• Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California,  Politics

    Gay (Same Sex) Marriage and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: VETO Updated

    UPDATE 17:52 PDT

    The ASSociated Press is reporting that a spokesman for Governor Schwazenegger has said the Governor will VETO this bill seeking to legalize gay (same sex) marriage in California.

    The Announcement: Schwarzenegger Vows Gay Marriage Bill Veto.

    Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday that he will veto a bill that would allow gay marriages in California.

    Schwarzenegger said the legislation, given final approval Tuesday by lawmakers, would conflict with the intent of voters when they approved a ballot initiative five years ago. Proposition 22 prevents California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries.

    “We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote,” the governor’s press secretary, Margita Thompson, said in a statement. “Out of respect for the will of the people, the governor will veto (the bill).”

    Members of the Gay and Lesbian community, Mark Guzman, right, and his partner Scott Coatsworth, center, along Mary McKay, of Equality California sit in the Assembly gallery as lawmakers debate Assemblyman Mark Leno’s, D-San Francisco, same-sex marriage measure at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005. By a 41-35 vote the Assembly approved the bill making California Legislature the first legislative body in the country to allow same-sex marriages. The measure was approved last weekby the state Senate and needs Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggers signature to become law.

    The Sacramento Bee has Legislature sends Schwarzenegger historic same-sex marriage bill.

    In a reversal from just three months ago, the state Assembly on Tuesday sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in California.

    Onlookers in the Assembly chambers unleashed a rousing cheer about 7:30 p.m. as Assembly Bill 849 passed by the narrowest of margins in the 79-member house, 41-35. With the Senate’s approval last week, the emotional issue now shifts to Schwarzenegger’s office.

    The Republican governor has said he prefers the courts to decide the issue of gay marriage. His press office offered no immediate comment Tuesday on the bill’s passage.

    The measure passed largely along party lines, with all Republicans opposed and all but four Democrats in favor.


    As Flap had previously the Govinator will VETO this bill.


    His VETO message has already been articulated.

    He has said the issue should be decided by voters or the courts.

    Ben’s Law has a good run down on the legalese and the exact language and political machinations of the bill here.

    Ken Masugi over at the Claremeont Institute has Same-Sex Marriage in California?

    Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno’s bill, making marriage a contract between two persons, has now passed the Assembly and goes to the Governor for his signature (LAT). Of course, this isn’t about marriage at all, as Professor Brad Watson has shown. It is about affirming the destruction of the concept of our sexual mores.

    Besides misconstruing marriage, the bill presents a distortion of civil rights; see below.

    This should be a no-brainer veto for the Governor, but his behavior over the past few months seems to beg for self-destruction.

    The measure, by Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) would change California law defining marriage from “a civil contract between a man and a woman” to a “civil contract between two persons.” Leno characterized gay marriage as the most important civil rights issue of the 21st century, and enlisted Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America,and Alice Huffman, California president of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, to help him lobby undecided lawmakers.

    Ken has it right.

    Schwarzenegger has until Oct. 9 to act on the bill.

    Flap knows that Schwarzenegger remembers the 2004 Presidential election and how Gay Marriage measures propelled evangelical and catholic church-goers to the polls in swing states. Arnold receives no benefit in signing this bill – which would be thrown-out later by the California Supreme Court, in any case.

    California voters have already spoken when they approved Proposition 22 in March 2000.

    Oh! And as a reminder to the Governor:

    Proposition 22 was ratified by an overwhelming majority of California voters, prevailing by a 23-point margin. Statewide, 4,618,673 votes were cast in favor of the proposition, comprising 61.4% of the total vote. Opponents garnered 2,909,370 votes, for 38.6% of the vote.

    Final vote counts revealed that Proposition 22 won in 52 of California’s 58 counties, including all of the major metropolitan areas except for San Francisco. The six counties which did not approve Prop. 22 were all in the immediate San Francisco Bay area, including: Alameda county, Marin county, San Francisco county, Santa Cruz county, Sonoma county, and Yolo county.

    Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Chico, holds up a Proposition 22 sign to show his opposition to a same-sex marraige bill before the Assembly at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005. By a 41-35 vote the Assembly approval the bill, by Assemblyman mark Leno, D-San Francisco, making the California Legislature the first legislative body in the country to allow same-sex marriages. The measure was approved last week by the state Senate and needs Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggers signature to become law. Voter approved Proposition 22, which was passed in 2000, prohibits California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries.

    XRLQ has his take here.

    Captain Ed has California Legislature Confirms Its Lack Of Connection To Voters

    La Shawn Barber has California Homosexual ‘Marriage’ Bill Passed.

    Boi From Troy has delusions if he REALLY thinks Schwarzenegger will sign this bill.

    California Log Cabin Republicans have California Legislature approves Marriage Equality.

    Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s statements on the matter have been mixed. He’s said he supports gay marriage–but only if it is between a man and a woman. He said he thought this was an issue the Legislature or the voters, not the court, should decide.

    Now that decision is in the hands of the Governor–a man who has never vetoed a gay rights bill–and he has a chance to do what Howard Dean shied away from as Governor of Vermont and grant equal rights in name and in actuality. But will he?

    If he wants to be re-elected California Governor he will VETO.

    If he wants to make movies and endorse body-building magazines he will sign it or let it become law.

    The Vote in the California Assembly:

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  • Liberal Morons,  Morons,  Politics

    Cindy Sheehan Watch: Still Unfavorable in the Polls

    Rasmussen Reports has Cindy Sheehan: 31% Favorable 39% Unfavorable

    September 6, 2005–Americans today have a slightly less favorable opinion of Cindy Sheehan than they did a few weeks ago. Today, the grieving mother who maintained an anti-War protest outside of President Bush’s ranch, is viewed favorably by 31% of Americans. That’s down from 35% in mid-August.

    Thirty-nine percent (39%) now have an unfavorable view, little changed from 38% in the earlier survey.

    Sheehan’s numbers are a bit more positive than Michael Moore’s ratings (23% favorable) and roughly comparable to Senator Ted Kennedy (32% favorable). However, as an elected official with very high name recognition, more people have an unfavorable opinion of Kennedy than Sheehan.

    Survey of 1,000 Adults

    August 31- Sept 1, 2005

    Cindy Sheehan

    Favorable 31%
    Unfavorable 39%

    RasmussenReports.com


    Following Sheehan Story

    Very Closely 22%
    Somewhat Closely 32%
    Not Very Closely 28%
    Not At All 16%

    RasmussenReports.com

    Indeed.

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  • Hurricane Katrina,  Politics

    Hillary Clinton Watch: Not Another Independent Commission

    US Senator Hillary Clinton, seen here in June 2005, fueled the political debate over Hurricane Katrina, insisting on an independent inquiry into the federal response and sharply rejecting President George W. Bush’s bid to lead the probe himself.

    Michelle Malkin has NOT ANOTHER DAMNED COMMISSION.

    Dead bodies are still floating all over New Orleans. Hundreds, if not thousands, of children are still searching for their parents. Wiped-out communities are still awaiting water and power.

    So, what is armchair first responder Sen. Hillary Clinton’s first response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster?

    A commission.

    “It has become increasingly evident that our nation was not prepared,” Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) lectured in a Labor Day letter to President Bush. Yes, thank you, Sen. Sherlock. Those gleaming degrees from Wellesley and Yale Law are really paying off.

    Sen. Clinton’s “Katrina Commission” would be modeled after the “independent” 9/11 Commission. I can see it now: Democrat Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, whose main imperative is covering up her own culpability, will be the next Jamie Gorelick; Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, the local corrupt-o-crat who got his 15 minutes of fame on “Meet the Press” last week, will be the next Richard Ben-Veniste.

    And this time for “diversity,” maybe they’ll call on Randall “Black people are eating corpses…oh, never mind” Robinson and rapper Kanye “It’s all about me” West to share their deep expertise.

    Despite the abject failures of local and state officials to prepare for the worst, abide by their own evacuation plans, maintain an effective police force, and crack down on looters, Sen. Clinton’s commission would only examine the “adequacy of federal response efforts.”

    Translation: Bash Bush.

