This Week's Top Five Hot State Legislative Actions

Federalism is among America' s most fundamental practices. Unfortunately, when someone says "leave it to the states," it means we have to leave it to these states…

1. A New Hampshire bill that would have required all new legislation addressing individual rights to quote its authority from the Magna Carta was killed in committee by an 11-1 vote, leaving residents bereft of regulatory reforms based on dictates such as, "If a man dies owing money to Jews, his wife may have her dower and pay nothing towards the debt from it." Should have gone with the Code of Hammurabi or just mandate that all legislation be drafted using only the letters R-O-N-A-L-D R-E-A-G-A-N.

2. Creeping Sharia, which also happens to be the name of my favorite garden vine, is crawling into South Dakota where the state Senate Judiciary Committee voted 5-2 against a bill to regulate the use of foreign law in South Dakota courts.

3. The Virginia legislature is set to repeal a 19-year-old state law that forced residents into dangerous, illicit, back-alley gun purchases by preventing residents from purchasing more than one handgun a month. They also defended the 2nd Amendment right to carelessly leave guns in any damn place…

Read More »

Tags: Education, Florida, Guns, LGBT, Marriage, Marriage Equality, New Hampshire, Religion, South Dakota, State Legislature, States' Rights, Virginia, Washington

Gay Marriage Coming to a Rainy Northwestern State Near You

Looks like, once again, defenders of people's rights to not have other people have rights are being oppressed by the tyranny of the minority. And this time it's an even minor-er minority.

One solitary senator in Washington's state legislator has decided to change her vote on a marriage equality bill, and now every straight marriage in the state is in mortal danger of whatever it is that happens when gay people get to marry each other…

[State Sen.] Mary Margaret Haugen said she would be the 25th vote in the 49-member Senate for the bill. Supporters say the legislation already has a majority behind it in the state House of Representatives, and Gov. Christine Gregoire has said she would sign it if passed.

"For me personally, I have always believed in traditional marriage between a man and a woman," Haugen, a Democrat from the Puget Sound community of Camano Island, said in a statement on her decision. "That is what I believe, to this day.

"But this issue isn't about just what I believe," she continued. "It's about respecting others, including people who may believe differently than I. It's about whether everyone has the same opportunities for love and companionship and family and security that I have enjoyed."

Oh, I know what happened. The "rational thought" special interest group must have gotten to her with their "think and behave reasonably" agenda. Ugh! It's enough to make you sick. Mark my words! This country is on a slippery slope leading directly into the quivering maw of rationality.

And that is not the America that I know.

Tags: LGBT, Marriage Equality, State Legislature, Washington

Socialist School Buses on the Chopping Block in Washington

Kids today are so entitled with their iPads and Justin Biebers and constant need for food and health care. Well, listen up, kids: The free ride is over. Literally…

The yellow school bus could become another victim of the Great Recession in some parts of Washington.

Gov. Chris Gregoire doesn't want to see her state stop spending money to get kids to school. But any squeamishness over student transportation cuts isn't enough to keep that $220 million idea off her list of ways to potentially deal with budget shortfalls, the latest a $2 billion one.

Tough choices are the rule of the day in nearly every state in the rough U.S. economy… Washington would be the first to completely eliminate state dollars for bus service because of the recent recession.

Sure, getting rid of buses would pose a threat to student safety, increase air pollution and prevent some low-income students from attending school regularly. But it’s about time we got the government out of our public education. Think of all the high-fructose corn syrup, predator drones and high-fructose predator drones we could buy with the millions we're throwing away on "learning." I can't imagine what’s holding state legislators back…

Washington's state schools chief, Randy Dorn, says there's one more consideration here: the state Constitution requires the state government to amply pay the costs of basic education, as defined by the state Legislature. Student transportation is part of the definition of basic education… the Legislature would have to adjust the definition to make way for many of the governor's ideas for cutting the state education budget.

There you go. States can cut education without cutting "education" if they just change the definition of what an education is. It's as easy as 1-2-3. That is, if schools can still afford to teach kids how to count.

Photo by Hotshot977/Wikimedia Commons

Tags: Children, Education, Recession, Transportation, Washington

The United States of Unflattering Stereotypes

How long does it take to travel to every state in the nation and mock it right to its face? About two minutes…

I think it's really cool that Paul Jury traveled 19,000 miles in the service of writing his book States of Confusion, but you've got to wonder if it was really necessary. If he was really interested in seeing how everybody in the country really lives, couldn't he have just gone to a Wal-Mart in a Hoveround?

Tags: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Books, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Colbert: John Boehner Did It!

The Republicans won a majority in the House just two days ago, and as Stephen Colbert pointed out on last night's Colbert Report, they've already accomplished so much, from making a profit on TARP to saving the auto industry. In fact, some say the party started turning things around months ago. It's all part of the GOP's new philosophy, Trickle Back in Time Economics.

The Colbert Report airs Monday through Thursday at 11:30pm / 10:30c.

Tags: Alcohol, Chris Coons, Christine O’Donnell, CNN, Colorado, Delaware, Economy, Harry Reid, House of Representatives, Illinois, James Carville, Joe Sestak, John Boehner, John Hall, Ken Buck, LGBT, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania, Senate, Sharron Angle, Stephen Colbert, TARP, Tea Party, The Colbert Report, Unemployment, Video, Washington