Civil Rights & Justice
Democrats are unwavering in our support of equal opportunity for all Americans. That's why we’ve worked to pass every one of our nation’s Civil Rights laws, and every law that protects workers. Most recently, Democrats stood together to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act.
On every civil rights issue, Democrats have led the fight. We support vigorous enforcement of existing laws, and remain committed to protecting fundamental civil rights in America.
What the invitation to a John McCain fundraiser does not say, however, is that Rakolta and Liggett were two of the key backers of an organization that helped finance an ad that compared Democrats to Adolf Hitler in the 2006 election. Rakolta and his wife contributed $10,000 to a group called Voice the Vote, which used the money to buy a newspaper ad that compared Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and a procession of Democratic presidents to Hitler.
After weeks of pretending to be "a different kind of Republican," John McCain showed his true colors today in his speech about the kind of judges he would appoint as president.
Today's myth: John McCain will not appoint judicial nominees like George W. Bush.
John McCain says that, if elected president, he would nominate Supreme Court justices in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito.
The Supreme Court acknowledged that "The record contains no evidence of any such [impersonation] fraud actually occurring in Indiana at any time in its history," and acknowledged the law's burden on the elderly, low-income voters and other classes of voters covering hundreds of thousands of Indiana citizens. Yet this Court, ignoring the realities of life for the less affluent and powerful of the state's citizens, shrugged off these burdens and found that the law should stand.
John McCain is touring through areas with a history of economic and social justice problems (which Republicans traditionally ignore) to portray the presumptive GOP nominee as "not that kind of Republican." He will visit places Republicans actively vote against the...
Our friends at the RNC on the latest McCain Makeover Tour under the title, "The Forgotten Places of America." His stops in Selma, Thomasville, and Gee's Bend were the first of many unconventional campaign visits where the Senator will spend...
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. penned one of the most beautiful pieces of literature, in this young blogger's mind, ever written forty-five years ago today.
Forty-years ago, just days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Lyndon Johnson signed the '68 Civil Rights Act. Twenty-two years later, John McCain cast a deciding vote against the Civil Rights Act in 1990. In 1990,...
Despite the fact that John McCain has made the same mistake FIVE times in five months, his campaign continues to claim that John McCain misspoke when he confused Sunni and Shiite extremists in Iraq.
There's some distortion by John McCain over his many years of opposition to a King holiday, both at the federal and state level. He's trying to make it sound like this was just one vote, a long time ago.
What's been ignored in McCain's "biography tour" is the quarter-century he spent in Congress, casting votes he's now attempting to run away from, such as his vote against the King holiday.
He stands with Bush, yet again.
In accepting the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee, John McCain said: "I am very honored by Pastor John Hagee's endorsement..." And later said - "I was pleased to have the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee..." Talking Points Memo provided nearly...
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain has consistently stood up to the right wing of the Republican Party.
McCain picks up support of Texas preacher who has some choice words for the Catholic Church: John McCain proudly touted picking up the support of Texas preacher John Hagee at a town hall meeting this morning in Houston. But Hagee's...
Sen. Reid has done this before, keeping the Senate in "pro forma" sessions in order to make sure that Bush can't exploit loopholes to get around the oversight of Congress. And this time Speaker Pelosi's going to do the same.
McCain continues his transition to McCain 2.0 with his torture vote, as an LA Times editorial points out
I briefly alluded to what's going on with FISA and the Protect America Act (PPA) yesterday, but missed a lot of the specifics because of the DRAMA! of the House Republicans interrupting the service for Tom Lantos and later walking out during a contempt vote.
During appearances on Fox News Sunday and CBS's Face the Nation today, John McCain made it clear: a vote for him is a vote for a third Bush term. Echoing his earlier statement that we could be in Iraq for 100 years, he said again that he would continue Bush's never ending civil war in Iraq. "We have to take care of the world's security," McCain said.
Maryland Democrats introduced legislation last Friday to legalize same-sex marriage in the state, and carrying on the civil rights fight for the late State Senator Gwendolyn Britt (D-Prince George's), who passed away January 12, and had planned to lead the...
It's not entirely clear which distinction he was making in his answer compared to what he said in the letter (which said that it's not clearly illegal).
On this day in 1973, the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that women have a constitutional right to privacy. Here's Governor Dean's statement:
People across the blogosphere have been documenting the bizarre excuses Romney has been throwing out there to explain his statement that his dad marched together with Martin Luther King.
Mitt didn’t actually mean his father marched with MLK, when he said that remembered seeing it.
Romney 'doesn't recall' attending a Planned Parenthood fundraiser, but the photographic evidence is at Blue Mass Group.
The bill, which would extend to intelligence agencies the anti-torture prohibitions in the Army Field Manual, just passed 222-199. Speaker Pelosi's blog has the specifics.
Mitt's twists and turns on abortion leave the voters wondering where he really stands:
What decade is this?