    Look, there’s no question the feds fell down on the job. The president himself said he was “not satisfied” with the response. If the White House’s purportedly brilliant strategists had any sense, they would advise Bush to fire Federal Emergency Management Agency head Michael Brown in a heartbeat. Brown is the most cretinous of political cronies, a college roommate of a former FEMA official who had no prior experience in disaster management before he was hired in 2001unless you count managing his own checkered job history.

    All that aside, a Katrina Commission modeled after the 9/11 Commission is a recipe for more disaster and dissembling.

    Agreed.

    Hillary is late on the Katrina Bash bandwagon and such indecision in smelling political opportunity never stalled husband Bill.

    But, I suppose she HAD to say something.

    NOTE WELL:

    Her future Presidential opponent, Rudy Giuliani, does not agree.

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  • Liberal Morons,  Media,  Media Bias,  Morons,  Politics

    Air America Scandal: Thomas Montvel Cohen, “Al Franken calling me a crook is a little like the pot calling the kettle black.”

    Michelle Malkin has INSIDE AIR AMERICA: AL FRANKEN’S LYING LIES.

    Read it all here.

    In other words, Franken claimed on the air he knew nothing of the Gloria Wise “or something” fiasco nine months after he signed a legal agreement that specifically outlined the loans to Gloria Wise and required Air America to pay them back.

    Cohen told us: “Al Franken calling me a crook is a little like the pot calling the kettle black.

    Part Two of this Investigative Series is over at The Radio Equalizer, THE LIARS CLUB

    The settlement agreement:

    Previous Air America Scandel Posts from MM:

    Inside Air America: The Sheldon Drobny Files
    Wednesday scandal updates
    New York Post: The Money Pit
    Inside Air America: The Lizz Winstead case
    Fraudulent Conveyance 101
    Multicultural Radio says Air America owes it $1.5 million
    Inside Air America: An investigative blog report (Part II)
    Air Enron: Morning update
    Inside Air America: An investigative blog report (Part I)
    Air Enron: Al Franken needs help
    Air Enron updates
    Air Enron: The dam bursts
    Air Enron: NYTimes corrects
    Air Enron: MSM errs and lags
    Air Enron: The NYTimes speaks! (or rather, whispers)
    Air Enron: Heads roll, victims shafted
    Air Enron: No letting up
    Air Enron: Franken speaks again
    Air Enron: Elite media blackout contd.
    Air Enron: quotes of the day
    Air Enron: Spitzer steps in
    Air Enron: questions, questions
    Air Enron: the blame game
    Air Enron: thumb-twiddling MSM
    Silence of the race hustlers
    Air Enron: Al Franken speaks
    Air Deadbeat: the saga continues
    The Air America loophole
    Air America is scrambling
    Air America: Don’t blame us
    Air America: Stealing from poor kids?!

    What others are saying:

    Captain Ed has Air America: Al Franken, Lying Liar

    Scott Johnson at Powerline has Today in Air Ameriscam

    PostWatch has No Air America…

    Well, what say you Al Franken?

    Can you laugh this one off when you get your sorry ass hauled before a Federal Grand Jury?

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  • Hurricane Katrina,  Politics

    Hurricane Katrina Political Aftermath Watch: Poll Bush Not to Blame

    Matt Drudge has CNNUSATODAYGALLUP POLL: ONLY 13% BLAME BUSH?

    Wed Sep 07 2005 10:42:26 ET

    A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 609 adults taken September 5-6 shows:

    Blame Game — 13% said George W. Bush is “most responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane”; 18% said “federal agencies”; 25% said “state and local officials”; 38% said “no one is to blame”; 6% had no opinion. — 29% said that “top officials in the federal agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be fired”; 63% said they should not; 8% had no opinion.

    MORE

    Government Performance — 10% said George W. Bush has done a “great” job in “responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding”; 25% said “good”; 21% said “neither good nor bad”; 18% said “bad”; 24% said “terrible”; 2% had no opinion. — 8% said federal government agencies responsible for handling emergencies have done a “great” job in “responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding”; 27% said “good”; 20% said “neither good nor bad”; 20% said “bad”; 22% said “terrible”; 3% had no opinion. — 7% said state and local officials in Louisiana have done a “great” job in “responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding”; 30% said “good”; 23% said “neither good nor bad”; 20% said “bad”; 15% said “terrible”; 5% had no opinion.

