Secretary of State Shenna Bellows invalidated a citizen-led ballot initiative aiming to restrict transgender students’ access to school bathrooms, locker rooms and team sports that align with their gender identity. That’s because the group leading the effort did not collect enough valid signatures to qualify for a ballot referendum, she said at a Tuesday press conference in Augusta.
Bellows’ decision follows a recommendation from Chief Deputy Secretary of State Katherine McBrien after she presided over a hearing earlier this month regarding signature validity and found that more than 12,000 had been collected improperly.
“Citizen initiatives are direct democracy. Just as we take voting security seriously, we take petition integrity seriously,” Bellows said in a statement. “Unfortunately, some out-of-state circulators failed to meet certain legal requirements for petitions, resulting in this initiative failing to qualify for the ballot after legal review.”
They blew it! They didn't follow the rules.
Over the course of the hearing, a pattern of negligence within the campaign emerged, with signature collectors admitting to leaving petition forms unattended, among other infractions.
[...]
“Unfortunately, in this case, at least two out-of-state circulators failed to follow Maine law, and that is why their petitions have been invalidated,” she added.
Out-of-state circulators are not allowed to gather signatures or be paid for circulation under the Maine Constitution, but they are allowed to do so under the U.S. Constitution. Litigation around the initiative process has resulted in courts ruling that out-of-state circulators may gather signatures, and that they may be paid per signature, Bellows explained, even though “many legislators and many members of the public think out-of-staters shouldn’t be permitted to gather signatures.”
Sorry Charlie!
All the signature collectors that appeared at the May 12 hearing were out-of-state residents, paid per signature by the “Protect Girls Sports” campaign. Some of them left petitions unattended while voters signed them, others were accused of filling petitions out themselves. Bellows said election staff had “sat down for multiple hours with those spearheading this particular initiative to walk them through the law and the requirements in detail.”
Sorry, Charlie!
All the signature collectors who appeared at the May 12 hearing were out-of-state residents, paid per signature by the “Protect Girls Sports” campaign. Some of them left petitions unattended while voters signed them, and others were accused of filling petitions out themselves. Bellows said election staff had “sat down for multiple hours with those spearheading this particular initiative to walk them through the law and the requirements in detail.”
That is what happens when you have people not from the state collecting signatures—they don't know the rules! There are chapters all around the nation. Protect Girls Sports is a right-wing organization funded by the America First Policy Institute, which was founded and is run by top officials from the first Trump administration. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is funded in part by The Servant Foundation, the National Christian Charitable Foundation, and—here is someone you might recognize—The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation.
There are also shady donors: DonorsTrust & Donors Capital Fund, known widely as the "dark money ATM" of the conservative movement.
However, all the king’s stoolies and all the king’s men couldn’t put this petition together again!
The measure would require all Maine schools to designate sports teams, bathrooms and locker rooms by a student's assigned gender at birth.
WMTW Ch 8
Cameron Lobley
April 14, 2026
The Maine State Legislature's Judiciary Committee was holding a public hearing on Tuesday morning on the only statewide referendum question appearing on this year's ballot: "An act to designate school sports participation and facilities by sex."
The measure, a citizen initiative introduced by the group Protect Girls Sports in Maine (PGS), would bar transgender students from competing in school sports teams that align with their gender identity. It would also prevent transgender students from using athletic facilities that align with their gender identity.
Instead, participation and use of facilities would align with the sex on the student's birth certificate.
The ballot question, as drafted, reads: "Do you want to change civil rights and education laws to require public schools to restrict access to bathrooms and sports based on the gender on the child's original birth certificate and allow students to sue the schools?"
You know this totally doesn't make sense to me!
#1 In Maine you can change you birth certificate with a letter from a doctor!
#2 By banning trans people from sports you are denying us:
Life skills” development (this is where “leadership” comes in)
Teamwork (working toward shared goals)
Discipline (practice schedules, training commitment)
Responsibility (showing up prepared, accountability to a team)
Resilience (handling failure, competition, and setbacks)
They say it is because of girl that got injured by a trans girl last year in Maine. But last year there were between 3,700 and 7,500 volleyball head injuries. but now with one injury, they want to ban us instead of protecting the 7,000 other injuries
There was no widespread “problem” until Republican leaders created one. Historically, most people didn’t pay much attention to trans people, allowing us to live our lives. It wasn’t until political leaders amplified fear and hate that hostility became prominent.
New NORC/LA Times poll shows support for protecting trans access to medical care & 77% think politicians use trans as a distraction
By Special to the LA Blade, Erin Reed
June 7, 2024
A new poll released by NORC and the Los Angeles Times reveals that 77% of U.S. citizens believe politicians are using debates over transgender and nonbinary people as a distraction from more pressing priorities.
The same poll finds that majorities oppose forced outing laws for transgender youth. A slim majority indicated their support for protecting access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth when their parents and doctors feel those treatments are appropriate, though results were somewhat mixed depending on how the question was worded.
These numbers align with several recent polls indicating that while some people may have nuanced opinions on transgender issues, Americans do not view these concerns as worthy of lawmakers’ attention.
Seventy-seven percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “Elected officials are mostly using debates over transgender and nonbinary people to distract attention from more pressing priorities.”
In short: Americans largely just want to live their lives. Trans issues are not a priority for most voters — the political obsession comes from leaders, not the public. Earlier this year the 19th wrote,
A new 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll shows that the number of people who don’t want politicians to focus on trans issues has grown, fueled by both Republicans and Democrats.
By Jasmine Mithani
April 28, 2025
President Donald Trump has taken aim at trans people during his first 100 days in office in his second term. He has sought to restrict access to accurate passports, erase the accomplishments of trans elders, remove transgender members from the military and purge the government of what he has termed “woke gender ideology.” But a new 19th News/SurveyMonkey poll shows that 49 percent of Americans think politicians should not be focusing on transgender issues at all.
It’s a rise from before the election, when 43 percent of Americans said they believed politicians should not focus on trans issues, versus protecting trans rights or restricting gender-affirming care. In 2023, the figure was 44 percent.
Democrats and Independents are less likely than they were in September to think politicians should be protecting transgender rights, and 42 percent of Democrats think politicians should not focus on trans issues — up from 33 percent last year.
More Republicans also think politicians shouldn’t focus on trans issues — 57 percent vs 53 percent last year — and the number who think lawmakers should concentrate on restricting transgender rights has fallen.
