House passes Matthew Shepard bill

According to Political Intelligence:

The House [of Representatives yesterday] ... passed an expanded hate crimes bill that would protect gay victims, and its chief sponsor in the Senate [Ted Kennedy] called for prompt final action.

The measure passed 249-175 over the objections of conservatives, the Associated Press reports.

The bill -- named for Matthew Shepard, the gay college student who was beaten to death in Wyoming in 1998 [despite Rep. Virginia Fox's bogus claim that the bill is mis-named because, according to her, Shepard was the victim of a robbery, not a hate crime] -- is a stronger version of a bill that died two years ago under a veto threat from President Bush.

By contrast, President Obama supports it.

House votes against war funding: It's about time

From United for Peace and Justice:

New York, NY -- In an amazing turn of events, the House of Repre- sentatives today voted AGAINST the supplemental funding for the war in Iraq.

The bill would have provided $166 billion in war funding, the largest single provision since the war started in 2003. In a move that no one expected, dozens of Republicans voted "present," which is the same as abstaining on the vote. This meant that the 149 NO votes were enough to defeat the bill. (141 votes where cast in favor.)

"This was a tremendous victory for the antiwar movement. It was the hard work of people all around the country that secured those 149 clear NO votes. But our work is far from over," said Leslie Cagan, National Coordinator of United for Peace and Justice.