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email from Equality VA, a pro-homosexual group in VA: Exciting news! The Kaine administration has started the rulemaking process that could result in state employees being able to choose either to include either a spouse or an “otherwise qualified adult” on their state health insurance plan. Equality Virginia has been working to achieve this goal for the past year. These efforts finally have resulted in publication of aNotice of Intended Regulatory Action that is the first step in a long process that will not conclude until months after Governor-elect McDonnell takes office in January. To move this proposal from suggestion...

GOP to rebrand Dems as 'socialists' By: Roger Simon May 13, 2009 04:32 AM EST A member of the Republican National Committee told me Tuesday that when the RNC meets in an extraordinary special session next week, it will approve a resolution rebranding Democrats as the “Democrat Socialist Party.” When I asked if such a resolution would force RNC Chairman Michael Steele to use that label when talking about Democrats in all his speeches and press releases, the RNC member replied: “Who cares?” Which pretty much sums up the attitude some members of the RNC have toward their chairman these...

Gay marriage legalization in several states and the public's growing acceptance of same-sex unions have Democrats sensing political opportunity and some Republicans re-evaluating their party's hard-line opposition to an issue that long has rallied its base. In recent weeks, Vermont and Iowa have legalized same-sex marriage, while New York, Maine and New Hampshire have taken steps in that direction. Polls show younger Americans are far are more tolerant on the issue than are older generations. For now at least, the public is much more focused on the troubled economy and two wars than on social issues.

Do you remember the 1972 Democratic Convention? This was the convention which put abortion on the party's platform. I watched this on tv. I also remember a Democrat Convention which could have been 1972 or maybe 1976, this time they put gay rights on the party platform. I wish someone in the Republican Party could find these archives and show the whole country how the Democratic Party accepted these extreme views and officially put it on their party platform. It appears that there are too many naive Democratic voters who have never heard of this and are under the illusion...

10 Planks of the Communist Manifesto, almost there Someone sent this for discussion. Is it fore real? 1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. SOON 2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. DONE 3. Abolition of all right of inheritance. MOSTLY DONE, Obama would retain a reduced version of the estate tax, as it is correctly called, though McCain would reduce it by more. 4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. SOON, (Property rights?) 5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of...

Much has been made of the Democratic Party’s new platform plank on abortion. Jim Wallis has hailed the new language as “an historic step forward.” Is it? Well, Sen. Obama says that “words matter,” so let’s examine the actual words. It is true that the Democrats did add language stating that the party “strongly supports a woman’s decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre and post natal health care, parenting skills, income support, and caring adoption programs.” This is good to know and does provide a certain moral symmetry to their promotion...

Cap and trade, drilling, no nukes, and tax credits for all At their conventions this past month, the Democrats and Republicans each laid out their differing solutions to our nation's energy and climate troubles. Energy and climate change are intertwined because burning fossil fuels that power the modern world produces carbon dioxide emissions that are warming the planet. In addition, higher oil prices have raised concerns about the nation's energy security. Combing through both platforms, it appears that the Republicans endorse a far more sweeping set of energy and climate change policies than do their Democratic counterparts. The GOP platform...

The past two presidential elections taught the losing Democrats a couple of political lessons. They learned that attacks on guns and defense of abortion are no longer winning issues for them, and this new awakening is reflected in their 2008 party platform adopted in Denver. The platform grudgingly states, "We will preserve Americans' Second Amendment right to own and use firearms." The powers-that-be in the Democratic Party have learned to tolerate a few pro-gun candidates. Feminist pressure won't let the Democrats recede from their "proudly" stated 2004 platform position that "abortion should be safe, legal and rare." This year's platform...

Going Off the Deep End in Denver: Democrats Walk the Abortion Plank August 30th, 2008 by Steven W. Mosher Already notorious for its unconditional embrace of abortion, the Democratic Party has now managed to adopt a position on the paramount life issue that is, if anything, even more extreme. The new platform adopted in Denver states that the Party “strongly and unequivocally supports Roe v. Wade and a woman’s right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.”Past Democratic Party platforms had managed...