Overall, despite the Trump administration’s attempts to erase trans people from public life, the majority of Americans (59 percent) support the right of transgender adults to access gender-affirming care. However, fewer Americans, 43 percent, support the right of trans youth to seek such care. That doesn’t necessarily translate into a desire for bans. In fact, 55 percent opposed laws that would restrict gender-affirming care for minors, including 41 percent of Republicans and 57 percent of Independents.
Almost half the population didn't have a problem with us until Trump instilled it. Why? Data For Progress wrote;
Over the last year, Data for Progress has consistently found that voters see the economy, jobs, and inflation as the most important issue for them when deciding which candidate to vote for — while LGBTQ+ issues trail far behind as a motivating factor in vote choice.
In this survey, the overwhelming majority of voters (80%) agree that “both Democrats and Republicans should spend less time talking about transgender issues and more time talking about voters' priority issues like the economy and inflation.”
However, when considering issues related to transgender people, a majority of voters (52%) trust the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party to handle them — a +23-point margin, including a +17-point margin among Independents.
Then why are the Republicans attacking us all the time?
You/Gov wrote that the, "Lawmakers are spending too much time on transgender issues. 52% of Americans think too much focus is put on transgender issues, including similar shares of Democrats (53%) and Republicans (51%). Only 13% of Americans, including small shares of both parties, believe lawmakers are focusing too little on these issues?
In short: Americans largely just want to live their lives. Trans issues are not a priority for most voters — the political obsession comes from leaders, not the public. The lies have an effect on us and the voters. I asked ChatGPT about that and it wrote,
🧠 Bottom line
Words from leaders absolutely hurt. Lies and fear-mongering:
Increase violence and harassment
Lead to discrimination
Harm mental health and increase suicidal risk
Undermine safety and trust
Shape policies that make life harder for trans people
This isn’t abstract — it’s supported by data from mental health organizations, anti-bullying research, and civil rights groups.
Remember, every time our rights have come to a vote in a referendum we have won!
Massachusetts (2022), we won!
Colorado (2022), we won!
Oregon (2014), we won, the ballot measure was going to strip all LGBT Rights from us.
When political leaders repeatedly lie about a marginalized group, they legitimize prejudice and embolden people who were already inclined to harass or harm others. The facts are on our side, but lies have real effects — on safety, well-being, and public perception.
People keep telling me that there’s no difference between Republicans and Democrats — well, I want to point out a glaring difference. Take a look at Texas and California’s efforts at gerrymandering.
Texas:
Trump says, “Give me an edge and gerrymander your districts.”
→ Governor Abbott replies, “Your wish is my command.”
→ The Republican legislature says, “As you wish.”
And just like that, the districts are gerrymandered.
California:
Governor Newsom says, “We need to counter Trump!”
→ The Democratic legislature responds, “That sounds like a good idea — but we’ll let the voters decide on such an important issue.”
→ The voters decide: “Yes, that is a good idea!”
Do you see the difference?
Texas: Top-down political directive!
California: Bottom-up political directive!
Trump response to the election results that don't go his way... According to The Hill;
President Trump on Tuesday threatened legal action over mail-in ballots cast in California, while also slamming the state’s redistricting measure.
“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!”
This hasn’t been discussed much in the news but it is a major victory for us! Right next door to us in New York. It is a ray of hope. In 2002 NY we got thrown under the bus, the legislature passes a Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act however, last minute backroom deal removes “gender identity and expression” from the bill. They promised to come back for us...
New York voters have approved an amendment to the state’s constitution barring discrimination based on things including “gender identity” and “pregnancy outcomes,” changes supporters say will further protect transgender and abortion rights.
Supporters and opponents disagreed sharply about the potential legal impact of the Equal Rights Amendment, also known as Proposition 1. It was fiercely opposed by conservatives who said it would enshrine a legal right for transgender athletes to play on girls’ sports teams.
The amendment adds language to the state constitution saying someone cannot be denied civil rights because of their national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes or “reproductive healthcare and autonomy.” Previously, the constitution forbid discrimination based on race, creed or religion.
It was a long time coming but New York finally granted protection for us.
Cosmopolitan wrote that we did pretty good on the state and local elections…
As nationwide election results continue to roll in, we’re breaking down how LGBTQ+ rights—including trans rights and gender-affirming care—fared in the 2024 election, and what those results means for the communities involved.
[…]
Same-sex marriage—which was legalized at the federal level in 2015—was also on the ballot in some states during the 2024 election. Voters in California approved Proposition 3, which amends the state constitution to recognize a “fundamental right to marry, regardless of sex or race.” Similarly, voters in Colorado approved Amendment J, which removed language defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
When it comes to ballot questions the people voted for us! This is a glimmer of hope, the voters have voted for our rights (Human Rights should never be put to a vote… they are called “rights” for a reason!).
There will be a ballot question about allowing voting by mail.
My state representative appears to be a MAGA Republican she bought into the “The Big Lie”
Our top priority should always be ensuring the integrity of our elections, both at a municipal and state-wide level. Unfortunately, the debate over election integrity has become contentious and partisan. Political buzzwords like disenfranchised and voter suppression are thrown at those who suggest identification or signature verification are unjust requirements to casting a ballot.
No one wants to disenfranchise voters, but when improprieties occur like they have in places like Bridgeport and others, not doing more to ensure the security of our elections in order to avoid repeat incidents, unfortunately does just that.
Was there voter fraud in Bridgeport… yes indeed! She was caught, tried, and convicted. But that was one out of millions.
She goes on to say,
For me it begs the question, is "No Excuse" absentee voting really necessary? Personally, I don't think so. With the most recent changes to extend the amount of time residents have to vote (and now, to vote early) and the broad definitions on who can request an absentee ballot, it seems redundant to possibly add to our already expansive array of absentee options.
Our residents deserve fair and honest elections where bad actors are punished to the full extent of the law. That can only happen when we eliminate circumstances where these improprieties can occur. Removing COVID-era drop boxes and requiring identification when filling out a ballot shouldn't be partisan issues, they are meant to ensure our elections are safe and secure and no voter is disenfranchised by dishonest individuals.
Um, she is middle class, I don’t know but I bet she drives and has one job. So she probably doesn’t think about those who don’t drive. Or those who work multiple jobs and works 7 days a week! That is why we need mail-in-ballots. But then again they usually vote for Democrats.
The bill passed (You can read the bill here.)with not a single Republican voting for it... the "Big Lie" comes to Connecticut. I see lawn signs out… vote “No” on the ballot question. The Republicans are in a full court press.
