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"Democrat" Specter Votes with GOP to Oppose Obama's Budget

Well. That was fast.

A day after abandoning the Republican Party for the Democrats, saying the latter better represented his political philosophy, Specter voted against President Obama's budget, which he and other Democrats have described as a manifestation of the party's political philosophy.

Specter was joined in his opposition to the president by the entire GOP. Not a single Senate Republican voted to support the budget. Sen. Ben Nelson, a conservative Democrat from Nebraska, also voted no. It passed 53-43.

In related news: Specter is still opposed to Dawn Johnsen, Obama's nominee to lead the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, and says a filibuster of her nomination and the Employee Free Choice Act is "under consideration."

As we said yesterday during the non-stop virtual j/o session that followed Specter's big "announcement": "There is always a Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln or Evan Bayh ready, willing and able to vote with the Republicans." Just add Arlen Specter to that list of "Democrats" who cannot be relied upon to vote "Democratic".

House Passes Hate Crimes Bill

Wonderful news. The House of Representatives passes the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HR 1913) by a vote of 249-175.

The bill, sometimes known as the Matthew Shepard Act, now moves to the Senate where companion legislation was introduced yesterday by Sens. Ted Kennedy, Arlen Specter and Olympia Snowe, among others. See how your representative voted here.

RNC Chairman Steele to Lose Control of Party Purse Strings?

More problems for Michael Steele, the incredibly ineffective and latest anti-gay chairman of the Republican National Committee. Leading members of the RNC want to limit Steele's "control over the party's purse strings", the Washington Times reports.

A battle over control of the party's purse strings has erupted at the troubled Republican National Committee, with defenders of Chairman Michael S. Steele accusing dissident RNC members of trying to "embarrass and neuter" the party's new leader.

Randy Pullen, the RNC's elected treasurer, former RNC General Counsel David Norcross and three other former top RNC officers have presented Mr. Steele with a resolution, calling for a new set of checks and balances on the chairman's power to dole out money.

A party chairman without authority to write checks? Steele would be the party's "token" chairman in more ways than one.

Think Progress reports the RNC chairman Steele threatened to withhold campaign funds from Sen. Arlen Specter, after Specter voted for President Barack Obama’s economic recovery package. We all see how that worked out.

Arlen Specter to Switch Parties and Run as a Democrat in 2010

In what has been described as a "seismic shift" and a reflection on the right-ward march of the Republican Party, moderate Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (PA) announces he will switch his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat, the Huffington Post reports.

"'I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary,' said Specter in a statement. 'Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.'"

"The move will give Democrats a filibuster-proof 60 vote majority in the Senate, presuming Minnesota's Al Franken is eventually seated. However, in his statement Specter said his opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act—widely seen as a defense against a Republican primary challenge—will not change."

Specter supported the labor bill but (unfortunately) switched to be competitive in the Republican primary. Rasmussen has former Rep. Pat Toomey beating the Senator by 21 points in the GOP primary. As far as the 60-vote number, eh. There is always a Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln or Evan Bayh ready, willing and able to vote with the Republicans.

Specter is decent on LGBT issues. The Pennsylvania senator has a 70 percent rating (PDF) from the Human Rights Campaign for the 110th Congress. Specter was one of the original Senate co-sponsors of ENDA and co-sponsors the hate crimes bill. In contrast, Bob Casey, the Democratic junior Senator from Pennsylvania, has a 100 percent rating.

Think Progress reports Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) said that he, Sen. Bob Casey, and Vice President Biden had been lobbying Specter to switch.

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Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Holder 17-2

Well that was fast. After threatening to hold up the nomination of Eric H. Holder Jr. to be the nation’s 82nd attorney general—and the first black to hold that office—the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee blinked.

The committee vote was 17 to 2, with only two Republicans, Senators John Cornyn of Texas and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, voting against the nomination.

