G - POLITICS & FAITH
Matt Gaetz - Heidi Gahnal - Brandon Gill - Rudy Giuliani - Al Gore - Marjorie Taylor Greene -
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==matt gaetz======
Right-Wing Christian Groups Back CO Congressman Buck and Others Who Ousted House Speaker
“Pro-family” groups support seven of the eight far-right Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives who made history Oct. 3 by voting to remove Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in a 216-210 vote. Both Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the charge against McCarthy, and Andy Biggs of Arizona have received the Family Research Council’s True Blue Award for their “perfect voting records” on issues including abortion and LGBTQ rights that make up the political agenda of FRC, which was founded and is aligned with Focus on the Family. (Steve Rabey/Colorado Times Recorder 10/6/23)
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“Pro-family” groups support seven of the eight far-right Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives who made history Oct. 3 by voting to remove Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in a 216-210 vote. Both Matt Gaetz of Florida, who led the charge against McCarthy, and Andy Biggs of Arizona have received the Family Research Council’s True Blue Award for their “perfect voting records” on issues including abortion and LGBTQ rights that make up the political agenda of FRC, which was founded and is aligned with Focus on the Family. (Steve Rabey/Colorado Times Recorder 10/6/23)
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Heather Cox Richardson
The rejection of democracy in favor of Christian authoritarianism at the highest levels of our government is an astonishing outcome of the attempt to prevent another Great Depression by creating a government that worked for ordinary Americans rather than a few wealthy men.
But here we are.
After Johnson’s election as speaker, extremist Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida spelled out what it meant for the party…and for the country: “MAGA is ascendant,” Gaetz told former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, “and if you don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement, and where the power of the Republican Party truly lies, then you’re not paying attention.” --Heather Cox Richardson; Milwaukee Independent
But here we are.
After Johnson’s election as speaker, extremist Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida spelled out what it meant for the party…and for the country: “MAGA is ascendant,” Gaetz told former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, “and if you don’t think that moving from Kevin McCarthy to MAGA Mike Johnson shows the ascendance of this movement, and where the power of the Republican Party truly lies, then you’re not paying attention.” --Heather Cox Richardson; Milwaukee Independent
==heidi ganalh======
 Heidi Ganahl
“My daughter is a Young Life leader and leads a Wyld Life group, and there are some amazing organizations like the Wyld Life groups at some middle schools. The kids just love each other and they are so close. They support each other...........I know Young Life has some controversial views. They just love on the kids at that level. I think you’ve got to find places where young people, kids, can kind of fit into the slots and have conservative values put in front of them. You’ve got to be intentional about it, though.”
--Heidi Ganahl; Colorado Times Recorder; Welcome to the Logh Cabin; 8.2.23 |
The Log Cabin Republicans are the Republican organization dedicated to representing LGBTQ conservatives, and Young Life is the Christian youth program that was featured in a 2020 Denver Post exposé that highlighted how the group bars members of the LGBTQ community from becoming leaders or working at camps, even after they’ve spent years volunteering.
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==brandon gill======
"If we want to preserve America, the country that we know and love, our constitutional order, we have to wake up and realize that mass Islamic immigration is incredibly harmful. What we don't want to see is the American way of life fundamentally transformed because you have Islamic pressure on our legal system. We can be politically correct about it, or we can wake up and we can defend our country. You've got parts of Paris or London that no longer look Parisian or English anymore. You've got areas in both of those cities that are no-go zones for native Parisians or native Londoners. That is a problem. What we don't want to see is parallel legal institutions popping up in the United States, which they are, in the same way that you have in Europe." -Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas to journalist Erick Stakelbeck 1.18.26
==rudy giuliani======
December 16, 2023
 Zorek Richards
After losing his case against the Georgia election workers, Rudy Giuliani said he doesn’t care if he lost all his money because money is the root of all evil and he is proud that he stood on principle and his dad and Jesus Christ are proud of him. It's "love of money is the root of all evil" not just money. I've never heard anyone say Jesus is proud of themselves. He made his choices...He is not hardly even a shell of what he was in 2001. It would be great if one of them would have a "come to Jesus" moment...and just confess everything but years and years of voluntary brainwashing has done a lot of damage to their psyche. Being deceived can happen to the best of us...being self-deceived is a road seldom reversed.