    But, this is not the spin the AFP which has Americans disapprove of Bush’s handling of hurricane crisis: poll.

    Forty-two percent of Americans said US President George W. Bush has handled Hurricane Katrina badly while 35 percent thought he has performed well, according to a Gallup poll just published.


    Ok, let’s look directly at the Gallup Poll:

    No Apparent Outrage With Government’s Response to Hurricane

    Despite widespread criticism of the response by Bush and, separately, the federal government, to the problems caused by the hurricane, the public seems on balance only mildly critical. Forty-two percent say Bush did a “bad” (18%) or “terrible” (24%) job, but 35% rate his response as either “great” (10%) or “good” (25%).

    Do you think — [RANDOM ORDER] — has/have done a — great, good, neither good nor bad, bad, or terrible job — in responding to the hurricane and subsequent flooding?

    Great

    Good

    Neither
    good
    nor
    bad

    Bad

    Ter-
    rible

    No
    opinion

    %

    %

    %

    %

    %

    %

    George W. Bush

    10

    25

    21

    18

    24

    2

    Federal government agencies responsible for handling emergencies

    8

    27

    20

    20

    22

    3

    State and local officials in Louisiana

    7

    30

    23

    20

    15

    5

    Federal agencies received a similar rating, with 42% of Americans giving a low rating and 35% a high one. The public was about evenly divided on state and local officials in Louisiana — 37% giving a high rating and 35% a low one.

    The ratings for Bush are highly related to party affiliation.

    • By a margin of 69% to 10%, Republicans give Bush a positive rather than negative rating for his response.
    • Democrats give almost a mirror opposite — 66% negative to 10% positive.
    • Independents side with the Democrats, giving a more modest margin — 47% negative to 29% positive.

    When asked to identify who was most responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane, 38% of Americans said no one was really to blame, while 13% cited Bush, 18% the federal agencies, and 25% state and local officials.

    Who do you think is MOST responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane — [ROTATED: George W. Bush, federal agencies, (or) state and local officials], or is no one really to blame?

    George W.
    Bush

    Federal
    agencies

    State/
    local
    officials

    No one
    to blame

    No
    opinion

    2005 Sep 5-6

    13%

    18

    25

    38

    6

    Few Americans feel that any top official in the agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be dismissed from office — just 29% say someone should be fired, while 63% disagree.

    Do you think that any of the top officials in the federal agencies responsible for handling emergencies should be fired, or don’t you think so?

    Yes, should
    be fired

    No, don’t
    think so

    No
    opinion

    2005 Sep 5-6

    29%

    63

    8

    Police are trying to get the remaining residents in New Orleans to evacuate, because of health and safety problems. Americans agree with this effort by better than a 2-to-1 margin, 66% to 30%.

    Which comes closer to your view — [ROTATED: all residents of New Orleans should evacuate the city (or) the residents of New Orleans who are still in the city should be allowed to stay]?

    All residents
    should evacuate
    city

    Residents still in
    the city should
    be allowed
    to stay

    No
    opinion

    2005 Sep 5-6

    66%

    30

    4

    The public tends to be upbeat about the efforts being made to deal with the disaster. Sixty-two percent feel the progress being made in the region is satisfactory, while 35% say it is not.

    Based on what you have seen or read in the past day or two, do you think the progress made in dealing with the situation is satisfactory, or not?

    Yes, is

    No, is not

    No opinion

    2005 Sep 5-6

    62%

    35

    3

    As for the effect of the hurricane on gas prices, Americans express a cynical view — by 79% to 18%, they believe that gas companies are taking advantage of the situation to charge unfair prices.

    Which comes closer to your view — [ROTATED: the gas companies are charging a fair price given the conditions caused by the hurricane, (or) the gas companies are taking advantage of the situation and charging unfair prices]?

    Charging fair
    price given
    conditions

    Taking
    advantage,
    charging
    unfair prices

    No
    opinion

    2005 Sep 5-6

    18%

    79

    3

    Survey Methods

    Results are based on telephone interviews with 609 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Sept. 5-6, 2005. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.

    For results based on the sample of 268 adults who say the city of New Orleans will completely recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±6 percentage points.

