Maryland’s state Senate passed a marriage equality bill last night despite numerous Republican attempts to derail it. It will take effect next January after Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) signs it into law, though it is expected to be challenged via referendum before then.
Former Florida Republican Governor Jeb Bush warned the GOP presidential candidates are “appealing to people’s fears”. “[I]t’s a little troubling sometimes when people are appealing to people’s fears and emotion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective,” Bush told reporters in Texas.
A former Romney staffer turned top fundraiser for the Romney super PAC got a $1.9 million payday. Restore Our Future fundraiser Steve Roche received the money in “fees” paid to his Podium Capital Group by the super PAC.
The four-week average of workers making new claims for unemployment insurance continued its decline after new jobless claims held steady last week, another sign that the jobs market is improving. In the last six weeks, new claims have dropped four times, and the four-week average is at its lowest point since March 2008.
The Census Bureau reported that for the first time in U.S. history, more than 30 percent of Americans have bachelor’s degrees. Asian-Americans remain the best-educated group, while Hispanics with degrees grew from 11.1 percent in 2001 to 14.1 percent last year, and the rate increased from 15.7 percent to 19.9 percent for blacks. The number of degree-holders grew fastest among whites, from 28.7 percent to 34 percent.
President Obama expressed confidence about the November election yesterday, saying he will have five more years in the White House to work on important issues like immigration reform in his next term. “Well, first of all … my presidency is not over,” Obama told Univision.
Calling the current political system “broken,” former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman called for a third political party yesteday. He quickly ruled himself out as a potential candidate for such a party, but also distanced himself from Mitt Romney, whom he initially endorsed.
Bradley Manning, the 24-year-old US Army private who was accused of providing WikiLeaks with field reports from Iraq and Afghanistan and thousands of pages of diplomatic cables, has been formally charged with aiding the enemy, a crime punishable by life imprisonment. Manning has been jailed since May 2010.
And finally: Mick Jagger gave President Obama some repsect for singing at a White House event this week that the Rolling Stones front man attended, saying Obama did “very well.” “I thought he was courageous, because there was some element of reluctance,” Jagger said of Obama’s rendition of “Sweet Home Chicago,” adding that “it was a hard moment for the president to get out of.”
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