So what is the ballot question in question?
Ballot Question Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to allow each voter to vote by absentee ballot?
Simple and direct.
But that is half of it, the law reads, the Secretary of State website goes on to say,
Text of the Proposed Constitutional Amendment Section 1. That the following be proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the State, which, when approved and adopted in the manner provided by the Constitution, shall, to all intents and purposes, become a part thereof:
Section 7 of article sixth of the Constitution is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 7. The general assembly may provide by law for voting in the choice of any officer to be elected or upon any question to be voted on at an election by qualified voters of the state who [are unable to] will not appear at the polling place on the day of election. [because of absence from the city or town of which they are inhabitants or because of sickness or physical disability or because the tenets of their religion forbid secular activity.]
Adopted May 30, 2023
The Republican know that many low income people and minorities vote mainly and they want to throw as many road blocks as they can to keep them from voting as possible.
The Heritage Foundation (You know, the people who brought us Project 2025) keeps a list of voter fraud in the different states, for Connecticut they report, since 1988 there were... (a drum roll please) a total of 30! This massive voter fraud swayed many elections! NOT!
There is no voter fraud. This Constitutional amendment is good thing and allow more people to vote and what is wrong with that?
Vote "Yes" on the ballot question, don't buy into the Republican's "Big Lie!"
That is what it looks like. You sign a petition and the next thing you know you got policed on your front door where all your neighbors can see the police cars. To me that sounds a lot like the governor is trying to prevent people from signing a petition for a ballot question.
Isaac Menasche remembers being at the Cape Coral farmer’s market last year when someone asked him if he’d sign a petition to get Florida’s abortion amendment on the ballot.
He said yes — and he told a law enforcement officer as much when one showed up at the door of his Lee County home earlier this week.
Menasche said he was surprised when the plainclothes officer twice asked if it was really Menasche who had signed the petition. The officer said he was looking into potential petition fraud.
Though the officer was professional and courteous, Menasche, who has had little interaction with police in his life, said the encounter left him shaken.
“I’m not a person who is going out there protesting for abortion,” Menasche said. “I just felt strongly and I took the opportunity when the person asked me, to say yeah, I’ll sign that petition.”
Voter intimidation! Pure and simple!
The officer’s visit appears to be part of a broad — and unusual — effort by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to inspect thousands of already verified and validated petitions for Amendment 4 in the final two months before Election Day. The amendment would overturn Florida’s six-week abortion ban by proposing to protect abortion access in Florida until viability.
And that would be a slap in the face to DeSantis. How dare they vote against him!
Castellanos said she felt intimidated by having a law enforcement officer come to her door. And she said she was “surprised but not surprised” when she learned it was about Amendment 4. She said she thinks if Florida could do away with abortion entirely, it would.
Last year, DeSantis, a Republican, signed into a law a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. In response, pro-choice campaigners gathered and submitted nearly one million signatures to place on the ballot Amendment 4, a referendum that would overturn the ban and restore reproductive rights in the state.
Now Florida's Department of State is claiming it suspects fraud in the signature-gathering process. In an email to county election officials, the department's Brad McVay requested that they hand over their already-verified petitions so that the signatures can be reexamined, claiming without evidence that those who circulated the petitions "represent known or suspected fraudsters," Tampa Bay television station WTVT reported.
All the signatures have been verified already by the state’s Secretary of State as being valid! This is all about the Republican “Big Lie” about voter fraud. It is like Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister said that if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth and that is what the Republicans are doing with election fraud. There hasn’t been found any election fraud but the Republicans use the lie to pass draconian election laws.
Florida Democrats are calling for investigations into two state agencies, alleging they are attempting to interfere with a ballot measure aimed at expanding abortion access that is set to appear on the November ballot.
Posted on the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s website, you’ll now find this lengthy information page, warning voters, “Amendment 4 threatens women’s safety.”
The page claims the amendment that seeks to expand abortion access in the state would lead to unregulated and unsafe abortions, and that it fails to define terms like “patient health,” “health care provider,” and “viability.”
Monday, the agency went a step further, posting this video on social media, defending Florida’s current abortion laws.
“We’re going to be looking at every legal and legislative means possible to make sure the people of this state have an opportunity to vote for Amendment 4 without intimidation and government intrusion,” Nikki Fried, Chair of the Florida Democratic Party, said.
Wait A Minute! Is that legal for a state agency to make a lie that that?
“This should really shock everybody. That we are using government money, our taxpayer dollars, is not only illegal, but again this goes way above anything that we have even seen under a DeSantis administration,” Fried said.
Couple that with getting a knock on the door by the police and it all boils down to voter intimidation. Florida Politics reports,
Undermining the will of voters and stomping over their democratic freedoms.'
Is Gov. Ron DeSantis going too far in trying to defeat an amendment to restore abortion access?
That’s what one group says.
“Gov. DeSantis is using his election police to intimidate voters who dare to have beliefs that differ from his. This opens the door towards making voters and all Floridians feel unsafe for voicing their constitutionally protected opinions on important issues like abortion,” says All Voting is Local Action’s Florida State Director Brad Ashwell.
“It’s been clear from day one that the purpose of the election police was to harass voters who don’t have the same viewpoints as the governor. By going after a petition for Amendment 4, which is already on the ballot, Gov. DeSantis is undermining the will of voters and stomping over their democratic freedoms for his own political gain,” Ashwell adds.
That’s the Republican way… gerrymandering, closing of polling places in liberal enclave, stricter voter ID laws that make it hard for minorities to get their required IDs, making it hard to get mail-in ballot, and removing ballot drop boxes in minority districts. And now this!
Vote Blue for liberty! Vote Blue to stop the attacks on voter rights!
Did you watch the debate last night? So what did you think about the debate?
Aliens eating Cats
I watched about half of it and I couldn't stand Trump lies after lies... so I turned it off just after the "childless cat lady's cats were eaten by some really, really, bad Haitian undocumented immigrants.
Former president dealt further blow after combative ABC News encounter as Taylor Swift formally announces she is endorsing his rival Kamala Harris
The Independent
By Joe Sommerlad, Gustaf Kilander, and Mike Bedigan
September 11, 2024
Donald Trump appeared to fall apart in his first head-to-head debate with Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening, providing rambling answers on illegal immigration, abortion and the economy and taking the bait whenever he was goaded by his opponent.
The candidates shared an unexpected handshake as they took to the stage, with Harris introducing herself and catching the Republican off guard.
