Arlen Specter more famous for his recent switch to the Democratic Caucus than his record on civil rights or mairrage equality made a surprise move on the Senate floor proposing the repeal of the so called Defense of Mairrage act that barrs gays from many federal rights and priviledges.
From the New York Times:
First, he spoke on the Senate floor Monday evening and then put out a bulletin on Twitter.
And on Tuesday morning, Senator Arlen Specter, the Pennsylvania Republican-turned Democrat who is running for his sixth term in the Senate, posted a short piece on the Huffington Post’s Web site in which he says it’s time to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
The announcement by Senator Specter, a longtime supporter of the marriage act who once said he favored fortifying it with a constitutional amendment, came amid his primary battle for the Democratic nomination against Representative Joe Sestak, who favors its repeal.
Both Mr. Sestak and the Republicans, in the past 12 hours or so, have been quick to point out that Mr. Specter voted for the act in 1996 and even proposed that it be fortified with a constitutional amendment in 2004, when he faced a tough Republican primary challenge from Pat Toomey, a conservative. (Mr. Toomey is running again as a Republican for the Senate seat and is opposed to repealing the marriage act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages.)
But now, Mr. Specter writes:
“Enacted 13 years ago when the idea of same sex marriage was struggling for acceptance, the Act is a relic of a more tradition-bound time and culture.
Connecticut, Iowa, and Massachusetts have already passed laws recognizing same sex marriage and other states are moving in that direction. The states are the proper forum to address this divisive social and moral issue, not the Federal Government with a law that attempts to set one national standard for marriage.
Mr. Sestak released a statement pointing out the shifts in Mr. Specter’s position and highlighting the campaigns by gay and lesbian groups under the L.G.B.T. abbreviation. He said:
“As the longtime Republican Senator carries on his attempt to run away from his 30-year Republican record, this time on his vote to support the Defense of Marriage Act, he should be honest about his votes to oppose equal rights for L.G.B.T. Americans. He actually voted with Republican Senator Rick Santorum to deny equal benefits to legally married L.G.B.T. Americans in the first place. Without Joe Sestak’s leadership in supporting L.G.B.T. rights, the Senator would continue to deny married gay and lesbian couples their right to file joint tax returns, receive spouse benefits under social security, take an unpaid leave to take care of a sick or injured partner, or share retirement benefits like straight couples.Arlen Specter more famous for his recent switch to the Democratic Caucus than his... more
The United States is the most admired country globally thanks largely to the star power of President Barack Obama and his administration, according to a new poll.
It climbed from seventh place last year, ahead of France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan which completed the top five nations in the Nation Brand Index (NBI).
"What's really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States for 2009," said Simon Anholt, the founder of NBI, which measured the global image of 50 countries each year.
He believes that during the previous administration of George W. Bush the United States suffered in the world ranking with its unpopular foreign policies but since Obama was elected, and despite the recent economic turmoil, the country's status has risen globally.
"There is no other explanation," Anholt said in an interview, referring to the impact of Obama.
The global survey, conducted by GFK Roper Public Affairs & Media, involved 20,000 people in 20 rich and developing countries around the globe. They were asked to rate 50 nations in categories such as culture, governance, people, exports, tourism, landscape and education.
Canada took the biggest hit in the latest survey, falling to seventh from fourth place, while China climbed several spots to 22nd, which Anholt believes in due in part to the successful staging of the Olympics.
What follows is simply my oppinion:
I don't know about you, but one of the reasons people voted for Obama was to change how America was viewed in the world and something that has been much derided as apologism on the right has actually been a success in shaping Americas image as not only a positive force in the world but one that is now admired again rather than resented. There can be no doubt that the War in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Global Financial Meltdown, Torture, and Freedom Fries hurt our global image. There can also be no doubt that Obama has succeeded in improving how other nations view America for the positive.
I think that this is an important acknowledgement this week, when people in our own nation are so up in arms over our leader being awarded a global honor and accusations he has done nothing to earn it.
Since taking office global approval of America rose faster than the approval of any other country in this studies history. France, Russia, and China came to the table in real negotiations with Iran which opened itself up to weapons inspectors and shared uranium enrichment, real progress away from a nuclear armed Iran. Russia came back to the table for renewal of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and further nuclear nonproliferation treaty. The G20 under Obama gave one trillion dollars for economic aid to the IMF as well as allowing the IMF to create and sell bonds for the first time to offer economic development to the third world to help weather this recession and aid in the fight against global warming there.