Money and Success don't change people. They merely amplify what is already there. A 2007 Pew Research poll indicated that people did not seen Giuliani as "highly religious." Joy Reid (MSNBC) pointed to Giuliani owing over $500,000 in unpaid taxes, the IRS putting a lien on his property in Palm Beach, having a New York apartment on the market for $6 million and his consulting firm defaulting on a debt for a phone bill. Von Dubose, an attorney for the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss – how they were going to collect the money from Giuliani. “We’ve already put the pieces in motion for that. We are intending to collect every nickel of it,” Dubose said. "We’ll see how much we ultimately find and how much we ultimately recover. But we are putting the pieces together right now.” |
Money and Success don't change people. They merely amplify what is already there. |
==al gore======
“I’m so troubled, always, when I see people who are sure that they know exactly what God’s plan for the world is, what political party God belongs to, what God’s ideology is, and what God’s position on particular cases and controversies might be.” --Al Gore, VP, statement to civil liberties and religious leaders July 14, 1994
==marjorie Taylor Greene======
Marjorie Taylor Greene questions Mike Johnson’s Christianity as she calls GOP leaders 'terrified cowards'
The former Georgia Congresswoman appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown to talk about the ceasefire deal in Iran and why the president's behavior is "absolute madness."Blitzer said to Greene, “We really didn't hear the Republican leadership respond to President Trump’s threat to eliminate an entire civilization. We did, however, see many democrats join you in calling for President Trump’s removal from office.” He then asked what she made of the situation.
(Irish Star; 4.9.26)READMORE>>>>>>
The former Georgia Congresswoman appeared on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown to talk about the ceasefire deal in Iran and why the president's behavior is "absolute madness."Blitzer said to Greene, “We really didn't hear the Republican leadership respond to President Trump’s threat to eliminate an entire civilization. We did, however, see many democrats join you in calling for President Trump’s removal from office.” He then asked what she made of the situation.
(Irish Star; 4.9.26)READMORE>>>>>>
What will MAGA Christianity look like in a post-Trump world?
When Donald Trump read the political tea leaves and urged House Republicans to vote for the release of the Epstein files, speculation was rampant. Did this mean Trump’s hold over the GOP was beginning to weaken? Or was his Department of Justice hatching a secret plan to keep the most damning documents out of the public view? Was Marjorie Taylor Greene the first rat to flee a sinking ship, or did her departure demonstrate the futility of questioning the big man? How will Trump’s Christian base react if the Epstein files reveal the president was fully aware of his old friend’s elaborate sex trafficking network? Or, if Trump’s DOJ holds back the bulk of the Epstein material in its possession, will MAGA Christians walk away from their leader?
. (Baptist News Global; 12/11/25) READMORE>>>>>
When Donald Trump read the political tea leaves and urged House Republicans to vote for the release of the Epstein files, speculation was rampant. Did this mean Trump’s hold over the GOP was beginning to weaken? Or was his Department of Justice hatching a secret plan to keep the most damning documents out of the public view? Was Marjorie Taylor Greene the first rat to flee a sinking ship, or did her departure demonstrate the futility of questioning the big man? How will Trump’s Christian base react if the Epstein files reveal the president was fully aware of his old friend’s elaborate sex trafficking network? Or, if Trump’s DOJ holds back the bulk of the Epstein material in its possession, will MAGA Christians walk away from their leader?
. (Baptist News Global; 12/11/25) READMORE>>>>>
Texas activist David Barton wants to end separation of church and state. He has the ear of the new U.S. House speaker.
Johnson’s election to House Speaker shows how normalized such beliefs have become, said Amanda Tyler, the executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for a strong wall between government and religion. She noted that some Republicans — including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, have embraced the title of Christian nationalist in recent years. Tyler said that Johnson’s views are particularly concerning because of his background as both a Southern Baptist and as a constitutional lawyer. Baptists, she noted, have a long history of advocacy for strong church-state separations because of the persecution they faced during the country’s founding — a stance that she said Johnson has betrayed throughout his legal and political career “He has worked actively for these principles that further Christian nationalism,” Tyler said. “I am also a Baptist, and to see someone who is a Baptist really reject foundational concepts of religious freedom for all — concepts which are really core to what it means to be a Baptist — is also very disheartening.” (Robert Downen/Texas Tribune 11/3/23)
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Johnson’s election to House Speaker shows how normalized such beliefs have become, said Amanda Tyler, the executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for a strong wall between government and religion. She noted that some Republicans — including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, have embraced the title of Christian nationalist in recent years. Tyler said that Johnson’s views are particularly concerning because of his background as both a Southern Baptist and as a constitutional lawyer. Baptists, she noted, have a long history of advocacy for strong church-state separations because of the persecution they faced during the country’s founding — a stance that she said Johnson has betrayed throughout his legal and political career “He has worked actively for these principles that further Christian nationalism,” Tyler said. “I am also a Baptist, and to see someone who is a Baptist really reject foundational concepts of religious freedom for all — concepts which are really core to what it means to be a Baptist — is also very disheartening.” (Robert Downen/Texas Tribune 11/3/23)
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Marjorie Taylor Greene to right-wing Catholic site: How come "God hasn't destroyed" America?