When the debate got underway, Trump went off on wild, yet familiar tangents about his rally crowd sizes, the whereabouts of Joe Biden and recently debunked claims accusing Haitian immigrants of stealing and eating domestic pets in Springfield, Ohio.
Harris, meanwhile, used her time to cycle through Trump’s legacy of racist attacks, professional falings and his culpability for the Capitol riot.
Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump met on Tuesday for their first and perhaps only debate, a square-off that could have a significant impact on the Nov. 5 election as polls show a tight race.
Here are takeaways from the debate:
RILING HER RIVAL
Harris made a point to get under Trump's skin, as her campaign had forecast - and it worked.
She urged viewers to attend a Trump rally, where she said Trump would say bizarre things such as windmills cause cancer (something he has, in fact, said) and where, she taunted, attendees would leave out of exhaustion and boredom (something they have, in fact, done.)
Trump, who prides himself on the crowds he draws, was clearly riled.
"My rallies, we have the biggest rallies, the most incredible rallies in the history of politics," he said. He accused Harris of busing in attendees to her rallies.
Trump then falsely claimed that immigrants in the country illegally were killing and eating people's pets in the city of Springfield, Ohio, an unsubstantiated assertion that has circulated on social media and been amplified by Trump's vice presidential running mate JD Vance.
WEAPONIZED' JUSTICE
Trump and Harris accused each other of conspiring to "weaponize" the Justice Department in a bid to go after their enemies.
Trump said the indictments he faces for conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss and for his mishandling of classified documents - as well as his conviction for forging documents related to hush money payments to a porn star - are all the result of a conspiracy cooked up by Harris and Biden. There is no evidence for that assertion.
Harris shot back by pointing out that Trump has promised to prosecute his enemies if he wins a second term.
"Understand this is someone who has openly said he would terminate, I'm quoting, terminate the Constitution," Harris said.
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump discuss they would break through the stalemate and reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Jerusalem Post
By HANNAH SARISOHN
SEPTEMBER 11, 2024
Almost an hour into the presidential debate on Tuesday night, debate moderators David Muir and Lindsey Davis asked Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump how they would break through the stalemate and reach a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Harris answered first, saying, "let's understand how we got here. On October 7, Hamas, a terrorist organization, slaughtered 1200 Israelis, many of them young people, who were simply attending a concert. Women were horribly raped."
"And so absolutely I said then, I say now, Israel has a right to defend itself. We would," she said. "How it does so matters, because it is also true, far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed; children, mothers. What we know is that this war must end. It must end immediately."
[…]
When it was Trump's turn to answer the question on Israel, he began by talking about Russia, saying President Putin would've never gone into Ukraine if he were president.
Trump then repeated a claim he said last week when addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition, that Israel would not exist under Harris.
"But when she mentions Israel, all of a sudden, she hates Israel. She wouldn't even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers. She went to go to the sorority party," Trump said. "She hates Israel. If she's president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now, and I've been pretty good at predictions."
While Harris's microphone was off, she could be seen mouthing, "oh, come on," as Trump said this.
Now I have to add this “Oh, come on,” for those who don’t remember when Trump wanted to pull out of NATO.
The Democratic and Republican candidates traded plenty of accusations. Do they hold up to factual scrutiny?
Aljazeer
September 11, 2024
Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump met face to face for the first time in Tuesday’s presidential debate in Philadelphia.
During the debate, they exchanged various accusations; here, we fact-check the candidates’ claims.
Harris ‘wouldn’t even meet’ Netanyahu
Trump: Harris “wouldn’t even meet with” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “when he went to Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers.”
Half true.
This needs context. Harris did skip Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of the US Congress on July 24. She was busy making a previously scheduled keynote speech to the Zeta Phi Beta sorority.
However, Harris met Netanyahu face-to-face the following day. After that meeting, she doubled down on support for Israel, committing to its defence, but also referred to the growing death toll of the war in Gaza, in which more than 41,000 people have been killed, and said she would not stay silent.
[…]
Trump misleads about military equipment in Afghanistan
Trump: The US “left $85bn worth of brand new, beautiful military equipment behind” in Afghanistan.
False.
The figure is far lower than Trump stated. When the Taliban toppled Afghanistan’s civilian government in 2021, it inherited military hardware the US gave to the government.
However, an independent inspector general report told Congress that only about $7bn of US-funded equipment remained in the Taliban’s hands. According to the report, “The US military removed or destroyed nearly all major equipment used by US troops in Afghanistan throughout the drawdown period in 2021.”
[…]
Additional ‘Trump sales tax’ of $4,000
Harris: “Economists have said that the Trump sales tax would actually result for middle-class families in about $4,000 more a year because of his policies and his ideas about what should be the backs of middle-class people paying for tax cuts for billionaires.”
Half true.
Trump has repeatedly proposed wide-ranging tariffs on foreign goods, including an across-the-board tariff of 10 percent to 20 percent and a 60 percent levy on goods from China. Although tariffs are imposed separately from the tax system, consumers would feel their effect much the same way as taxes.
However, the specific dollar impact on consumers varies. Two estimates we found generally support Harris’s $4,000 figure; two show a smaller, though still significant, impact.
US Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have faced off in a high-stakes televised debate in Philadelphia.
Over the course of 90 minutes, the candidates sparred over key issues including immigration, foreign policy, and the US economy.
Harris said: "I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America... His plan is to do what he has done before, which is to provide a tax cut for billionaires and big corporations which will result in five trillion dollars to America's deficit."
Trump said: "Look, we've had a terrible economy because inflation has, which is really known as a country buster, breaks up countries. We have inflation like very few people have ever seen before... I created one of the greatest economies in the history of our country. I'll do it again, and even better."
Update: 9/12 @ 8AMIn the poll everyone but one agreed that VP Harris won the debate, one person thought it was a draw. A draw? What debate did you watch.
Utah’s Republican-controlled Legislature will ask voters in November to relinquish some of their rights to lawmakers who want the ability to change state ballot measures after they’ve passed.
Frustrated by a recent state Supreme Court ruling, lawmakers called a special session Wednesday in which both chambers swiftly approved an amendment to Utah’s constitution that would grant them greater power over citizen initiatives. The Legislature used its broadly worded emergency powers to hold the session.
If a majority of Utah voters approves the amendment this fall, it would give lawmakers constitutional authority to significantly rewrite voter-approved ballot measures or repeal them entirely.
