Author: Randy Slovacek

Posted on

ArmyTimes: Pentagon suspends DADT

From ArmyTimes: The Pentagon has ordered a halt to all separations of gay troops under “don’t ask, don’t tell” and will begin accepting applications from prospective recruits who identify themselves as homosexuals.

The moratorium issued Friday came after a ruling Wednesday by a federal appeals court in California ordering the Defense Department to immediately stop enforcing the law. The court said the law is unconstitutional because it treats gay Americans differently under the law.

Meanwhile, defense officials will continue to prepare for the law’s formal repeal, which Congress approved in December. The law will be formally repealed 60 days after the defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs “certify” that it will not adversely impact military readiness.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he expected certification to occur in late July or early August.

It remains unclear whether the Pentagon will seek to appeal Wednesday’s court ruling, which would have to go to the Supreme Court, Pentagon spokesman Marine Col. David Lapan said Friday.

Troops are currently undergoing training programs to clarify the law and ensure a smooth transition to its repeal. Most of that training is expected to be completed by this summer, yet there is no requirement that 100 percent of the force must be trained prior to repeal, Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said.

Posted on

The pageant world’s little prince

From E!Online: Among all the little pageant princesses on Toddlers & Tiaras, there’s now a pageant prince.

The TLC series — which follows the controversial world of child beauty contests and follows selected young kids in competiton across the U.S. — is throwing audiences for a loop tonight by featuring a 7-year-old boy who loves to compete alongside the girls.

Brock Ritter is a self-described “diva” who is a pro at dance and gymnastics and has already nabbed a half-dozen first-place trophies.

Brock’s mother, Tori Ritter, tells E! News that her son became interested in pageants when he was just 2. And she shared a few more tidbits about her spotlight-loving son. Here are five things to know about the Brockster.

1. He’s From Madonna’s hometown: The pageant prince hails from Bay City, Mich., the same city Madonna escaped from before hitting it big in New York. It’s where he spends time practicing for his upcoming pageants and attending public school. We have a feeling the pop queen would be proud.

2. He Was Bullied in Kindergarten: Tori says that both she and Brock dealt with some backlash when he began expressing an interest in performing and she encouraged it. For Brock, the taunts began when he was just 5. “We dealt with it in kindergarten,” Tori says. Tori says that if her son is ever bothered, he comes home and expresses his feeling on it, but ultimately he wants to continue the pageant life.

As for Tori, she says other parents have in the past given her grief for being a “pageant mom,” but she tells us that most are supportive of the family.

3. He’s a Tap-Dancing Machine: Brock was watching television when he was 2 and told his mother that he wanted to tap dance. “He does not sit down,” his mom says. “I asked him ‘What kind of dance do you want to do?’ and he said tap. He’s been dancing for six years now.” And his routines are a family affair, with dad cutting and mixing all the music that he boogies to.

Along with all the foot tapping, Brock also taught himself gymnastics, working on his flexibility and flips at home. “We don’t work with a coach, we play around at home,” Tori tells us.

4. He’s Obsessed With School: The third grader watches minimal TV so that he can spend all his spare time outside of preparing for pageants reading. “He loves school, he loves to read,” Tori tells us. Brock’s even in a “hardcore” advanced reading program that has him reading way past his age group.

5. He Dreams of Performing on Broadway: Brock tells his mom he really really wants to sing and dance on the Great White Way one day. He loves the life and the costumes and everything that comes with making a showbiz career.

Says Tory: “He’s not your typical kid.”

I think this story may be more wide-spread than just Brock… I believe I have several friends on the Great White Way who had similar interests at a young age.

Ah, youth.

Posted on

Bachmann signs Family Leader’s pro-marriage pledge

Michele Bachmann became the first presidential candidate to sign a 14-point pledge put forth by The Family Leader, a Christian group run by evangelical conservative and former three-time Iowa gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats.

The pledge is entitled, “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family.”

Presidential candidates who sign the pledge must agree to personal fidelity to his or her spouse, the appointment of “faithful constitutionalists” as judges, opposition to any redefinition of marriage, and prompt reform of uneconomic and anti-marriage aspects of welfare policy, tax policy and divorce law.

The pledge asks candidates to promote a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, protect women and “the innocent fruit of conjugal intimacy” (children) from pornography, reject Sharia Islam and 11 other equally Christian points.

In addition, candidates are asked to recognize that “robust childrearing and reproduction is beneficial to U.S. demographic, economic, strategic and actuarial health and security.” Which I guess means they support a healthy, busy and unprotected sex life.

Drew Ivers, Iowa campaign chairman for Ron Paul’s campaign, said the congressman has concerns about the pledge because it calls for a federal marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “He is very strong pro-traditional marriage, but he doesn’t want the government to dictate and define traditional marriage. That should be between a man and a woman and the church if they choose to have a church wedding.”

You have to laugh at the irony of a “strict Constitutionalist” like Bachmann supporting banning pornography which is considered free speech under the First Amendment.

Posted on

Public supports overhaul, not cuts, to entitlement programs

From Politico: According to a new poll by Pew Research Center, most Americans don’t want to cut benefits from Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, but they do believe the programs all need to be overhauled.

60 percent of those surveyed for a Pew Research Center poll said it’s most important that the programs’ benefits be untouched.

In contrast, 32 percent said that taking steps to reduce the budget deficit is more important than maintaining the current level of benefits.

