Cap and Trade Vote Results

After much debating the Cap and Trade Vote Results are in! The American Clean Energy and Security Act barely passed in the U.S House of Representatives with a final vote of 219-211. The bill needed 218 votes to pass. From here the Senate is now expected to print their version of the legislation before the bill can be passed to President Obama.

Despite that, almost fifty Democrats crossed the aisle and voted against Cap and Trade. They knew how their constituents, who were melting down phone lines and stuffing email boxes in opposition, feel about being fleeced by the government for no good reason. Unfortunately eight Republicans, RINOs actually, voted in favor of Cap and Trade and provided the margin of victory.

The irony is that it is conventional wisdom that Cap and Trade, at least the House version, is going to die a very quick death in the Senate. That means that quite a few House members have alienated their constituents for no reason. In the meantime, embarrassing provisions from Cap and Trade, such as the regulatory regime for hot tubs, will continue to come to light.

2010 census

2010 census will discount same-sex marriages. Ignoring same-sex marriages does not allow an accurate picture of America. Surprisingly, data shows Mississippi as having the largest number of same-sex couples with children, and registered same-sex couples live in just about every county in the U.S. Gilligan argues how ignoring the demography of LGBTs continues stereotypes of the population as exclusively white, urban, male, and wealthy. Gilligan’s good news is the Census Bureau is responsive to public pressure.

Same-sex relationships remain the most contentious social issue in the United States, despite four decades of work by activists and scholars to change laws and attitudes that condemn queer people to second-class status in the U.S. The vicious struggle over same-sex marriage in California last year is but one example of the irrational homophobia that continues to dominate public discussions of LGBT rights.

LBGT people remain a go-to divisive issue in American politics and culture, researchers suggest, in part because of the lack of data available about how queer people really live their lives. In the absence of concrete data, misconceptions about gays and lesbians flourish, while the impact of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity remains unexamined.