Taxes and Proposition 8

Since the passing of Proposition 8 there has been a lot of talk about where the money to get it passed came from.  There has been both a call for boycotts of companies owned by the Mormon Church and a lot of gay people saying they aren’t going to pay their taxes.

Generally I find boycotts to be kind of stupid.  It seems that they don’t really work because while you have people boycotting it also seems that it gets people on the other side to support those businesses.  Also sometimes people can’t boycott places because they just can’t afford it.

When it comes to the Mormon Church (and understand anything said here is directed at the Church and primarily it’s leaders because not all Mormon’s are on the side of inequality) I think the bigger impact can be made by rallying to have their tax exempt status taken away.  When you see the list of companies that they have a stake it it becomes more apparent that they are a for profit corporation hiding behind the veil of a tax exempt non-profit religion.

Some people say that the church itself didn’t give money so they shouldn’t loose their tax exempt status.  I’d actually challenge that because I’d look at the ties off all the people who gave money and how many of them worked for those companies on the boycott list.  The church may be able to hide behind it’s parishioners but, they did everything they could to encourage people across the country to give money.  (Personally I don’t think money should be allowed to cross state lines for individual state initiatives like this.)  They are also being investigated for paying to take people to California to work on the campaign.  And remember the current administration once threatened to take away the tax exempt status of the the NAACP just because the head of the organization spoke against President Bush.

I totally get why people like Melissa Ethridge and the person who commented on my last post say they aren’t going to pay taxes.  I would caution against that because deliberately not paying can get you thrown in jail.  However, you have to look at the obsurdity of the tax situation.  Here we have a huge number of people who are being made to pay the same taxes, and in a lot of cases higher taxes because they can’t get the same right offs as opposite-sex couples.  Not to mention that employer paid benefits for married couples are before taxes (basically not taxed) the money for the same benefits provided to a domestic partner are taxed.  That money comes out after taxes have been taken out of a persons check.

So that’s millions of people working, providing for themselves and their families, and they pay their state and federal taxes like everyone else.  Yet, they are not even close to being treated the same.  They aren’t given the same protections, they aren’t allowed the same benefits, hell they even have to fight to leave their hard earned money to the people they want to in some cases.  They do the same things to help this country run and don’t get the same things out of it.  Some of them still live in places where they have to fear for their jobs if people know the are gay.

The hypocrisy here is that this is all driven by the religious fear mongers.  Those fear mongers are then allowed to bring in all kinds of money for their churches (money that should be going to people in need) while paying now taxes on it.  On top of that they are then (thanks to the current administration and yes Obama plans to continue it) allowed to apply for grants from the government.  And where does that money they are asking for come from.  It comes from the tax dollars that we hard working Americans pay.  And that includes the tax dollars that gay Americans pay.  How messed up is that?

They don’t have to pay taxes yet, they get to not only have access to the tax money we all pay they also get to work to take away rights of the Americans that pay those taxes.

It is time that the religions of this country lose their tax exempt status.  Remember there is nothing in the Constitution that says that churches are entitled to anything especially special exemptions under the law.  What it does say is the freedom of religious expression.  And that is aimed at the individual it was not designed to give religions and churches the right to circumvent the law or have special privileges.

Proposition 8 mistake

I know I’m kind of behind on commenting about the passing of Proposition 8 in California.  That’s because there is just so much to say and I’ve been trying to sort through all my thoughts on the subject.  To put them all in one post would be overwhelming.  So there will probably be a few posts on the subject.

 

The passing of Proposition 8 is a tough blow to the movement for equality in this country.  A blow a lot of people didn’t think would happen.  I think a lot of people got caught up in thinking that if people voted for Obama they would automatically vote against Proposition 8.  Ultimately that kind of thinking lead to people falling asleep on the job.  Luckily people didn’t fall asleep on the job in bringing change to Washington and a great statement about how far we have come as a country was made.

 

Unfortunately an equally big statement was made about how far we still must go.  It’s as if people forgot that same-sex marriage was previously voted against in California.  It was Proposition 22 that was overturned by the states Supreme Court earlier this year.  I don’t know if people thought that the state had moved forward or if they just figured people would never take away rights that had been granted to anyone.  Could you imagine what would happen if somewhere people managed to vote to take away the right of opposite-sex couples to marry?

