Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Stock market surges to best day of 2012

Stocks jumped Wednesday, chalking up their strongest day of 2012, as signs of moves in Europe to rescue Spain’s troubled banks sparked a rebound from recent selling.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed with a gain of 287 points. The broader S&P 500 and the technology-focused Nasdaq composite index also rallied strongly.

A gloomy jobs report and signs of a global economic slowdown hammered Wall Street Friday, wiping out the stock market’s gains for 2012. However, Wednesday’s advance lifted stocks back into positive territory for 2012.

Signs of urgent moves in Europe also boosted stocks.

European sources said German and European Union officials sought solutions for Spain’s weakened banks, the latest worry in the fiscally troubled euro zone, although Madrid has not yet requested assistance and is resisting political conditions.

Adding to the slightly more upbeat news on the economy, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book summary that U.S. economic growth picked up over the two prior months and hiring showed signs of a modest increase.

Read more at MSNBC.com

Posted on

State of California to investigate anti-gay National Organization for Marriage

As a result of complaints by GOP presidential candidate Fred Karger, the California Fair Political Practices Commission will investigate NOM for campaign finance violations.

Press release from Fred Karger:

In his sworn complaint of May 17th, Karger alleged that NOM did not report over $340,000 that it raised to pass Proposition 8 four years ago.

California joins the state of Maine which is in its third year of its investigation of NOM, the leading anti-gay marriage organization in the country.

One of the 11 missing contributions was $10,000 from presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s Alabama PAC. In addition to the Romney money there were 10 more contributions NOM did not report, including: $150,000 from Michael Casey of Jamestown, RI, $100,000 from Sean Fiedler of New York, NY and $25,000 from NOM Board member Craig Cardon of Mesa, AZ, a General Authority in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church).

Via JoeMyGod

Posted on

Anti-gay Washington state activists submit signatures to repeal marriage equality

Today, anti-gay activists in Washington state submitted enough signatures to place the freedom to marry on the November 2012 ballot.

In February, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed a freedom to marry bill into law after it was approved with bipartisan support in the Washington state legislature. The law was scheduled to take effect later this week. 

Now, the law will appear on the November ballot in the form of Referendum 74, which asks Washington residents to decide whether or not to uphold the freedom to marry in the state.  

 

The marriage opponents’ drop of 200,000 signatures did not come as a huge surprise in Washington – it was always expected that these activists would obtain the number of signatures required to put marriage to a vote in November.

Last week, a poll out of Washington demonstrated majority support for marriage in the state, with 55 percent saying they believe all loving couples should be allowed to marry. We need to continue growing that majority in preparation for the November election.

(Via Freedom To Marry)

Posted on

New poll: 54% support legalizing gay marriage

A majority of Americans say they support legal recognition of same-sex marriage amid growing evidence that the public’s become more comfortable with gays and lesbians, according to a new CNN/ORC International survey released Wednesday.

According to the survey, 54 percent of respondents now say that marriages between gay and lesbian couples should be leagl, with only 42 percent opposed.

The results also indicated that the number of Americans who say they have a close friend or family member who is gay jumped from 49 percent in 2010 to 60 percent today, the first time in CNN polling that a majority of Americans have said that.

More at LGBTQ Nation

Posted on

Wisconsin recall wrap-up

So the long and short of it is: after out spending challenger Tom Barrett on a scale of 8 to 1, Gov. Scott Walker remains the governor in Wisconsin.  With 99% of the vote in, Walker beat Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) by seven percentage points, 53%-46%, which was almost identical to the margin in their 2010 contest.

What apparently helped Walker – besides 75% of his campaign money coming from out of state – was 60% in exit polls said that recalls are legitimate only for official misconduct, which they didn’t feel was the case here.

However, a couple of bright spots for Democrats from the evening:

1. The Obama White House and Chicago campaign headquarters can take comfort that the exit poll shows Obama beating Romney by seven points, 51%-44%, and it even shows him slightly ahead of Romney on improving the economy, 42%-38%.

2. Wisconsin Democrats appeared to have assumed control of the state Senate with results posted early Wednesday showing former Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) defeating incumbent Van Wanggaard in a tight race.

Posted on

Two “JC Penney” gay dads on local Texas news

The two gay dads – I hate that I feel I need to clarify that, but it seems necessary for those not following this story – Cooper Smith and Todd Koch, who currently are featured in a JC Penney ad for Father’s Day, appeared on local Texas news to discuss the attention they’ve received plus the attacks by the anti-gay One Million Moms.

Posted on

Support for marriage equality grows in Minnesota

Public Policy Polling reveals quite a shift in the past four months with regards to Minnesota voters’ stance on same-sex marriage.

Here are three of the proposed questions asked of 973 Minnesota voters from May 31 to June 3. The surveys have a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.

Q1 Should the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?

Yes: 43%

No: 49%

Not sure: 7%

Q2 Do you think same-sex marriage should be legal or illegal?

Legal: 47%

Illegal: 42%

Not sure: 11%

Q3 Which of the following best describes your opinion on gay marriage: gay couples should be allowed to legally marry, or gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not legally marry, or there should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship?

Gay couples should be allowed to legally marry: 43%

Gay couples should be allowed to form civil unions but not marry: 32%

There should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship: 21%

Not sure: 4%

Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling says, “The pro-equality side is now winning on gay marriage ballot initiatives in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, and Washington. The landscape has changed significantly since Barack Obama announced his support for gay marriage.”
(source)

Posted on

Ninth Circuit refuses to hear Prop 8 appeal

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that it won’t rehear a case in which Proposition 8 had been ruled unconstitutional, setting up a possible fight before the U.S. Supreme Court.

After a three-judge panel in February agreed with Judge Vaughn Walker’s 2010 decision in Perry v. Brown that Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause and the due process clause, proponents of the law sought an “en banc review.” Such a review would have required judicial evaluation by the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and could have included 11 appellate judges, but a majority of justices voted to deny the rehearing.

Now Prop. 8 backers have 90 days to decide whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, setting the stage for a national case on marriage equality. If they don’t decide to appeal, then same-sex couples would again begin marrying.

The nation’s most populous state narrowly passed Prop. 8 in 2008 and banned same-sex marriage, which had already been legal but then became outlawed. A federal challenge to the ban, led by American Foundation for Equal Rights and attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies, has been very successful, with wins in federal district court and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Read more at The Advocate