Democrats decried the decision as a “power grab,” while Republicans argued it would be dangerous to have certain laws on the books that cannot be substantially changed. The proposal would let lawmakers apply their new power to initiatives from past election cycles.
We can’t trust the voters to do the right thing… vote the way we want them to vote!
He pointed to how Republicans are trying to sweeten the deal for voters by tying the amendment’s success to other election reforms. For example, deadline extensions that might make it easier to place a voter referendum on the ballot will only pass if the amendment does, too.
And of course the Republicans right out of the 1984 novel give their twist on the reason of the bill,
State Sen. Kirk Cullimore, a Draper Republican and a sponsor of the proposal, said during floor debate that a recent state Supreme Court ruling in a redistricting case has effectively turned ballot initiatives into “super laws” that are not subject to the same revisions as laws passed by the Legislature.
Of the minor detail that they overlook to mention was that the court ordered the redistricting and if the Republicans don’t like the way the independent commission redraws the map they want to change it.
Last month, all five Republican-appointed state Supreme Court justices sided with plaintiffs who argued the GOP supermajority had overstepped its authority and undermined voters when it altered the ballot initiative that banned partisan gerrymandering. The court found that lawmakers do not currently have the authority to change laws approved through citizen initiatives except to reinforce them without impairing them, or to advance a compelling government interest.
Now, the Legislature is attempting to circumvent that ruling by expanding its constitutional authority over voters — but voters themselves will have the final say.
But the Republicans don’t like being told what to do… it is their way or else!
It might have been the biggest political win for Utahns — regular ol’ Utah citizens — in decades.
I’m referring to the Utah Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down the state Legislature’s repeal of Proposition 4, the citizen initiative that prohibited partisan gerrymandering, as unconstitutional.
The court’s argument was straightforward: Utah’s Constitution says that people “have the right to alter or reform their government as the public welfare may require,” and further establishes the public’s right to citizen initiatives. The Legislature can pass almost all sorts of laws, but it can’t pass laws that infringe upon constitutional rights.
Therefore, “government-reform initiatives are constitutionally protected from unfettered legislative amendment, repeal, or replacement,” the court decided.
[…]
So it’s worth reminding ourselves just what the Proposition 4 map standards were:
Adhering to federal law and achieving equal population between districts
Minimizing divisions of municipalities and counties across multiple districts
Making districts geographically compact
Making districts that are contiguous and allow for ease of transport throughout the district
Preserving traditional neighborhoods and local communities of interest
Following natural and geographic boundaries, barriers and features
Maximizing the agreement of boundaries between different types of districts
Avoiding dividing districts in a manner that “purposefully or unduly favors” a political party or candidate
Remember, the Legislature’s map actually passed muster by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project’s algorithm at first. The map is, to its credit, very compact. It avoids racial inequity extremely well, and in an imaginary 50/50 election in Utah, the Democrats would win one or two seats. The Princeton machine gave it an A letter grade ... before its human directors came in and looked at how the Legislature had achieved it. Eventually, the grade was downgraded to a C.
The problem is the population of Utah makes it hard to dived up the four districts.
A math researcher at Brigham Young University, Annika King, noticed these problems, and wanted to figure out a better way of studying Utah’s maps objectively. In her paper “Mathematical Analysis of Redistricting in Utah,” King found via computer modeling that it was actually impossible to make two contiguous districts in Utah that are likely to result in Democratic congresspeople. There simply aren’t enough Democratic voters.
So the Republicans want to use this as an excuse to change ballot initiatives once they pass! If you can win… cheat!
Hey! I have a simple solution that does not involve a change to the state's Constitution. It is real simple, if there are problems with what the voter passed, tell the voters what the problem are and offer a new ballot initiative that corrects the problems and let the voters to decide. But the Republicans don't like that answer because the voters still might not vote the way the Republicans want.
A measure that would have required schools to notify parents about their child’s gender identity and limited transgender youth medical care has failed to get enough signatures in support to qualify for the November ballot, proponents said Tuesday.
The proposal sought to notify parents if their child changes their name or pronouns at school or requests to use facilities or play sports that don’t match their gender on official records. It also would have banned California doctors from prescribing hormones or otherwise providing gender-affirming care to minors.
For the measure to qualify for the ballot, proponents had to submit the signatures of more than half a million registered voters by Tuesday, the deadline set by the California secretary of state.
Do you remember the anti-gay ballot initiative in California in 1978, Proposition 6 that lead to Harvey Milks Hope Speech?
Every year on May 22, California celebrates Harvey Milk Day to mark the indelible impact Milk left on the world. Milk is lauded for being the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California - an achievement in itself.
Less widely known is the fact that in the last year of his life, Milk tirelessly fought a virulently homophobic statewide initiative that looked very likely to pass and would have put California in the vanguard of a growing anti-gay movement.
Anita Bryant back in the late 70s was part of the “Save the Children” campaign and they were on a roll of passing anti-gay legislation around the country banning gay and lesbian on many of their rights and limiting where they could be employed.
California stopped the momentum and the Save the Children campaign died out but many of the states constitutions that were changed are still enforced but block by the Supreme Court.
So this ballot attempt has it roots back in the 70s with the Lavender Scare. The LA Times goes on to write,
Supporters of the measure sought to bring Republican-backed debates over “parental rights” that have been playing out on school boards in conservative pockets of California to the statewide level. California Democrats in turn have fought to thwart gender notification policies considered by several school boards, measures they said are harmful to transgender students who may feel safe at school but not at home.
[…]
Last week, Democratic state lawmakers in Sacramento introduced a bill that seeks to ban such school policies and shield teachers from retaliation for supporting transgender students as lawsuits over the issue are pending across the state.
But you want to guess who they tried to get to help them get the ballot initiative on the ballot?
They are hoping for the financial support of billionaire Elon Musk, who has criticized healthcare for transgender youth.
They gerrymandered the voting districts to make sure they win.
They mandate voter ID that low income and minorities have a hard time getting.
They are making it harder for absentee ballots to be used.
They have shortened early voting.
They have made it harder to vote in person, Georgia made it a crime to give water and food to voters waiting in line for hours.
They have made it harder for people with felony convictions to vote.
They have cut the number of voting districts to make it harder for low income voters to get to the polling places.
Now they are making it harder to pass ballot questions. They have increases the number of signatures to get a question on the ballot. They are trying to increase the percentage a yes votes to pass a ballot question.
