Monthly Archive for March, 2013

: March, 2013

Supreme Court leery of finding broad right to marriage in Prop. 8 case

The Justices of the Supreme Court appeared skeptical Tuesday about finding a constitutional right to same-sex marriage in a landmark case challenging California’s Proposition 8, the initiative banning such unions that voters approved in 2008. Justice Anthony Kennedy, considered the pivotal vote on the court, said extending same-sex marriage rights to all 50 states, as  

Tom Foley’s suggestions for ethics reform find critics among… fellow Republicans in General Assembly hearing

HARTFORD – Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley got an earful from lawmakers Monday after he suggested the Capitol is filled with crooks and needs tougher ethics laws. Foley

State GOP picks tea party fave, union nemesis Walker for keynote

No, the C in CPAC doesn’t stand for Connecticut. But don’t tell that to Republicans in the state. They have booked a tea party favorite who is persona non grata among organized labor to be their

From NFL players to Karl Rove, opposition melting to same-sex marriage

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear two momentous cases on same-sex marriage this week, opposition is evaporating. From National Football League players to Karl Rove, who said he could imagine the next GOP presidential nominee endorsing same-sex marriage, everyone seems to be coming out of the closet in favor of gays and lesbians securing  

Some states with marriage bans not defending DOMA

Indiana is taking the lead among 17 states signing a brief in support of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, to be argued before the Supreme Court March 27. But 38 states ban same-sex marriage. That means a majority of states with bans are not even trying to defend DOMA, which defines marriage for federal  

Grocery chains announce refusal to sell engineered salmon

A genetically engineered salmon nearing approval by the Food and Drug Administration, after waiting 17 years, will not reach some store shelves. A coalition of environmental and consumer groups announced Wednesday that they have secured promises from several U.S. grocery chains that they will not carry the fish. These include Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Aldi,  

Dianne Feinstein’s assault weapons ban dies in Senate

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Sen. Dianne Feinstein Monday night that he would drop her assault weapons ban from the package of gun control legislation he intends to bring to the Senate floor. From the outset of her quest to re-enact a version of her 1994 assault weapons ban in the wake of  

All in the family: George P. Bush returns to ancestral turf for cash

What Hyannis Port is to the Kennedys, Greenwich is to the Bushes. And now the fourth-generation flag-bearer for one of the nation’s most powerful political families is about to make his debut in the fertile stomping grounds of his grandfather and great-grandfather. George P. Bush, who this week filed paperwork to run for land commissioner  

Dianne Feinstein clashes hotly with Ted Cruz: “I am not a sixth-grader”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a 20-year veteran Democrat, clashed fiercely with Tea Party-backed newcomer Ted Cruz of Texas, when the freshman began lecturing the Californian about the Constitution during a debate over Feinstein’s assault weapons ban. The ban passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on a party line vote. The clash was reminiscent of an exchange Feinstein  

Battle lines forming on carbon tax

For a political non-starter, a carbon tax is generating an awful lot of activity on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, the conservative Republican Study Committee is holding a press conference to slam the idea, headlined by Texas Reps. Joe Barton and Jeb Hensarling and Louisiana chair Steve Scalise, with star billing to anti-tax activist Grover Norquist.