However, small majorities said they think that all three programs need to be changed:

  • 52 percent of Americans said that Social Security needs to be completely rebuilt or undergo major changes
  • 54 percent said the same about Medicare
  • 54 percent said it about Medicaid

And most Americans give the programs mediocre marks for their performance in serving recipients:

  • 56% of those surveyed said that Social Security is doing a fair or poor job, 39% said it is good or excellent
  • 53% of Americans said Medicare is doing a fair or poor job, 41% said it is doing a good or excellent job

The poll was conducted June 15-19 and surveyed 1,502 people. The error margin is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Posted on

“Vegas! The Show” celebrates marriage equality

Reva Rice, star of “Vegas! The Show”
at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas

Las Vegas’ hottest, new stage production, VEGAS! The Show, continues its ongoing support of gay rights by offering FREE show tickets to same-sex married couples through the month of July.

The offer is in response to New York becoming the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage, joining Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia.

LGBT married couples who show proof of their union at the Saxe Theater box office will receive two free tickets to the show.

Theater owner, David Saxe, hopes this gesture will inspire other business owners across the nation to throw their support behind the movement. “The New York state Senate vote was a huge milestone, affording gay and lesbian couples the rights, dignity and respect that come with marriage. No matter how you look at it, this is a ‘human’ rights victory and it deserves to be commemorated.”

“VEGAS! The Show” takes the stage, twice nightly, at the Saxe Theater inside Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Starring Broadway veteran Reva Rice (Fosse, Starlight Express) and a cast of more than 40 singers, dancers, showgirls and a live big band orchestra, this large-scale production takes the audience on a journey through the “glory days” of Las Vegas when The Rat Pack ruled, glamorous showgirls filled the stage and Elvis was the king of Vegas.

For more information about VEGAS! The Show, please log onto www.vegastheshow.com or call 702.318.6490.

If you plan to celebrate your marriage equality this month, get to Las Vegas and “Vegas! The Show.”

Posted on

TX Gov. Rick Perry punts tough decisions down the road

Via ThinkProgress.org: Texas Gov. Rick Perry failed to keep his promise not to “kick the can” down the road when it came to solving the largest budget shortfall in the state’s history. That’s according to a new Associated Press report, which concludes that Perry and the GOP legislature largely balanced the state’s budget through flimsy accounting gimmicks that do nothing to secure Texas’ financial footing.

The self-professed fiscal conservatives resorted to tactics like delaying a $2.3 billion payment to schools by one day to technically push it into the next fiscal year and keep it off the books of this budget.

They also “found” $800 million by ordering the state’s accountants to forecast a faster increase in land values to show more property tax income.

It accomplishes, however, what the Republican majority wanted most: It did not raise taxes, took little from the Rainy Day Fund and shifted any future deficits onto the next Legislature.

The new budget also preposterously assumes there will be no growth in the number of school children in Texas, even though it is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. Experts predict this trick alone will shortchange school districts by $2 billion.

Texas lawmakers had to close an enormous $27 billion budget deficit this year.

Amazingly, only about a third of it was caused by the economic downturn. The state has had a chronic shortage of revenue after years of slashing property and business taxes and creating numerous tax breaks and exemptions. Conservative governors have slashed state services to the bone, so there was no more fat to cut from the budget.

As governor for over a decade, Perry’s “fiscal conservatism” has doubled the state’s debt from $13.7 billion in 2001 to $34.08 billion in 2009. He’s refused to raise taxes on the wealthy and brags about not dipping into the state’s substantial Rainy Day Fund. (However, Perry’s fellow Texas Republicans claim Perry has appropriated nearly all the money in the Rainy Day Fund, and have asked him to stop claiming that he preserved it.)

Democrats have fought back against the GOP claim that it was truly a balanced budget. “It’s all smoke and mirrors and misdirection,” said state Rep. Garnett Coleman (D).

Posted on

Close the Hedge Fund Tax Loophole

Politicians currently negotiating to reduce the national debt and not wreck havoc with the US’s credit rating are looking at several solutions to help bring the budget under control. President Obama and the Democrats are looking at closing some “tax loopholes” that add up to serious tax giveaways to the wealthy.

One of the tax breaks upon which President Obama has focused is a provision that allows hedge fund managers — who make billions annually — to receive a substantial tax break. This particular tax break, known as the carried-interest loophole, allows hedge fund managers to treat the money they receive from investors as capital gains, subject to a 15 percent tax rate, instead of their actual income tax bracket rate.

Though this money is a paycheck received for services, it’s treated as “return on investment” income, which is taxed at a much lower rate.

Since hedge fund managers are some of the richest people in the country, this tax break actually causes a significant loss of revenue. According to calculations by RJ Eskow, closing this loophole would raise more than $4 billion per year just from the 25 richest hedge fund managers:

The top 25 hedge fund managers in the United States collectively earned $22 billion last year, and yet they have their own cushy set of tax rules. If they operated under the same rules that apply to other people — police officers, for example, or teachers — the country could cut its national deficit by as much as $44 billion in the next ten years.

Economist Robert Reich estimates that closing the hedge fund loophole could raise as much as $20 billion a year in revenue, overall.

Posted on

Appellate Court Lifts Stay On DADT Injunction

In an order issued by a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips’s judgment halting the worldwide enforcement of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as a result of her decision in Log Cabin Republicans v. United States has been put back in effect.

After ruling in September that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips put an injunction in place to halt the enforcement of the military’s gay ban.

The injunction lasted for eight days until the Ninth Circuit placed a stay on the order upon request from the Justice Department, making gays once again unable to serve openly in the military.

The decision today reverses this decision and once again allows for open service.

Read more at Washington Blade