Ask yourself what the right did in that time? Ask yourself why a nobel peace prize for our president is an insult? Why is it bad that Americas image abroad hasn't just returned to what it was before Bush but has actually improved by leaps and bounds? Why is it that when America was a symbol of hope under Kennedy or even Reagan it was camelot and a shining city on a hill but under Obama it's socialist? Ask yourself simply why?From Reuters:
The United States is the most admired country globally thanks... more
state complacency among rank and file donors, and de-facto boycott by wealthiest givers...put
off by party's harsh rhetoric toward 'big business'.state complacency among rank and file donors, and de-facto boycott by wealthiest... more
Randy of Houston Texas brings his 1934 Ford Coupe to Southwest Rod and Custom for Pete to finish it out RIGHT! After visiting with Randy, Pete finds out that he has lost a son in the Iraq war to a Suicide Bomber, and decides to do Randy a big favor. Pete decides to build a Dedication Hot Rod in Memory of 1st Lieutenant Jeremy Ray. Watch the upcoming videos. This car is going to be one mean machine.. Support Gold Star Families....Check out SWRNC on "YOUTUBE" To get the WHOLE STORY!Randy of Houston Texas brings his 1934 Ford Coupe to Southwest Rod and Custom for Pete... more
MARYVILLE, Tenn. – Hotaru Ferschke just wants to raise her 8-month-old son in his grandparents' Tennessee home, surrounded by photos and memories of the father he'll never meet: a Marine who died in combat a month after marrying her from thousands of miles away.
Sgt. Michael Ferschke was killed in Iraq in 2008, leaving his widow and infant son, both Japanese citizens, in immigration limbo: A 1950s legal standard meant to curb marriage fraud means U.S. authorities do not recognize the marriage, even though the military does.
Ferschke and his bride had been together in Japan for more than a year, and she was pregnant when he deployed. They married by signing their names on separate continents and did not have a chance to meet again in person after the wedding, which a 57-year-old immigration law requires for the union to be considered consummatedMARYVILLE, Tenn. – Hotaru Ferschke just wants to raise her 8-month-old son in his... more
The president is Reagan, and the date is November 14, 1988. Reagan talks about how wrong things were before he came into office, and how well he was doing as president. He promoted his theory of tax cuts, wanting a balanced budget amendment, line item veto, and promoting gun purchases by “responsible citizens.” And then Reagan applauds himself for supporting “Negro colleges and universities.” And no word that this was vetted ahead of time to give parents an opportunity to opt out.The president is Reagan, and the date is November 14, 1988. Reagan talks about how... more
Congress has approved $8 billion for high-speed-rail lines that, according to advocates, will make traveling by train faster than driving. But for high-speed trains to live up to their potential, planners also have to consider how long it takes to get to your destination after you get off the train.
That's the kind of story mass transit advocates hate to hear — and it provides a cautionary tale as cities and states vie for federal money to build higher-speed-train lines. In North Carolina, leaders hope to upgrade existing tracks to allow trains to go more than 30 percent faster. But Pat Simmons, the head of the state rail division, knows it will take more for travelers to choose the train instead of their cars.Congress has approved $8 billion for high-speed-rail lines that, according to... more
Bill Moyers appeared on "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday night for a long conversation, much of which focused on health care. When asked by Maher what would be a metaphor that could change the current thinking on health care, Moyers answered "we're all in the same boat." He went on to talk about the moral message that health care reform would send, which is that "we are in this together."
"I don't want to live in a country where am I on a hospital floor getting an operation that costs $25,000, and two floors above me someone is being denied that same surgery because he or she has no money. What kind of a civilization is that?" Moyers said.Bill Moyers appeared on "Real Time with Bill Maher" Friday night for a long... more
The politics of climate change are difficult in the Senate, it's often said, because it's a regional issue: coal state senators are afraid their economies will be driven under if the price of dirty energy rises too quickly.
Climate change is, in fact, a regional issue, but not in the short-term way that the coal senators think, according to new analysis from The Nature Conservancy. The environmental group finds that rural Midwestern states will face the greatest consequences of climate change. The three that will face the steepest rise in temperature -- Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa -- are farm states whose soil will be significantly less productive as temperatures rise more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit there by 2100.
The rise by by 2050 -- only 41 years from now -- is also projected to be substantial. (Click here for an interactive map of the analysis.)
The two Republican senators from Kansas, which will be most ravaged by climate change, are unlikely to support legislation addressing it.The politics of climate change are difficult in the Senate, it's often said, because... more
To quote my friend, because I couldn't say it any better, "That the bullshit media never ONCE reported this when Skip Gates was arrested. And they waited until the controversy died down until it was revealed. Prime example of media bias. What ...was the 'teachable moment ?' We had to only believe the cops version of what really happened?"To quote my friend, because I couldn't say it any better, "That the bullshit media... more
Back in the early 1990's, Betsy McCaughey wrote "No Exit," an article for The New Republic on the Clinton administration's healthcare reform plan. The piece was filled with falsehoods -- so many, in fact, that the magazine later disowned it. But by then, it was too late; McCaughey and her article had played an instrumental role in killing the Clinton proposal.