The group working to ensure abortion access in Florida has nearly reached the number of signatures it needs under state law to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot. As of last week, Floridians Protecting Freedom had almost 864,000 of the required 891,523 validated signatures. This is important news. The voters of Florida must have the chance to speak on this issue, rather than allowing the Florida Legislature, which passed an extreme, six-week abortion ban in May, to force its decision on the rest of us.
They are going over every minute detail of the question trying to prevents from getting on the ballot and checking the signatures with their voting card.
The ballot measure is not a done deal yet. The state is trying to block voters from having their say. Attorney General Ashley Moody has filed a court challenge regarding the wording of the summary that would appear on the ballot. Getting the signatures is a crucial step. The abortion-rights group has until Feb. 1 to submit all the signatures and meet other requirements, including that the signatures come from at last half of Florida’s congressional districts. The group has said it’s on track to submit 1.4 million signatures for validation by the state. That should be more than enough — almost half a million more than required — even allowing for some signatures to be tossed out as invalid.
And they are going to court to try to block the voters.
Moody’s brief, filed with the state Supreme Court, argues, essentially, that Floridians will be confused by the wording of the ballot summary. The amendment would prohibit any state law that delays or bans abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the health of the patient. It would protect abortion access in Florida until viability, estimated at around 24 weeks.
The Republicans know that every ballot questions in every state so far defeated the Republicans attempt to make abortion illegal.
In the 18 months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion rights advocates have won every race in which the issue has appeared directly on the ballot.
But in several states, conservatives are refusing to let the results of those ballot measures be the last word.
In Ohio, Kansas and Michigan, for example, where abortion rights advocates won major victories in ballot measures over the past two years, anti-abortion groups and lawmakers are now turning their focus to blocking implementation of the initiatives by proposing bills and threatening lawsuits that would restrict the reproductive rights those elections protected.
The Republicans just done trust the voters to do the right thing.
Still, some conservatives are forging ahead with hard-line positions and tactics in states where abortion rights proponents had some of their biggest successes recently.
“Neither side is going to give up — at least in the short term,” said Jonathan Entin, a constitutional law expert and professor emeritus at the Case Western Reserve School of Law in Cleveland, who has closely followed the legal and political battles over abortion rights in Ohio.
In November, Ohio became the latest red-leaning state where voters — in a resounding 14-point win for the Issue 1 ballot measure — enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution.
Just days later, conservative lawmakers drafted legislation that proposed giving the Ohio General Assembly “the exclusive authority over implementing Issue 1” — a move that would have “denied” that “jurisdiction” to all courts in the state.
We are on a mission from god! We know better than the infidels.
Anti-abortion groups are also fighting efforts by abortion rights groups to collect enough petition signatures to place the issue on ballots in states across the U.S., including robust “decline to sign” movements in South Dakota, Arizona and Nevada.
But abortion rights supporters say they are also prepared to keep fighting — even in states where voters have already weighed in.
I am glad that the Republicans keep forging ahead on this because the abortion rights advocates are building a voter base from voters who are against the heavy handed Republicans to ignore the will of the people.
An anti-Trump Republican PAC has posted this ad...
The Republican Accountability Project is using "A Christmas Story" marathon to warn about the former president over the holidays.
HuffPost
By Ben Blanchet
December 23, 2023
A Republican group opposed to Donald Trump is pointing out how the former president stacks up to dictators in a new ad.
The Republican Accountability Project’s “Dictator Donald” spot, which comes weeks after Trump said he’d act like a dictator on “day one” of a new administration, sounds the alarm on the former president’s 2024 campaign.
[…]
The ad goes on to display a Truth Social post from the former president who, in December 2022, called for the “termination” of articles of the Constitution.
[…]
The ad later states that Trump plans to “purge tens of thousands of civil servants” from the government to replace them with his loyalists if he’s elected to another term.
The thing is Trump did say all that and meant it. Trump has a long memory and is very vengeful, he leaned it from his father attack you opponents and kick them when they are down.
“Get government off our backs” that was President Reagan campaign slogan back in 1980, the Republicans have done an 180 degree turn. The Christian Science Monitor wrote back in 1980.
We must "get the government off the backs of the people," declared Ronald Reagan during the presidential campaign, building on the common belief that the Democrats favor active government and the Republicans private initiative.
Well now the Republicans are saying let’s control Wall Street and how you invest your money!
GOP’s `anti-woke' crusade splits corporate America Giant asset managers are finding few friends in Washington as GOP lawmakers attack them for their climate and social agendas. Politico By Zachary Warmbrodt December 27, 2022
Republican lawmakers are vowing to crack down on big investment managers pushing climate and social agendas. But the Wall Street giants are finding they have few defenders in Washington to help fend off the assault.
The multitrillion-dollar asset managers — primarily BlackRock and its outspoken CEO Larry Fink, Vanguard and State Street — aren’t getting cover from major business trade groups whose members are divided on the issue. And they have no Republican allies, according to interviews with nearly a dozen industry representatives, lawmakers and climate advocates.
Some industry players feeling the heat are privately agitating for a more unified front against the attacks. But Republicans leading what they call the “anti-woke” charge in Congress said they’re feeling little resistance from business lobbying groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The GOP lawmakers say they have growing evidence that their effort is getting traction, with Vanguard walking away from an international climate change group in December.
“There is a fight within the banks and within the asset management firms about this,” Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.), one of the pressure campaign’s top voices on Capitol Hill, said. “I am observing conflicting messages from within these companies, and what I’m asking is for these banks and asset managers to purge these people who want to bring their politics into the operations of these businesses.”
So now the Republicans want to tell where individual investors can invest their money… that sure doen’t sound like “getting the government off our backs” that sounds like they are getting government in your face!
In Washington, House Republicans who will be in the majority next year are eyeing hearings and a suite of bills to pressure the investment firms.
The asset managers “do have a very defensible case as to why they should be considering climate and sustainability risk in investing practices,” said Sierra Club campaign director Ben Cushing, who advocates for financial firms to stop backing fossil fuel projects. “They didn’t do a very good job of just explaining that, and they’re allowing themselves to be bullied by these bad-faith political attacks.”
The Republicans screams capitalism except when it doesn't suit their agenda, then corporations are some how bad all of a sudden!
Florida is the first state in the nation to officially restrict how workplaces can discuss racism and bias.
Republican governor Ron DeSantis signed into law the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act, or Stop WOKE Act— a bill that regulates how schools and employers can talk about race and gender—on April 22.