The Democrats have titled their party platform, "Renewing America's Promise." A more honest and accurate title would be, "We'll Give You More." The soul of the Democratic philosophy is summed up in this passage from the platform: "For decades, Americans have been told to act for ourselves, by ourselves, on our own. Democrats reject this recipe for division and failure." Note the disdain for the ethos of self-responsibility. Democrats do not merely regard it as insufficient. Instead they regard the idea that people should provide for themselves as divisive. Even more significantly, Democrats regard self-responsibility as a "recipe for failure."...

DENVER » Recognition of native Hawaiians is back in the Democratic Party's national platform. The wording is a bit different from the plank adopted in 2000, but the emphasis on some form of native Hawaiian recognition by the federal government runs on the same track. This year, Democrats said: "We support the efforts for self-determination and sovereignty of native Hawaiians, consistent with principles enumerated in the Apology Resolution and the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act." Eight years ago, the Democrats, meeting in Los Angeles, said: "We will work to pass legislation establishing a process for native Hawaiians to reorganize a...

The 2008 Democratic Party platform calls for ushering in a new era of government intervention in nearly all corners of American life, but its words on national defense read more like a Republican document than leftist manifesto. The platform's pro-defense bent at times belies specific statements from Sen. Barrack Obama, the party's presidential nominee. He has singled out major weapons programs for budget cuts and has pledged to talk to any world leader, including the president of Iran, without preconditions. The platform's national security blueprint does contain two overtures to the Left: a pledge to end the ban on gays...

Earlier Tuesday, a group of about 50 anti-abortion activists unfurled a huge sign on a mesa west of Denver equating the Democratic National Convention with abortion, but later removed it at the request of authorities. About 50 people hiked up the mesa Tuesday to post the sign, but the heat and the exertion took their toll. Deputies sent to the scene allowed those in distress to get food and water, Jefferson County sheriff's spokeswoman Andrea Burns said. Some of the protesters agreed to hike back up and take down the sign, made of more than 2,000 queen-size sheets sewn together...

With a Fox News helicopter overhead and police at bay below, pro-lifers are more than halfway toward their official Guinness Book of World Records attempt to display the largest ever protest sign.

A few years ago, Richard Doerflinger, a pro-life Roman Catholic intellectual with decades of experience in the trenches of America's culture wars, was invited to debate the moral and legal status of the human embryo before a large class of Harvard undergraduates. During the course of the discussion, Doerflinger's Harvard faculty interlocutor drew a timeline of human biological development on the blackboard: conception, implantation, brain waves, viability, birth and so forth. His challenge to Doerflinger was to defend, in a nonarbitrary way and without reference to religious principles, the notion that society should recognize moral value and legal rights at...

Denver, CO (LifeNews.com) -- As the Democratic Party begins its national convention, a leading Catholic bishop has some tough words for Democrats who used flowery language in the platform to direct attention away from its pro-abortion stance. The comments reveal why the party failed to invite Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver. Chaput was not invited to officially participate in the convention despite serving as the leader of the largest religious denomination in the state. The Democratic Party has put forward a platform that promotes unlimited abortions paid for at taxpayer expense and, while he didn't comment director on the platform...

The 2008 Convention: Americans Gathering To Change The Course Of A Nation Program Schedule Monday, August 25 – One Nation Barack Obama’s story is an American story that reflects a life of struggle, opportunity and responsibility like those faced by Americans everyday. The opening night of the Convention will highlight Barack’s life story, his commitment to change, and the voices of Americans who are calling for a new direction for this country. Monday’s headline prime-time speaker will be Michelle Obama. 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM (LOCAL) Call to Order The Honorable Howard Dean Chair, Democratic National Committee Former Governor of...

