Are they already talking about "Black Friday" sales that might start at midnight of Thanksgiving day? Not to mention those caucuses which are jockeying for first position with Iowa moving their salvo to the first of January and every other state joining the band wagon by moving their voting spectacles up the calendar not to be left out of the crush. Its just another day in the mad, mad, mad world of trying to exist in the good ole U.S. of A. It's all here for the taking, so let's dive in head first....
The Funding Cycle Monte
Little Rock's City Board of Directors approved allocations Tuesday of the city's annual Community Block Grant disbursement in which the city expects to receive about approximately $2.7 Million in 2012 for numerous programs including assistance for residents with AIDS and home owners who are seeking home repair services. According to a press release (8.9.11) U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that the State of Arkansas, Fort Smith and West Memphis will receive a total of $33,238,012 to support community development and produce more affordable housing. HUD's annual funding will also help find homes for individuals and families living on the streets and provide permanent housing for individuals living HIV/AIDS. Of that $33.2 Million pot, $544,150 is slated as "state" while the HOWPA HUD website portal ( http://portal.hud.gov/ ) shows that Little Rock ( Central Arkansas) perhaps will receive an estimated $320, 000. Of course getting this break down took a minute, because although the matter was approved by the city, details on this item haven't been clearly posted or at least not yet. Even more surprising in this data dump, was wading through a tremendous amount of old data cited on HUD's Homeless Resource Exchange which listed Arkansas Supportive Housing Network as current funded sponsor and the point organization of Arkansas Department of Health. Really? Obviously no one updated this site with the latest info that the city is now the "grantee" and by board resolution the Arkansas AIDS Foundation was selected as a interm sponsor. So if a person was seeking to began this process using this means they would be terribly misguided. Furthermore, how would anybody be able to navigate this process when much of this process doesn't appear to be as transparent as it should perhaps be. Then of course, there's the mash up of available units, a waiting list, paper trails, other info debacles and "whatever's" that you can add to the HOWPA funding cycle monte. And so it goes...
DOMA Focused on by Senate Committee
The Defense of Marriage Act may be the one law on the books whose express aim is to force second class citizenship on a group of Americans. And House Republicans have announced that they're tripling the taxpayer dollars they'll spend to defend it in court. But the tables may be starting to turn.
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will meet to consider the Respect for Marriage Act – the historic legislation I introduced that would end DOMA for good. This is a huge opportunity – and I need your help. On Wednesday HRC staffers will march up to Capitol Hill to hand-deliver petitions urging the Senate to move this legislation forward without delay.
We don't have much time to show my fellow senators how serious this is. Will you help me and HRC collect 50,000 petitions against DOMA in the next 48 hours? Tell the Senate: DOMA's time has come. Push the Respect for Marriage Act forward now.
DOMA is an enormous obstacle to equality for same-sex couples and their families, denying them key marriage benefits and imposing harsh, unfair economic burdens. They are deprived of crucial Social Security survivor benefits after a spouse passes away. They cannot file joint federal income taxes, and they cannot take unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Some couples are torn apart by the deportation of a non-citizen spouse forced to return to his or her home country.
Because of DOMA, gay or lesbian service members – who finally serve openly, because we repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" – will lose veterans spousal benefits, including the right of the spouse to be buried in a national cemetery. The law insists on treating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans as inferior. Speak out now >>
The Respect for Marriage Act would erase this inequity by sending DOMA to join other discriminatory statutes like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and segregation-era policies. And Thursday's markup is a monumental leap in the right direction – a day when our allies and foes alike need to hear from us.
I've been fighting for this legislation every day for the last eight months, and now we've reached this critical moment. I need your help in building momentum for this vital legislation. We need 50,000 signers in the next 48 hours. Sign HRC's petition now – it'll be delivered in person on Capitol Hill alongside thousands of other petitions.
We've worked hard for this moment and the support of pro-equality Americans like you makes all the difference. This could easily be the beginning of the end for DOMA – but we'll need your help to get there. Thank you for standing with us. Contact the Human Rights Campaign at http://www.hrc.com/
For repeal,
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Democrat of California
The Funding Cycle Monte
Little Rock's City Board of Directors approved allocations Tuesday of the city's annual Community Block Grant disbursement in which the city expects to receive about approximately $2.7 Million in 2012 for numerous programs including assistance for residents with AIDS and home owners who are seeking home repair services. According to a press release (8.9.11) U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that the State of Arkansas, Fort Smith and West Memphis will receive a total of $33,238,012 to support community development and produce more affordable housing. HUD's annual funding will also help find homes for individuals and families living on the streets and provide permanent housing for individuals living HIV/AIDS. Of that $33.2 Million pot, $544,150 is slated as "state" while the HOWPA HUD website portal ( http://portal.hud.gov/ ) shows that Little Rock ( Central Arkansas) perhaps will receive an estimated $320, 000. Of course getting this break down took a minute, because although the matter was approved by the city, details on this item haven't been clearly posted or at least not yet. Even more surprising in this data dump, was wading through a tremendous amount of old data cited on HUD's Homeless Resource Exchange which listed Arkansas Supportive Housing Network as current funded sponsor and the point organization of Arkansas Department of Health. Really? Obviously no one updated this site with the latest info that the city is now the "grantee" and by board resolution the Arkansas AIDS Foundation was selected as a interm sponsor. So if a person was seeking to began this process using this means they would be terribly misguided. Furthermore, how would anybody be able to navigate this process when much of this process doesn't appear to be as transparent as it should perhaps be. Then of course, there's the mash up of available units, a waiting list, paper trails, other info debacles and "whatever's" that you can add to the HOWPA funding cycle monte. And so it goes...DOMA Focused on by Senate Committee
The Defense of Marriage Act may be the one law on the books whose express aim is to force second class citizenship on a group of Americans. And House Republicans have announced that they're tripling the taxpayer dollars they'll spend to defend it in court. But the tables may be starting to turn.
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will meet to consider the Respect for Marriage Act – the historic legislation I introduced that would end DOMA for good. This is a huge opportunity – and I need your help. On Wednesday HRC staffers will march up to Capitol Hill to hand-deliver petitions urging the Senate to move this legislation forward without delay.DOMA is an enormous obstacle to equality for same-sex couples and their families, denying them key marriage benefits and imposing harsh, unfair economic burdens. They are deprived of crucial Social Security survivor benefits after a spouse passes away. They cannot file joint federal income taxes, and they cannot take unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Some couples are torn apart by the deportation of a non-citizen spouse forced to return to his or her home country.
Because of DOMA, gay or lesbian service members – who finally serve openly, because we repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" – will lose veterans spousal benefits, including the right of the spouse to be buried in a national cemetery. The law insists on treating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans as inferior. Speak out now >>
The Respect for Marriage Act would erase this inequity by sending DOMA to join other discriminatory statutes like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and segregation-era policies. And Thursday's markup is a monumental leap in the right direction – a day when our allies and foes alike need to hear from us.
I've been fighting for this legislation every day for the last eight months, and now we've reached this critical moment. I need your help in building momentum for this vital legislation. We need 50,000 signers in the next 48 hours. Sign HRC's petition now – it'll be delivered in person on Capitol Hill alongside thousands of other petitions.
We've worked hard for this moment and the support of pro-equality Americans like you makes all the difference. This could easily be the beginning of the end for DOMA – but we'll need your help to get there. Thank you for standing with us. Contact the Human Rights Campaign at http://www.hrc.com/
For repeal,
Sen. Dianne Feinstein
Democrat of California
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