“We believe an important component of freedom in the state of Florida is the freedom from having oppressive ideologies imposed upon you without your consent,” DeSantis said at the bill signing event at Mater Academy Charter Middle/High School in Hialeah Gardens last month. “Whether it be in the classroom or whether it be in the workplace, we decided to do something about it.”
How in your face is that! So far the courts have said “Whoa! That violates the First Amendment!” funny how the Republicans are always holding up their little copy of the Constitution but they don’t like something they ignore it.
The Republicans were gun-ho on referendums “Let the people decide!” until they lost…
Ohio advocates hoping to replicate a string of abortion rights victories fear being stymied by Republican lawmakers who are attempting to make it harder to pass citizen-initiated constitutional amendments.
Ballot initiatives put directly to voters have proven a winning strategy for abortion rights activists since Roe v Wade was overturned this summer, with six referendums delivering favorable results for pro-choice advocates.
In Ohio, Republicans want to bring their own legislation, raising the threshold for successful ballot initiatives to 60%, up from the simple majority currently required to amend the state constitution.
“The instinct from conservative lawmakers to make it harder for their voters to decide on the core issues that matter to them most is fundamentally an assault on voting rights,” says Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, an organization that supports progressive ballot initiatives in red and purple states. “Those lawmakers know their ideological views are out of sync with their voters [and] they are trying to change the rules of the game.”
Once again when it doesn’t go the Republican way they want to change the rules.
They are in women’s faces with abortion getting you and your doctor!
They are in trans children’s faces on medically necessary healthcare!
They are in children’s faces over what they can and cannot read!
The new Republican motto… “Government in your face!”
You remember how the Republicans used to say let the people decide on LGBTQ+ rights, how they were gun-ho on referendums well that all changed with Kansas now they are running scared.
A Michigan state elections panel voted along party lines Wednesday to block a proposal that could enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.
The reason? A typography issue.
Words were not misspelled ― nay, there was simply not sufficient spacing between some of them, apparently. (In graphic design, the space between characters is called “kerning.”)
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers deadlocked over whether to allow the abortion proposal to appear on the November ballot after a right-wing group challenged the proposal, which had been organized by the pro-choice group Reproductive Freedom for All.
The right-wing group, called Citizens to Support MI Women and Children, challenged the entire effort because, they said, minimal spacing in the text of the proposed amendment language reduced it to “gibberish.”
The canvassing board’s two Republican members voted to block the proposal, while two Democrats voted in favor of allowing it to appear before the voting public. A staff report from the state bureau of elections, overseen by Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state, had recommended approving the petition.
The drive to cement abortion rights in the Michigan constitution revealed a groundswell of support in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Whoa we can’t have people telling us what to do what a crazy idea! The orange haired guy must tell us.
Hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions this year backing proposed ballot initiatives to expand voting access, ensure abortion rights and legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona, Arkansas and Michigan.
Yet voters might not get a say because Republican officials or judges have blocked the proposals from the November elections, citing flawed wording, procedural shortcomings or insufficient petition signatures.
At the same time, Republican lawmakers in Arkansas and Arizona have placed constitutional amendments on the ballot proposing to make it harder to approve citizen initiatives in the future.
The Republican pushback against the initiative process is part of a several-year trend that gained steam as Democratic-aligned groups have increasingly used petitions to force public votes on issues that Republican-led legislatures have opposed. In reliably Republican Missouri, for example, voters have approved initiatives to expand Medicaid, raise the minimum wage and legalize medical marijuana. An initiative seeking to allow recreational pot is facing a court challenge from an anti-drug activist aiming to knock it off the November ballot.
The nerve of those people expecting the people to know what they want.
In Arizona, the primarily Republican-appointed Supreme Court recently blocked a proposed constitutional amendment that would have extended early voting and limited lobbyist gifts to lawmakers. The measure also would have specifically prohibited the Legislature from overturning the results of presidential elections, which some Republicans had explored after then- President Donald Trump’s loss in 2020.
After a lower court initially ruled the measure could appear on the November ballot, Arizona’s high court instructed the judge to reconsider. Then it upheld a subsequent ruling throwing out enough petition signatures to prevent the initiative from qualifying for the ballot.
The Republicans gerrymander the districts making it so that the Republicans can’t lose, they have made it harder for voters to vote with overbearing restrictions on voters IDs. And now they are trying to block referendums. They do not like voters, they want the party to tell people how to vote… just like Russia and China does.
Censorship is alive and growing in the Republican party, if anyone gets in their way they get run over. Through their hatred of anything LGBTQ+ knows no bounds.
When the town library wouldn't take down the LGBTQ+ books the voters defund the library.
Voters in a fast-growing West Michigan township on Tuesday defunded their public library amid a campaign against LGBTQ materials on the shelves.
Officials with Patmos Library in Jamestown Township say the library’s future is now uncertain after voters shot down the operating millage renewal [It appears that voters get to vote on renewing the towns departments budgets.] and increase on the Tuesday, Aug. 2, ballot.
Larry Walton, the library board’s president, told the Associated Press the library will lose 84% of its $245,000 annual budget following the failure of the millage question.
[…]
Voters shot down the millage question by a vote of 1,905 opposed to 1,142 in favor, or 62.5% to 37.5%, according to the unofficial count from the Ottawa County Clerk’s Office. It would’ve renewed and increased the millage of 0.4186 mills to 0.60 mills through 2032.
The library board is holding a meeting to decide what to do since they had almost all of their budget cut.
That is the problem with small towns, it is very sensitive to voter turnout. Only 3047 people voted out of about 9,630 residents.
“It was 100% about the cultural issue of having LGBT material in the library,” he said of the campaign. “As far as I can tell – I wasn’t necessarily super clued into everything that was going on in those discussions and that campaign – I never saw any opposition to the actual dollar amount or taxes.”
So now the town folks have no library, no puzzles to borrow for the children, no toys or games to borrow, no story telling for the children, no movies, or CDs. All because of a bunch of bigots and homophobes want to force their hatred on others.
They expect a new referendum on the library but now everyone in town knows of the vote and most don’t like it.
I never knew that our town was voted on in a referendum for a town indoor Olympic size swimming pool and I track town issues. With massive conglomerates and hedge funds buying up newspapers and laying off reporters there is no more town news, so I never learned of the vote on the pool.
I knew of the pool because of letters to the editor but their was no other news coverage on the referendum. I submitted a question to the mayor and never got a reply, my question was how much will the upkeep and staff cost a year? The pool was approved but out of 25,000 residents only 500 voted! And the vote was pretty much 50/50 vote with the pool winning by around a dozen votes.
