Breaking News Events

[Julie]

VICTORY for US!

WASHINGTON – The Senate today took a monumental step toward repealing the military’s discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy that prevents gay and lesbian troops from serving openly.

In a procedural matter called cloture, the Senate voted 63-33 to limit debate on DADT.

A final vote on DADT will be called by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sometime today or soon thereafter. The chances of passage are now greatly improved.

During the limited debate this morning, each side reiterated the familiar arguments. Opponents of repeal such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tried to convince his colleagues that the world will end if the military stops discriminating against gays and lesbians. Other Republican senators ignored the overwhelming evidence supporting repeal, produced in the Pentagon's exhaustive study of troops, and dug deep to find obscure statistics to justify the continuation of the policy.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., made the most compelling argument for repeal when he noted that the first American soldier wounded during the Iraq War was Staff Sgt. Eric Alva, a gay Marine who lost a leg when he stepped on a land mine.

“That mine didn’t care if he was gay or straight,” Levin said.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pointed out that 14,000 gay and lesbian troops have been discharged under DADT, including many linguists who are vital in the war against terror.

[Miss Scarlett]

OMG, they had cloture?!? That is amazing! The vote is at 3 PM EST today. Hoping it will be on C-Span.

[Miss Scarlett]

DADT - final vote in Senate happening now. Watching on C-Span 2

[christie]

Originally Posted by Miss Scarlett

DADT - final vote in Senate happening now. Watching on C-Span 2

I'm watching too... seems to be dragging on forevah!!

[Miss Scarlett]

Motion passed 65 - 31

[Corkey]

65-31
Motion to repeal DADT passes!

[christie]

Originally Posted by Miss Scarlett

Motion passed 65 - 31

Originally Posted by Corkey

65-31
Motion to repeal DADT passes!

This is great news!

[Greyson]

Today is very big news indeed. One more step toward full equality.

[Oiler41]

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a great day! I served in fear of being discovered back in the 80's. I marched as part of the Uniformed Color Guard at the March on Washington in 1993 when the theme was to "Lift the Ban on Gays in the Military" and now here we are, 17 plus years later and it is finally a reality!! A huge day in history for GLBT Service Members and Veterans!

Glynn

[Leigh]

Good news for the day, DADT gone bye bye

[Kobi]

This is great news....even if I had to look up what cloture meant.

Now the part of me that doesnt trust politicians has 2 questions:

1. Anybody have a clue why there was this sudden change in heart? Was there some trade off here?

2. Is there anything that can throw a wrench in this at this point?

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Kobi

This is great news....even if I had to look up what cloture meant.

Now the part of me that doesnt trust politicians has 2 questions:

1. Anybody have a clue why there was this sudden change in heart? Was there some trade off here?

2. Is there anything that can throw a wrench in this at this point?

No it's done.
President to sign it into law sometime next week. Awaiting military to certify and 60 days to implement.

[Soon]

More than 13,500 service members have been dismissed under the 1993 law.

"It is time to close this chapter in our history," Obama said in a statement. "It is time to recognize that sacrifice, valor and integrity are no more defined by sexual orientation than they are by race or gender, religion or creed."

[Nat]