On the eve of testifying in a lawsuit that seeks to prevent her from running for re-election, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the legendary or notorious Georgia Republican, granted an hourlong interview in her home to an unlikely outlet: the far-right Catholic news organization Church Militant, which for years has positioned itself as one of the noisiest and most outlandish partisans in the Roman Catholic Church's ongoing fight with itself. Greene is an evangelical Protestant, not a Catholic, but Church Militant is making the most of this opportunity, and has featured segments of the interview all week, starting with its opening video on Monday, entitled "Marjorie for Pope." In the interview, Greene rehashed old beefs, described herself as a victim of Jan. 6, said the United States is so sinful she doesn't understand "why God hasn't destroyed us" and — most exciting for Church Militant — suggested that Satan is controlling the Catholic Church. (Kathryn Joyce: Salon 4/27/22)
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On the eve of testifying in a lawsuit that seeks to prevent her from running for re-election, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the legendary or notorious Georgia Republican, granted an hourlong interview in her home to an unlikely outlet: the far-right Catholic news organization Church Militant, which for years has positioned itself as one of the noisiest and most outlandish partisans in the Roman Catholic Church's ongoing fight with itself. Greene is an evangelical Protestant, not a Catholic, but Church Militant is making the most of this opportunity, and has featured segments of the interview all week, starting with its opening video on Monday, entitled "Marjorie for Pope." In the interview, Greene rehashed old beefs, described herself as a victim of Jan. 6, said the United States is so sinful she doesn't understand "why God hasn't destroyed us" and — most exciting for Church Militant — suggested that Satan is controlling the Catholic Church. (Kathryn Joyce: Salon 4/27/22)
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==nikki haley======
Republican candidates kiss the Christian nationalist ring
GOP presidential candidates' appearance at a “Thanksgiving family forum” hosted by a Christian conservative group signals the far-right’s power — and more specifically, Christian nationalists’ power — over today’s Republican Party. Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis agreed to appear at the Family Leader's roundtable discussion Friday in Iowa. Donald Trump was invited but did not attend. The reason for the front-runner's absence is unclear, though one possible motivation could be that Family Leader President Bob Vander Plaats has said it's time for someone to replace Trump as the party's de facto leader.
(Ja Han Jones/MSNBC 11/20/23)
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GOP presidential candidates' appearance at a “Thanksgiving family forum” hosted by a Christian conservative group signals the far-right’s power — and more specifically, Christian nationalists’ power — over today’s Republican Party. Vivek Ramaswamy, Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis agreed to appear at the Family Leader's roundtable discussion Friday in Iowa. Donald Trump was invited but did not attend. The reason for the front-runner's absence is unclear, though one possible motivation could be that Family Leader President Bob Vander Plaats has said it's time for someone to replace Trump as the party's de facto leader.
(Ja Han Jones/MSNBC 11/20/23)
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Top GOP candidates converge in Iowa for evangelical Christian forum that Trump skipped
Three Republican presidential candidates gathered Friday at a proverbial Thanksgiving dinner in Iowa for a “family discussion” that falls in the middle of an increasingly contentious primary.
Shoulder-to-shoulder, rather than separated by podiums on a debate stage, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley engaged in a discussion on issues important to Iowa evangelicals at the Christian conservative Family Leader’s Thanksgiving forum.
(Alayna Treene, Veronica Stracqualursi, Kit Maher/CNN 11/17/23)
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Three Republican presidential candidates gathered Friday at a proverbial Thanksgiving dinner in Iowa for a “family discussion” that falls in the middle of an increasingly contentious primary.
