Showing posts with label Marriage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marriage. Show all posts

Friday, October 09, 2015

Kasich Hates Your Republican Values -- He Wants to "Redfine" Them For You

...but don't take my word for it, he said it:
Republican presidential contender John Kasich has split from other conservatives in his party on issues like immigration and same-sex marriage, but he's not denouncing the GOP's values just yet.
"I think I have right to define what the party is, Charlie," Kasich told "CBS This Morning" host Charlie Rose early Thursday. "Look, if I win, I have a right to define what the party is, and along the way I'm defining what it is."
How gracious of the governor not to denounce our values...just yet.

  • He's for illegal immigration with absolutely no consequences. (I've seen no statement or policy from him or attributed to him that would lead me to believe otherwise.)
  • He's for allowing ISIS to operate in Syria (His policy is a no-fly zone that Russia is currently "violating" by CRUSHING ISIS in Syria.)
  • He's pro-Common Core
  • He's pro Obamacare (even though he claims he wants repeal, his actions tell a different story/  See: Medicaid expansion) 
  • He's opposed to cheap oil (See: Fracking taxes)
  • He's a tyrant.  When he doesn't get his way, he goes around the legislature and takes "executive" action (Sound familiar?)
 There are reasons why people like Joy Behar and Rachel Maddow like him.  He's NOT one of us.  He is one of THEM.

My favorite bit is about the Trans-Pacific Partnership:

Kasich said that he believes "it's good for the U.S. not only in terms of economics but in terms of foreign policy. Trade can make a difference in strengthening us around the world."

He added that while he hasn't read the full details of the trade bill, he does support it.
He doesn't need to read the bill to know that he likes it.  Obama likes it and that's good enough for him.

Lastly, there's this:

When questioned about his differing stance on same-sex marriage, Kasich said, "Look, I believe in traditional marriage, but the court has ruled."
The Court ruled on slavery, segregation and women's suffrage too.....  Kasich doesn't really believe in traditional marriage or he'd recognize that the decision doesn't hold up to the values of his party and would insist that the party continue to fight.

Instead, he wants to "redefine" Republican values just as he has "redefined" conservatism in Ohio.  How'd THAT work out for us?

Thursday, June 06, 2013

St. Rep. Becker Introduces Bill That Eliminates Marriage Tax Penalty

Release:
COLUMBUS—State Representative John Becker (R-Union Township) has introduced legislation that would eliminate the marriage penalty in Ohio’s income tax system.

House Bill 188, introduced on Tuesday, changes the way the joint filer tax credit is computed so that married couples pay the same amount of tax on a joint return as they would had they filed separately. In tax year 2012, a married couple working full time and earning minimum wage, paid an Ohio Marriage Penalty of $184.

"I have long been in favor of abolishing the Ohio marriage penalty, and I will continue to fight for Ohio families for as long as I am a member of the General Assembly,” Becker said. “House Bill 188 allows taxpayers to calculate the difference between filing joint and separate. That amount would then be entered as the joint filing credit. Ohio’s tax code should not discourage and punish marriage.”

HB 188 was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

He's Gay and He Opposes Gay Marriage....With Logic....

A very interesting read.  Go check out the whole thing.  Here are some excerpts:
  In our sometimes misguided efforts to expand our freedom, selfish adults have systematically dismantled that which is most precious to children as they grow and develop. That’s why I am now speaking out against same-sex marriage.

By the way, I am gay.
Natural law, tradition, religion, intellectual curiosity, and free inquiry no longer play a role in deliberations. Same-sex marriage legislation is defended solely on grounds of moral relativism and emotions.
Pure sophistry is pitted against reason. Reason is losing.
Here’s the problem: The national discussion of same-sex marriage treats the issue like a game of checkers, where opponents can quickly gain each other’s pieces without much forethought about the consequences. This unreflective view of the discussion has prevented any real debate.
In years past, defenders of marriage found it easy to win the battle on the checker board. Appeals to religion and tradition won hands down almost effortlessly. While same-sex marriage advocates argued for a more thoughtful consideration of the topic, they were mostly just bulldozed over.
The tide has turned. Same-sex marriage proponents now have all the “kings” on the board, and rule it. One only needs to consider media headlines from the last few weeks. We are bombarded with approvals of same-sex marriage. To the casual onlooker, not steeped in this issue, it would seem that conservatism has embraced same-sex marriage. Each day brings fresh news of Republican political elites, Fortune 500 companies, NFL members, and even Dirty Harry himself, Clint Eastwood, throwing their support behind genderless marriage.
The game we are actually playing is chess, not checkers. This sounds confusing, because chess and checkers are played on the exact same sixty-four square game board. Checkers is easy and it’s fast. It’s one of the first games children learn how to play. Chess is hard, requiring thought about the intended and unintentional consequences of every single move that may or may not be made.
In developing their goals for policy and law, politicians often look no further than the next election cycle. They’re concerned about votes. Supporting same-sex marriage now looks like a winner for them.
The sense of urgency regarding same-sex marriage, now palpably frenetic, is in itself a sign of our national discussion’s devolution into nothing more than slogans and emotions.
Our nation’s individual state legislatures and courts—including the Supreme Court— need to apply the brakes. Now.
As in chess, the unintended consequences deserve sound consideration.
Genderless marriage now enjoys an aura of equality and fairness, which suggests that the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment had same-sex marriages in mind as they penned their magnificent giant leap forward for humanity. While this situation is highly unlikely, those who selfishly seek additional “rights” for themselves have found their justification in the penumbra they now sense surrounding legitimate civil rights.
Same-sex marriage will not expand rights and freedoms in our nation. It will not redefine marriage. It will undefine it.
This isn’t the first time our society has undefined marriage. No-fault divorce, instituted all across our country, sounded like a good idea at the time. Its unintended consequence was that it changed forever the definition of marriage from a permanent relationship between spouses to a temporary one. Sadly, children became collateral damage in the selfish pursuits of adults.
Same-sex marriage will do the same, depriving children of their right to either a mom or a dad. This is not a small deal. Children are being reduced to chattel-like sources of fulfillment. On one side, their family tree consists not of ancestors, but of a small army of anonymous surrogates, donors, and attorneys who pinch-hit for the absent gender in genderless marriages. Gays and lesbians demand that they have a “right” to have children to complete their sense of personal fulfillment, and in so doing, are trumping the right that children have to both a mother and a father—a right that same-sex marriage tramples over.
Same-sex marriage will undefine marriage and unravel it, and in so doing, it will undefine children. It will ultimately lead to undefining humanity. This is neither “progressive” nor “conservative” legislation. It is “regressive” legislation.
Nowhere on any marriage license application in any state are the applicants asked, “Do you love each other?” Yet this is the basis on which same-sex marriage proponents seek to change our laws. Is the state really in the business of celebrating our romantic lives?
The mantra I heard repeatedly in Minnesota was that “marriage is about love, commitment, and responsibility.” But these three things are not the state’s interests in marriage. Marriage, from the state’s perspective, is about kids. Period. That’s the reason the institution exists. We should tremble at and fear the notion of undoing it.
For a nation that has no trouble selfishly creating a seventeen-trillion-dollar (and growing) deficit it will soon hand off to its children and grandchildren, perhaps this is asking too much. But for the sake of all children and those yet to be born, we need to slow down and seriously consider the unintended consequences of undefining marriage. Otherwise, we risk treating our progeny as expendable pawns, sacrificed in the name of self-fulfillment. We can do better than that.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Portman's Opportunism

