LGBT Rights. How does your Congressman score?

without even looking (0.00 / 0)

I bet Garrett scores in the negatives.

Scott Garrett - on the wrong side of, well, everything.

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by: Adam L @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 13:47:20 PM UTC

yup (0.00 / 0)

4% this Congress, 0% in each of the last 2 before

Scott Garrett - on the wrong side of, well, everything.

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by: Adam L @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 13:48:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

curious minds... (0.00 / 0)

i can't help but wonder what he actually got right???

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 15:26:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

My Rep (0.00 / 0)

scores 100%   Bravo Steve Rothman!

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." - Sen. Ted Kennedy

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by: Bill Orr @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 14:10:58 PM UTC

mine too (0.00 / 0)

Pallone scores 100%.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 16:55:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Runyan (4.00 / 1)

Adler's opponent, Jon Runyan, is against marriage equality.  We may be angry with Adler, but we need to vote for him to keep Runyan back on his donkey farm.

Blog: http://www.deciminyan.org

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by: deciminyan @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 14:14:43 PM UTC

Amen, brother/neighbor (0.00 / 0)

There's no doubt which candidate is better on two of my non-negitiables (LGBT rights+choice) and that's John Adler.  

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 15:25:15 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

What is impressive about 92%? (2.00 / 1)

When someone has been as bad on key issues as Adler has, anything less than 100% on no-brainer LGBT issues should be unacceptable.  Of course he is better than Runyan on these issues and all others, but that isn't saying much, if anything.

I am more curious about what Adler got wrong than what Garrett got right. Aren't you?

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 16:41:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Don't ever change Bertin n/t (0.00 / 0)

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 18:08:29 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

there were 2 bills that were not going anywhere (4.00 / 1)

that he did not co-sponsor, but based on our National Stonewall Dems questionnaire, he supported, for which points were deducted.

What is curious about the HRC scorecard is why they did not include sponsorship in Jared Polis' Student Non Discrimination act (SNDA) that does, along with Linda Sanchez bill, address school discrimination and bullying!

Adler is a sponsor of the SNDA!

"Discrimination caused by ignorance and fear is a tax on human progress" - Barbra Casbar Siperstein

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by: Babs NJSD @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 18:48:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

If they were not going anywhere, why not co-sponsor them? (0.00 / 1)

Is there a good reason that Holt, Pallone, and Rothman would co-sponsor these bills and Adler would not, particularly if he supported them?

What was the subject matter of these bills?

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 19:17:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Endorsements, sponsorships and votes (0.00 / 0)

Bertin,
Right now I'm trying to have a life, work, and help all our future by trying to elect folks like Ed Potosnak, Rush Holt, Patrick Murphy, Linda Greenstein, Ron Klein  and yes , John Adler and indirectly hundreds of Equality Democrats across the country.
One of these days I'd like to talk about the politics of legislation and endorsements, at least to my limited knowledge. What I can say is that even under the imperfect HRC criteria, it's a no brainer to see that anyone with a score of 80-100 is in a totally different class than one with a zero to 40!
I'll leave this thread for now by stating that in  2008, Seven ( 7) Democrats were assigned a score of 90 and denied 100, because they voted against a horribly flawed ENDA which was divisive within the LGBT community and was NEVER going anywhere, but it was just for show!
I'm very proud to say that one of those seven was our NJ own, Congressman Rush Holt! He in my book should have gotten 110, because he did the "right thing" rather than the expedient thing to get his 100 rating.  Rush Holt! That is another reason why we need him in Congress!

"Discrimination caused by ignorance and fear is a tax on human progress" - Barbra Casbar Siperstein

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by: Babs NJSD @ Sat Oct 23, 2010 at 18:39:35 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

All that makes sense, but... (0.00 / 1)

...it doesn't answer my questions.  

I noticed that Pallone scored a 90 in 2008 as well, hopefully for the same reason as Holt, but maybe not since you didn't mention him as well.

That said, it doesn't seem like Adler lost his points because he was doing the right thing, like Holt.  Is it possible that he was afraid to get a 100% rating from HRC, because he thought that would harm rather than help his re-election chances in his district?

Considering how cowardly he has been on other issues, this seems to me like the most reasonable answer to the question.

I have no doubt that you are busy, Babs, but being as busy as you are, commenting on a blog should be a pretty low priority for you.  Shouldn't it?