Now, she's back, and is again the chief propagator of some of the most pernicious myths about the Obama administration's plan.
McCaughey's latest falsehoods have taken hold with a disturbingly large portion of the American public. But she couldn't get them past "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, who had her on his show Thursday night and subjected her to one of his better interviews, meticulously picking her points apart and demonstrating their inaccuracy, leaving her stumbling and stammering in an attempt to defend her position. By the end of it, he told her, "I like you -- but I don't understand how your brain works."
Two videos of the interview are below; both are extended beyond what was actually aired on television.Back in the early 1990's, Betsy McCaughey wrote "No Exit," an article for The New... more
The Obama administration faces a test of its environmental credentials in deciding whether to approve a pipeline carrying greenhouse gas-intensive oil sands fuel from Canada into the US.
Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, is expected to decide as early as this month whether to approve the Alberta Clipper, a 1,000-mile pipeline designed to carry up to 800,000 barrels a day of fuel from Canada's vast oil sands.
Environmentalists say doing so would be at odds with the green economy pledged by the administration.
"Approving new mega-projects like the Alberta Clipper pipeline would lock North America into the old, high-carbon energy economy," said Keith Stewart, director of climate change at WWF-Canada. "We need to invest in the green economy of the future, not pour billions into the Betamax of the energy world."
But Enbridge Energy, the Canadian pipeline builder, said the project would improve US energy security. The pipeline and associated facilities "will serve the national interest ... enhancing the ability to deliver a secure and growing supply of Canadian crude oil, thereby supplementing the diminishing supplies of domestically produced crude oil," the company said in its May application.
It is hard for the US to resist the 175 billion barrels of oil sand reserves, given rising concerns over energy security. But the extraction of a barrel of crude from oil sands is estimated to generate as much as five times more greenhouse gas emissions as from a barrel of conventional crude.
Environmentalists have seized on a delay in granting the permit, which could have come in early July, as a sign it might be rejected. But the state department told the Financial Times it had not finished the review process.
Enbridge is confident it will obtain the permit this month, enabling it to build.
"We're going to start construction at the end of this month," the company said. "We believe we will have a successful outcome and look forward to completion by mid-2010. We're not worried at all."
Canadian environmentalists sent the state department a letter last week urging it to delay a decision until after a climate treaty emerges from the Copenhagen summit. "This decision carries significant implications regarding greenhouse gas pollution and global warming that cannot be duly considered in the absence of clear US climate change policy and an understanding of an international climate treaty," it read.
The Dirty Oil Sands Network said: "Climate security and energy security must go hand in hand. The best way to achieve this is for the Obama administration to keep building a clean energy economy."
end of excerptThe Obama administration faces a test of its environmental credentials in deciding... more
This video showcases Dr. Orly Taitz the lawyer behind a legal chalenge of President Obama's citezenship, the so called "birther" movement's leader. She takes six minuites and in that time spends more time calling David Shuster a nazi than she does providing any facts. Its sad to see our political discussions come down to this garbage. It is sad that there are people willing to believe that the president is a Kenyan citezen and its hard to think that race and political biases aren't the motivating factor behind such people.Wow, Just Wow.
This video showcases Dr. Orly Taitz the lawyer behind a legal... more
This is the first of what we hope to be many interviews from your friends here at Current: U.S. Politics. Dr. Rand Paul is a full time Physician, the son of republican and libretarian presidential candiate, Ron Paul, and a candidate for the reupublican nomination for Senate in Kentucky. We will be focusing on Healthcare and poverty issues in our interview and WE WANT YOUR HELP. We will be utelizing at least one member submitted question.
We have a preference for questions on Healthcare, Poverty Issues, and the Environmnent but suggestions are by no means limited to these topics. We would ask that users submit no more than two questions for consideration. No suggestion will be accepted later than nine pm thursday of this week.
Thank you so much for your participation and for joining us here at U.S. Politics!This is the first of what we hope to be many interviews from your friends here at... more
Traverse City -- Michael Moore, by far the most successful documentary filmmaker of all time, is thinking of getting out of the business of making documentaries.
Not right away. He's got the sure-to-be-controversial "Capitalism: A Love Story" due in theaters Oct. 2. But after that?
