in the Senate

This list appeared on Joe. My. God., but the link was broken to the source.

Had a little trouble tracking down the list, but thanks to OpenCongress, here is the complete list of cosponsors for S. 909, the Senate's version of the Matthew Shepard Act (previously HR 1913):

Sen. Edward Kennedy [D, MA]
Sen. Daniel Akaka [D, HI]
Sen. Evan Bayh [D, IN]
Sen. Jeff Bingaman [D, NM]
Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA]
Sen. Sherrod Brown [D, OH]
Sen. Maria Cantwell [D, WA]
Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D, MD]
Sen. Robert Casey [D, PA]
Sen. Susan Collins [R, ME]
Sen. Christopher Dodd [D, CT]
Sen. Richard Durbin [D, IL]
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D, CA]
Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand [D, NY-20]
Sen. Thomas Harkin [D, IA]
Sen. Tim Johnson [D, SD]
Sen. John Kerry [D, MA]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D, MN]
Sen. Mary Landrieu [D, LA]
Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D, NJ]
Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT]
Sen. Carl Levin [D, MI]
Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I, CT]
Sen. Jeff Merkley [D, OR]
Sen. Barbara Mikulski [D, MD]
Sen. Patty Murray [D, WA]
Sen. Ben Nelson [D, NE]
Sen. Bill Nelson [D, FL]
Sen. John Reed [D, RI]
Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY]
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen [D, NH]
Sen. Olympia Snowe [R, ME]
Sen. Arlen Specter [R, PA]
Sen. Mark Udall [D, CO]
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D, RI]

I've bolded the two of personal interest -- Ohio Sen. Brown and Indiana Sen. Bayh -- the following Senators from this area are notably absent: Ohio Sen. Voinovich, Kentucky Sen. McConnell, Kentucky Sen. Bunning, and Indiana Sen. Lugar. All are Republicans. For your convenience, I've italicized the two Republican co-sponsors... please note that both are from Maine :-). We also only had 18 Republicans vote for it in the House, so, if we assume 10%-ish votership by the Republicans, then we can expect two more to join them. Maybe NH Sen. Gregg? Maybe PA Sen. Specter? Maybe MO Sen. Bond? Maybe AZ Sen. McCain? I don't actually know, but we'll see. We also had 17 Dems vote against the Act, so... yea.

If you want to get ahold of your Senators to encourage them co-sponsor the bill or vote for it, or if you want to email your co-sponsoring Senator, check out this really easy site to find out how to contact them.

Just Another Black Sheep predicts the following likely no's on the bill: OK Sen. Coburn, TX Sen. Cornyn, SC Sen. Graham, IA Sen. Grassley, UT Sen. Hatch, AZ Sen. Kyl, and AL Sen. Sessions. Who else do we add to that list? I might put some money on AK Sen. Murkowski in expectation of Palin-Murkowski primary... Sarah, I'm sure, would use it in the campaign.

The HRC is asking you to tell 10 friends to contact their Senators, as well.

Oh, and how did the local US Representatives vote in the House? (Condensed from here)

Indiana AYE's
IN-1 Visclosky [D]
IN-7 Carson [D]
IN-9 Hill [D]

Indiana Nay's
IN-2 Donnelly [D]
IN-3 Souder [R]
IN-4 Buyer [R]
IN-5 Burton [R]
IN-6 Pence [R]
IN-8 Ellsworth [D]

Kentucky Aye's
KY-3 Yarmuth [D]
KY-6 Chandler [D]

Kentucky Nay's
KY-1 Whitfield [R]
KY-2 Guthrie [R]
KY-4 Davis [R]
KY-5 Rogers [R]

Ohio Aye's
OH-1 Driehaus [D]
OH-6 Wilson [D]
OH-9 Kaptur [D]
OH-10 Kucinich [D]
OH-11 Fudge [D]
OH-13 Sutton [D]
OH-15 Kilroy [D]
OH-16 Boccieri [D]
OH-17 Ryan [D]
OH-18 Space [D]

Ohio Nay's
OH-2 Schmidt [R]
OH-3 Turner [R]
OH-4 Jordan [R]
OH-5 Latta [R]
OH-7 Austria [R]
OH-8 Boehner [R]
OH-12 Tiberi [R]
OH-14 LaTourette [R]

Other Points of Interest...
100% Aye Delegations (with more than one member)
Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico (sort of -- one no vote recorded), Oregon, Rhode Island

100% Nay Delegations (with more than one member)
Alabama, Nebraska, Oklahoma

Neither of those last two lists are really surprising, though, really. Make sure you contact your local rep and thank them, if they voted aye, for their support... and tell your congressperson, if they voted no, that you are disappointed (be nice, kids)!

