Posts Tagged ‘California
INTERESTING: California Democrats killing film industry in Golden State
Last night, Robby’s actress sister got us some time to talk to a director she’s worked with, whose Mindy Cohn starring movie, Violet Tendencies, was shown here at the Reeling LGBTQ film festival.
The director told me about how hard it is to do business in California.
The government there has strangled the film industry with stifling legislation, which is why this guy prefers making movies in New York or Chicago.
In LA, there are just too many permits to buy, too many unions that have to be hired to stand around, and too much money that has to go to the government during an 18 day movie shoot for many filmmakers to work there.
Violet Tendencies was shot for $200k in New York.
They would have needed over ONE MILLION to film in California, with the bulk of that going to Sacramento and the union bosses.
It’s a staggering reminder that government and unions inhibit job creation and business by over-regulating and demanding excessive sums just to do something as simple as film a single scene in a public park.
There are apparently SCORES of out of work movie people in California as a result.
Yet, these people keep voting Democrat…even though Democrats destroyed their jobs.
How can we get through to these people?
I refuse to accept that this is just how things will always be.
QUESTION: Can Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina combine to defeat Barbara Boxer?
Here’s an interesting article on Meg Whitman this morning.
Something we never thought about before that the author mentions: Whitman could have a major impact on Boxer’s election chances, because she could very well bring lots of voters to the polls who could very well vote straight-ticket Republican…and cast a vote for Fiornia they might not have otherwise…and that could spell doom for one of the most arrogant, prickly, racist, and loathsome Senators, Barbara Boxer.
What do you think of the one, two Whitman-Fiorina double-punch?
Can it wallop Boxer like we dream?
Can Meg Whitman Save California?
Here’s a very interesting read.
Meg Whitman, as Governor, would run California like a business – instead of, apparently, a strung-together collection of movie one liners and stale catch phrases, Schwarzenegger-style.
Here in Illinois, we can barely fathom the concept of running a state sensibly, responsibly, and with the best interests of its citizens in mind.
Fiscal responsibility and sound drama-free judgment?
What’s that?
What will Obama do for same-sex federal health benefits?
Federal courts in California have ruled it unconstitutional and discriminatory for the United States government to deny health insurance and other benefits to the partners of gay federal employees.
This is about benefits gay employees are denied that straight employees take for granted. Benefits, financial opportunities, and property rights should not be denied to any American, regardless of whom they choose to spend their life with. As Hillary Clinton not only said on the campaign trail, but reaffirmed last week in Europe, human rights are inalienable rights no matter who you love.
Health insurance benefits, property rights, and financial opportunities are human rights. Federal courts agree, but the federal government is resisting these rulings, and is waiting for Obama to keep his promise to end discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
Obama has a poor record on LGBTQ rights. He has never marched in a Gay Pride Parade, despite annual invitations, and a loud uproar this last summer when instead of attending Chicago’s Pride Parade, Obama instead got his hair cut and played basketball on the city’s southside (he did, however, manage to tear himself away from the beauty shop and ball court long enough to attend the Bud Billiken Day Parade a month or so later, proving his aversion isn’t to parades as much as it is to taking a stand for equality). Obama also did absolutely nothing to stop his voters from backing Proposition-8 in California, a discriminatory measure that passed in a state Obama won overwhelmingly. His back and forth on whether or not he will actually someday lift the ban on gays serving openly in the military has become comical: whatever the polls say that day, in terms of who does or doesn’t support him the most, and whom he needs to curry favor from determines how he feels about the ban (but, ultimately it’s all lip-service, as the most Obama promises these days is to commission another “study” of the issue, which is Democrats’ code for telling the LGBTQ community to take a hike, as there have been more studies done on this than on perhaps any other issue in recent political memory).
The federal rulings in California really paint Obama in a corner, though.
Either he supports equality in healthcare, property, and financial opportunities for all Americans, or he supports discrimination.
The LGBTQ community, to be perfectly honest, drank so much Kool-Aid years ago that it will always vote Democrat no matter what (despite that actually being against the best economic interests of most two-income, successful male partners we know, who currently walk shaky ground on all matters pertaining to healthcare or inheritance). We can say this as members of Boystown ourselves: LGBTQ voters are generally as low-information and blindly partisan as the cartoonish members of the religious right the guys down at Sidetrack love to lampoon on Comedy or Showtunes night. ”Just look at those silly religious people, not knowing anything, always voting Republican no matter what. How stupid they can’t think for themselves!”. Of course, that’s COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from gay men not knowing anything at all about Obama, or his long history of discrimination against the LGBTQ community, or the fact that few Democrats ever put their money where their mouths are and go out on a limb for anyone LGBTQ.