"While I've been making this film I've been thinking that maybe this will be my last documentary," says the Flint native, who filmed and starred in such hits as "Sicko," "Bowling for Columbine" and "Fahrenheit 9/11." "Or maybe for a while."
Those three films make up half of the top six documentaries ever made, according to boxofficemojo.com. "Fahrenheit 9/11" is handily the highest earning documentary ever, with a domestic take of $119 million.
But now Moore's looking to branch out as a director.
"I have been working on two screenplays over the last couple of years," he says. "One's a comedy, one's a mystery, and I really want to do this."
---
Hmm...he actually has worked as a feature narrative director before....
Amid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, few issues have sparked more outrage than executives on Wall Street taking home big bucks, even as their companies took risks that sent the country plunging into recession. Just this week, a report from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo revealed that the first nine banks to receive government bailout funds dished out nearly $33 billion in bonuses last year, with 4,800 employees taking home bonuses over $1 million.
Now, lawmakers in Congress have taken action.
Today, the House of Representatives passed a bill to shut down what some people would consider excessive executive compensation. The vote was 237-185. The Senate has yet to act on the measure.
The bill would give federal regulators the power to restrict pay practices that prompt "inappropriate risk" at financial firms. It also would give shareholders a non-binding annual vote on salary and bonuses for the top executives at all public companies across the countryAmid the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, few issues have sparked... more
A U.S. ad featuring an Ontario woman who spoke out against the Canadian health-care system may be exaggerating the severity of her condition, say medical experts.
Shona Holmes has appeared in U.S. ads saying she had to go to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona to be treated for a rare type of cyst at the base of her brain — a Rathke's cleft cyst. She mortgaged her home and paid $100,000 to be treated there because getting care in Canada involved a six-month wait, she said. She is currently suing OHIP to recoup those costs.
Holmes, from Waterdown, Ont., said she would have died had she relied on the Canadian health-care system and waited to see a specialist.
But the director of the brain tumour research centre at the Montreal Neurological Institute says he thinks that claim is "an exaggeration."
Dr. Rolando Del Maestro says the lesion Holmes was diagnosed with is benign, and usually slow-growing. It typically does not require urgent attention, he said.
"If it's a real emergency in the sense that the patient's visual function is getting substantially worse, the patients would be brought in immediately and would be operated on the next day," he said.
In 2005, Holmes, complaining of headaches and vision loss, went to see a Canadian doctor and was put on a six-month waiting list to see specialist.
After trying unsuccessfully to expedite the process, she was diagnosed and treated at the Mayo Clinic. Holmes said U.S. doctors considered the cyst a tumour, and that it would cause death if not removed immediately.
But neurosurgeon Michael Schwartz of Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital says he's never seen or heard of a death from a Rathke's cyst. He told CBC News symptoms can be alleviated if the cyst is drained or part of it removed to take pressure off the optic nerve. "Then the person's vision almost always improves.
"If somebody called me about a patient that was losing her vision or had a structural abnormality of the brain I would see them within days."
Opposition to Obama
The contentious advertisement is being run by a conservative lobby group, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, opposed to U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to involve the government playing a role in reforming U.S. health care.
It warns that Washington wants to bring in Canadian-style health care that would cause "deadly" delays for people waiting for important medical procedures.
Holmes denies taking any money from Americans for Prosperity for her message. Her publicist, paid for by the lobby group, says she's now declining interviews.
But Holmes told CBC News in an earlier interview she believes Canadians are not speaking up about the problems in the health-care system. She said that every time she thinks about stopping her criticism of the system, she gets "another really sad phone call or desperate phone call of somebody who is tragically trying to get treatment in Canada and can't."
Americans for Prosperity says it has spent nearly $1.8 million US running the ad in Washington, D.C., and 11 states with key senators who are either writing health-care bills or wavering on the issue.
It is one of a handful of commercials that are expected to grow in number and criticism this summer as detailed health bills emerge from the U.S. Congress and dozens of interest groups, companies and labour unions tussle to influence legislators.
[article continued at link]A U.S. ad featuring an Ontario woman who spoke out against the Canadian health-care... more
Democratic congressman may have some explaining to do to his constituents after telling Politico that a quarter of them back a crazy conspiracy theory.
In an article entitled "GOP headache: The birther issue," Lisa Lerer and Daniel Libit report on how Republicans are finding out that "there’s no easy way to deal with the small but vocal crowd of right-wing activists who refuse to believe that President Barack Obama was born in the United States."
But it's this part in which the Democratic chairman of the House Agriculture Committee is quoted which might have the largest impact:
Out-party politicians have long had to deal with conspiracy theorists on their side — the people who think that the Clintons killed Vince Foster or that the Bush administration helped orchestrate the Sept. 11 attacks.