If you want to know how your senators voted on the repeal of DADT


State Senator How They Voted
AK Begich (D) For Repeal
AK Murkowski (R) For Repeal
AL Sessions (R) Against Repeal
AL Shelby (R) Against Repeal
AR Lincoln (D) For Repeal
AR Pryor (D) For Repeal
AZ McCain (R) Against Repeal
AZ Kyl (R) Against Repeal
CA Boxer (D) For Repeal
CA Feinstein (D) For Repeal
CO Bennet (D) For Repeal
CO Udall (D) For Repeal
CT Dodd (D) For Repeal
CT Lieberman (I) For Repeal
DE Carper (D) For Repeal
DE Coons (D) For Repeal
FL LeMieux (R) Against Repeal
FL Nelson (D) For Repeal
GA Chambliss (R) Against Repeal
GA Isakson (R) Against Repeal
HI Akaka (D) For Repeal
HI Inouye (D) For Repeal
IA Grassley (R) Against Repeal
IA Harkin (D) For Repeal
ID Crapo (R) Against Repeal
ID Risch (R) Against Repeal
IL Durbin (D) For Repeal
IL Kirk (R) For Repeal
IN Bayh (D) For Repeal
IN Lugar (R) Against Repeal
KS Brownback (R) Against Repeal
KS Roberts (R) Against Repeal
KY Bunning (R) Did Not Vote
KY McConnell (R) Against Repeal
LA Landrieu (D) For Repeal
LA Vitter (R) Against Repeal
MA Brown (R) For Repeal
MA Kerry (D) For Repeal
MD Cardin (D) For Repeal
MD Mikulski (D) For Repeal
ME Collins (R) For Repeal
ME Snowe (R) For Repeal
MI Levin (D) For Repeal
MI Stabenow (D) For Repeal
MN Franken (D) For Repeal
MN Klobuchar (D) For Repeal
MO Bond (R) Against Repeal
MO McCaskill (D) For Repeal
MS Cochran (R) Against Repeal
MS Wicker (R) Against Repeal
MT Baucus (D) For Repeal
MT Tester (D) For Repeal
NC Burr (R) For Repeal
NC Hagan (D) For Repeal
ND Conrad (D) For Repeal
ND Dorgan (D) For Repeal
NE Johanns (R) Against Repeal
NE Nelson (D) For Repeal
NH Gregg (R) Did Not Vote
NH Shaheen (D) For Repeal
NJ Lautenberg (D) For Repeal
NJ Menendez (D) For Repeal
NM Bingaman (D) For Repeal
NM Udall (D) For Repeal
NV Ensign (R) For Repeal
NV Reid (D) For Repeal
NY Gillibrand (D) For Repeal
NY Schumer (D) For Repeal
OH Brown (D) For Repeal
OH Voinovich (R) For Repeal
OK Coburn (R) Against Repeal
OK Inhofe (R) Against Repeal
OR Merkley (D) For Repeal
OR Wyden (D) For Repeal
PA Casey (D) For Repeal
PA Specter (D) For Repeal
RI Reed (D) For Repeal
RI Whitehouse (D) For Repeal
SC DeMint (R) Against Repeal
SC Graham (R) Against Repeal
SD Johnson (D) For Repeal
SD Thune (R) Against Repeal
TN Alexander (R) Against Repeal
TN Corker (R) Against Repeal
TX Cornyn (R) Against Repeal
TX Hutchinson (R) Against Repeal
UT Bennett (R) Against Repeal
UT Hatch (R) Did Not Vote
VA Warner (D) For Repeal
VA Webb (D) For Repeal
VT Leahy (D) For Repeal
VT Sanders (I) For Repeal
WA Cantwell (D) For Repeal
WA Murray (D) For Repeal
WI Feingold (D) For Repeal
WI Kohl (D) For Repeal
WV Manchin (D) Did Not Vote
WV Rockefeller (D) For Repeal
WY Barrasso (R) Against Repeal
WY Enzi (R) Against Repeal

I'm kinda feeling like sending handmade valentines this year to those who voted for the repeal and maybe for those who abstained too.

[MsDemeanor]

My Senators are Boxer and Feinstein, and my Rep is Woolsey; it's generally not necessary to check a list to see how they voted 'cause they tend to do the correct thing

I should probably drop a couple thank you notes...

[Nat]

I live in Texas so I don't generally have to look to know they probably did the incorrect thing. :/

[Greyson]

According to Census Bureau data released Tuesday morning, Texas will gain 4 congressional seats. Florida will gain 2 seats. Arizona, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah, Washington and Nevada will each gain an additional congressional district.

New York and Ohio will each lose two congressional seats. Eight states will lose one congressional district in reapportionment: Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey.


http://www.politico.com/arena/

The population shifts to Republican-leaning states are clearly good news for the GOP.

[MsDemeanor]

I demand a recount......

[Greyson]

Fresh Off ‘Don’t Ask’ Win, Gay-Rights Groups Look Ahead
By Bennett Roth
Dec. 20, 2010, 6:05 p.m.