Shoulder-to-shoulder, rather than separated by podiums on a debate stage, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley engaged in a discussion on issues important to Iowa evangelicals at the Christian conservative Family Leader’s Thanksgiving forum.
(Alayna Treene, Veronica Stracqualursi, Kit Maher/CNN 11/17/23)
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“Nikki Haley is no moderate – she’s an anti-abortion MAGA extremist who wants to rip away women’s freedoms just like she did when she was South Carolina governor.” -Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa 11/17/23
Oct 25, 2023: Times of Israel: Support for Israel becomes top issue for Iowa evangelicals key to first GOP caucuses
“We’ve got a true war between good and evil, and we have to have a leader that has the moral clarity to know the difference,” said Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, in an interview between Iowa stops this month.
“We’ve got a true war between good and evil, and we have to have a leader that has the moral clarity to know the difference,” said Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, in an interview between Iowa stops this month.
==kamala harris======
Anthea Butler
“I think that we need to talk about Catholicism and democracy together because it's a really important focus of this election cycle....I believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is the best person, along with Tim Walz, to put us in a place where democracy will stay in place, first of all, and secondarily that we as Catholics will be able to explore and express our faith in ways that are alongside the teachings of the Catholic Church. One of the things I think that we have always been accused of historically as Catholics is wanting to have the pope run the country,” she said, noting a popular anti-Catholic strain of thought in American politics. We have seen with Joe Biden that's not simply the case… He is faithful to his Catholic tradition. He has not tried to impose that, but what he has done is hold up democracy. And I believe that Vice President Kamala Harris will do the same thing.” -Anthea Butler; Catholics for Harris-Walz National Organizing Call 9/18/24
Vance appears at event hosted by hard-right Christian nationalist
Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance appeared Saturday at a town hall event organized by top Christian nationalist leaders who promote election denialism and portray Vice President Kamala Harris as a “demon.” The event’s host, Lance Wallnau, who emceed the live event and introduced Vance’s first town hall on the campaign trail, is a leading figure in the fast-growing New Apostolic Reformation, a movement that preaches Christian supremacy through a blend of prophecy and hard-right politics. Though a campaign official said Vance and Wallnau didn’t speak to each other, Vance’s appearance at Saturday’s event was the latest example of the Trump campaign intersecting with once-fringe figures who now have wide followings.
(Washington Post 9/29/24) READ MORE>>>>>
Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance appeared Saturday at a town hall event organized by top Christian nationalist leaders who promote election denialism and portray Vice President Kamala Harris as a “demon.” The event’s host, Lance Wallnau, who emceed the live event and introduced Vance’s first town hall on the campaign trail, is a leading figure in the fast-growing New Apostolic Reformation, a movement that preaches Christian supremacy through a blend of prophecy and hard-right politics. Though a campaign official said Vance and Wallnau didn’t speak to each other, Vance’s appearance at Saturday’s event was the latest example of the Trump campaign intersecting with once-fringe figures who now have wide followings.
(Washington Post 9/29/24) READ MORE>>>>>
Many Say It’s important Leaders Stand Up For Religious PeopleBoth Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, who are challenging one another in this year’s presidential race, both identify as Christians. Harris’ mother was Hindu and her father a Christian. She grew up attending services at a Black Baptist church. Trump, who does not attend a church, has drawn much of his support from faith voters who are politically conservative. President Joe Biden, a practicing Catholic, attends Mass every Sunday. He is just the second Catholic to be elected to the presidency after John F. Kennedy in 1960.
(Religion Unplugged 8/28/24) READ MORE>>>>>
(Religion Unplugged 8/28/24) READ MORE>>>>>
Kamala Harris’s interfaith identity could help her win the election
When Donald Trump told a gathering of conservative Christians that they “won’t have to vote anymore” if he is elected, he wasn’t only drawing from an authoritarian playbook—he was also participating in a long-standing US political strategy of treating Christians as if we were the only “religious voters.” The Republican Party’s faith outreach over the past five decades has focused almost exclusively on White evangelical voters, who habitually vote in such strong numbers that they make up a far greater share of the electorate than they do the population. The United States’ demographics are changing, however, and the number of Christians is rapidly declining, while the share of people from other religious traditions and no religious tradition continues to grow. If the Democratic Party is wise, it will recognize this new reality and work diligently to build a truly interreligious coalition. What’s more, in Kamala Harris, they now have a candidate capable of doing just that—with integrity and authenticity.
