Morning Fizz
Even More Impressive
Caffeinated News & Gossip. Your daily Morning Fizz
1. The Seattle Times' "Truth Needle" column slammed the Washington State Democratic Party this weekend for saying that Washington State Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna equated gay marriage with polygamy and incest.
Basically, the Times says the Democrats took a 2004 McKenna quote out of context; McKenna was talking about a 2004 King County Superior Court ruling against the state's Defense of Marriage Act, calling the ruling too broad because it could lead to incest and polygamy. [pullquote]The article accuses the Democrats of taking McKenna out of context without looking at the legal context of McKenna's current position.[/pullquote]
Fair enough.
But here's the problem. The article, which accuses the Democrats of taking McKenna out of context, accepts McKenna's legal literalism at face value—without looking at the legal context of his current position.
The only legal issue McKenna has raised with the prospect of gay marriage legislation is that it could compel churches to do gay weddings, which, he says, would violate churches' First Amendment rights. But the proposed legislation explicitly allows religious institutions to refuse to perform gay marriages. It's just a state thing, Gov. Chris Gregoire says. And the state can't be in the business of discriminating, she argues.
Fizz is still waiting to hear McKenna's legal objection to Gregoire's gay marriage proposal, which he told Q13 TV he will vote against if and when there's a referendum on the measure (which has enough votes to pass in the Senate and will almost certainly pass in the House).
The bill is expected to come to a vote on the senate floor this Wednesday. It's also on the agenda in the house judiciary committee this afternoon.
2. Implementing the federal health care reform act is also coming up in the house today (in the health care committee) and 300 activists from NARAL-Pro Choice Washington, Planned Parenthood, and other pro-choice groups are headed to Olympia to lobby for Seattle-area state Rep. Eileen Cody's (D-34, W. Seattle) and state Sen. Steve Hobbs' (D-44, Lake Stevens) bill that requires all health insurance policies sold in Washington that cover maternity care to also provide coverage for abortion.
The bill, dubbed the Reproductive Parity Act by pro-choice groups, protects abortion rights by heading off the loopholes in President Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act that allow insurance companies to refuse to provide abortion coverage.
3. US Sen. Maria Cantwell's latest fundraising numbers are in: She raised $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 and now has $4 million cash on hand. The Republican challenger, first-term, low-profile state Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-6, Spokane) has raised $120,000.
Even more impressive for Cantwell: She has nearly 20,000 new donors and 87 percent of her donations are $100 or less.
4. The Seattle Times reports on the upcoming—March 3—Washington State GOP presidential caucus, noting that Newt Gingrich doesn't have an operation in the state while Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have serious setups in play.
Gingrich has won the support of anti-gay marriage pastor Rev. Joe Fuiten of the Cedar Park Church in Bothell.
1. The Seattle Times' "Truth Needle" column slammed the Washington State Democratic Party this weekend for saying that Washington State Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna equated gay marriage with polygamy and incest.
Basically, the Times says the Democrats took a 2004 McKenna quote out of context; McKenna was talking about a 2004 King County Superior Court ruling against the state's Defense of Marriage Act, calling the ruling too broad because it could lead to incest and polygamy. [pullquote]The article accuses the Democrats of taking McKenna out of context without looking at the legal context of McKenna's current position.[/pullquote]
Fair enough.
But here's the problem. The article, which accuses the Democrats of taking McKenna out of context, accepts McKenna's legal literalism at face value—without looking at the legal context of his current position.
The only legal issue McKenna has raised with the prospect of gay marriage legislation is that it could compel churches to do gay weddings, which, he says, would violate churches' First Amendment rights. But the proposed legislation explicitly allows religious institutions to refuse to perform gay marriages. It's just a state thing, Gov. Chris Gregoire says. And the state can't be in the business of discriminating, she argues.
Fizz is still waiting to hear McKenna's legal objection to Gregoire's gay marriage proposal, which he told Q13 TV he will vote against if and when there's a referendum on the measure (which has enough votes to pass in the Senate and will almost certainly pass in the House).
The bill is expected to come to a vote on the senate floor this Wednesday. It's also on the agenda in the house judiciary committee this afternoon.
2. Implementing the federal health care reform act is also coming up in the house today (in the health care committee) and 300 activists from NARAL-Pro Choice Washington, Planned Parenthood, and other pro-choice groups are headed to Olympia to lobby for Seattle-area state Rep. Eileen Cody's (D-34, W. Seattle) and state Sen. Steve Hobbs' (D-44, Lake Stevens) bill that requires all health insurance policies sold in Washington that cover maternity care to also provide coverage for abortion.
The bill, dubbed the Reproductive Parity Act by pro-choice groups, protects abortion rights by heading off the loopholes in President Obama’s Affordable Healthcare Act that allow insurance companies to refuse to provide abortion coverage.
3. US Sen. Maria Cantwell's latest fundraising numbers are in: She raised $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 and now has $4 million cash on hand. The Republican challenger, first-term, low-profile state Sen. Michael Baumgartner (R-6, Spokane) has raised $120,000.
Even more impressive for Cantwell: She has nearly 20,000 new donors and 87 percent of her donations are $100 or less.
4. The Seattle Times reports on the upcoming—March 3—Washington State GOP presidential caucus, noting that Newt Gingrich doesn't have an operation in the state while Mitt Romney and Ron Paul have serious setups in play.
Gingrich has won the support of anti-gay marriage pastor Rev. Joe Fuiten of the Cedar Park Church in Bothell.