]In the wake of last week's endorsement of Mitt Romney by Bob Jones III and Bob Jones University Dean Robert Taylor, a column in today's USA Today asks how far Romney is willing to go to smooth talk Republican primary voters into backing his campaign.
Governor Dean and Rick Stafford, chair of the DNC's GLBT Caucus, issued the following statement for National Coming Out Day.
Senate Democrats passed an important amendment today that expands the definition of a hate crime to include those based on disability, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
Democratic National Committee Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile issued a statement in response to today's decision by the Supreme Court to hear the Indiana voter ID case.
The Senate Rules Committee, TPM Muckraker reminds us, will vote tomorrow on whether the recess-appointed Hans von Spakovsky will get a term at the FEC.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued a statement marking the 50th Anniversary of the integration of Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Coinciding with today's march in Jena, Louisiana, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued the following statement in response to a recent ruling from the Louisiana appeals court overturning the verdict against a young student in the Jena 6 case:
There's simply no excuse a sitting member of Congress uses this type of bigoted language:
Bush wants to expand spying powers, even though his intelligence officers have misled Congress about its effectiveness.
A crucial vote will take place today at 10:30 am ET, when the Senate will hold a cloture vote on legislation that would restore habeas corpus--a safeguard against illegal imprisonment that is essential to civil liberties. Democrats in the Senate need 60 votes to overcome the Republican filibuster of this important legislation.
Yesterday on Capitol Hill, Democratic Catholic Members of Congress, DNC Faith Advisory Council members, and DNC staff attended a Mass to remember the victims of 9/11 and those who have died as a result of the war in Iraq.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean addressed the National Baptist Convention this afternoon. In his remarks, Dean discussed the important role faith and morality play in defining the issues most important to the Democratic Party, as well as the work people of faith do every day to address the problems facing our country and planet, including reconstruction of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina and the global crisis of HIV/AIDS.
Today, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Black Caucus Chair Virgie Rollins issued the following statement in honor of the 44th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom:
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom happened forty-four years ago today.
This is an incredibly important resignation.
The Bush administration has approved a plan to spy on American citizens using satellites and aircraft sensors.
A U.S. appeals court is reviewing the legality of the Bush administration's Warrantless Eavesdropping Program, but the administration is now attempting to claim that the courts "must dismiss the cases" because they expose "national secrets."
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy announced a new August 20th deadline for the White House to comply with subpoenas. The documents in question concern the committee's investigation into the NSA's warrantless eavesdropping program. Leahy elaborates:
Oliver Hill, pioneering civil rights lawyer, has passed away at the age of 100.
Republican presidential candidates fight each other savagely for title of "most Christian."
A conservative Iowa radio host goads Mitt Romney into a rare unscripted moment.
Democrats to conduct nationwide survey of administration of elections as part of an ongoing commitment to protecting the rights of every American
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales really needs to get his story straight. Either they went to see an "under sedation and incapacitated" John Ashcroft without the intention of overruling the acting Attorney General at the time, or they didn't.
This week, Democrats in the House of Representatives voted to include the "Reducing the Need for Abortions Initiative" in the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. Among the programs...
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced the Fair Pay Restoration Act today to undo the damage done by the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire.
Maybe the billing records will magically spur his memory?
Bush administration is so secretive that it decided to classify information as a "government secret" over 20.5 million times last year--even when there was little or no reason to do so.
From the NY Daily News:
Across the country, people expressed dismay at yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that turned back the clock on 53 years of work by schools around the country to provide all children with a quality education. Editorial boards echoed the sentiment saying that the Court “repudiated the last half-century of race-conscious efforts to overcome that tortured racial legacy,” “will accelerate the trend toward school resegregation in many parts of the country,” and that in the “name of abiding by the letter of Brown, the court has dishonored its spirit.”
The Supreme Court also ruled 5-4 today against an antitrust rule that has existed for almost a century.
President Bush says that he won't supply subpoenaed documents related to the Bush administration's illegal domestic spying program. The move displays a complete lack of respect for the rule of law.
Supreme Court rules 5-4 against school desegregation.
Just to provide some background, the subpoenas of the White House and vice-president's office, according to AP, are intended to recover "documents that might shed light on internal disputes within the administration over the legality of the [warrantless wiretapping] program."
Although it sounds like a no-brainer, Rudy can't make up his mind on whether or not we should torture detainees:
The Supreme Court ruled against one of the major provisions in the 2002 campaign finance reform act yesterday, in another narrow 5-4 ruling. The decision was called an example of "greater hostility on the court to federal limitations on money in politics."
The Supreme Court ruled today that taxpayers rights are limited when it comes to challenging unlawful government expenditures that violate the separation of church and state.
Romney shifting his position on abortion (video).
And Romney might want to get his dates straight. His pro-life epiphany just doesn’t add up
Governor Dean sat down with Tavis Smiley last night, and sunny flagged down one key part of the interview where "he talked about the attorneys being fired for not going along with suppressing the vote."
