Opponents say GOP gay marriage amendment distracts from economy

“Focused like a laser on jobs, jobs, jobs.”
Yup, that’s what they promised while campaigning for office.
And enough Minnesotans believed them long enough to vote for them.

We have short-changed our schools for at least forty years.
We are reaping what we sowed. This is the result of social promotion in our schools.
“Social promotion” means giving high school diplomas and admission to our state colleges regardless of whether they’ve earned it. Including those who are deliberately dumb.

So now we have all these deliberately dumb people running our government.
They see no difference between faith and reality. They see no benefit in logical
thinking. They’ve never had to bear the results of their own stupidity.

And now we get to pay the costs. And they hopscotch away, just like W.

I don’t doubt that economic issues (i.e. cementing the dominance of the wealthy) were foremost for most Republican legislators. What has happened is that they have found that this does not play so well with the base. In the cold, hard light of day, voters are recognizing the scam. An anti-gay marriage amendment is a ploy to distract the social conservative base from the failure of their representatives to do anything about the economy.

Sadly, it may work.

I wonder if the GOP are aware that this could backfire on them. What if the citizens of Minnesota vote to allow same sex marriage? Are they then going to say “Oops…we were just kidding”?

No one who voted last election can say that they didn’t know that the GOP had their own agenda.

If states with gay marriage do so much better economically, then states such as Massachusetts and Vermont would have seen economic growth, which they have not (indeed, MA is losing a congressional seat). States with massive growth include Georgia, Florida, and Texas- none of which has same-sex marriage and all of which have marriage provisions in their state constitutions. Anybody who thinks that gay marriage will help a state’s economy is fooling themselves. Cutting taxes would help our economy, but Gov. Dayton would never have that!

I realize this story just broke yesterday, but so far I am underwhelmed by the Democratic response. In fact, I’m angry.

You can be assured in upcoming months we’re going to see TV ads up the butt telling people this is all about protecting marriage and families and the Christian values of Western civilization. Unless this amendment passes American life as we know it will come to an end. We will sink into the black hole of destruction. Conservs will not hold back with their lies.

And people will buy it unless Democrats are willing to do just as much screaming about the real intention of this amendment – bigotry and hate. Unfortunately about the only thing Democrats seem to be able to muster is the intellectual approach – you know – logic and reason. Yawn. And guess what, they get their butts whipped every time. Sorry guys, unless you’re willing to put some passion in your response and get just as mean and ugly as Republicans do, this thing will pass with no problem.

Randy,

Agreed.

The Republicans are faced with a big dilemma. They generally don’t believe in government solutions to problems, instead maintaining that business, the market and private sector will adequately address all significant social problems. If held to consistently, this view of the world is a reflection of magical thinking. In any case…

But then they find themselves in office and able to use the power of government to actually improve the world. Do they become hypocrites and use that power, or do they basically do nothing? (Which is another way of saying: deregulate, lower taxes, and cut budgets.)

Well, as you point out, they still have to do something to satisfy their ignorant and easy-to-command base. So, they go back to their crude religious fixations on sex and reproduction, believing that controlling the interaction of other people’s genitals is a major key to building a better society. Indeed, their worldview consists of a kind of folk sociology comprised of half-understood (if at all) ideas, numerous urban legends (e.g. that gays “recruit”) and bits of misinformation, all set atop a foundation of credulous and anti-scientific religious delusions.

These are the cretins in charge of state government now. They’re so far removed from a minimal conception of the kind of intelligence needed to advance the interests of this state, it’s mind blowing.

As a former Minnesotan who now lives in CA,I can tell you first hand how ugly this will be. My middle class neighborhood is still divided by Prop 8 after almost 3 yrs.People know who supported Prop 8 and there are still bitter feelings and a palpable sense of anger. I hope MN is able to avoid such a divisive fight. Marriage equality will carry the day despite the anti gay Prop 8′ers and their ilk.

@Mike: I’m in exactly the same boat as you. It pits neighbor versus neighbor. It was UGLY. HATEFUL. It basically turns your state into a civil war.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ALREADY reviewed its gay marriage laws and ALREADY declared them to be constitutional, a motion that was redeclared in 2010. This amendment is an unnecessary, big government, job killing distraction that does nothing but turn neighbors against each other and write discrimination into the constitution. It is unbridled hate. Period. The only reason they’re doing it is because some group in Washington DC told them to. That’s not the Minnesota way. Kill this discrimination now!!

This amendment smells of Doug Coe’s fundamentalist colonialization strategies. I suspect the MNGOP gets guidance from C Street who mistakes Minnesota for Uganda. Resist the American Taliban!

Praise Jebus, God hates loving, committed couples, Amen.

“If it doesn’t have anything to do with business and jobs, it shouldn’t be our first priority.”

Speaker Kurt Zellers, November 2010

And remember the Republicans don’t seem to care for anyone is not 1) White, 2) Rich 3) Male 4) Straight and 5) a certain type of Christian. The rest of us don’t really matter.

I won’t dispute that this is a distraction from economic issues, but there’s a bigger principle at stake. Minority rights aren’t supposed to be subject to majority whim. Gays shouldn’t have rights only if straights feel like it, any more than non-whites should have rights if whites feel like it, or non-Christians get rights only if Christians feel like it.

Teh republicans, who under Bush destroyed our economy by letting wall street and the banks run the greatest ponzi scheme of all time.

Not satisfied with that, they want to destroy gay marriage and equality.

Their motto _ If you tell lies often enough and outrageous enough, they will be seen as the truth.

BTW the guy who said that eg MA is losing population. Sure – not gay population, but people who hate the winters up there. Our family is refugees in MD And very active with the gay community in supporting their equality under our law, and fighting the catholic church of the endless hidden molsetation (think prison rape) and its Godfather of molestation RATZInger

And the right wing “anything but” christians who made this state a slave state, kept in the union by force of arms to protect DC.

We are where the action is.

Palwenty even vetod a law that would have let gay partners who had been together , often for decades, claim the body and make funeral arrangments for the first one who died.

thats the right wing agenda – Bring the troops home to fight our own talibangelicals, to hell with fighting in afghanista

http://www.catholicarrogance.org by a priest with 24 years of catholic education, who understands that the church of the inquisition simply has a new victim

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