Can you guess the reason? How about high gas prices? Nancy "Nine Percent" Pelosi shuts down Congress and skips town without passing an energy bill. Now the Democrats are pushing for a four day work week for gas relief for themselves and federal employees, even though they refuse to do anything to provide relief for ordinary Americans. Amazing! Evaluation: Democrats Pushing for Four Day Work Week for Federal Employees

Democrats used to love to bash President Bush for sending America to war without asking Americans to sacrifice. Now that it is an election year, you won't hear the s-word coming out of their lips. The Democratic National Committee draft platform is all goodies. The draft, "Renewing America's Promise," says the party will heed the American desire to "abandon the politics of partisan division" - and they are eager to do so, as soon as they are done blaming Republicans for high gasoline prices, the mortgage meltdown and an "unnecessary war." ... And: "The American people do not want government...

There was a time, not all that long ago, when the conventions of the two major political parties were more than carefully orchestrated photo opportunities and pep rallies. The television networks have long since acceded to their audiences' wishes and ended the tradition of "gavel-to-gavel" coverage of these political jamborees. They are right to do so. Once the conventions stopped being news events and became endless partisan infomercials, there was no reason to treat them as being any different from any other garden-variety political rally. But that hasn't stopped the parties from continuing some of the time-honored traditions of the...

Firearms We recognize that the right to bear arms is an important part of the American tradition, and we will preserve Americans’ continued Second Amendment right to own and use firearms. We believe that the right to own firearms is subject to reasonable regulation, but we know that what works in Chicago may not work in Cheyenne. We can work together to enact and enforce common-sense laws and improvements, like closing the gun show loophole, improving our background check system and reinstating the assault weapons ban, so that guns do not fall into the hands of terrorists or criminals. Acting...

The Democratic Party platform is like a bag of pork rinds. You never know what high-fat liberal government morsel you're gonna get. Buried in the 94-page document is a noble-sounding proposal to create a "Social Investment Fund Network." The program would provide federal money to "social entrepreneurs and leading nonprofit organizations (that) are assisting schools, lifting families out of poverty, filling health care gaps and inspiring others to lead change in their own communities." The Democratic Party promises to "support these results-oriented innovators" by creating an office to "coordinate government and nonprofit efforts" and then showering "a series of grants"...

Washington, DC - Today, the National Stonewall Democrats applauded the Obama campaign and Democratic advocates for proposing the most sweeping pro-LGBT national platform in Democratic Party history. The Democratic National Committee has now released the platform that will be proposed to delegates in Denver. For the first time in party history, the Democratic National Platform calls on Democrats to enact policy which opposes discrimination on the basis of gender identity - a key provision advocated by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Democrats. http://www.stonewalldemocrats.org/node/89 "For the first time, the 2008 Democratic platform includes everyone in our community, regardless of their...

"If the Democratic Party is interested in garnering men’s votes, one certainly would not know it from their platform. The Democratic National Committee’s 'Renewing America's Promise' is bad news for American fathers." My new co-authored column, DNC Platform: Bad News for Dads (World Net Daily, 8/15/08), criticizes the new Democratic Party platform's family and fatherhood policies. DNC Platform: Bad News for Dads By Mike McCormick and Glenn Sacks If the Democratic Party is interested in garnering men’s votes, one certainly would not know it from their platform. The Democratic National Committee’s "Renewing America's Promise" is bad news for American fathers....

Yesterday, the Platform Committee of the Democratic National Committee met in Pittsburgh to review and amend the draft platform. In July, community meetings were held all across the country to gather input from people of all walks of life. Those of us in the 2nd Transgender Caucus stepped up in our own way to ensure that the concerns of the Transgender community were heard and ncluded. Amanda Simpson of Arizona met with her Governor, Janet Napolitano, who was the Chair of the Drafting Committee. Several others, including me, met directly with Platform Committee members from our respective states. Tennessee has...

For years now, nearly every poll has shown that the American people are right in sync with the platform of the Democratic Party. They are pro-environment, pro-women's rights and pro-choice. They don't like war. They want the minimum wage raised, and they want a single-payer universal health-care system. The American public agrees with the Republican Party on only one major issue: They support the death penalty. So you would think the Democrats would be cleaning up, election after election. Obviously not. The Democrats appear to be professional losers. They are so pathetic in their ability to win elections, they even...

