[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Veteran NBC newscaster Tom Brokaw will host "Meet the Press" through the November election,following the unexpected passing of Tim Russert, the Associated Pressreports, giving the program a familiar and popular face while along-term decision is made. The list of potential replacements includesChuck Todd, Chris Matthews, David Gregory and Gwen Ifill.

Any of our conservative friends who think tax breaks and individual plans are the solution to the health care problemshould read this Sacramento Bee story documenting the sub-standard careand out-of-pocket costs associated with this approach. It's enough tomake you want to support—gasp—a little more regulation.

San Francisco may be the focus of much of the attention on gay marriage, but the change in law puts more of a spotlight on conservative bastions like Bakersfield,where many gay couples say they are accepted, even if not entirelytreated like equals, the Los Angeles Times reports. Like many places,as the area has grown—and gotten more cosmopolitan, acceptance ofdifferent lifestyles has grown as well.

There's more... 

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

by Kenneth Quinnell [courtesy of Blog for America]

On today's radio show, I talked about the upcoming Amendment 2 that we will vote on in November. I've taken to calling this the Hate Amendment. You should, too. Why? Because this so-called gay marriage ban would not only ban gay marriage, which is already illegal in Florida, it would prevent cities and companies from providing benefits of any sort to gay couples and would also affect many straight couples and just plain roommates in a very negative way. I went through the list of arguments against the Amendment and you can feel free to pick and choose amongst the various arguments based on your location and audience. Here they are:

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Ted Lieu (D-El Segundo) explains his decision to request a cut in funding fornew judges in a piece published by the California Progress Report.Governor Schwarzenegger has had a dismal record on appointing judgeswho reflect California's diversity, despite an abundance of qualifiedcandidates.

George Skelton for the Los Angeles Times says that it's time for legislators to perform the "Dance of Death"on the budget. This description of the "ancient summer ritual" ispriceless: "Everybody dances around the fire. They throw stuff at us.We throw stuff at them. Everybody falls over dead, and we start allover again." Better start throwing stuff, because we're 16 days pastthe deadline for a budget.

Today's LA Times highlights another injustice that marriage equality could rectify. Heterosexual couples can support their partners for agreen card, but not gay couples. "Through Thick and Thin," adocumentary exploring these kinds of immigration woes, will premiere atOutfest tonight in Los Angeles.

There's more... 

Image courtesy of Barnes & Noble. 

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Doubleheader Today as Senate and Assembly Meet in Marathon Sessions

By Frank D. Russo

The California Assembly started yesterday at 10 a.m., and aside from an hour and a half break for caucuses and lunch at 1 p.m., continued on until 9 p.m. when the dust settled, they had disposed of 147 bills, some of them flying past as fast as an express train, and others of them, such as AB 43 (Leno) to end the state's denial of marriage licenses to gay couples receiving lengthy debate. At 6:38 p.m., there was an announcement by the presiding officer that dinner was available, but there would be no break in the consideration of measures. As far as we know, no food fights developed, as lawmakers grabbed some sustenance, and carried on through the final 25 bills of the evening.

All this on top of 116 measures dealt with Monday by the Assembly and another session starting at 9:30 a.m. when both the Assembly and Senate will be in simultaneous debates.