Longtime readers of WMD know that my position on same sex marriage is that I oppose it while favoring civil unions. The reason I take the position that I do is that while I am a firm believer in the rights of individuals, I am also a staunch supporter of religious rights as well. Personally, I don't think government should be in the marriage business at all. I don't think there should be a "marriage penalty" when it comes to taxation. I don't believe that there should be a legal advantage or disadvantage to marriage. I think if two people want to establish a legal and binding relationship between themselves, that is okay by me...but don't call it marriage. Marriage has a religious connotation that government has absolutely no say in determining or establishing.

All of that brings us to Rob Portman's latest stunt to increase his name recognition and favorable polling numbers amongst a certain segment of the population. It is no secret among those who have followed Portman's career for any length of time that Rob doesn't do anything that he doesn't think will benefit his career. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Will Portman went to Twitter to proclaim how proud he was of his father, I'm not entirely sure I would 100% believe that Rob has a gay son. That is just how opportunistic Portman is about his career, in my opinion. But don't take my word for it, here is what Michael Turk had to say:
In 2004 Portman supported a Constitutional ban on SSM; not just a ban against it. He wanted it enshrined in the Constitution. He has defended DOMA. In 2009, he opposed a law that would have allowed gay couples in DC the right to adopt. He has actively opposed gay rights for a decade at least. But then there is this:

“[W]hat happened to me is really personal. I mean, I hadn’t thought a lot about this issue. Again, my focus has been on other issues over my public policy career.”

Huh? You were that active in voting on an issue you really hadn’t thought a lot about? So your default position on issues you don’t think about is to deny people rights? Really?

Reconciling his past opposition to SSM and his current conversion is almost impossible. His explanation is that his son Will came out two years ago and that profoundly changed his mind.

But less than two years ago, at a speech to the University of Michigan law school, a full third of the school got up and walked out of his speech in protest of his positions on gay rights. That was, if his timeframe is to be accepted, after his son came out.

Granted I am a reliable cynic, but it seems to me that Portman, who is bandied about as a potential POTUS contender in 2016, is seeing the writing on the wall.
Turk goes on to describe some recent polling which states that nearly 70% of Republicans oppose gay marriage but notes that there is a strategy in which Portman's new found position on the subject could work to his advantage in a large field of candidates for President in the 2016 cycle.

Mark my words, THAT is what THIS is about. Portman sees what he thinks is the writing on the wall and wants to jump on that particular bandwagon and try to make it seem as if he is leading the charge. My guess is that once the "excitement" of this little media splash is over, the issue will go away for Rob until he sees another opportunity to exploit it for political gain.

The biggest problem that I have with Portman is that it appears there is nothing he won't sacrifice to the political gods if he can be seen to find some gain in doing so. What's next? What if little Sally decides to have an abortion? Can we count on Rob to not change his mind on being pro-life? What if his wife Jane, who used to work for Tom Daschle, decides that guns are icky? Can we count on Rob Portman's Second Amendment convictions?

These are all terrible things to contemplate, but since we have no idea who Rob Portman is going to be today let alone tomorrow, we HAVE to ask these questions. And more importantly, we HAVE to get answers to them. Portman has never lost an election, but I think he is going to find himself facing a serious challenge in his own backyard (Southwestern Ohio) if he can't convince people that he has principles and values that aren't subject to change due to personal situations. We don't elect leaders to represent themselves. We send them to Washington, Columbus, County and City Halls to represent US and OUR beliefs, not theirs.

SIDEBAR: BizzyBlog's Tom Blumer has been at the front lines of exposing Portman's opportunism for years...(here and here are two examples)