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More Victims of a Proposition 8 Blacklist – This Time Texas Style
Flap asked the question: Who will be the next victim(s)?And, we have an answer via M/M.
Proposition 8 attracted tens of millions of dollars on both sides of the gay marriage issue from out-of-state contributors who see California as a trendsetter for the rest of the nation.
According to figures from the California Secretary of State’s Office — which requires campaign donors to list their place of residence, their employer and their occupations — more than 750 Texans donated tens of thousands of dollars on either side of the campaign. One of the biggest Texas donations was $50,000 to a Yes on 8 group that apparently came from the president of a Midland oil company.
About 115 Austinites gave about $180,000 — most in increments of $100 — to fund both sides of the campaign. About 20 of the Austin contributors supported the gay marriage ban; the rest opposed it. Computer giant Apple Inc. is listed as the biggest donor from Austin, with a $100,000 donation in opposition to the measure.
Some gay rights activists say any business that supported Proposition 8 should be boycotted.
“We strongly believe that one of the best ways for the gay community to be heard is by speaking with our wallets,” said Austin resident Warren Clark, whose warrenandderrick.com Web site published the “blacklist” of Yes on 8 donors.
“Blacklisted” by the gay rights Web site are Austin attorneys and tech companies, investment fund managers and doctors, real estate developers and even the Los Angeles Dodgers. Former Dodgers infielder and Austin resident Jeff Kent gave $15,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign.
“It’s a shame,” said Austin real estate developer Michael Knepp when a reporter told him he was on the list for his $10,000 donation to the Yes on 8 campaign.
“Everyone has a responsibility to support the issues they feel strongly about,” Knepp said. “If someone else was offended by that, I apologize, but we just feel very strongly about how (gay marriage) could affect our society – so we made a donation.”
For Austin attorney Roger Hepworth, who gave about $10,000 to the Yes on 8 campaign, the backlash first came in the form of what he called a “hateful” e-mail to him and other employees of his firm, Henslee Schwartz.
“It started with ‘Shame on you Roger Hepworth’ and got worse from there,” he said.
The firm also is on the “anti-gay blacklist” created by Clark.
“I think irresponsible for them to smear an entire law firm that had no knowledge of any donation I made,” Hepworth said. “It’s unfair to target a company for something a person has done.”
No. 1 on the group’s anti-gay “blacklist” — errantly enough — is Dell Computer Inc. That’s because the biggest Austin-area donor to the Yes on 8 campaign was apparently Spencer Wheelright, a Dell marketing employee who gave $25,200 to support the gay marriage ban, according to records from the California Secretary of State’s office.
Dell had nothing to do with the donation and, in fact, the company has an internal rule prohibiting it from taking a position or making a donation regarding any state or local ballot initiatives, said company spokesman Bryant Hilton.
Dell usually gets good marks from gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender groups. It is a supporter of the gay rights group Human Rights Campaign as well as other national and local gay organizations.
“This was an employee who made a personal donation and employers are listed because of California’s reporting laws,” Hilton said. “But this doesn’t reflect the company’s position at all.”
Wheelright did not return a reporter’s e-mail seeking comment. He couldn’t be reached otherwise.
Exit Question:
As the gay marriage boycott continues will homosexual activists whose Human Rights Campaign receives hundred of thousands of dollars in corporate contributions to buy their goodwill (and who, by the way, contributed to the No on Proposition 8 campaign) insist that corporations and companies terminate (FIRE) those managers/officers/employees? Or face their continued WRATH?
Is the gay, the new Thought Police of NEWSPEAK?
Technorati Tags: California Proposition 8, Gay Marriage
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Day By Day by Chris Muir November 29, 2008 – Bare Naked Media
Day By Day by Chris MuirBarack Obama – Tom Jones HE is not – despite being “The ONE.”Now, the thought of Chris Matthews being anywhere near the government is just freightening. But, then again, there is Al Franken.
Will Michael Moore be far away?
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Technorati Tags: Day By Day, Barack Obama, Chris Matthews
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links for 2008-11-29
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There are legitimate questions to be raised about the advertising campaign, but two points are central here: First, the lack of early fund-raising success had a detrimental effect on the ability to set the tone for the campaign and combat the opposition’s early ads. Second, ads that focus on what is deemed important to one group tend to have adverse or unintended effects on other groups. The ads were targeted — based on extensive research — to persuadable “undecideds,†and this ultimately was where the election would be won or lost.
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"They almost certainly have not violated their tax exemption," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the leading advocacy organization on the issue. "While the tax code has a zero tolerance for endorsements of candidates, the tax code gives wide latitude for churches to engage in discussions of policy matters and moral questions, including when posed as initiatives."
Generally speaking, churches, schools, and nonprofits that are 501c(3) organizations are prohibited from spending more than 20 percent of their budgets on political activities, Lynn said, noting that his organization is held to the same standard.
The 20 percent threshold means that the Catholic or Mormon churches, whose organizations span the globe, would have had to spend hundreds of millions of dollars – if not billions – to violate their tax-exempt status.
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No violation here. -
California legislators are allowed to own businesses or hold other outside jobs, and 30 report doing so.
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With term limits they need to hold onto gainful employment. Sheesh…. -
A new poll released Wednesday finds not enough Pennsylvania voters know who Chris Matthews is, and that he would be at a distinct disadvantage in a race against incumbent U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.
Matthews, best known as host of the MSNBC political commentary show "Hardball" has not officially announced he is seeking the Democratic nomination to run against five-term Republican Specter. But he might find such a matchup tough going, according to the results of a Quinnipiac University poll.
Specter leads Matthews among likely Republican voters by a margin of 72 percent to 9 percent. Overall, Specter leads 45 percent to 33 percent; among independent voters, Specter leads 45 percent to 27 percent.
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But, Specter will be 80 and has had cancer twice. Will he hang on? -
Russia will complete Iran's first nuclear power plant in 2009, Itar-Tass news agency quoted the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation as saying on Thursday.
The launch of the Bushehr plant's nuclear reactor has frequently been delayed. Russian and Iranian officials have given different dates for the start-up. Iran's foreign minister said last year the plant would launch in mid-2008.
Russia has already delivered nuclear fuel under a $1 billion contract to build the Bushehr plant on the Gulf coast in southwest Iran. Russia has blamed previous delays on problems with receiving payment from Iran.
++++++++and, wanna bet some of the fuel is then diverted to Natanz and the enrichment centrifuges? -
Daily List of Conservative Twitterati
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A couple days back I asked people following me at Twitter, where I maintain two accounts under hughhewitt and hhradio, who they were and why they wanted to receive my "tweets." The responses underscore the incredible variety of people and motives that have fueled Twitter's explosive growth.
Many are simply looking for show updates –which guests are coming on, which allows for appointment listening or easy selection among podcasts.
Many others want a different sort of communication, though, one that moves outside of the content of the radio program into ideas and experiences that don't make it onto air. Others are using the feeds to advance the online activism they find crucial to the future. Blogger DenverInTranslation.com bemoans that the GOP "is simply not connected."
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Better late than never Hugh.
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