Hillary Clinton is one person who has ALWAYS stood with us, despite political and personal cost to herself. Clinton promised to ensure equality in federal benefits for all Americans, and she would have kept that promise. But, many in Boystown thought Obama was cooler, or really liked his creepy posters. We know they’re too busy thinking about where the next good time is or stalking an ex via Facebook or Twitter, but if they ever pulled themselves away from the shenanigans of Boystown they’d see that when push comes to shove, few Democrats actually push and shove for our benefit.
Or benefits, as the case may be.
Hillary Clinton would. She’d go toe to toe for us any day of the week. You want to know why we’d go to Hell and back for her, and why we support her no matter what? This is part of the reason.
Obama has a chance, yet again, to prove us wrong about him. We believe he’ll conduct a poll to determine what political group he needs most thinks about extending federal benefits to LGBTQ partners. If it’s most politically advantageous to him, then he’ll do it. If it’s not in his best interest, then he’ll find some way to wiggle out of any leadership on the matter. The way he does with everything else.
We’re waiting on all that change we can believe in. We want to dance around in glorious fountains of Hope! too. We keep waiting for Obama to prove us wrong about him, and would be DELIGHTED if he chose this particular instance and issue to keep a campaign promise or two, and positively shock us with strong leadership by DOING THE RIGHT THING.
For a change.
Hope!
NAACP admits black voters were deciding factor on Prop-8
The NAACP now wants to repeal Prop-8, as the LGBTQ community, ourselves here at HillBuzz included, have rightfully called the black community out for supporting discrimination in California.
Despite Hollywood types like Tom Hanks making fools of themselves trying to blame Mormons in Utah for Prop-8′s passage, we all know damn well it was black Obama voters in California who pushed Prop-8, and gleefully pulled one lever to discriminate against the LGBTQ community while voting for Obama with the other.
Hope! Change! Let’s stick it to those f******!
There is no way Democrats could have won California for Obama while still passing Prop-8 if Obama’s black voters did not support discrimination against the LGBTQ minority.
And we will never in our lives stop talking about that.
We won’t forget it, or let you forget it either, and we certainly won’t allow buffoons like Hanks to get away with blaming Mormons for this. 85% of Obama’s black voters supported Prop-8, more than any other Democratic constituency. If they had lockstep voted against discrimination the way they race-bloc voted for Obama, Prop-8 would have gone down in flames.
So, it’s good the NAACP has realized the colossal mistake Obama made in California by not actively campaigning against Prop-8, and not telling his supporters to vote against it.
But, we believe the NAACP just realized LGBTQ voters, with all that disposable income, are no longer sending donations to either the NAACP or black candidates, because while The Advocate and other gay publications follow Hanks and the DNC’s bizarre belief in evil Mormon ninjas behind Prop-8′s passage, a very large portion of the LGBTQ community realizes exactly who is to blame for what happened in California.
And it was not evil Mormon ninjas.
So, it’s nice the NAACP has found a voice to call for repeal of discriminatory legislation in California. It would have been much nicer if the NAACP had enough guts to stand up against discrimination in all of its forms, when that actually matters, such as campaigning aganst Prop-8 to begin with.
Better late than never is just not good enough.
See Meg Run!
Meg Whitman’s running for Governor or California, which is very exciting.
In the interest of full disclosure, Whitman reminds us A LOT of our dear friend Abbey back in Ohio, who was a Team Hillary powerhouse who helped coordinate Democrats for McCain activities in the Cleveland area. Abbey started her own home business a few years ago and while she hasn’t reached the heights of Whitman (yet), we’re incredibly proud of her. Running her own business, raising and home-schooling her little boy, taking care of her ailing father, and being a dependable dynamo during the campaign — We. Love. Abbey.
And, by a sort of extension, that translates over to Whitman too (and not just because she looks a little like Abbey as well). That same self-made spirit’s in Whitman, who ran eBay, and by extension launched hundreds of thousands of self-made home business start-ups…including, not ironically, Abbey herself (whose business is eBay-based).
We don’t live in the Golden State and don’t presume to know what’s best for it, but we’re certainly interested to see what Whitman’s candidacy will bring to the table.
So far, we’re backing Democrats David Paterson in New York, Ted Strickland in Ohio, and Terry McAuliffe in Virginia for Governor in 2010…and Republican Sarah Palin in Alaska, of course.
It looks like we could just find ourselves backing Republican Whitman in California too.
It’s the right person in the right position at the right time, regardless of party, from now on for us.
Tom Hanks calls black people in California un-American!
Do not believe anything this man tells you
Tom Hanks has bravely come out and called black people un-American for openly supporting discrimination in California, since 85% of blacks overwhelmingly supported Proposition 8 this November (more than any other demographic group).
