South Carolina officially banned gay marriage Thursday as legislative leaders ratified a constitutional amendment approved by voters in November.

The state was among seven others that voted for similar bans on the ballot last year.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell and Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell met Thursday to ratify the act. The constitution now reads, “a marriage between one man and one woman is the only lawful domestic union that shall be valid or recognized in this state.”

It prevents the state and local governments from legalizing any sort of domestic union of gay couples or recognizing those made in other states.

Charlotte Observer

This is the way it should be done.  Each state should decide their own restrictions based on the will of the people in that state.  The Federal Marriage Amendment was nothing but a bate and hook for conservatives to come out and vote for Republicans.  The Feds knew it had no hope of passing.

A Texas legislator has proposed that pregnant women considering abortion be offered $500 not to end their pregnancies.

Republican State Sen. Dan Patrick, who also is a conservative radio talk show host, said on Friday the money might convince the women to go ahead and have babies, then give them up for adoption.

He said during a legislative conference in New Braunfels, 45 miles south of Austin, there were 75,000 abortions in Texas last year.

“If this incentive would give pause and change the mind of 5 percent of those woman, that’s 3,000 lives. That’s almost as many people as we’ve lost in Iraq,” Patrick said.

Reuters

I am not going to poke fun at this guy because his heart is in the right place, but this is just an uber bad idea on a fiscal and moral ground. To begin with, nobody should be paid to have their baby. I really have to question the humanity of a woman who will place a $500 price tag on the life of her child. Not to mention what the psychological impact would be on that child as an adult if he ever found out the circumstances of his birth.

Additionally, the provisions of this law would render it ineffective anyway, in my opinion. This bill says that the money would be paid after the child is born and given to an adoption agency. This prevents fraud, but probably also defeats the purpose. I would think anyone shallow enough to participate in this program would probably want the money up front rather than after the birth. That, however, would open the door for fraud, so it’s a “Catch 22.”

Has our culture degraded this badly that this is what we now must resort to as a society?

Illegal immigrants allowed at least five strikes
Border-crossings guidelines revealed amid probe into U.S. attorney firings

Documents released in the controversy about eight fired U.S. attorneys show that federal prosecutors in Texas generally have declined to bring criminal charges against illegal immigrants caught crossing the border — until at least their sixth arrest.

A heavily redacted Department of Justice memo from late 2005 disclosed the prosecution guidelines for immigration offenses, numbers the federal government tries to keep classified. DOJ officials would not say Thursday whether it has adjusted the number since the memo was written, citing “law enforcement reasons.”

Houston Chronicle

I wonder if I decide to rob a bank whether or not the Feds will give me a five shots at it before prosecuting me.

The prosecution guidelines have been a source of frustration for years among the ranks of U.S. Border Patrol agents, said T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council. Smugglers can figure out the criteria by trial and error, he said, and can exploit it to avoid prosecution.

“It’s devastating on morale,” Bonner said. “Our agents are risking their lives out there, and then they’re told, ‘Sorry, that doesn’t meet the criteria.’ “

Mr. Bonner hits the nail right on the head.  How do these guys do their jobs with all of this bureaucratic crap hanging over their heads, especially when two have them were recently sent to jail for effectively doing their job?  Who the hell would want to be a border guard?

The so named “U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Health, and Iraq Accountability Act, 2007” disgracefully passed the House of Representatives yesterday with the help of two Republicans who apparently condone legislative bribery and playing with the lives of our soldiers on the ground. Republican Congressmen, Wayne Gilchrest (MD-1) and Walter Jones (NC-3) voted along with almost all of the Democrats in successfully passing this bill.

There are a number of things about this bill that bother me:

First of all, the obvious timetable provision in this bill just goes beyond even a sliver of common sense. Do I even have to explain this? If it was scripted it would go like this:

Nancy Pelosi: “America, we will have every last American soldier out of Iraq by June 1st”

Osama bin Laden: “Terrorists, lay low until June 2nd.”

Hello??????? Do we actually have members of our government that don’t understand this? I really believe the answer is no. I think they all are fully aware what the repercussions would be which is why at this point I am convinced that the Democrat Party is a party invested in America’s defeat, not in her success.

Secondly, Pelosi knew that she didn’t have the votes to pass this bill on the merits of the WOT alone, so the Democrats stuffed this bill with an outrageous amount of pork that didn’t even have an ounce to do with our military. It was a bribe to bring on some of the Blue Dog Democrats, who have been resisting the pullout timetable, and apparently a couple of Republicans. It evidently succeeded:

• $25 million for spinach farmers
• $283 million for milk income loss
• $74 million for peanut storage
• $60 million to the National Marine Fisheries Service

This, coming from the party that made criticism of out of control pork spending a platform in their 2006 campaign.

Finally, and most detestable of all, is the fact that this is all a political show and the lives of our soldiers in combat are tools for these people to grandstand before their constituents. Col. David Hunt said it pretty well on Fox News last night that both parties are failing in their obligation to our soldiers. The Republicans let the war run four years unchecked and the Democrats are playing political theater. President Bush was also candid about the impact of this bill:

“A narrow majority in the House of Representatives abdicated its responsibility by passing a war spending bill that has no chance of becoming law and brings us no closer to getting the troops the resoures they need to do their job,” the president said.

Forbes