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Ex-gay Greg Quinlan (President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays) with his ex-wife Cheryl. Apparently, keeping the freedom to marry away from queers is great because homosexuality is a sin. Divorce is an okay sin to make? I don’t know. I’ve compiled some of the worst arguments against marriage equality in NJ in the past few days. Fun times. Don’t dictate my life, and I won’t dictate your’s.
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Ex-gay Greg Quinlan (President of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays) with his ex-wife Cheryl. Apparently, keeping the freedom to marry away from queers is great because homosexuality is a sin. Divorce is an okay sin to make?

I don’t know. I’ve compiled some of the worst arguments against marriage equality in NJ in the past few days. Fun times.


Don’t dictate my life, and I won’t dictate your’s.

Fox News And The GOP Are Wrong: Red States Use The Most Food Stamps

However, making food available to our citizens shouldn’t really be a thing of shame. For example, Mississippi has suffered from disasters like the Gulf Oil Spill that have further hurt their economy and about 1 million disaster victims (e.g., Alabama tornado victims) from several states were added to the rolls in 2011.

…

President Obama explained to Diane Sawyer during an ABC World News interview last night that he doesn’t put people on food stamps or make them eligible for them, “First of all, I don’t put people on food stamps. People become eligible for food stamps. Second of all, the initial expansion of food-stamp eligibility happened under my Republican predecessor, not under me. Number three, when you have a disastrous economic crash that results in 8 million people losing their jobs, more people are going to need more support from government.”

The fact of the matter is,” he said, “I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South.

-Governor Chris Christie of NJ who wants to put marriage equality on the ballot instead of passing it through the legislature (via lesbianoutlaw)

Stupid black people fighting for their rights - why didn’t they just ask the white people to vote for black civil rights?

Oh…I know why. Because if there had been a popular referendum, there would still be segregation.

(Source: lesbianlegbreaker)

occupyallstreets: Welfare Drug Testing Bill (Temporarily) Withdrawn After Amended To Include Testing Lawmakers A Republican member of the Indiana General Assembly withdrew his bill to create a pilot program for drug testing welfare applicants Friday after one of his Democratic colleagues amended the measure to require drug testing for lawmakers. “There was an amendment offered today that required drug testing for legislators as well and it passed, which led me to have to then withdraw the bill,” said Rep. Jud McMillin (R-Brookville), sponsor of the original welfare drug testing bill. In the past year Republican lawmakers have pursued welfare drug testing in more than 30 states and in Congress, and some bills have even targeted people who claim unemployment insurance and food stamps, despite scanty evidence the poor and jobless are disproportionately on drugs. Democrats in several states have countered with bills to require drug testing elected officials. Indiana state Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend) introduced just such an amendment on Friday. “After it passed, Rep. McMillin got pretty upset and pulled his bill,” Dvorak said. “If anything, I think it points out some of the hypocrisy. … If we’re going to impose standards on drug testing, then it should apply to everybody who receives government money.” Source
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occupyallstreets:

Welfare Drug Testing Bill (Temporarily) Withdrawn After Amended To Include Testing Lawmakers

A Republican member of the Indiana General Assembly withdrew his bill to create a pilot program for drug testing welfare applicants Friday after one of his Democratic colleagues amended the measure to require drug testing for lawmakers.

“There was an amendment offered today that required drug testing for legislators as well and it passed, which led me to have to then withdraw the bill,” said Rep. Jud McMillin (R-Brookville), sponsor of the original welfare drug testing bill.

In the past year Republican lawmakers have pursued welfare drug testing in more than 30 states and in Congress, and some bills have even targeted people who claim unemployment insurance and food stamps, despite scanty evidence the poor and jobless are disproportionately on drugs. Democrats in several states have countered with bills to require drug testing elected officials. Indiana state Rep. Ryan Dvorak (D-South Bend) introduced just such an amendment on Friday.

“After it passed, Rep. McMillin got pretty upset and pulled his bill,” Dvorak said. “If anything, I think it points out some of the hypocrisy. … If we’re going to impose standards on drug testing, then it should apply to everybody who receives government money.”

Source

vicemag: The Author of SOPA Is a Copyright Violator US Congressman and poor-toupee-color-chooser Lamar Smith is the guy who authored the Stop Online Piracy Act. SOPA, as I’m sure you know, is the shady bill that will introduce way harsher penalties for companies and individuals caught violating copyright laws online (including making the unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime which you could actually go to jail for). If the bill passes, it will destroy the internet and, ultimately, turn the world into Mad Max (for more info, go here). I decided to check that everything on Lamar’s official campaign website was copyright-cleared and on the level. Lamar is using several stock images on his site, two of which I tracked back to the same photographic agency. I contacted the agency to make sure he was paying to use them, but was told that it’s very difficult for them to actually check to see if someone has permission to use their images. (Great news, copyright violators!) However, seeing as they’re both from the same agency and are unwatermarked, it seems fairly likely that he is the only person on the entire internet who is actually paying to use a stock image (and he’d be an idiot not to). So I took a look back at an archived, pre-SOPA version of his site. Above is a screenshot of his site as it appeared on the 24th of July, 2011. And this is the background image Lamar was using. I managed to track that picture back to DJ Schulte, the photographer who took it. And whaddya know? Looks like someone forgot to credit him. I contacted DJ, to find out if Lamar had asked permission to use the image and he told me that he had no record of Lamar, or anyone from his organization, requesting permission to use it: “I switched my images from traditional copyright protection to be protected under the Creative Commons license a few years ago, which simply states that they can use my images as long as they attribute the image to me and do not use it for commercial purposes. “I do not see anywhere on the screen capture that you have provided that the image was attributed to the source (me). So my conclusion would be that Lamar Smith’s organization did improperly use my image. So according to the SOPA bill, should it pass, maybe I could petition the court to take action against www.texansforlamarsmith.com.” Oh dear. Luckily for DJ, there are people out there like Lamar making new laws to protect the little guy against online copyright theft. Keep fighting that good fight, Lamar! We’ve contacted the office of Lamar Smith and are waiting on a response. Follow Jamie on Twitter: @JLCT
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vicemag:

The Author of SOPA Is a Copyright Violator

US Congressman and poor-toupee-color-chooser Lamar Smith is the guy who authored the Stop Online Piracy Act. SOPA, as I’m sure you know, is the shady bill that will introduce way harsher penalties for companies and individuals caught violating copyright laws online (including making the unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime which you could actually go to jail for). If the bill passes, it will destroy the internet and, ultimately, turn the world into Mad Max (for more info, go here).

I decided to check that everything on Lamar’s official campaign website was copyright-cleared and on the level. Lamar is using several stock images on his site, two of which I tracked back to the same photographic agency. I contacted the agency to make sure he was paying to use them, but was told that it’s very difficult for them to actually check to see if someone has permission to use their images. (Great news, copyright violators!) However, seeing as they’re both from the same agency and are unwatermarked, it seems fairly likely that he is the only person on the entire internet who is actually paying to use a stock image (and he’d be an idiot not to).

So I took a look back at an archived, pre-SOPA version of his site.

Above is a screenshot of his site as it appeared on the 24th of July, 2011.


And this is the background image Lamar was using. I managed to track that picture back to DJ Schulte, the photographer who took it.

And whaddya know? Looks like someone forgot to credit him.

I contacted DJ, to find out if Lamar had asked permission to use the image and he told me that he had no record of Lamar, or anyone from his organization, requesting permission to use it: “I switched my images from traditional copyright protection to be protected under the Creative Commons license a few years ago, which simply states that they can use my images as long as they attribute the image to me and do not use it for commercial purposes.

“I do not see anywhere on the screen capture that you have provided that the image was attributed to the source (me). So my conclusion would be that Lamar Smith’s organization did improperly use my image. So according to the SOPA bill, should it pass, maybe I could petition the court to take action against www.texansforlamarsmith.com.”

Oh dear. Luckily for DJ, there are people out there like Lamar making new laws to protect the little guy against online copyright theft. Keep fighting that good fight, Lamar!

We’ve contacted the office of Lamar Smith and are waiting on a response.

Follow Jamie on Twitter: @JLCT

Tea Party House Members Even Wealthier Than Other GOP Lawmakers

mohandasgandhi:

The median average net worth of a member of the House Tea Party Caucus was $1.8 million in 2010. (Financial disclosure forms require lawmakers to value their assets and liabilities only in ranges, so it’s impossible to know exactly how wealthy a particular elected official is. However, it’s possible to calculate an average net worth for each member of Congress.)
That’s significantly higher than the comparable number for the median House member: $755,000. It’s also more than 130 percent above the $774,280 average net worth of the median, non-Tea Party Caucus House Republican.  
Furthermore, the caucus, a group of 60 House members founded by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), includes 33 millionaires and six members worth more than $20 million, according to the Center’s research. That means a member of the group is more likely to be a millionaire than the average Republican who isn’t in the caucus.
(Continue reading…)

Let’s break down the averages:

  • Recall: U.S. median income: $26,364
  • Median net worth for members of Congress: $775,000
  • Democratic non-Progressive House members: $618,500
  • Progressive House members: $639,500
  • Non-Tea Party House Republicans: $774,280
  • Tea Party House Republicans: $1,800,000

These are the guys who claim they are sticking up for the little guys ad nauseum.

I have 3 words for you: Tax. The. Rich.

thesoapboxschtick: You know you’re a conservative when you demand to see a black president’s proof of birth, but the fact that Mitt Romney STILL HASN’T released his tax returns doesn’t bother you. What’s Mittens hiding? Well, has been an outspoken critic of raising the taxes of wealthy Americans (Mitt’s own net worth is about $250 million), and he opposes the “Buffet Rule.” The Buffet rule was proposed by the democrats to fix the loopholes in our tax system that allow multi-billionaires, like Mr. Warren Buffet, to pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries (and most average Americans). So, chances are, Mitt Romney is hiding the fact that, even though he is worth $250 million, his tax rate is probably LOWER than mine, yours, and all the other working class people struggling to make ends meet.
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thesoapboxschtick:

You know you’re a conservative when you demand to see a black president’s proof of birth, but the fact that Mitt Romney STILL HASN’T released his tax returns doesn’t bother you.

What’s Mittens hiding? Well, has been an outspoken critic of raising the taxes of wealthy Americans (Mitt’s own net worth is about $250 million), and he opposes the “Buffet Rule.” The Buffet rule was proposed by the democrats to fix the loopholes in our tax system that allow multi-billionaires, like Mr. Warren Buffet, to pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries (and most average Americans).

So, chances are, Mitt Romney is hiding the fact that, even though he is worth $250 million, his tax rate is probably LOWER than mine, yours, and all the other working class people struggling to make ends meet.

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