 

Whatever people’s thinking was they just dropped the ball.  Mainly I’m talking about the big people here.  I’m not talking about the little people who were giving until they couldn’t give anymore.  Or the ones that were out pounding the pavement.  I have a close friend who was out there on election night fighting against this.  I’m talking about the celebrities, I’m talking about the current and former politicians, I’m talking about anyone with a national platform.

 

Sure a lot of these people are out there now speaking against this and screaming about the injustice.  But, where were they in the months leading up to the election.  So many of them could be heard and read supporting Obama but, where were their voices against Prop. 8?  I don’t live in California so maybe they were loud there but, they weren’t loud everywhere else.  They forgot that the religious organizations were preaching every Sunday (and perhaps on other days) to all their followers in every state across the country to send money to help pass Proposition 8, to get in touch with people in California and get them to vote for Proposition 8.

 

I’ve seen all kinds of celebrities on all kinds of shows since the election speaking out against this.  Not just gay celebrities but, straight ones as well.  But, again I ask why weren’t they on Bill Mahr and Larry King before the election?  Why weren’t they re-directing the conversations on Leno and Letterman to talk against Proposition 8?  I faithfully watch Countdown with Keith Olbermann and The Rachel Maddow show every night but, they weren’t saying anything leading up to the election.

 

Sure those two shows are kind of preaching to the converted but, you know it would have ended up on You Tube and people could have passed it around to gain support.  I know that would have happened because Keith did a special comment following the passage of Proposition 8 and that’s exactly what happened with it.  His special comment was fantastic.  He drove right at the heart of the matter but, where was that before hand?

 

Yes, there was a lot of hate and fear that drove this loss.  But, that could have been countered if big name people had gotten out there and made impassioned statements on the side of love and hope, on the side of equality.  New polls show that all the protests and cries of injustice have caused people to change their view.  People would actually vote differently now after seeing the reaction and hearing the arguments for equality.  Some of that you know is seeing big name people out their commenting on this.  Just think what could have been if they had spoken up sooner.

Yes We Did

I know it’s been a couple weeks since the election.  There was a lot of stuff to digest, both good and bad that I’ve been digesting.

Obviously the best news was Barack Obama becoming the 44th President of the United States.  What a night it was watching things unfold.  Watching and counting and seeing what states were coming in quickly and which were close.  Calculating how soon things could be over.

I also spent the evening texting with a longtime friend about results as they were coming in.  He was busy in California working to defeat Proposition 8. (More on that in another post.)  So he was out on the street working for equality and I was texting him results as they were coming in.  The best part was getting to call and tell him Obama had won.  We’ve been very political and very much Democrats since we were in elementary school.  It was a great moment for us, and even though we couldn’t witness that particular history together it was nice that in some way we could share.

Along with Obama’s victory came some great victories here in the usually red state of Colorado.  The biggest was the defeat of Marilyn Musgrave.  It was so heartbreaking last time to come so close and not get rid of her.  It was so great to get rid of her this time.  Most of you know the nastiness that seeped it’s way into the Presidential campaign.  But, man this one got rather nasty at times too.  It was pretty obvious that Musgrave was going down as those ads got nastier.  We also now have to Democratic Senators from Colorado.  Although I’ve heard rumors that Salazaar may be under consideration for a position in the new administration.

As far as laws that did and didn’t pass.  Colorado defeated the completely ridiculous “person-hood amendment”.  For those who don’t know that was an attempt to put into our state constitution that life begins when sperm meets egg.  This amendment was so broad that even anti-abortion groups were against it.  It put too much at risk.  It would have handcuffed doctors and caused all kinds of court problems.  So happy to see that South Dakota again defeated an attempt to outlaw abortion in that state.

Of course the downside was the passing of same-sex marriage bans in Florida, Arizona, and California.  As well as the banning of adoption by unmarried couples in Arkansas.  It was a shame the Arizona passed a ban after defeating it the last time around.  And the passing of Prop. 8 in California was the most upsetting.  It was upsetting because it actually took away rights that had been given.  It actually took away equality.

Overall November 4, 2008 was a great night.  A night I’m glad I got to witness at 30 not 70.  A night that hopefully will lead to great change now and in the years to come.  Yet as with all elections there was heartbreak too.

Can You Say Un-American?

