Tag Archives: government

From a post on Bill Gates’ personal blog: I start with the understanding that the U.S. government simply does not bring in enough money to meet its obligations. This isn’t a value judgment; it’s just a fact. The government collects about 20 percent of GDP in taxes while spending about 24 percent. And the cost of commitments is going up. …

The Associated Press reports: Change is afoot for the official measuring stick used to size up big places in America. The reason? There are actually two different definitions of the 12-inch measurement known as a foot. Some land surveyors use what’s known as the U.S. survey foot. Others use the definition that’s more accepted by the broader world: the international …

The image above comes via NOM. Tony Perkins will also be there in Atlanta today. From his press release: Atlanta’s fire department is supposed to put out the flames — not fan others. Unfortunately for Mayor Kasim Reed, the controversy over the firing of Christian fire chief Kelvin Cochran is igniting a different debate over religious liberty. Despite insisting that …

You didn’t think Todd Starnes would let this guy go unmartyred, did you? “The LGBT members of our community have a right to be able to express their views and convictions about sexuality and deserve to be respected for their position without hate or discrimination,” Cochran told me in an exclusive interview. “But Christians also have a right to express …

According to a just-completed preliminary count, the billionaire behind the plan to divide California into six new states did not turn in enough valid petition signatures to place the issue on the 2016 state ballot. The measure needed 807,615 valid voter signatures to qualify, and the Six Californias campaign turned in nearly 1.14 million in mid-July. But several weeks of …

The billionaire behind the plan to divide California into six new states says his group has gathered enough signatures to place the issue on the November 2016 ballot. Timothy Draper, a founder of a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that has invested in Twitter, Skype and Tesla, among other companies, has been agitating for months for a ballot initiative to …

I still can’t get over being older than the president. Very slightly older. But still!

In 42 states, the highest paid public employee is a sports coach. (Tipped by JMG reader Michael)

Today is the National Day Of Prayer and the National Day Of Reason. Rep. Pete Stark, the only openly atheist member of Congress, issued a proclamation on the House floor in recognition of the latter. The National Day of Reason celebrates the application of reason and the positive impact it has had on humanity. It is also an opportunity to …

The Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian “think tank” has created this clip in protest of the horrible government regulation of everything in our lives. Things like traffic! And product safety! And consumer protection! Nightmare!

One of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated on American school kids, the federal “abstinence only” sexual education program will continue to the tune of $176M. Despite a growing body of evidence showing it is not only ineffective but also discriminatory toward LGBT youth a renewal of the Bush administration’s abstinence-only-until-marriage program for schools appears likely in Congress. The House Appropriations …

The New York Post says the office of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has been funneling money into sham organizations in order to later use the funds to reward those faithful to her. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s office hid millions of taxpayer dollars by allocating grants to phantom organizations as a way of holding the funds to …

The government has proposed new rules which will make it even harder for HIV+ persons to enter the country, according to Gay Men’s Health Crisis and Immigration Equality. On World AIDS Day last year, President Bush announced his intention to create a streamlined process for foreign travelers with HIV to enter the United States more easily. Currently the United States …

His retirement mere days away, Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, felt emboldened to make a final parting shot at the gays during a defense appropriations hearing after Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) said he found Pace’s previous comments on gays in the military to be be hurtful and demoralizing. Pace responded, “Are there wonderful Americans who …

In a possible move towards unresigning his seat, today Sen. Larry “Tearoom” Craig’s lawyer petitioned a Minneapolis court to withdraw his May guilty plea. Craig said he hoped the court would “allow me to prove my innocence.” Switching gears from Craig’s earlier “I panicked” defense, his lawyer argued that his client’s mailed guilty plea denied him the opportunity to face …

From yesterday’s HRC’s Backstory: This afternoon, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), one of the lead sponsors of the Senate hate crimes bill, took to the Senate floor to urge the Senate to pass the hate crimes bill (S. 1105) and for President Bush to sign the legislation into law. Earlier today, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) filed a cloture motion on the …

In an editorial called “A Nominee’s Abnormal Views“, today the NY Times Op-Ed page calls for Congress to reject Dr. James Holsinger as Surgeon General, saying, “The Senate should not confirm a surgeon general who considers practicing homosexuals abnormal and diseased.” An excerpt: His [Holsinger’s] strongest statement on homosexuality can be found in a murky, loosely reasoned paper that he …