In the last two days, smooth talking Mitt Romney seems to have ramped up his relentless campaign to convince conservative primary voters to ignore his real record on so-called social issues.
"While the former Tennessee senator opposes the Roe v. Wade decision and built a solidly anti-abortion record in Congress, he has indicated that he would not move to outlaw the procedure."
Romney-McCain spat continues to heat up over abortion:
But endorses frauds in real life:
Pushes no abortions for rape victims, and cites imaginary studies:
ABC News has this quote from Mike Huckabee: "I can tell you, most of our prisoners would love to be in a facility more like Guantanamo and less like the state prisons that people are in in the United States."
Tim Griffin's record is about as shady as they come. In fact, the Bush administration felt they had to go around the normal Senate confirmation process to replace one of the fired US Attorneys with him.
Little attention has been paid to Monica Goodling’s revelation of Republican “vote caging” in her testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last week. Goodling identified former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty and former interim US Attorney Tim Griffin, a former deputy to Karl Rove who was among the replacements for eight federal prosecutors fired by the Bush Administration and put in place without going through the Senate confirmation process, are believed to have been involved in the illegal practice of attempting to derail the voting rights of thousands of Americans.
The Los Angeles Times reported today that one of the U.S. Attorneys apparently targeted for politically motivated firings by the Bush Administration was singled out for trying to "protect voting rights for Native Americans."
In another success story, Democratic governor John Lynch signed an important piece of legislation today that establishes civil unions in New Hampshire.
The Supreme Court decision today in the case of Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company was a severe blow to equal pay and workers' rights advocates. The decision limits the amount of time that a worker can sue for damages to 180 days--even though it sometimes takes years for evidence of pay discrimination to surface.
From the AP:
Rudy Giuliani continues to deflect questions about his inconsistent positions on abortion by outright exaggerating his record as New York City's mayor. Not only does Giuliani overstate the number of adoptions under his watch, The New York Times today reports that "little if anything in the public record suggests that he was promoting adoption as an alternative to abortion."
Rudy Giuliani's campaign is still stumbling over the abortion question:
During Tuesday's debate, Sam Brownback repeatedly gestured to his own stomach when referring to the "womb." Is there something he's not telling us?
The Bush Administration has done everything in its power to block the distribution of emergency birth control to women. From delaying over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraception pill known as "Plan B," to overruling the decision [...]
RHETORIC: Giuliani Said Adoptions Went Up 133%. Giuliani continues to use wrong numbers on adoptions when trying to explain his position on choice. Tonight he said adoptions “went up 133%” while he was mayor.
"Planned Parenthood is planning a rally outside tonight's debate site at the University of South Carolina, and although the group said it hopes to press the Republican candidates into 'the mainstream,'"
After months of taking inconsistent positions on abortion, Rudy Giuliani has apparently come up with a new story. Really. This is it. According to The New York Times today, Giuliani plans in the coming days to "offer a forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights in public forums, television appearances and interviews."
Another questionnaire lists Rudy's pro-choice positions:
After months of taking inconsistent positions on abortion, Rudy Giuliani has apparently come up with a new story. Really. This is it. According to The New York Times today, Giuliani plans in the coming days to "offer a forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights in public forums, television appearances and interviews."
"The abortion credentials of potential Republican White House contender Fred Thompson came into question Tuesday when a survey filled out by his 1994 Senate campaign surfaced on the Internet."
Last month, when the Supreme Court ruled in the case of "Gonzalez v. Carhart" to limit the options that women and their doctors may consider when choosing to abort a pregnancy, it became abundantly clear that women did not enjoy the same equal protection...
Rudy Giuliani's record on a key issue is at odds with his rhetoric. According to
The Politico today, Giuliani personally contributed six times to Planned Parenthood, a leading abortion rights advocacy group, even though he repeatedly says he personally "hates" abortion. Tax returns show that Giuliani gave his own money "to national, state and city chapters of Planned Parenthood totaling $900 in 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999." [Politico.com, 5/8/07]
Tells abortion critics to lay off:
Rudy Giuliani repeatedly contributed to Planned Parenthood:
Today, the Democratic National Committee wrapped up its final day of its Faith Advisory Council meeting coinciding with the National Day of Prayer. The National Day of Prayer recognizes the power of prayer and religion as a positive force in people’s lives.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives just passed legislation to extend the definition of hate crimes to include violence against a person because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.
In a major reversal from his earlier position, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani now opposes civil unions between same sex partners.
ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: Mitt Romney's shifting stance on gay rights drew fire Monday from the president of the Log Cabin Republicans in advance of Tuesday's re-introduction of the Employee Non-Discrimination Act
This week, Rudy Giuliani changed his position yet again on a key issue. Even though he previously opposed a federal abortion ban, Giuliani praised the Supreme Court decision upholding the ban. Rudy's statement saying that the court "reached the correct conclusion" flies in the face of his previous position "to preserve the option for women."
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling to the federal government on Monday to take a new look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.