I just read an article over a lawsuit in Pennsylvania about dress codes at the voting booth. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081004/ap_on_el_pr/what_voters_wear;_ylt=At5VdcR89a5xkbH5bct25UFsnwcF

Apparently you aren’t allowed to wear anything political when you go voting.  The article says there are a view other states with this law as well.  The Democrats are for them not following the dress code and the Republicans want it enforced.

Makes sense considering the Republicans are always talking about the ideals of this country and the Constitution and then doing everything they can to trample all over it.  At least the Democrats actually believe in it, they don’t just talk about it.

This notion that it is electioneering is just absurd.  When it comes election day and you are standing in line you generally know who you are voting for at that point and what you are voting yes or no on.  We have secret ballots for a reason and it’s so people aren’t harassed or attacked for how they vote.  If someone wants to be brave enough and wear something that says how they will be voting more power to them.  If some how that gets someone else to change their vote then fine.

Telling people they can’t wear a political shirt, button, sticker, hat, whatever, is extremely Un-American to me.  I mean come on first off voting is like one of the most patriotic things you can do and if you want to tell the world who you are voting for so be it.  Not only do you have a Constitutional right to vote you have a Constitutional right to free speech and that speech doesn’t always have to be spoken.  Telling someone they can’t vote until they stop using their 1st Amendment right violates a whole lot of stuff this country was founded on.

Anyone for this kind of law needs to take a good hard look at themselves in the mirror.  And then they need to ask themselves exactly what it is they think this country stands for and if they believe in those principals and the document that spells them out.

What’s next, ticketing cars with political stickers that park within a certain distance of the polls?

Enough Already

I don’t claim to know a lot about the economy and how everything works.  What I do know is that contrary to what some people want you to believe this mess did not happen over night and it did not happen because the Democrats have had a small margin of control of the house and senate for 21 months.  These loans that are causing all the major problems are from years ago when the Bush administration did everything it could to get banks to hand out money like it was candy.

And the banks are at fault because they didn’t pay attention.  And now because some people got greedy a lot of American’s are paying the price or will be soon if something isn’t done.  If something isn’t done people are going to start scrambling to take money out of the banks and cash in their 401(K)s before they lose them completely and then there will be nothing that can be done.

The truth is that no one can be absolutely certain that the rescue plan or bail or whatever you want to call it will work.  However, doing nothing certainly won’t fix anything.  And acting like spoiled brats only makes everyone more resentful.

A deal was made yesterday and it seemed like everyone was goin to get to look like heroes and then the Republican’s got their feelings hurt and screwed the people and the country they claim to always be putting first.  So what Nancy Pelosi said somethings they didn’t lie a lot of what she said was true.  You really don’t help yourself by throwing a tantrum and continuing to make the problem worse.  And don’t come one here and tell me that wasn’ what happened because more than one Republican said that was the case and one of them even held up a copy of Pelosi’s speech and said it was why the bailout was voted down yesterday.

I know a lot of people are worried about the amount of money involved and the rushed nature of things.  I also know there was discussion of having the money dispensed in stages.  So my question is, why can’t the do a deal for a smaller amount now that will keep everything from going under and keep the country going and stabilize our markets and the world markets and then if needed do more after the new President, congress, and senate are sworn in in January?  Then their first order of business can be that and they can work on something with a more safegaurds and all that.

In the end it’s about actually putting up when it comes to doing what’s right for the country and the American people.  And what isn’t right is not at least trying to save the banks and peoples jobs and futures.  And it’s important to note that doing nothing and becoming more economically vulnerable puts us at risk in other areas.

I Want A Damn Debate

When I first got on-line this morning headlines were still saying the debate was questionable and just a couple minutes ago I saw that it will go on.  Well it’s a damn good thing.  And honestly everyone knows that this had nothing to do with McCain wanting to save the country and everything to do with him trying to save his slipping campaign.

I think everyone knows there’s a good chance this debate will have a lot of questions about the economy and he’s scared to talk about it.  Obama is much more versed on the subject and has had a plan to hopefully turn it around since the beginning of his run for the White House.  McCain has no idea what he’s going to do and he didn’t want to go toe to toe with someone who did.