This morning Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando brought to my attention a letter he just had published in the Orlando Sentinel regarding the priority of abortion in assessing the candidates in the upcoming election. Here is what he wrote:“Jay Hamburg’s article Wednesday, ‘Evangelical: We Can Back Dems, Obama,’ inaccurately implied that Catholic leaders shared the positive assessment the Rev. Joel Hunter gave the ‘abortion plank’ of the Democratic Party’s platform.“The bishops have gone on record stating just the opposite. And they are the ones who speak as the leaders of the Catholic Church in the United States–and not political operatives...

Sixty-five percent. That's Pennsylvania Sen. Robert Casey Jr.'s rating with NARAL Pro-Choice America, the standard measure for a politician's abortion-rights-advocacy purity. Sixty-five percent -- voting with NARAL two out of three times -- does not a pro-life Democrat make. And yet, when the Dems announced that Casey would be speaking at their convention in Denver, it was widely accepted that he could be described as a pro-life presence there. But one indicator of Casey's false colors -- besides his voting record -- that shows his comfortable alignment with the same old pro-abortion puppet masters dominating the Democratic Party could be...

NEW YORK, August 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pro-Abortion leader Francis Kissling has published an article acknowledging that the new Democratic Party platform favors the cause of abortion and sex education, even more so than in previous years.Kissling notes that the new platform "derives its moral authority from 'a woman's right to choose safe and legal abortion'", unlike older ones that spoke merely of "privacy."She is also delighted that the platform makes no mention of making abortion "rare", and for the first time mentions "sex education", which is frequently used to promote contraception, abortion, "alternative sexual lifestyles" and extra-marital sex....

Were you aware that the Democratic Party platform will soon "strongly" support "motherhood"? Many of us with mothers are grateful. Yesterday, a bevy of articles appeared alerting us to the fact that Democrats would offer a pointless embrace of maternity to soften the edges of the party's position on abortion. This, presumably, would grant many social conservatives the space they need to immerse in the warm and tender rays of Hope. Has anything changed policywise on the issue? Has Barack Obama's stance softened? Not yet. And why should it. The right of a woman to choose an abortion is one...

Camp Obama is making a significant attempt to gain popularity among his "fellow Christians" this week by supporting the Democratic platform to "embrace motherhood". The new (and not so much improved) democrat platform is calling for additional funding to pre and post-natal health care, in attempts to gather the Evangelical vote in November. Bush took over 70% of the Evangelical vote in 2004, and Camp Obama is hoping to cash-in on some of those much needed votes in order to put a greater wedge between him and McCain come November. According to recent Gallup polls McCain has a 64% approval...

The 2008 Democratic Party’s draft platform confirms that the party still “doesn’t get it” about Second Amendment gun rights versus the Utopian fantasy that gun control laws will somehow make neighborhoods safer, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. “While promising to preserve our Second Amendment rights,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “the party platform demonizes semiautomatic sport utility rifles and wants them banned, calls for anti-gun show legislation and proposes so-called ‘common-sense’ gun laws. Many Democrats believe bans on most guns are ‘common sense’ and they still support the handgun ban in Barack...

The Democratic Party is planning a convention designed to soften the edges on the party's support for abortion rights, with a revamped platform and a speaking lineup that reinforces efforts to broaden Democrats' appeal on the hot-button issue. In a statement fraught with symbolism for those on both sides of the abortion debate, Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., an abortion-rights opponent, will be given a prime speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month. Casey's father, the late Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey, a Democrat who also held strong anti-abortion views, was denied a speaking role at...