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sat Oct 23, 2010 at 22:22:07 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Comments (2.00 / 2)

Your political analysis/comments are always right out there, Bertin.  People can choose to agree or disagree or some shade in between.

But your personal comments are beyond the pale.  There are no shades - so just STFU.

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by: SmartyJones @ Sun Oct 24, 2010 at 01:09:02 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

what personal comments? (0.00 / 0)

Babs wrote the following:

Right now I'm trying to have a life, work, and help all our future by trying to elect folks like Ed Potosnak, Rush Holt, Patrick Murphy, Linda Greenstein, Ron Klein  and yes , John Adler and indirectly hundreds of Equality Democrats across the country.

I might have misunderstood what Babs was writing here, but I took it to mean that she was too busy to answer my questions, which in the grand scheme of things is absolutely correct.

Babs is without a doubt one of the most important LGBT activists in the state, if not the country, and she does fantastic work on her community's issues of concern.

So the point of my comment was not to say that she shouldn't be commenting on this blog, but simply that she shouldn't be wasting her time and energy answering my questions if she doesn't want to.

That said, if there is anything that is beyond the pale, it is one progressive telling another to STFU and the editorial director of this site endorsing a comment like that with her rating.  We should be better than this.  

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sun Oct 24, 2010 at 22:07:05 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I apologize (0.00 / 0)

for my intemperate outburst.

Monitoring should be done by the editors, despite what I feel about personal comments.

I simply won't read what you write. That should solve the problem as far as you and I are concerned.

We both are poorer for it.  Whether or not I agreed with your political comments, they always made me think.

So let's let the whole thing drop.  You do what you do, as will I.

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by: SmartyJones @ Sun Oct 24, 2010 at 23:31:02 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

once again (0.00 / 0)

What personal comments?

I have all the respect in the world for Babs and the work that she does.  There was nothing personal about the intent of my comment whatsoever.  If it came across as personal because of inartful languaging on my part, I am sorry about that.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sun Oct 24, 2010 at 23:44:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

SmartyJones (0.00 / 0)

Self-edit if you must. But my comment wasn't lobbed at you. Sorry if that wasn't clear.  

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Mon Oct 25, 2010 at 01:33:40 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

nasty is in the eye of the beholder (0.00 / 0)

As I have already tried to explain, the point of my comment was to say that Babs should not feel compelled to respond to my comments if she is too busy to do so, because they are hardly important enough to warrant such attention, not that she is not welcome to do so.

Obviously, it is not my place to say who is welcome here or not and since I don't think that I have ever said anything to this effect before, I don't think that jumping to such a conclusion was necessary.

I also don't think that my original explanation deserved to be deleted.  It was hardly Juan Williamsesque.

After all, it was Babs who prefaced her comments by talking about how busy she is.  I didn't pull it out of thin air.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Mon Oct 25, 2010 at 02:01:58 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I'm sorry that this blew up (0.00 / 0)

I tried to make a statement prior to the one quoted that the whole process of endorsements was certainly very nuanced and political and did not lend to a simple answer. I had previously tried to give Bertin that message an d that some time AFTER the election I would be happy to discuss as well as I could such nuances and organizational political preferences.

It's not a simple answer for his questions, if he wants to know  why a 92 may or may not be the same or better than 100 in my opinion!

Please! let it go for now! we can't really compare apples to oranges when criteria and weighting are often subjective! I'll be happy to meet for lunch to explain if you want.... but not now!

"Discrimination caused by ignorance and fear is a tax on human progress" - Barbra Casbar Siperstein

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by: Babs NJSD @ Mon Oct 25, 2010 at 04:01:10 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

consider the matter let gone (0.00 / 0)

I just wanted to make it clear, Babs, that I wasn't saying that you shouldn't comment here, but that answering my questions or responding to my comments are a very low priority compared to everything else that you have on your plate.

No need to meet for lunch either.  I get what you are saying.  Good luck with everything that you are working on.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Mon Oct 25, 2010 at 05:09:59 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hot damn. (0.00 / 0)

Both my Senators, Lautenberg and Menendez score 100%!

My former congressman (before redistricting hell) and former boss Rush Holt scores 100%!

My current congressman, Leonard Lance, scores 38%. Ed Potosnak for Congress!

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.  

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by: Rosi Efthim @ Fri Oct 22, 2010 at 14:46:00 PM UTC