I think he was still hoping that he’d be able to get the debate cancelled.  And I wouldn’t be surprised if he was behind that lame stunt the GOP pulled last night.  The bailout was very close to being worked out and then suddenly they decide they want a new plan and they aren’t going to negotiate on it.  Seriously that just seems desperate.  Like if a plan goes through then he has to debate but, if they are still working on it he can continue to try and get out of it.

Lets be real here folks unless he is actually in the room working on the plan he isn’t needed there until the vote.  If there’s people holding out and making a stink he has a phone and can call them to discuss it.  McCain was hoping Obama would cave but, he didn’t and he was right not to.

Not that I really cared if Bush spoke the other night but, he did in an attempt to calm the nation and say we will get this back on track.  Did he do that affectively?  I don’t know.  And at this time we do need to see the people who could be our next leader talking about what they think should be done and what could be done to continue fixing things down the road.  If you can’t step up to the plate now, how can we count on you to do it when you are running the country?

So the debate at this moment will go on.  Mainly because Obama didn’t back down and pretty much forced McCain’s hand.  I’ll be watching with great interest and it’ll be interesting to see comments from people afterwards.

The Palin Pregnancy Issue

So Gov. Palin’s 17 year old daughter is pregnant and we’re just suppose to ignore it because children are off limits.  Well, I’m not going to just ignore it and neither should anyone else.  However, it’s not about attacking the daughter it’s about attacking her mother and her politics on this subject.  There’s no way the Governor and her conservative counter parts should get a pass on this.  Of course that’s what they want and they’ll do whatever they can to get you to forget it and that it is an issue.

I don’t care that this girl had sex nor do I care that she’s pregnant.  What I care about is her mother and the Republicans teachings and rules regarding sex education.  These people get on their high horse acting all superior with their abstinence only teaching.  And they handcuff schools by denying them funding if they want to teach preventative sex education.

They sit around denouncing sex before marriage.  They tell you that teaching kids that they should abstain but, that if they chose to have sex they should use protection only encourages them to have sex.  They want you to believe if you just tell them not to have sex they won’t.  And now the daughter of their new poster girl is another teenage pregnancy statistic and they still want abstinence only.

They have a huge glaring example of the fact that abstinence only teaching doesn’t work.  Yet, they just want to continue acting like kids don’t have sex and put them at risk.  They want to put them at risk of getting pregnant and they want to put them at risk of getting a sexually transmitted decease.  That is the issue that needs to be brought to the forefront here and discussed.  And nominee Palin should have to answer for how she can continue to back that teaching and force it on the American people when it clearly doesn’t work and the proof is right next to her.

Interesting Choice

So John McCain has named the Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential selection.  Supposedly she is all about ethics and overhauling government but, apparently those ethics apply to everyone but her.  She’s under state investigation for firing the public safety commissioner because he wouldn’t fire her former brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper.  That doesn’t sound very ethical to me.  And sure she’s only under investigation but, investigations do happen for a reason.  And that is also the vindictive image that hurts women.

If the undecided women of this country by into this there is no hope for us.  There was no substance to her speech.  It was a lot of talk about nothing.  She makes appearances with Senator Ted Stevens a man who also supports her and is currently under indictment and will go on trial next month for ethics violations.  Seems to me if you were really about ethics reform you wouldn’t want anything to do with someone in trouble for ethics violations.

It’s sad that the Republicans have no history for women to stand on and they have to try and steal ours.  That should be a sign to women that just because there’s a woman on the ticket they aren’t going to be any friendlier to you.  A woman on the ticket doesn’t mean there will be any real change in government.  She’s a woman who clearly works against women’s interests.  People can get all pissy with me but, if you’re anti-women’s right to choose you’re against women’s interests.

A lot of people seem to think the Vice President isn’t very important.  Sorry but, a person who is next in line for the White House should the President be out of commission at all is important.  What people need to understand is that even if the President has a small surgical procedure the office is signed over to the Vice President.  Should something happen the Vice President would be charged with decision making.  Do you think someone who’s highest level of office is Governor for 18 months can make those decisions?  If McCain were unable to assume the duties of the Presidency for a prolonged period of time do you think she could really assume those duties?  Do you think she would be able to deal with other governments?  They wanted to make readiness an issue early on well ya know what I take that clear to the VP.  And no way is she ready.

I’m all for a woman VP and if they wanted to pick a woman that’s great.  But, it does seem to me that there are Republican women more equipped for the job.