SHUT UP! HUGE VICTORIES TODAY!!!!

Unbelievable!!!!

This is what happens when I sleep... shit gets done!!!

• New Hampshire Senate APPROVES equal marriage bill!!!!!!!!!!!
• US House of Representatives APPROVES Matthew Shepard Act!!!!!!!
• Oh, and little late: the Maine Judiciary Committee recommended the equal marriage bill be taken to a floor vote in shocking 11-2-1 vote.

WOW!!!!

In a bit of a rush at the moment, I'll talk details later! But yea!!!! Oh -- and, you know, the last time we had Guerrilla Queer Bar, Iowa had just passed.... I think it's auspicious that we have it again this week.

Matthew Shepard Act Vote in House TODAY

Have you called yet? Now is the time, if you haven't. E-mail, if you have to, in support of federal hate crimes protections.

The House of Representatives votes today on the Matthew Shepard Act (HR 1913). Hold you breath, kids... 10 years later, it may finally be done.

This is all over the web this morning, thanks to Bilerico for the complete statement from Pres. Obama yesterday:

This week, the House of Representatives is expected to consider H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance - legislation that will enhance civil rights protections, while also protecting our freedom of speech and association. I also urge the Senate to work with my Administration to finalize this bill and to take swift action."

A question: will this be the first time a President something pro-gay into law outside of HIV/AIDS?

And so it begins...

Three very significant developments this week in the fight for equality:

• The Supreme Court fight has begun: Eight couples, and three gay widowers, have brought suit against the federal government for recognition of their marriages. Even though it is only coming out of Massachusetts, the implications are fascinating. If the Supreme Court says that the federal government has to recognize marriages as defined by a state, then that essentially knocks down the 1996 Federal DOMA. The question, of course: is it time?
• Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) has introduced a bill to the US House of Representatives repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, stating that it is ineffective and has impeded military readinness. On her bill, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act, she says: "This bill will once and for all end the discriminatory practices of the Department of Defense and men and women who have been administratively discharged would be allowed to have the opportunity to serve again if they want. There is no evidence to support a continued ban on open service, and every reason to allow lesbian and gay Americans to serve our country." President Obama is currently meeting with the Department of Defense on how to best deal with a possible repeal.
• And the right is gearing up to fight "David's Law," which is expansion of hate crimes protections to cover sexual orientation, as well.

Things to watch for...

Oh, and via JMG, Pelosi is promising the passage of a trans-inclusive ENDA. Thank jeebus.

I just realized how expansive this post is... lot of good stuff :-).

DC -- Closer to Congressional Represenation

The US Senate invoked cloture on the DC Voting Rights Act of 2009, adding two more Representatives to the US House -- one for DC and one for Utah (really?). 

From New America Media:

In a historic step today, the United States Senate invoked cloture and allowed its version of the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act of 2009 to proceed to the floor for a vote. The cloture vote, 62-34, means that opponents of the bill, primarily Republicans, cannot filibuster the measure from a vote before the full Senate, which they did two years ago.

The cloture vote also means that the District of Columbia is one step closer to having a voting representative in the U.S. Congress, specifically the U.S. House of Representatives. Under the bill, which was sponsored by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the House will increase its number permanently from 435 to 437 by adding the D.C. representative and an additional one from Utah.

The key to the successful vote was Republican support. D.C. Republican Committee Chairman Robert Kabel was happy with some Senate members of his party.