Some Republicans had hoped to make the Holder nomination a demonstration of party strength in the face of a Democratic-controlled White House and Congress. But the air went out of that effort even before Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican, said on Tuesday that he would support Mr. Holder’s nomination.

Cornyn is struggling for relevancy in the post-Bush era. This is the same senator who delayed Hillary Clinton's confirmation as secretary of state but eventually voted for her.

Holder is the former deputy attorney general in the Clinton Administration and a strong supporter of a hate crimes and employment discrimination legislation for gays. Gay activists have been among his fiercest defenders.

The nomination goes to the Senate floor and he is expected to be confirmed. The next order of business: The naming of 93 U.S. Attorneys. There are expected to be holdovers and President Barack Obama has said he wants to retain  Patrick Fitzgerald in Chicago—the federal prosecutor responsible for the Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Scooter Libby cases.

News: Bush SCHIP Veto, Rove, Alicia Keys, PUNKS DVD

· President George W. Bush continues his war against low-income children without health insurance and vetoes a proposed expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, "the seventh veto of Mr. Bush’s presidency and the second veto of a children’s health bill. Mr. Bush rejected a similar bill in October, despite support from Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill."

· Oprah Winfrey confirms the very straight! Alicia Keys is set to play the very straight! Lena Horne in an upcoming biopic about the legendary entertainer's life. Soulbounce: "If done right, this Lena Horne role could do for Alicia Keys what playing Dorothy Dandridge did for Halle Berry."

· John Edwards continues to line up LGBT support. New Hampshire Freedom to Marry endorses the Democratic presidential candidate.

· Report: "Mitt Romney's campaign is already hinting at a final-week television and direct-mail campaign intended to tap opposition" among hardcore Republican voters to New Hampshire's new civil unions law that becomes effective on January 1. That's just days before the New Hampshire primary.

· Senate Judiciary Committee votes 12-7 to approve contempt resolutions against Karl Rove and WH Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten "for their refusal to comply with the U.S. attorney investigation." Republicans Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) supported the resolutions.

· House votes 222-199 for the FY2008 Intelligence Authorization bill to ban waterboarding.

· Florida: Sponsors of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage say they have enough signatures to put the measure on the November 2008 ballot. "If the measure goes on the ballot and passes, Florida would become the 28th state to ban gay marriage with a constitutional amendment."

· Be the first person to have a DVD copy of Patrik-Ian Polk's PUNKS. While the director prepares his cult film for a 2008 DVD release, he has "listed a copy of the DVD and an autographed poster for sale on eBay with 100% of proceeds going to the Black AIDS Institute." The item number of the charity auction is 180189350216 and closes on December 14 at 6 p.m. PT."

News: ENDA, Rockmond Dunbar, Jared Polis, Methodists Go Trans

· For the second time in as many weeks, a vote has been delayed on the proposed& ; Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Last week, the bill passed a committee on a 27 - 21 vote. The House's only openly lesbian member, Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin, proposed an amendment to restore transgender protections but it has reportedly been tabled.

· Via Alex Blaze at The Bilerico Project: Jared Polis, the openly gay congressional candidate in Colorado, begins blogging on ENDA at Daily Kos. Look for our upcoming profile of Polis in The Advocate.

· Another month, another hot cover at Dallas-based Krave. Dirty Laundry star Rockmond Dunbar covers the next issue. Rod 2.0 crush object Mehcad Brooks was the October cover.

· In a potentially landmark decision, the United Methodist Church rules a transgender pastor can remain in the ministry.The UMC bans openly gays and lesbians "from serving as clergy, but its Book of Discipline makes no mention of transsexual people."

· Think Progress reports Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (R) is the only senator to "earmark" federal funds for abstinence education, "quietly [adding] more than two dozen earmarks... totaling more than $1 million."

· Report: HIV first arrived in the United States in 1969 from Haiti, most likely carried by "a single infected immigrant who set the stage for it to sweep the world in a tragic epidemic."

