Month: April 2015
A Good One on April 1
Over the past few months, my administration has received a lot of recognition for our bipartisan approach to governance. It seems to me that approach is something that is desperately lacking in Washington, D.C. So after much encouragement and reflection, I’ve come to the decision today to announce my candidacy for the president of the United States.
— Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), quoted by the Baltimore Sun, before noting it was April Fool’s Day.
Governor Will Not Sign Arkansas’ ‘Religious Freedom’ Bill
This is a bill that in ordinary times would not be controversial. But these are not ordinary times.
— Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), saying he will not sign a controversial religious liberty bill, and that he wants lawmakers to recall the bill and change it to more closely resemble federal law, the Washington Post reports.
More Approve of Democrats Than Republicans
38%
Approval rate of congressional Democrats, versus 27 percent for Republicans, reports the Washington Post: “In October, 30 percent said they approved of congressional Democrats compared with 25 percent who approved of congressional Republicans.” Public approval of Congress remains low, with 22 percent of Americans saying they approve of the way Congress is doing its job — a 7 point increase since last September — with the shift driven by a rise in support among independents and Republicans.
‘Tailgunner’ Ted Cruz Has Worst Attendance Record on Armed Services Committee
3
Number of public hearings of the Senate Armed Services Committee Sen. Ted Cruz has attended in 2015. The Texas Republican attended just three of the panel’s 16 public hearings so far this year, according to a Politico review of hearings transcripts. “The average committee member attended 13 of the 16 hearings, and Cruz is the only one of the panel’s 26 members with an attendance rate below 50 percent.”
GOP Governors Take Obamacare Dollars While Publicly Condemning the Program
$352 million
Amount that governors Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Chris Christie of New Jersey, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and former Texas Governor Rick Perry — all staunch opponents of President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act — have collectively applied for and won through grant programs set up by the law, federal records show, Reuters reports.“The action is at odds with the public stance of all four potential candidates, who have blasted the law as an unprecedented expansion of government and called for its repeal.”
Sorry, Christians – Under Religious Freedom Laws, the Bible Also Requires You to Refuse Service to Adulterers
Public outrage over the Religious Freedom Restoration Acts that have passed in 21 states, so far, appears to be the latest sign of a massive shift toward support for gay civil rights. It also suggests people looked past Republican rhetoric and saw these laws for what they’re really meant to be — licenses for right-wing Christians to discriminate against gays, particularly Christians in the wedding business who want to refuse to bake cakes and provide floral arrangements for same-sex weddings based on moral grounds.
It is not only petty to withhold wedding flowers and cakes from a particular class of sinners, it is also unlawful on its face. RFRAs not only violate public-accommodation laws and would arguably be unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause, their use of religion to single out a particular class of people runs afoul of the separation of church and state — the legal barrier that prevents our democratic republic from sliding into theocracy. It’s as un-American to discriminate against gays based on the Old Testament as it would be to restrict gay rights based on Sharia law, for example.