In the former president’s widely condemned remarks about Vice President Harris’s mixed racial heritage, he ironically touched on the very background that makes her so well suited to build interreligious partnerships; this is a story she’s lived her entire life. What Trump intended as an insult tacitly named what can help Harris give visible, tangible expression to America’s religious diversity. The daughter of a Hindu and a Christian, she was raised in the Black church, but her mother also taught her reverence for Hindu temples. Later, she married Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, creating an interfaith home for her new family and two stepchildren. Her life story reflects the lived experience of millions of Americans. Almost 40 percent of people who have married since 2010 married someone from a different religious tradition. The joys and challenges experienced in each of those homes is America in microcosm: in communities all over the country, families are learning how to weave their faith traditions together to create love and abundant life. And that’s a very good thing, because confronting the intractable problems that plague us will require sustained work across political and religious differences."
(Christian Century 8/15/24) Read More>>>>>
When Donald Trump told a gathering of conservative Christians that they “won’t have to vote anymore” if he is elected, he wasn’t only drawing from an authoritarian playbook—he was also participating in a long-standing US political strategy of treating Christians as if we were the only “religious voters.” The Republican Party’s faith outreach over the past five decades has focused almost exclusively on White evangelical voters, who habitually vote in such strong numbers that they make up a far greater share of the electorate than they do the population. The United States’ demographics are changing, however, and the number of Christians is rapidly declining, while the share of people from other religious traditions and no religious tradition continues to grow. If the Democratic Party is wise, it will recognize this new reality and work diligently to build a truly interreligious coalition. What’s more, in Kamala Harris, they now have a candidate capable of doing just that—with integrity and authenticity.
In the former president’s widely condemned remarks about Vice President Harris’s mixed racial heritage, he ironically touched on the very background that makes her so well suited to build interreligious partnerships; this is a story she’s lived her entire life. What Trump intended as an insult tacitly named what can help Harris give visible, tangible expression to America’s religious diversity. The daughter of a Hindu and a Christian, she was raised in the Black church, but her mother also taught her reverence for Hindu temples. Later, she married Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, creating an interfaith home for her new family and two stepchildren. Her life story reflects the lived experience of millions of Americans. Almost 40 percent of people who have married since 2010 married someone from a different religious tradition. The joys and challenges experienced in each of those homes is America in microcosm: in communities all over the country, families are learning how to weave their faith traditions together to create love and abundant life. And that’s a very good thing, because confronting the intractable problems that plague us will require sustained work across political and religious differences."
(Christian Century 8/15/24) Read More>>>>>
==josh hawley======
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July 7, 2023: Church Leaders: Josh Hawley Tweets Fake Quote About US Founding, Sparking Allegations of Christian Nationalism
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley is fielding allegations of Christian nationalism this week after he tweeted out a quote falsely attributed to a Founding Father claiming the U.S. was founded “on the Gospel of Jesus Christ” and later tweeted out a thread of other quotes along similar lines.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley is fielding allegations of Christian nationalism this week after he tweeted out a quote falsely attributed to a Founding Father claiming the U.S. was founded “on the Gospel of Jesus Christ” and later tweeted out a thread of other quotes along similar lines.
==kevin hern======
Televangelist Kenneth Copeland’s Victory Channel held a special broadcast of its weekly “Flashpoint” program Thursday night on the campus of Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma, where the Christian nationalist host and speakers railed against the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and spread the Big Lie that it had been stolen from former President Donald Trump.
Host Gene Bailey opened by acknowledging the various elected officials who were in attendance, such as Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor, multiple state senators and representatives, as well as various members of law enforcement and local elected leaders. Following the introductions, Bailey led the audience in praying that these leaders “cannot escape” God: “No matter what they do, they’re gonna run right into you.” -Right Wing Watch
Host Gene Bailey opened by acknowledging the various elected officials who were in attendance, such as Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor, multiple state senators and representatives, as well as various members of law enforcement and local elected leaders. Following the introductions, Bailey led the audience in praying that these leaders “cannot escape” God: “No matter what they do, they’re gonna run right into you.” -Right Wing Watch
==james ho================
The Christian right’s wish list for Trump is worse than you think
James Ho, Duncan’s colleague on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, is alarming not only as a prospective Supreme Court justice, but also as a model jurist for the Christian right. A former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Ho has defended his former boss against a seemingly unending raft of ethics scandals. He also has called abortion “the immoral, tragic, and violent taking of innocent human life,” and has accused abortion-rights supporters of advocating eugenics. More recently, Ho, as a member of a three-judge panel that upheld restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, wrote in a bizarre dissent that “Unborn babies are a source of profound joy for those who view them. Expectant parents eagerly share ultrasound photos with loved ones. Friends and family cheer at the sight of an unborn child. Doctors delight in working with their unborn patients — and experience an aesthetic injury when they are aborted.”