“We thank the Republican senators who voted for cloture,” Kabel said. “Today marks a historic day for the District and I am proud that Republicans were a part of it. As party chairman, I am pleased our efforts to inform and lobby our fellow Republicans on the Hill have paid off.”

Republicans other than Hatch voting for the bill were Sens. Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Richard Lugar (Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Olympia Snowe (D-Maine), Arlen Specter (Pa.) and George Voinovich (Ohio).

Yea... Voinovich? :-) and how did Olympia Snowe get in there? Is she Dem or Rep? Blah. Who cares.

This is neat! :-)

What, Bunning? Oh, and Progressives from Ohio

So, thanks to Electoral-vote.com today, we see that Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning is fully expecting Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg to be dead in nine months or less due to her pancreatic cancer.

Real compassionate.

The same website also points out that the Republicans are trying to get Bunning to retire, desperately, for fear of a successful challenge from Kentucky State Senate President, David Williams. Hrm. I've all ready forgotten whom we've talked about on the Dem side in this race -- was it Mongiardo?

On the flip side, we have ratings out from the ProgressivePunch detailing the relative progressiveness of all the Senators and Representatives in the country. Local boys in the Senate (it's a little skewed -- Burris and Gillibrand are numbers 1 and 2, and they just started):

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) -- 8th most progressive with 97.45%

Sen. Evan Bayd (D-IN) -- 49th most progressive with 78.59%

Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) -- 63rd with 16.91%

Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) -- 65th with 14.06%

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) -- 90th with 3.19%

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) -- 92nd with 4.12%

And some local boys/girls in the House:

Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) -- 60th most progressive

Rep. Betty Sutton (D-OH) -- 65th

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) -- 71st

Rep. Timothy Ryan (D-OH) -- 90th

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) -- 119th

Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN) -- 141st

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) -- 149th

Rep. Ben Chandler (D-KY) -- 167th

Rep. Baron Hill (D-IN) -- 181st

Rep. Charles Wilson (D-OH) -- 195th

Rep. Zach Space (D-OH) -- 213th

Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) -- 220th

Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) - 222nd

Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) -- 250th

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) -- 269th

Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) -- 278th

Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) -- 291st

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) -- 302nd

Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) -- 307th

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) -- 317th

Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH) -- 334th

Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) -- 336th

Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) -- 344th

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) -- 347th

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) -- 348th

There's a long list of (assumedly) new hires that are not yet listed, including our own Steve Driehaus and Columbus newbie Mary Jo Kilroy. (If you can't find yours on the above list, they are probably unranked as of yet.) I think it's really interesting that the division is even among party lines. In fact, in the House, a very sharp division between R/D.

We'll see how that all plays out.

DC Statehood? Not Quite Yet...

I've always loved that DC's license plate is a political statement
It appears that Washington, DC is on its way to its first official seat in Congress. Seriously.

From the Hill:

Senior lawmakers who oppose the D.C. Voting Rights Act say they know of no legal challenges to the bill, which is expected to pass the Senate next week.

The bill, which is scheduled to begin debate in the Senate on Feb. 23 , would add a vote in the House for both Washington D.C. and Utah.

In recent years the measure failed to receive the necessary support, but it is thought to have enough votes to defeat a Republican-led filibuster in the Senate with a larger Democratic majority in this Congress.

It seems there are no challenges because Utah is getting one, too.

Fun fact: they can't add a Senator for DC because that would make it a state. And, well, I really actually want to see a state added in my lifetime, I think. But 51 is such an inconvenient number, isn't it?

Who's the Hottest Freshman Congressman?

The latest thing making the gay blog rounds is a poll over at Huffington Post asking who the hottest freshman Congressman is. The reason it's making the gay rounds is become Jared Polis (D-CO), the first openly gay freshman congressperson, is on the list (that is, he is the only person to be openly gay while being elected for the first time to the US House... everyone else came out after they were elected their first time -- baby steps, kids LOL).

I feel like I should vote for Jared Polis for solidarity reasons, but have you seen the Republican boy Aaron Schock???



Oh, honey, tell me about trickle down economics all night long.

Seriously, I have several questions that I'd like answers to.

Then we can talk about Reagan.

No joke. I'm just saying. I'm sure he would be interested.