NGLTF tracks Obamas progress on over 80 items that dont require congressional approval

[FreeState]

The NGLTF made a list of pro-gay actions the executive branch could take that don't require congressional approval. The executive branch can do all these things by themselves. NGLTF listed 80 possibly things the White House could do. President Obama has done one.

http://www.thetaskforce.org/newadmin/newbeginning_scoresheet.html

The following policies are listed in order of federal agency, although the White House is listed first. The following list of policy changes are by no means exhaustive and, over time, additional policy changes will be added to this list as they are identified. Also, given that changes may occur in how the Obama Administration and federal agencies allocate oversight or implementation of specific policies, this webpage will be updated to reflect those changes. These policies will be tracked and "checked off" as we succeed in securing advances for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and our families.

See the list of over 80 items: http://www.thetaskforce.org/newadmin/newbeginning_scoresheet.html

[villager]

1. wow -- an unreccer already got here. The apoligists are getting steadily more pathetic

n/t

[Name removed]

2. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[IRemember]

8. And the typical struggle4progress Obama defense at the bottom

:rofl:

[struggle4progress]

9. Feel free to explain to me the actual complaint about Obama's judges

[joeybee12]

3. Aw, give the guy a break...that's almost 1%!!!!!

One percent of what he could do he's actually done! The rest he has a "plan" for.

[ThomCat]

4. Could you cross post this over in GD?

I'd love to see the reception this gets over there, and the excuses it generates.

[QC]

5. BUT HE HAS SO MUCH ON HIS PLATE!1!111!!!

[struggle4progress]

6. I started down the list and got as far as #2: "Nominate Judges who will rule fairly ..."

Wait. Is Obama not nominating judges?

By mid-October of 2001, there were 31 Court of Appeals vacancies, 79 District Court vacancies, and a total of 110 vacancies; Bush had successfully appointed 14 judges, and nominees waited on average 96 days from nomination to confirmation. By mid-October of 2009, there were 22 Court of Appeals vacancies, 79 District Court vacancies, and a total of 96 vacancies; Obama had successfully appointed 5 judges, and nominees waited on average 132 days from nomination to confirmation. Obama's nominating a bit slower than Bush, but (despite reasonably quick committee hearings) Republican holds are delaying confirmation. Obama's nominees are rather more diverse than Bush's. See: http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2009/1023_courts_wheeler.aspx

So Obama's been nominating judges. Are they unfair judges? Lambda Legal was listed as the source for #2: let's peek at their

Fair Courts Project
... One example of Lambda Legal's advocay on behalf of fair courts is the letter we sent members of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing concern about Leslie Southwick's nomination to the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. We asked members of the committee to pose certain questions to Judge Southwick in order to determine his ability to be a fair and impartial jurist ...
http://www.lambdalegal.org/issues/fair-courts-project/

The cited text is the second paragraph on the webpage. The webpage obviously hasn't been updated for more than two years: Southwick, a Bush nominee, was confirmed in October 2007 -- here's the Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_H._Southwick

So, I want to ask, what is the point of listing Nominate Judges who will rule fairly and impartially ..., as an unmet goal? Obama's obviously aiming for a more diverse and inclusive bench; Republicans are being as obstructionist as possible; and the source for this unmet goal (listed as Lambda Legal, which I plausibly interpret as their Fair Courts Project) hasn't been updated since the Southwick fight

By the way, poking around the Lambda Legal frontpage, I found they just won a twenty year fight:

President Obama To Lift HIV Travel Ban: Lambda Legal Says Good Riddance to Bad Policy
"...as the government sheds this discriminatory practice, we hope that other discriminatory laws and policies will soon be eliminated."
(New York, October 30, 2009) — Today President Obama announced that the administration will publish a new rule on Monday that will lift the HIV travel and immigration ban by removing HIV from the list of communicable diseases of public health significance for immigrants to the United States. Lambda Legal has provided legal analysis and formal comments on numerous occasions urging the government to end the discriminatory ban that has been in place for over 20 years ... http://www.lambdalegal.org/news/pr/xny_20091030_president-obama-to-lift.html

Is this victory in a twenty year fight reflected in the Task Force list of goals? I checked -- and why, no! it is not!

Conclusions: I don't know if this is incompetence or deliberate dishonesty -- but either way, it is a frickin headache that damages credibility. Why should anybody take this list seriously?

[donheld]

7. k & R