(Sarah Posner/MSNBC 9/21/23) READ MORE>>>>>
James Ho, Duncan’s colleague on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, is alarming not only as a prospective Supreme Court justice, but also as a model jurist for the Christian right. A former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Ho has defended his former boss against a seemingly unending raft of ethics scandals. He also has called abortion “the immoral, tragic, and violent taking of innocent human life,” and has accused abortion-rights supporters of advocating eugenics. More recently, Ho, as a member of a three-judge panel that upheld restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, wrote in a bizarre dissent that “Unborn babies are a source of profound joy for those who view them. Expectant parents eagerly share ultrasound photos with loved ones. Friends and family cheer at the sight of an unborn child. Doctors delight in working with their unborn patients — and experience an aesthetic injury when they are aborted.”
(Sarah Posner/MSNBC 9/21/23) READ MORE>>>>>
==amber hulse======
South Dakota Senate advances measure on mobile sports betting
A supporter of the measure, Sen. Amber Hulse, R-Hot Springs, sees the constitutional amendment as a way to set up safety measures and guardrails, such as easier access to an addiction hotline and betting caps. Funding property tax relief through the new revenue source would be an added benefit, she said, though it “isn’t going to probably do a lot.”“You can’t legislate morality, but guess what? These people are already doing it,” Hulse said, sharing that a family member of hers in South Dakota participates in mobile sports betting. “They’re already doing it on the black market. They’re already potentially making bets that are hurting their families more,” she added. “So why don’t we put some guardrails on it and help protect some families so that there aren’t as many harms being done by this, especially to our communities?”
(Aberdeen News; 2.23.26) READMORE>>>>>>
A supporter of the measure, Sen. Amber Hulse, R-Hot Springs, sees the constitutional amendment as a way to set up safety measures and guardrails, such as easier access to an addiction hotline and betting caps. Funding property tax relief through the new revenue source would be an added benefit, she said, though it “isn’t going to probably do a lot.”“You can’t legislate morality, but guess what? These people are already doing it,” Hulse said, sharing that a family member of hers in South Dakota participates in mobile sports betting. “They’re already doing it on the black market. They’re already potentially making bets that are hurting their families more,” she added. “So why don’t we put some guardrails on it and help protect some families so that there aren’t as many harms being done by this, especially to our communities?”
(Aberdeen News; 2.23.26) READMORE>>>>>>
==Michelle Lujan Grisham======
Churches are breaking the law and endorsing in elections, experts say. The IRS looks the other way.
Among the violations the newsrooms identified: In January, an Alaska pastor told his congregation that he was voting for a GOP candidate who is aiming to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, saying the challenger was the “only candidate for Senate that can flat-out preach.” During a May 15 sermon, a pastor in Rocklin, California, asked voters to get behind “a Christian conservative candidate” challenging Gov. Gavin Newsom. And in July, a New Mexico pastor called Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham “beyond evil” and “demonic” for supporting abortion access. He urged congregants to “vote her behind right out of office” and challenged the media to call him out for violating the Johnson Amendment.
(Jeremy Schwartz/Texas Tribune 10/30/22)
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Among the violations the newsrooms identified: In January, an Alaska pastor told his congregation that he was voting for a GOP candidate who is aiming to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, saying the challenger was the “only candidate for Senate that can flat-out preach.” During a May 15 sermon, a pastor in Rocklin, California, asked voters to get behind “a Christian conservative candidate” challenging Gov. Gavin Newsom. And in July, a New Mexico pastor called Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham “beyond evil” and “demonic” for supporting abortion access. He urged congregants to “vote her behind right out of office” and challenged the media to call him out for violating the Johnson Amendment.
(Jeremy Schwartz/Texas Tribune 10/30/22)
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