Gay marriage nears high court
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gay marriage took another step Tuesday on its march to the U.S. Supreme Court, when a federal appeals court that struck down California’s ban on same-sex unions refused to reconsider the ruling.
Now that the case has run its course in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the measure’s sponsors “absolutely” plan to take the case to the high court, said Brian Raum, a lawyer with the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal defense group.
Backers of the ban, known as Proposition 8, now have 90 days to petition the Supreme Court to review the finding that the ban violates the civil rights of gay men and lesbians in California.
If at least four justices agree to accept the case, oral arguments would likely be held next spring.
The developments came after the 9th U.S. Circuit declined to review a February ruling by two of its member judges who found the state’s voter-approved same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, in part because it rescinded a right that gay and lesbian Californians already had won.
Same sex unions briefly were legal in the state before 52 percent of voters approved the ban in November 2008.
Clinton: Extend all tax cuts now
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton said Tuesday that broad tax cuts that expire in January should be temporarily renewed, including for the wealthiest Americans, to give lawmakers time to reach a deal on a longer-term extension that should exclude the rich.
Clinton’s comments were in contrast to President Barack Obama, whose re-election he is supporting. Obama has opposed renewing the tax reductions for people earning over $250,000 a year, saying they must contribute to the effort to control federal deficits.
Reductions in income tax rates and other levies first enacted under President George W. Bush expire in January, at the same time that $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts begin to take effect. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and others have warned that letting both events occur would suck so much money out of the economy that it could spark a renewed recession next year.
“What I think we need to do is to find some way to avoid the fiscal cliff, to avoid doing anything that would contract the economy now, and then deal with what’s necessary in the long-term debt reduction plan as soon as they can, which presumably will be after the election,” Clinton said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell With Maria Bartiromo.”
Democrats’ equal pay bill blocked
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked a Democratic bill calling for equal pay in the workplace. But President Barack Obama and his congressional allies aren’t finished appealing to women on the No. 1 concern for all voters: the cash in their wallets on the heels of recession.
As expected, the pay equity bill failed along party lines, 52-47, short of the required 60-vote threshold. But for majority Democrats, passage wasn’t the only point. The debate itself was aimed at putting Republicans on the defensive on yet another women’s issue, this one overtly economic after a government report showing slower-than-expected job growth.
“It is incredibly disappointing that in this make-or-break moment for the middle class, Senate Republicans put partisan politics ahead of American women and their families,” Obama said in a statement after the vote.
“Even Mitt Romney has refused to publicly oppose this legislation,” added Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “He should show some leadership.”
Unlike past taunts over access to contraception and abortion, Republicans this time didn’t take the bait.
In Fort Worth, Texas, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee focused instead on unemployment among Hispanics.
Schools turning
down ‘pink slime’
NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s school districts are turning up their noses at “pink slime,” the beef product that caused a public uproar earlier this year.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the vast majority of states participating in its National School Lunch Program have opted to order ground beef that doesn’t contain the product known as lean finely textured beef.
Only three states — Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota — chose to order beef that may contain the filler.
The product has been used for decades and federal regulators say it’s safe to eat. It nevertheless became the center of national attention after the nickname “pink slime” was quoted in a New York Times article on the safety of meat processing methods. The filler is made of fatty bits of beef that are heated then treated with a puff of ammonia to kill bacteria.
In response to the public outcry over its use, the USDA said in March said that it would for the first time offer schools the choice to purchase beef without the filler for the coming 2012-2013 school year. The agency has continued to affirm that lean finely textured beef is a safe, affordable and nutritious product that reduces overall fat content.
Beef Products Inc., the South Dakota company that makes LFTB, said in an emailed statement that the development is not reflective of the quality or safety of the beef it produces.
“Based upon the misrepresentations that have been pervasive in the media to this point, it comes as no surprise that the majority of states have currently elected to purchase ground beef that does not contain lean finely textured beef,” Craig Letch, the company’s director of food safety and quality, said in the statement.
The company this month announced that it will shutter three of its four plants as a result of the controversy. In the meantime, it has set up a website, beefisbeef.com, to combat what it says are myths about the product.
As of May 18, the USDA says states ordered more than 20 million pounds of ground beef products that don’t contain lean finely textured beef. Orders for beef that may contain the filler came to about 1 million pounds.
Because schools were not given a choice last year, all states may have previously received beef with the product mixed in. The USDA estimates that lean finely textured beef accounted for about 6.5 percent of ground beef orders.
The agency is still accepting orders for the upcoming school year; beef that does not contain the product is expected to cost 3 percent more than beef that contains it.
The USDA does not buy lean finely textured beef directly, but purchases finished products from beef vendors who must meet the agency’s specifications for orders; products can consist of no more than 15 percent of the product.
About 60 percent of the ground beef acquired by schools was through the USDA’s National School Lunch Program, according to the agency’s latest survey. The rest is purchased by schools or school districts directly through private vendors.
Schools aren’t the only ones rejecting the product. In the wake of the public outcry, fast food chains and supermarkets have also vowed to stop selling beef with the product.
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