· The Human Rights Campaign gets a thumbs up from Virginia Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine. An HRC field staffer reports that during a speech on the campaign trail, the governor acknowledged their work and said, "We are joined by great groups like the Human Rights Campaign," which "shows that not only our efforts making a difference, but they’re also being noticed by those in power."

Senate Passes Hate Crimes Law

The Democratic-lead Senate vote to expand the hate crimes definition to include crimes motivated by gender, sexual orientation, or, the victims' disability. The vote was 60 to 39. The Senate version was attached to the defense authorization bill. The House has previously passed a hate crimes bill.

Opponents of extending federal protections to gays and lesbians immediately predict it “ultimately would fail either in negotiations with the House or by presidential veto. 'The president is not going to agree to this social legislation on the defense authorization bill’ said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. ‘This bill will get vetoed.’”

The 60 vote passage will not override a presidential veto, but, the vote shows progress on several fronts. The entire Democratic—and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT)—united behind this bill. "Nine Republicans were among the 60 senators who voted to support the amendment: GOP co-sponsor Gordon Smith of Oregon, Sens. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Olympia Snowe of Maine, Susan Collins of Maine, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Richard Lugar of Indiana, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, John Warner of Virginia and George Voinovich of Ohio." Collins is facing a tough re-election campaign but has previously voted for this legislation. Coleman is also vulnerable next fall.

Predictably, Idaho toe tapper Larry Craig did not support this measure, along with the very! straight! Lindsey Graham (SC) and Mitch McConnell (KY). Republican presidential candidate John McCain (AZ) was the only Senator to abstain.

Hate Crimes Attached to Pentagon Bill [AP]
Senate Votes 60-39 [HRC Back Story]
Is Lindsey Graham Gay? [City Paper]

Democrats Vote to Restore Habeas Corpus to Detainees

On an almost strictly party-line vote, the Senate Judiciary passes an important bill to restore habeas corpus, the Constitutional right to challenge imprisonment. By a vote of 11-8, the committee advanced legislation that would allow terrorism suspects access to federal courts to challenge their imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Last year the Republican-led Congress stripped federal courts of jurisdiction over Guantanamo cases. That move was criticized by leaders across the political spectrum. Today's bill was backed by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) "all of the committee's Democrats and Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, the committee's top Republican." The remaining GOP senators voted against it.

Panel OKs Bill Backing Gitmo Detainees [AP]

Some Background ...

NYT to Bush: Dump Gonzales [R20]
Why is Justice "Investigating" Domestic Spying? [R20]
Rumsfeld's Worst Nightmare [R20]
Judgment at Nuremberg [R20]
Rumsfeld War Crimes [R20]
Powell Opposes Bush on Torture [R20]
Administration Spying on Gay Groups? [R20]

Republicans Bailing on Gonzales

More problems for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose tenure at the scandal-plagued Department of Justice has been compared to that of John Mitchell, Richard Nixon's infamous AG...

Senate Democrats—led by Chuck Schumer (NY) and Dianne Feinstein (CA)—are seeking a no-confidence vote on Gonzales ability to serve as the nation's highest law enforcement official. Apparently, the Dems have more than enough votes, at least 60 or 70, to block any threat of filibuster.

"It seems the only person who has confidence in the attorney general is President Bush," Schumer noted. "The president long ago should have asked the attorney general to step down."

Meanwhile, Republican senators continue to bail on the ethically-challenged attorney general. Arlen Specter (PA) (seen with Gonzales above) and Norm Coleman become the fourth and fifth GOP senators to ask Gonzales to step down. This comes after new and damning revelations that Gonzales tried in 2004 to pressure then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to certify President Bush's eavesdropping program .. as Ashcroft lay in a hospital intensive care bed.

Bush Intervened To Arrange Ashcroft Hospital Visit [TP]
Dems Seek No-Confidence Vote on Gonzales [AP]

Some Background ...
NYT to Bush: Dump Gonzales [R20]
Justice Suddenly "Investigating" Domestic Spying? [R20]