Last week, Ohio Senator Rob Portman became the first senate Republican to openly support gay marriage. Though he was previously an opponent of gay marriage, the senator claims to have had a change of heart that stems from learning that one of his sons is gay. In an editorial, the senator stated that he wants his son, Will, to have the same opportunities “to pursue happiness and fulfillment as his brother and sister.”
Though Portman eloquently laid out the case for gay marriage and asserted that his new position is, in fact, in keeping with the conservative principles of personal liberty and limited government intervention, it doesn’t seem to have convinced many other Republicans to change their view on the issue. Specifically, fellow Ohio politician and Speaker of the House John Boehner this weekend spoke on ABC’s This Week, and affirmed his anti-gay-marriage position. The politician even went as far as to say that he “can’t imagine” his position would ever change, even if one of his close family members were revealed to be gay:
It’s normal to see politicians be cagey on the Sunday morning talk shows when it comes to sensitive topics, but it’s clear that the gay marriage issue is quickly becoming a loser for Republicans. Listening closely to Boehner’s statement, he doesn’t explicitly mention gay marriage, instead opting to state, twice, that his definition of marriage only included unions between men and women.
Boehner’s reasoning for his position is that it’s the belief he grew up with, and that it’s what his church teaches him. Of course, Portman had a similar Ohio upbringing, and took two years after learning his son is gay to officially change his position on the issue. Look for more politicians (though maybe not Boehner) to have Portman-like turnarounds in the coming years, as demographics shift and gay marriage becomes legal in more states.
Last night, President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner both delivered speeches outlining the state of negotiations surrounding the debt ceiling and the budget.
And it appears that those speeches provoked people to flock to the websites of congresspeople is massive numbers.
During his speech, Obama asked the American people to contact their members of congress and let them know what approach is necessary to tackle the problem –
The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government. So I’m asking you all to make your voice heard. If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your Member of Congress know. If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message.
It looks like people may have listened. Reports began flying in via Twitter that various congressional websites were down, and some that were still running were doing so slowly. Did a flood a web traffic, possibly citizens looking for how to contact their representatives, shut down these sites?
The Huffington Post has a list of which member’s sites were affected by this traffic increase. Shortly after Obama and Boehner’s speeches, the following sites were down –
John Boehner (R-OH)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Rep. Elliot Engel (D-NY)
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID)
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Later in the evening, other sites were running slowly. Freshman Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R), Nan Hayworth (R-NY) and a several other’s sites also shut down shortly before midnight. According to HuffPo, Boehner’s site was one of the last to get up and running again,
The “debt crisis” has been presented as a battle between the parties, with each side wanting a different approach to tackling our large national deficit. Last night, President Obama championed a “balanced approach” that includes both cuts in spending and the elimination of tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans –
Let’s live within our means by making serious, historic cuts in government spending. Let’s cut domestic spending to the lowest level it’s been since Dwight Eisenhower was President. Let’s cut defense spending at the Pentagon by hundreds of billions of dollars. Let’s cut out the waste and fraud in health care programs like Medicare – and at the same time, let’s make modest adjustments so that Medicare is still there for future generations. Finally, let’s ask the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to give up some of their tax breaks and special deductions.
The only reason this balanced approach isn’t on its way to becoming law right now is because a significant number of Republicans in Congress are insisting on a cuts-only approach – an approach that doesn’t ask the wealthiest Americans or biggest corporations to contribute anything at all. And because nothing is asked of those at the top of the income scales, such an approach would close the deficit only with more severe cuts to programs we all care about – cuts that place a greater burden on working families.
Rep. Boehner said that Obama wants a “blank check.” He went on to say –
You know, I’ve always believed, the bigger government, the smaller the people. And right now, we have a government so big and so expensive it’s sapping the drive of our people and keeping our economy from running at full capacity.
The solution to this crisis is not complicated: if you’re spending more money than you’re taking in, you need to spend less of it,
There is no symptom of big government more menacing than our debt. Break its grip, and we begin to liberate our economy and our future.
Speaker of the House John Boehner will be doing a YouTube interview on Sunday, February 27 at midnight ET. YouTube is calling for questions from users.
YouTube will use Google Moderator to determine which questions get asked. The ones with the most votes will be selected.
"With many U.S. states facing budget crises, and the President’s recent budget proposal being met with skepticism by Republicans, the financial health of the U.S. is capturing interest around the world," says YouTube News and Politics Manager Ramya Raghavan. "As the budget debate heats up on Capitol Hill, we invite you to submit your questions for one of the most vocal opponents to President Obama’s proposed budget plan."
YouTube says video questions are "highly preferred," but text questions are also accepted. They don’t want the videos to exceed 20 seconds in length, and request that questions be asked directly and clearly.
"Feel free to be creative (use props, charts, etc.) to help your question stand out," says Raghaven. "If you have time, find an interesting backdrop that may help reinforce your message. Submit your question early. The final deadline to submit is Sunday, February 27 at midnight ET."