I just hope women will pay attention to the actual views of the Republican ticket.  That they will not be working for your best interest.  Especially your health and I don’t just mean on the choice issue.

Obama Stands Up And Throws Down

Tonight was the big night.  The night Barack Obama made his case for change.  And what a case he made.  He laid it all out there answering all the questions about what change he will bring.

He went straight after McCain and what they see differently.  I particularly liked the part about McCain being willing to follow Bin Laden to hell but, not to the cave he lives in.  I don’t think you can make a stronger statement about what mission our military should have been accomplishing all this time.

My favorite part of the speech was when he went after McCain and the Republicans on the subject of patriotism.  For too long they have been aloud to get away with that crap that if you don’t agree with them you aren’t patriotic.  That is intolerable.  Standing up for what you believe is patriotic.  What people don’t realize is that there is more to the 1st Amendment than just free speech and freedom of religion.  There is also apart in there about petitioning the government.  That is there so you can descent so you can say hey I don’t agree with that.  So don’t you dare tell people that they are unpatriotic.  It is absolutely patriotic to use your Constitutional freedoms.  He was completely correct in saying patriotism has no party.

Obama laid out all the things he wants to change.  He maid it very clear that he in fact has a plan.  He has a plan to change things for the better here at home.  And to help us get our credibility with the world at large back.

If the undecided voters were really listening and paying attention they can no longer say they don’t know what Barack Obama is about.  They can not say they don’t know what kind of change he will bring.  They can’t say he doesn’t know the issues facing our country.  They can’t say they don’t know where he stands on those issues.  And they certainly can’t say he doesn’t know where he stands on those issues.  And they should know exactly why he’s better than the other guy.

He said everything he needed to say and made the biggest statement possible for why he should be President.  Hopefully the undecided voters were at least listening.  I hope they at least gave Obama a chance to sway them tonight.  And I hope that when all is said and done they will vote for change.

Last Night At The Convention

History became official yesterday when Barack Obama was formally nominated as the 2008 Democratic Nominee for President.  Throughout my life there have been all kinds of little things that have happened that may or may not make it into the history books.  However, yesterday was one of those moments when you can say for certain, “That’s one for the history books.”

When it came to speeches last night I was intrigued by several.  Including some that a lot of people might have missed.  I really enjoyed Senator John Kerry’s speech when he compared Senator McCain to candidate McCain.  I really wish that one had been in prime time.  Hopefully a lot of it will make the rounds to the undecided voters.  It was very interesting hearing about how candidate McCain is against bills that Senator McCain wrote.  Always interesting to hear considering how much the Republicans try to make it out that changing your mind on something is bad.  (The rest of the world of course knows that it’s okay to admit you were wrong.)

Former President Clinton gave a pretty good speech.  I think he could have attacked McCain a little more directly but, I liked how he attacked the Republicans overall.  That lays the ground work for helping win some of the Congressional and Senate races this fall.  It was very smart of him to again point out how good things were when the Democrats ran things and how the Republicans through it all away.  That the Democrats had this country on a great path and it was all wasted.

I especially liked when he called McCain and his party buddies extremists.  That part about how for decades they had all these plans that were going to do so much good for the country but, they could never implement them.  And that now we all know just how much “good” those plans really do.  All those plans do is keep the rich, rich and make them richer while hurting the people who work to make the rich all their money.  That is exactly why we have got to take back this country.

As for Senator Biden I was very impressed with his speech.  I was also impressed with him overall.  I still have some worries about whether he hurts or helps with certain groups of voters but, those worries are smaller now.  I think anyone who writes bills to stop violence against women is going to help with women voters.  Clearly this is a man that cares about women.  He is also a man who cares very much about family and that is always a plus.

He too did some comparing of Senator and candidate McCain so that helps.  While he probably still could have gone a little harder at McCain and how similar he is to Bush I feel he did a good enough job of getting the point across.  I’m always for a little hardball in politics.  I don’t enjoy out right smear campaigns where things that don’t matter are brought up or things are twisted almost to the point of being lies.  However, I think we can play hardball by really hitting at how McCain doesn’t really seem to know where he stands on anything.  He’s clearly changing his views on things just to get elected and that is an area we can attack and that is exactly what Biden did last night.

One more big speech to go and I’m pretty sure most of the world will be watching that one.