Month: June 2011

Repealing Gay Marriage Has Cost Californians $750 Mil in Lost Revenue, So Far

Jon Ponder

photo-gaybeachweddings.comHere’s a timely report from June 2008:

Gay couples are projected to spend $684 million on flowers, cakes, hotels, photographers and other wedding services over the next three years – so long as voters don’t put a halt to the same-sex marriage spree, according to a study by the Williams Institute at University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

During the three-year period, the researchers project that about half of the state’s more than 100,000 same-sex couples will get married and another 68,000 out-of-state couples will travel to California to exchange vows. The nuptial rush is expected to create some 2,200 jobs.

The study estimates that over the next three years, gay weddings will generate $64 million in additional tax revenue for the state, and another $9 million in marriage-license fees for counties.

That’s not the way it turned out, of course. […]

Reagan Economic Adviser: TPaw Is Lying – Reagan Tax Cuts Did Not Raise Revenue ‘By Almost 100%’

Jon Ponder

Last week, former Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the Republican presidential candidate, claimed that:

“When Ronald Reagan cut taxes in a significant way, revenues actually increased by almost 100 percent during his eight years as president. So this idea that significant, big tax cuts necessarily result in lower revenues – history does not [bear] that out.”

Former Reagan and Bush I economics official Bruce Bartlett says Pawlenty’s assertion is false:

[…]

Romney on Rick Scott’s Endorsement: ‘I’ll Keep in Touch’

Trish

Anybody running for president would like every endorsement that they can get. We have spoken from time to time, I’ll continue to keep in touch, and I have no idea what his plans are in that regard.

— Mitt Romney, Republican candidate for president, commenting in Florida on Gov. Rick Scott’s endorsement. Scott, who squeaked to a slim victory with tea party support, has approval ratings in the 20s and Romney’s answer was taken within Florida to mean he’s not seeking Scott’s help.

Republican State Senator Breaks With Party to Support Same-Sex Marriage

Trish
NY Gay Marriage
N.Y. State Sen. Roy McDonald

“You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing. You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing.

“I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.”

— New York State Sen. Roy McDonald (R-Saratoga), explaining his support for same-sex marriage.

U.S. Rep. Releases Pictures of Himself Desecrating the Flag

Trish
WestUnderwater
U.S. Rep. Allen West plants the flag in a South Florida reef

U.S. Rep. Allen West (R-FL22) is at it again. What better way to celebrate Flag Day, and make headlines, than to desecrate the flag? The tea party darling, often held up as proof the movement isn’t racist, posted pictures on Flickr of his recent diving expedition to an artificial reef in his South Florida district.

Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Code, subsection B: ‘The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise’

That got flag purists’ attention. They point to Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Code, subsection B, which states, “The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.”

But West isn’t known for following the rules. Before moving to Florida to run for Congress, West was discharged from the Army in 2004 after an incident in Taji, Iraq. Four members of a battalion he commanded beat an Iraqi they suspected of plotting to attack them while they interrogated him. To facilitate the questioning, West himself fired his service pistol next to the man’s head, a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. After the rumors of the plot were found to be baseless, West said, “It’s possible that I was wrong about Mr. Hamoodi.” He avoided a court-martial and was subjected to an “Article 15 proceeding,” relieved of his command, and ordered to pay a fine.

And while flag desecration is small potatoes compared to his past exploits, it’s clear that Rep. West hasn’t learned that you don’t honor your country, or its flag, by ignoring core principles.

Rush Limbaugh’s Show Is Underwritten by the Right-Wing Think Tank Responsible for the Individual Mandate and Romneycare

Jon Ponder

logo-heritageProduct placement has become such a subtle art form these days that it’s hard to tell the difference between advertising and the editorial or entertainment content. Case in point, right-leaning Politico.com a reports that the tea party astroturfers, Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, and the Heritage Foundation, a Reaganite intellectual boneyard, are quietly underwriting the Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck radio shows, at a cost of several millions dollars:

POLITICO: In search of donations and influence, the three prominent conservative groups are paying hefty sponsorship fees to the popular talk show hosts. Those fees buy them a variety of promotional tie-ins, as well as regular on-air plugs – praising or sometimes defending the groups, while urging listeners to donate – often woven seamlessly into programming in ways that do not seem like paid advertising.

Those fees buy them a variety of promotional tie-ins, as well as regular on-air plugs — praising or sometimes defending the groups, while urging listeners to donate — often woven seamlessly into programming in ways that do not seem like paid advertising…

The Heritage Foundation pays about $2 million to sponsor Limbaugh’s show and about $1.3 million to do the same with Hannity’s…

Those millions also buy lies. […]

Palin Calls Weiner ‘Impotent’

Buck Banks

Anthony Weiner, from henceforth after his personal indiscretions were disclosed, he was going to be rendered impotent basically in Congress and he wasn’t going to be effective. Obviously it was the right thing to do.

— Sarah Palin, who’s obviously been workin’ on her vocab, in an interview on Fox Business Network.