“Twenty-five percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the twin towers down,” said Rep. Collin Peterson, a Democrat who represents a conservative Republican district in Minnesota. “That’s why I don’t do town meetings.”
While there are certainly thousands upon thousands of Americans with legitimate questions about what really happened on 9/11, only the fringe elements have internally convicted Bush officials for "taking the twin towers down."
No doubt, Peterson has his own questions, since in 2002, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, he said of FBI whistle-blower Coleen Rowley, "It took a lot of guts to do what she did."
Rowley had alleged "that FBI headquarters rewrote Minneapolis agents' pre-Sept. 11 request for surveillance and search warrants for terrorism defendant Zacarias Moussaoui and removed important information before rejecting them," the Associated Press reported in 2002. "Agent Coleen Rowley wrote that the Minneapolis agents became so frustrated that they began to joke that FBI headquarters was becoming an 'unwitting accomplice' to Osama bin Laden's efforts to attack the United States, the officials saidDemocratic congressman may have some explaining to do to his constituents after... more
Many people seem genuinely baffled that western governments are hyping the arrival of a swine flu pandemic as if it’s the greatest threat to humanity since the bubonic plague, despite the relatively low number of deaths from the virus, unaware that the pharmaceutical industry has been intimately joined at the hip with the state for decades.
Another illustration of that fact is the revelation that one of the UK government’s top advisors on swine flu also happens to be a sitting board member of GlaxoSmithKline, the company selling dangerous and untested swine flu vaccines, as well as anti-viral drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, to the NHS.
“Professor Sir Roy Anderson sits on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), a 20-strong task force drawing up the action plan for the virus. Yet he also holds a £116,000-a-year post on the board of GlaxoSmithKline,” reports the Daily Mail.
We also learn that Anderson was “one of the first UK experts to call the outbreak a pandemic,” and has been busy on radio and TV pushing the effectiveness of anti-virals to fight swine flu, without telling listeners that he was on the GSK payroll.
Anderson was also a key government advisor during the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak in Britain which led to the slaughter of over 6 million animals and the complete decimation of the farming industry.
Batches of swine flu vaccine destined for Europe are being fast-tracked through safety procedures and there will be no testing on humans whatsoever before millions of people, starting with children and pregnant women, are inoculated as part of mass vaccination programsMany people seem genuinely baffled that western governments are hyping the arrival of... more
PESHAWAR/MIRAMSHAH: The movement of Afghanistan-based US and Nato troops over the past few days close to North and South Waziristan Agencies has frightened tribesmen, who are already under stress due to the increasing number of drone attacks and a possible military operation by the Pakistan Army.
Official and tribal sources informed The News from the border villages of North Waziristan about the unusual movement of what they termed ìhuge numberî of the US and Nato forces along the Pak-Afghan border.
They said the Nato troops were armed with helicopter gunships, tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and had started establishing camps and checkpoints along the border.
The residents of border villages, including Dwatoi, Kazha Madakhel and Gorweek, said warplanes and helicopter gunships were seen flying over the border areas between the two neighbouring countries throughout the day. In some of the areas, the tribesmen claimed the planes violated Pakistanís airspace and flew over their villages.
Villagers claimed that the US and Nato forces were brought to the border area in 80 vehicles amid tight security.
A military official based in Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, said they had also received reports about the troop movement but could not confirm it. Wishing not to be named, he said Pakistanís armed forces were fully alert on their posts along the border with Afghanistan. ìThey often come to the border villages inside Afghanistan and return to their bases after some time. There is no need to be worried,î the official said.
Tribal sources close to the Taliban in Afghanistan said there had been an unprecedented rise in attacks on the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan and their movement in the border areas could be an act of desperation.
They said the foreign forces had particularly suffered losses in Helmand, Paktia, Paktika and Khost provinces, which were close to Pakistanís restive South and North Waziristan tribal regions.
Besides suffering casualties, the sources said, the Taliban militants had made some US and British soldiers hostage in Afghanistan.
The movement of foreign forces close to Pakistanís border and establishment of the checkpoints, along the porous Durand Line, could be part of their strategy to stop the Taliban militants from shifting the kidnapped US and British soldiers to the adjoining tribal areas, said the sources.
On September 3, 2008, the US-led foreign forces carried out their first-ever ground operation in the Pakistani territory, killing 15 Pakistanis, including women and children, in South Waziristanís Musa Nika village near Angoor Adda, close to Afghanistanís Paktika province. The tribesmen fear recurrence of such an attack.PESHAWAR/MIRAMSHAH: The movement of Afghanistan-based US and Nato troops over the past... more