    In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

    The MSM wants to blame Bush.

    Hillary wants to join the bandwagon BASH, but Rudy Giuliani thinks differently.

    The American people know the difference.

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California,  Politics

    Gay (Same Sex) Marriage and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: VETO

    Members of the Gay and Lesbian community, Mark Guzman, right, and his partner Scott Coatsworth, center, along Mary McKay, of Equality California sit in the Assembly gallery as lawmakers debate Assemblyman Mark Leno’s, D-San Francisco, same-sex marriage measure at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005. By a 41-35 vote the Assembly approved the bill making California Legislature the first legislative body in the country to allow same-sex marriages. The measure was approved last weekby the state Senate and needs Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggers signature to become law.

    The Sacramento Bee has Legislature sends Schwarzenegger historic same-sex marriage bill.

    In a reversal from just three months ago, the state Assembly on Tuesday sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in California.

    Onlookers in the Assembly chambers unleashed a rousing cheer about 7:30 p.m. as Assembly Bill 849 passed by the narrowest of margins in the 79-member house, 41-35. With the Senate’s approval last week, the emotional issue now shifts to Schwarzenegger’s office.

    The Republican governor has said he prefers the courts to decide the issue of gay marriage. His press office offered no immediate comment Tuesday on the bill’s passage.

    The measure passed largely along party lines, with all Republicans opposed and all but four Democrats in favor.


    As Flap had previously the Govinator will VETO this bill.


    His VETO message has already been articulated.

    He has said the issue should be decided by voters or the courts.

    Ben’s Law has a good run down on the legalese and the exact language and political machinations of the bill here.

    Ken Masugi over at the Claremeont Institute has Same-Sex Marriage in California?

    Democratic Assemblyman Mark Leno’s bill, making marriage a contract between two persons, has now passed the Assembly and goes to the Governor for his signature (LAT). Of course, this isn’t about marriage at all, as Professor Brad Watson has shown. It is about affirming the destruction of the concept of our sexual mores.

    Besides misconstruing marriage, the bill presents a distortion of civil rights; see below.

    This should be a no-brainer veto for the Governor, but his behavior over the past few months seems to beg for self-destruction.

    The measure, by Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) would change California law defining marriage from “a civil contract between a man and a woman” to a “civil contract between two persons.” Leno characterized gay marriage as the most important civil rights issue of the 21st century, and enlisted Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America,and Alice Huffman, California president of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, to help him lobby undecided lawmakers.

    Ken has it right.

    Schwarzenegger has until Oct. 9 to act on the bill.

    Flap knows that Schwarzenegger remembers the 2004 Presidential election and how Gay Marriage measures propelled evangelical and catholic church-goers to the polls in swing states. Arnold receives no benefit in signing this bill – which would be thrown-out later by the California Supreme Court, in any case.

    California voters have already spoken when they approved Proposition 22 in March 2000.

    Oh! And as a reminder to the Governor:

    Proposition 22 was ratified by an overwhelming majority of California voters, prevailing by a 23-point margin. Statewide, 4,618,673 votes were cast in favor of the proposition, comprising 61.4% of the total vote. Opponents garnered 2,909,370 votes, for 38.6% of the vote.

    Final vote counts revealed that Proposition 22 won in 52 of California’s 58 counties, including all of the major metropolitan areas except for San Francisco. The six counties which did not approve Prop. 22 were all in the immediate San Francisco Bay area, including: Alameda county, Marin county, San Francisco county, Santa Cruz county, Sonoma county, and Yolo county.

    Assemblyman Doug La Malfa, R-Chico, holds up a Proposition 22 sign to show his opposition to a same-sex marraige bill before the Assembly at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005. By a 41-35 vote the Assembly approval the bill, by Assemblyman mark Leno, D-San Francisco, making the California Legislature the first legislative body in the country to allow same-sex marriages. The measure was approved last week by the state Senate and needs Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggers signature to become law. Voter approved Proposition 22, which was passed in 2000, prohibits California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries.

    XRLQ has his take here.

    Captain Ed has California Legislature Confirms Its Lack Of Connection To Voters

    La Shawn Barber has California Homosexual ‘Marriage’ Bill Passed.

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