The repeal of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy” has boosted the spirits of gay-rights activists, but it is not expected to bolster the rest of their legislative agenda, which likely will hit roadblocks in the 112th Congress.

Lobbyists for gay-rights organizations say that next year they will focus on unfinished business including employment nondiscrimination legislation, providing domestic partnership benefits to federal workers and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act.

But they are not optimistic that Republican leaders in the House will push through their issues.

“I don’t think they will go negative on us. I just think they will not do anything to bring about positive change,” said Fred Sainz, the vice president for communications and marketing for the Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay-rights organization.

Some of the activists’ priorities, such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, have been lingering for years. The House passed a version of ENDA in 2007, but a revised measure that included protections for transgendered people did not make it out of committee this year.

Sainz said his group will focus more on executive branch agencies to pursue equality issues for gay people as well as lobbying at the state level for passage of laws allowing gay marriage. Outside the legislative arena, HRC is pushing more companies to enact gay-friendly policies, such as domestic partner benefits.

R. Clarke Cooper, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, said GOPers have made it clear they will focus more on fiscal rather than social issues next year.

But he added that Republicans may be receptive to legislation that deals with taxes, such as extending tax breaks on health benefits for partners of employees.

Cooper cited as progress the fact that many Republicans have become more comfortable with having gay advocates in their midst, noting that his group participated in the Young Guns events spearheaded by GOP House leaders during the 2010 midterm campaigns.

Cooper also said he has met several times with Speaker-designate John Boehner (R-Ohio), including having his first conversation with the leader at a fundraiser at the Capitol Hill Club.

“He said, ‘Not everyone can be a Susan Collins or Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,’” said Cooper, referring to two socially moderate Republicans, the Maine Senator and Florida House Member, who voted for the repeal.

Cooper said Log Cabin agreed to help raise money and work on behalf of certain Republican candidates. In return, Cooper said, he asked that Republican leaders convey to social conservatives in the party that “if they had nothing nice to say about gays and lesbians that they say nothing at all.”

And a number of conservative Republicans, including Rep. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Sen. Richard Burr (N.C.), surprised gay activists in their support of the DADT repeal.

The Log Cabin Republicans had also successfully sued in federal court in California to overturn the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Cooper said that his group would likely wait to drop the suit until after the Pentagon completes its implementation of the new policy, which could take months.

Before the repeal is officially dropped, the president, the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must certify that the military is ready for the change.

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which has been active in pushing for the repeal, said his group will now pivot to monitoring the certification process.

Sarvis added that the Pentagon should not prolong the next stage. “They’ve had 10 months to work on these things,” he said.

In the past year, gay-rights lobbyists have spent much of their time and financial resources on fighting to repeal the Clinton-era policy banning openly gay people from serving in the military.

HRC spent $3.5 million on its lobbying efforts, the most ever for any advocacy campaign spearheaded by the association, Sainz said.

He added that the Senate’s approval of the repeal should bolster the group’s fundraising among donors who might otherwise have been dispirited if the measure had failed.

Raising money, however, will be more difficult for groups whose mission has been primarily advocating on behalf of gay members of the military.

“This will definitely change the fundraising calculus for us,” said Alex Nicholson, the executive director of Servicemembers United, a group that advocates on behalf of gay soldiers. Nicholson said about half the group’s funds come from gay foundations.

But he added that his group will still play a major role providing support for gay military members, who now may feel more free to join such an association.

Nicholson, who tangled with some of the other gay-rights groups, said the lobbying campaign was challenging. Part of the difficulty, he said, was having to “cut through the inter-organizational politics.”

“Various groups can be vicious sometimes,” he said, referring to arguments about “who’s going to stand next to whom.”

Other gay-rights lobbyists, however, complained that Nicholson, who criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for his strategy, was often impolitic in his public comments.

There were also disputes among gay-rights groups over whether celebrities such as Lady Gaga helped their cause by publicly lobbying for the repeal.

Despite the lobbying challenges, gay activists see the final results as historic.

“I liken what happened on Saturday to the Berlin Wall coming down,” Sainz said.


http://www.rollcall.com/news/-201746-1.html

[Corkey]

I do not trust republicans, even log cabin ones.