Democrats ‘Still Don’t Get It’ on Guns Wednesday, August 13, 2008 By Susan Jones, Senior Editor (CNSNews.com) - Beware of what the Democrats are saying about guns in their party platform, a Second Amendment group says. The draft 2008 Democratic National Platform includes the “Utopian fantasy that gun control laws will somehow make neighborhoods safer,” said the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. “While promising to preserve our Second Amendment rights, the party platform demonizes semiautomatic sport utility rifles and wants them banned, calls for anti-gun show legislation and proposes so-called ‘common-sense’ gun laws,” said CCRKBA...

The national platform approved at a Democratic Platform Committee meeting in Pittsburgh on Saturday includes language that calls for repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy implemented by Democratic President Bill Clinton and for allowing homosexuals to serve openly in the military. Under current federal law, homosexual conduct is illegal in the U.S. military. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has said he favors repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and allowing avowed homosexuals in the military. In Congress this summer, some Democratic members started laying the ground work for such a policy change should Obama be elected...

CNSNews.com Dems' New National Platform Opposes Defense of Marriage Act Tuesday, August 12, 2008 By Josiah Ryan, Staff Writer (CNSNews.com) – The 2008 Democratic Party platform draft, which will be submitted to delegates at the Democratic National Convention for approval later this month, expresses opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law that presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he wants to repeal. “We will enact a comprehensive bipartisan employment non-discrimination act,” says the platform draft. “We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us.”

A group of Hillary Clinton supporters wants the Democratic national platform to include a line decrying "pervasive gender bias in the media," but a new poll of attitudes among women about the '08 campaign does not lend much support to the push. The survey, a joint endeavor by well-known Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway and Democratic counterpart Celinda Lake, found that "despite all the talk about sexism in the presidential campaign, the majority of women voters laid the blame for Hillary's loss squarely on her and her strategists' shoulders; they largely reject gender as a cause of her demise." The precise...

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Pressured by progressive activists who objected to the tepid language in a draft document prepared by the Barack Obama campaign, the Democratic platform-writing committee reworked the party's official agenda Saturday to include a clear commitment "that every American man, woman and child be guaranteed to have affordable, comprehensive health care." The official draft, which was adopted at the platform committee's gathering in Pittsburgh, will now be submitted to the Democratic National Convention for approval. The platform is likely...

Abortion has been dividing the culture, including political parties for over 30 years now. In its last several iterations with the Clintons, Al Gore, and John Kerry, the Democratic party platform has been rather decidedly one-sided.Roe v. Wade is to be affirmed and defended. End of story. Oh yes, there was the language of "safe, legal and rare," but the emphasis was always on 'safe and legal,' with 'rare' little more than an afterthought. Barack Obama is a different type of candidate. As he sees it, Roe is not an endorsement of abortion, so much as an affirmation that abortion...

Abortion has been dividing the culture, including political parties for over 30 years now. In its last several iterations with the Clintons, Al Gore, and John Kerry, the Democratic party platform has been rather decidedly one-sided.Roe v. Wade is to be affirmed and defended. End of story. Oh yes, there was the language of "safe, legal and rare," but the emphasis was always on 'safe and legal,' with 'rare' little more than an afterthought. Barack Obama is a different type of candidate. As he sees it, Roe is not an endorsement of abortion, so much as an affirmation that abortion...

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Democrats shaped a set of principles Saturday that commits the party to guaranteed health care for all, heading off a potentially divisive debate and edging the party closer to the position of Barack Obama's defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The party's platform committee moved smoothly through a range of issues for the fall campaign and approved a document that will go to the Democratic convention in Denver later this month for adoption. There was little dissent -- or room for it -- in the day's meeting and a compromise on health policy took one flash-point off the...

Democrats adopt goal of health care guaranteeUpdated: Aug 9, 2008 04:57 PM EDT PITTSBURGH (AP) - Democrats have shaped a platform that commits the party to guaranteed health care for all. The adoption of that plank Saturday in Pittsburgh headed off a potentially divisive debate and brought the party closer to the position held by defeated presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton. Barack Obama, likely to be the Democratic nominee, has stopped short of proposing to mandate health coverage for all. He aims to achieve something close to universal coverage by making insurance more affordable and helping families pay for it.