Just like Jamestown Township a handful of residents with children on the swim team and their friends voted for the pool.
All politics are local and you just can’t no be interested… you have to get involved!
One morning you could wake up and find that the school board took down the non-discrimination policy or banned the LGBTQ+ student group or banned Critical Race Theory… or banned the LGBTQ+ books in the library!
...Is always hard but there are ways to do it and one of the way is to have a control group.
This was published last year when Massachusetts had the ballot question about our use of public accommodations and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it pop up on other ballots around the country. It deserves to be heard again.
There is no evidence that letting transgender people use public facilities that align with their gender identity increases safety risks, according to a new study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. The study is the first of its kind to rigorously test the relationship between nondiscrimination laws in public accommodations and reports of crime in public restrooms and other gender-segregated facilities.
“Opponents of public accommodations laws that include gender identity protections often claim that the laws leave women and children vulnerable to attack in public restrooms,” said lead author Amira Hasenbush. “But this study provides evidence that these incidents are rare and unrelated to the laws.”
[…]
To determine whether a relationship exists between nondiscrimination laws and crime, Hasenbush, a law and policy fellow at the Williams Institute, zeroed in on Massachusetts, where at the time of the study some localities had transgender-inclusive public accommodation laws and others did not. She and her team compared cities and towns with similar characteristics that had such laws to those that did not. They then examined police reports of assault and privacy violations in these localities both before and after the laws came into effect.
[…]
“Research has shown that transgender people are frequently denied access, verbally harassed or physically assaulted while trying to use public restrooms,” according to Jody L. Herman, one of the study’s authors and a public policy scholar at the Williams Institute. “This study should provide some assurance that these types of public accommodations laws provide necessary protections for transgender people and maintain safety and privacy for everyone.”
This study will no doubt be called upon in this coming election year and I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t come up in a brief for the up coming Supreme Court cases. We were already mentioned in the Democrat debate and I expect us to come up in the Republican ads.
One of the major attacking points the opposition uses is bathroom safety, you remember that ad that first surfaced down in Florida where that creepy follows a little girl in to a public restrooms? The opposition made it an issues in Massachusetts and I foresee it happening elsewhere.
We all know that they lied, the data shows that it wasn’t true, but fear goes a long ways to create hate against us even if it isn’t true.
I am not a religious person but I remember my Sunday school teachings about the Ten Commandments, the Eighth Commandment is… “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” But the Evangelical Christians have added a footnote; unless it is against trans people then it is okay to lie, cheat, and create hate.
The “families” liars came out in force in Massachusetts to repeal our rights but they were rebuffed by the voters.
A controversial TV commercial this fall featured a teenage girl, undressing in a ladies locker room, while a hooded cisgender man leers at her from within a stall. As she unbuttons her top, the creepy guy reveals himself, and the message of this horrifying ad becomes clear: allowing trans people to use bathrooms matching their gender identity gives male sexual predators permission to prey upon women and children.
[…]
“Our side concocted the ‘bathroom safety’ male predator argument as a way to avoid an uncomfortable battle over LGBT ideology, and still fire up people’s emotions. It worked in Houston a few years ago,” reads the post.
“But the LGBT lobby has now figured out how to beat it,” the Mass Resistance post continues. “Their lopsided victory in Massachusetts will likely be repeated everywhere else unless the establishment pro-family groups (and their wealthy donors) are willing to change their tactics.”
Yeah with the truth. The voters saw the lies for what they were.
This is what the so called “family” organization had to say.
On November 6, a nightmare happened in Massachusetts. There’s no way to whitewash this. Two-thirds of Massachusetts voters voted to keep a lunatic “transgender anti-discrimination” law in place. It’s a law that punishes people with fines and even jail time if they refuse to treat mentally dysfunctional men wearing dresses as if they were actual women.
How did this happen? It’s the old story of conservative groups trying to use a clever side argument to avoid getting into the real fight. It works for a while, but eventually the Left figures it out – which is what happened here.
[…] The LGBT lobby
The rallying cry of the LGBT lobby trying to keep the law in place was that this is about “civil rights.” (And they portrayed their opponents as being “against civil rights.”) Using that mantra, they gathered an unbelievably huge list of endorsements from corporations, small businesses, politicians, and other entities. Then they raised an enormous amount of money, nearly $5.7 million, which was about 20 times what the pro-family side raised.
[…] The Massachusetts pro-family groups
The rallying cry of the pro-family groups trying to repeal the law was the well-known “bathroom safety” argument – that in addition to transgenders, this law allows male sexual predators to lurk in women’s restrooms to prey on girls and women. This was technically true, but was largely contrived. They also talked about privacy in restrooms and locker rooms. They did NOT address the “civil rights” claim – which gave the LGBT lobby a complete free pass to use it without pushback. Nor did they address the bizarre and delusional nature of transgenderism itself in their arguments, except to say that transgenders “already have good legal protections” and didn’t need more. [My emphasis]
Maybe the voters saw through you deceit, maybe the voters saw that in the two years the law was in effect none of the direr consequences you predicted happened.
Maybe the voters saw though your hateful rhetoric.
Next they blamed it on their supporter being out matched in fundraising. Their cries to their supporters that they didn’t donate so we lost!
Now with the “transgender anti-discrimination” bills the same thing is happening. Our side concocted the “bathroom safety” male predator argument as a way to avoid an uncomfortable battle over LGBT ideology, and still fire up people’s emotions. It worked in Houston a few years ago.
Maybe it says something about the quality of the voters in Massachusetts.
But the LGBT lobby has now figured out how to beat it. Their lopsided victory in Massachusetts will likely be repeated everywhere else unless the establishment pro-family groups (and their wealthy donors) are willing to change their tactics.
Hate is their only tactic and maybe the voters realized that they are cloaking their hate in religion.
This isn’t the first time in Maryland in 2008 Theresa Rickman of the Citizens For A Responsible Government staged an event at a gym, she said on the radio that…
THERESA RICKMAN: Yes, at Rio Sport and Health up in Germantown. A guy dressed as a girl went into the ladies bathroom. And, ah you know, essentially what uh, that was meant to get some media attention, you know, and the guy left immediately apparently, I mean but there was, this is the Rio Sport and Health Club, you know and Sport and Health has steam rooms, and there are ladies changing in those locker rooms, people in various stages of undress [laughing] all the time, so there's lots a guy can see.
And then there were these that I wrote about here.
For these so called Christians the end justifies the means.
