Blog Posts Archive - Page 172 of 286 - People For the American Way

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December 23, 2013 7:11 pm | By Scott

Challenges & Opportunities: 2014 Political Landscape PFAW Telebriefing

On a recent national activist teleconference, pollster Geoff Garin of Hart Research Associates told PFAW supporters that 2014 could see challenging mid-year elections for progressives. Garin said 2013’s rollout difficulties with the Affordable Care Act, Tea Party obstructionism, and sliding…
December 20, 2013 11:33 pm | By Paul Gordon

Senate Republicans Send 55 Judicial Nominations Back to “Go”

As the Senate is winding up its business for the first session of the 113th Congress, Republicans are taking steps to make it harder to get things done during the second session (which starts in 2014). Specifically, they are taking…
December 20, 2013 10:14 pm | By Layne Amerikaner

Breaking: Judge Strikes Down Ban on Same-Sex Marriage in Utah

Adding to this week’s great news on marriage equality, today U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Shelby struck down Utah’s same-sex marriage ban, which was put into the state constitution by referendum in 2004. One of the far right’s standard…
December 20, 2013 3:13 pm | By Marge Baker

Suddenly Senate Republicans Are Worried About ‘Deliberation.’ Give Me a Break.

I can understand why Senate Republicans are angry about the recent change in the Senate’s filibuster rules. It means that their agenda of obstruction just got a lot harder. But all their righteous indignation is ringing hollow. Yesterday, Sen. Chuck…
December 20, 2013 2:56 pm | By Paul Gordon

Six Ways Senate Republicans Are Still Obstructing Judicial Nominations

As we approach the end of the first session of the 113th Congress, it's important to take stock of the toll that Republican obstruction has taken on the Senate's judicial confirmation process. Since President Obama took office, Senate Republicans have…
December 19, 2013 7:30 pm | By Layne Amerikaner

New Mexico Becomes 17th Marriage Equality State

It has been quite a year for marriage equality. Today the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the state is required by its constitution to allow same-sex couples to marry. This means that New Mexico joins the impressive list…
December 19, 2013 4:21 pm | By Layne Amerikaner

NC Committee Upholds Teaching of Challenged Allende Novel

After Isabel Allende’s internationally-renowned novel The House of the Spirits was challenged by a parent this October, PFAW Foundation wrote to members of the Watauga County, North Carolina Board of Education, urging them not to remove the book from the…
December 18, 2013 10:00 pm | By Paul Gordon

Escalated GOP Obstruction Provokes Talk of Committee Changes

The latest GOP tactic for blocking and delaying judicial nominations has pushed Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy into considering changes in committee rules to combat the increasing obstruction. For a committee chairman who has bent over backwards to respect…
December 13, 2013 10:38 pm | By Paul Gordon

Senate GOP Living Up to Right Wing Vow to be a “Resistance Movement”

A few hours after losing their fight to block Nina Pillard from the DC Circuit, Senate Republicans continued their war against President Obama, the Democratic Party, and common-sense governance by forcing cloture votes to end their filibuster of two consensus…
December 12, 2013 5:22 pm | By Paul Gordon

GOP Blocks Judiciary Committee From Even Meeting

Senate Republicans have escalated their sabotage of the judicial nominations process this week, most recently by forcing the Senate to wait until 1:00 am this morning to hold a confirmation vote on Nina Pillard to the D.C. Circuit. Senate Majority…
December 11, 2013 10:17 pm | By Paul Gordon

The GOP’s Post-Cloture Obstruction: Nothing Changes

Under Senate rules, after a filibuster has been broken by a successful cloture vote, a single senator can still delay an actual yes-or-no confirmation vote for as long as 30 hours. That 30-hour wait can be eliminated, but only if…
December 11, 2013 3:35 pm | By Peter Montgomery

The Perils of Religious Politicking

Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, a centrist Democrat facing a tough re-election campaign, launched a new political ad this month, and both the ad and the responses to it have highlighted the challenges of mixing religion and politics in ways…
December 10, 2013 10:39 pm | By Layne Amerikaner

PFAW and Allies Stand Up to ALEC

Last week ALEC held its annual meeting here in Washington, DC, once again bringing together state legislators and corporate representatives to advance legislation that hurts everyday Americans. But they weren’t alone. Outside their meeting at the Grand Hyatt, PFAW and…
December 10, 2013 9:02 pm | By Calvin Sloan

Supreme Court Hears Money in Politics Case, Activists Rally for Democracy

On October 8th, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in McCutcheon v. FEC, which has the potential to be the most destructive campaign finance case it has considered since Citizens United v. FEC. In McCutcheon, the Court is examining the…
December 10, 2013 5:44 pm | By Paul Gordon

Roberts Court Leaves Workers and Employers Hanging

Over the dissent of three of the moderate Justices, the Supreme Court this morning dismissed "as improvidently granted" the Unite Here v. Mulhall case. As we discussed in our term preview, that's the case where the Eleventh Circuit declared as…
December 9, 2013 9:20 pm | By Diallo Brooks

ALEC and Koch-Funded SPN in the Spotlight

Last week The Guardian began to shine some light on the shadowy right-wing group ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), exposing how the organization connecting corporations with conservative legislators to move a legislative agenda supporting special interests is declining in popularity.…
December 9, 2013 5:34 pm | By Paul Gordon

McConnell to Participate in Recess Appointments Case

This morning, the Supreme Court made some interesting procedural decisions in the Noel Canning recess appointments case, all relating the oral arguments scheduled for January 13. First, the Justices extended the argument time to 90 minutes, rather than the usual…
December 4, 2013 2:33 pm | By Layne Amerikaner

ALEC Experiences ‘Donor Exodus’ Following Trayvon Martin Tragedy

Apparently not all press is good press, after all. American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) documents recently obtained by The Guardian show the popularity of ALEC, an organization that connects corporate lobbyists with state legislators to push special interest legislation, to…
November 27, 2013 2:56 pm | By admin

Coming Out, Wherever You Are

The following is a guest post by South Dakota State Senator Angie Buhl O’Donnell, a member of People For the American Way Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network. Harvey Milk’s words inspired audiences throughout his life, but his most enduring words…
November 26, 2013 10:45 pm | By Layne Amerikaner

Karl Rove’s IRS Problem

Thanks to some tax-return digging, ProPublica found this week that the Karl Rove-connected Crossroads GPS actually spent at least $11 million more on political activities last year than they told the IRS. ProPublica’s Kim Barker reported: New tax documents, made…