[GQuagmire]

The vote came after House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, Senate President Therese Murray, and Governor Deval Patrick conferred this morning and concluded that they have the votes to kill the proposal.

The three leaders - along with gay rights activists - spent the last several days intensely lobbying a dozen or more state representatives and state senators who had previously supported the amendment but signaled that they were open to changing their positions.

Because fewer than 50 of the state's 200 lawmakers supported the amendment, it will not appear on the 2008 ballot, giving gay marriage advocates a major victory in their battle with social conservatives to keep same-sex marriage legal in Massachusetts.

Opponents of gay marriage face an increasingly tough battle to win legislative approval of any future petitions to appear on a statewide ballot. The next election available to them is 2012.

[pissant]

Mitt’s legacy?

[FormerLib]

The homosexual agenda is incompatible with our democracy, period.

[GQuagmire]

More business as usual at Mass. State House

I can’t wait to see who flipped and what the payout was.

[rhombus]

Classic Massachusetts.

[MEGoody]

The three leaders - along with gay rights activists - spent the last several days intensely lobbying a dozen or more state representatives and state senators who had previously supported the amendment but signaled that they were open to changing their positions.

Wonder what kind of goodies they got for changing their votes.

[AU72]

Howie Carr will follow up with those few who flipped from the last vote to see what their payoff was.

[Argus]

If the voters of Massachusetts are too liberal, lazy or just clueless to keep returning these same bozos to office at every election, they’re going to deserve what they get.

[Antoninus]

What a disgrace. I’m so glad I got out of Mass when I did. Theses slimebags make NJ look conservative.

[gidget7]

All that’s left is the repercussions, which will be many!

Increase of the exodus out of MA. Increase in children being pulled from public schools. Increase in folks allowing their properties to go into foreclosure rather than sell them and help the MA economy. Increases in homes that don’t sell. Increase in disgruntled voters.

Decrease in tourism. Decrease in spending in MA. Decrease in revenue from conventions (empty convention centers) Decrease in businesses operating or opening in MA.

Lose/Lose situation! All the way around. Where socialism/communism reigns, the economy/standard of living decline rapidly.

[i_dont_chat]

related story

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1850186/posts

[VeniVidiVici]

Just wow. The Democrats who claim to want everything decided by the voters and ballot, deny the citizens of Massachusetts a vote on this.

How freaking hypocritical - but typical - of the RAT party.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

I have to admit that I don't give a rat's ass about this issue. Homos or dykes marrying each other has no effect on my life whatsoever, and from where I sit, I can say that homosexual marriage has certainly not destroyed civic life. In fact, even Howie Carr would admit---and admitted as much yesterday---that only a tiny fraction of homosexuals even bother to get married, and of those who do, the overwhelming majority of them are lesbians, and the number of homosexual marriages has dwindled down from "a few" to "hardly any at all" as of late.

True, I would have preferred to vote on the issue, as I think the people who championed the initiative proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that people wanted to vote on the issue, and that the system circumvented this vote through back-room political maneuvering. But I feel that way because of the political process, and that would be true of any ballot initiative, not simply this one. Homosexual marriage? Who gives a sh*t.

[Honorary Serb]

Disgusting!!!!

[fwdude]

I could be irrationally optimistic about the repercussions of this vote, but perhaps there will be a conservative backlash in the next legislative election in MA. I’m sure this loss by pro-marriage forces is reverberating across the country, solidifying conservative resolve somewhat, for the next election. Hope I’m right.