Marc Ambinder has a copy. 54 pages in all, much of it Obama stump speech boilerplate stripped of the incandescent oratorical genius of “Yes we can.” Foreign policy begins on page 23; the section on Iraq is 22 lines long, just nine more than the section on tribal sovereignty on page 50 and 14 more than the section on “don’t ask, don’t tell” on page 30. The Iran section follows below. Is “high-level diplomacy” a euphemism for “presidential diplomacy” or is the climbdown on Obama’s promise at last year’s YouTube debate now complete? Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons The...

Washington, DC -- A draft copy of the proposed Democratic Party platform shouldn't surprise anyone involved in the abortion debate. The platform backs unlimited abortions paid for at taxpayer expense but also tries to moderate the party's image with support for childbirth and birth control. The party platform is supposed to mirror the principles and policies of the nominee, in this case pro-abortion candidate Barack Obama. The proposed platform does just that, by promoting unqualified support for abortion and the Roe v. Wade case that ushered in 50 million abortions. Full story at: http://www.lifenews.com/nat4410.html

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Every four years Americans elect a president and both political parties hold conventions to coronate their nominee and build up excitement in advance of the November elections. They also review and approve party platforms and one top pro-abortion is ready to get involved.NARAL president Nancy Keenan informed her supporters on Tuesday that she is headed to Pittsburgh this Thursday to participate in the Democratic Party's platform committee meetings.When she's there, she promises to keep the party's position in support of unlimited abortions paid for at taxpayer expense in place."On Thursday, I have the privilege of...

The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that it is seeking input from the public in all states as it is drafting its 2008 national platform. The party is asking ordinary Americans to host and attend meetings “as an opportunity to exchange ideas and share perspectives on the challenges we face,” according to a DNC release. The party and the campaign of presidential candidate Sen. Barrack Obama (Ill.) will send policy experts to “as many meetings as possible to serve as facilitators.” The platform committee will then use the written summaries of the meetings in crafting the Democratic agenda. “This process...

Once again with the election cycle, it's time to remind everyone of just what our "progressive" DemonRats really stand for. The Democratic Socialists of America are indeed the US branch of the Socialist International Party, which is in turn a chapter of the World Communist Party. I have posted the link to their web site - and cordially suggest that if you have the time, please go there and actually read the drivel posted there. Yes, you will need a large lawn leaf sized barf bag to get through it. The scary part is that they have over 70 members...

The impromptu debate, over light beers and dirty martinis, was at once mundane and remarkable. Provoked by a reporter, four middle-aged men at a Greenwich Village gay bar made fiery pitches for the Democratic presidential front-runners. Two backed Senator Barack Obama, one argued for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the fourth made an emotional plea for the cause of John Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina. "Edwards is the only one who really cares about the underdog," one of the men, Farid Martinez, 41, a clothing designer from New York, shouted above the din at the bar, the Monster,...

During last week's gay issues forum, broadcast on the cable television station LOGO and sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), all of the Democratic presidential candidates expressed their support for legal equality for gays via civil unions. But, with the exceptions of former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel and Congressman Dennis Kucinich, they opposed calling those relationships marriage. This seeming hypocrisy doesn't sit well with gay rights advocates. Evan Wolfson, head of the Freedom to Marry coalition and one of the intellectual fathers of gay marriage, says that, just as previous American presidents made the civil rights struggle into a...

Democratic presidential candidates are confirmed to participate next month in the first-ever presidential forum on issues concerning the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Hosted by MTV's homosexual cable network, Logo, and sponsored by the nation's largest homosexual activist organization, the Human Rights Campaign, the one-hour event on Aug. 9 will feature Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who will engage in conversation on marriage, hate crimes, HIV/AIDS and other issues. '“We’re honored to give the presidential candidates a historic opportunity to share their views directly with the LGBT audience,” said Brian Graden, president of Logo, in a released statement. Conservatives...