Yesterday New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio unveiled his first budget in a $73.5B expenditure plan that includes new funding to aid the city’s large population of homeless LGBT youth. “This is a progressive administration. Our budget will be a progressive budget,” de Blasio said. The budget includes restoring $8.3 million in 2014 for homeless services that was slashed …

We don’t often see a Fox anchor going after a GOP rep this way. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) was just one of 199 Republicans who voted against raising the debt ceiling yesterday, in open defiance of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). But when Gohmert appeared on Fox Business Network with Lou Dobbs, he received what seemed like 100% of the …

Via the Wall Street Journal: Carl DeMaio is one of three openly gay Republicans running for Congress this year, and he would be at least the third to serve in the House if he wins. But Mr. DeMaio on Thursday will take a step that none of them has, airing a campaign ad that features a shot of him with …

Comcast announced today that it will buy Time-Warner Cable in an $45B all-stock deal. Whoa. The friendly takeover comes as a surprise after months of public pursuit of Time Warner Cable by smaller rival Charter Communications Inc, and immediately raised questions as to whether it would pass the scrutiny of anti-trust regulators. Comcast will pay $158.82 per share, which is …

Via press release: Extra-marital dating site AshleyMadison.com is evoking the infidelities of POTUS’ past in honor of the upcoming President’s Day weekend. Their brand new billboard features Bill Clinton, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy, three of American history’s horniest leaders, alongside the tagline “Who Says Cheaters Never Prosper? Happy President’s Day!” The first billboard of the campaign was …

Via Fox Sports: Have you heard of Dale Hansen? In case you haven’t, he’s a well-known TV sports anchor for the ABC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth. A couple of days ago, he took a couple of minutes to break down the negative reaction to Missouri defensive end — and NFL prospect — Michael Sam coming out as gay. There are …

This is getting passed around on Facebook this week, but I haven’t found its original source.

Via the Associated Press: Members of a Christian family from Tarshiha, near the Lebanon border, say they have witnessed a miracle in their living room. Osama Khoury said Tuesday that his wife Amira found the statue “covered with oil” recently. Amira said the statue “spoke to her” and told her not to be afraid. After a neighbor witnessed the oil, …

Matt Wilstein recaps at Mediaite: Many opponents of LGBT rights think marriage should only be between one man and one woman. But not Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). As he told his colleagues on the floor of the House Tuesday evening, “There’s a third person in your marriage.” He was, of course, referring to God. Huelskamp was speaking out in support …

Valentine’s Day. For or against?

Via the New York Times: Sid Caesar, a comedic force of nature who became one of television’s first stars in the early 1950s and influenced generations of comedians and comedy writers, died on Wednesday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 91. His death was announced by Eddy Friedfeld, a family spokesman. Mr. Caesar largely faded from the …

I’m just gonna append that last bit to all Fischer-related headlines until it stops being funny.

“This ruling is another example of the deep betrayal of a judicial system infected with activist judges who are legislating from the bench. If these judges want to change duly enacted laws passed by the people and their representatives, they should resign their life-time appointments to the bench and run for the state legislature or Congress. Judge Heyburn is elevating …

Two days after Nevada Attorney General Katherine Masto withdrew her defense against Lambda Legal’s marriage equality lawsuit, the Ninth Circuit Court has granted Lambda’s request for an expedited hearing. Via press release: Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Tara Borelli issued the following statement: “The fact that the government defendants no longer are defending Nevada’s exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage makes …

“Today yet another federal judge has entered the competition for lawlessness on the marriage front; Today’s decision emphasizes the need for Congressional action to prevent our states’ marriage laws from spiraling further into chaos. Congress needs to explicitly reinforce the sovereign right of the states to make their own determinations regarding marriage, and to have those determinations respected by the …

By a vote of 72-49, this afternoon the Kansas House approved a bill which allows businesses to reject LGBT customers on the basis of “sincerely held religious beliefs.” The bill would bar government sanctions when individuals, groups and businesses cite religious beliefs in refusing to recognize a marriage or civil union, or to provide goods, services, accommodations or employment benefits …

JMG reader Jeff Jones has updated his map of the states with pending marriage lawsuits to include this week’s action in Missouri and Louisiana. Embiggen the above image and visit Jeff’s site for more details.

Via the Associated Press: Obama is speaking at a White House event where he’ll sign an executive order increasing the minimum hourly wage for federal contractors from $7.25 to $10.10. He first announced the measure during his State of the Union address. Because the measure applies only to new contracts, the White House says it will affect just a few …

3500 canceled flights so far.

“There is Michelle Obama and the $12,000 gown by Carolina Herrera, and the French president Hollande is in the middle, and there’s Obama. You’ll notice that this dress is bigger than the president of France. Here, let me make one more adjustment here and I’ll show you this again. Take a look at that picture. The little guy in the …