A compendium of news worthy events from around the country.

Delaware Senate Passes a Civil Union Bill. The Delaware Senate by 13 to 6 with 2 abstentions passed the Diamond State's first civil unions bill. The bill, sponsored by state Sen. David Sokola, D-Newark, with about two dozen co-sponsors, would grant same-sex couples the same legal protections and responsibilities as married couples. The bill now heads to the House. If the bill were to become law, Delaware would become the eighth state to recognize same-sex civil unions. More from Delaware Online.

In Florida, Rick Scott's Approval Rating Sinking Fast. According to the latest Quinnipiac University survey of 1,499 registered Florida voters, 48 percent of Floridians disapprove of Governor Rick Scott's performance — more than double the level measured in a February poll. Only 35 percent gave the Republican newcomer a favorable rating, exactly what it was more than a month ago. The full story in the Miami Herald.

Arkansas Supreme Court Overturns Ban on Gay Adoptions. The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s opinion that a recently passed law that would prohibit unmarried, cohabitating couples from adopting or fostering children is unconstitutional. The court ruled that the law, which was targeted at gay and lesbian families, needlessly violated their right to privacy. As Arkansas Justice Robert Brown maintained, under the ban such couples “must choose either to lead a life of private, sexual intimacy with a partner without the opportunity to adopt or foster children or forego sexual cohabitation and, thereby, attain eligibility to adopt or foster.” More from Fox 16 News.

Surreal California Budget Proposals. The Los Angeles Times termed the budget cuts proposals under discussion in the Golden State as "surreal."

Cut teachers' pay by 5%. Close a public university or two. Fire the entire state workforce.

Those were among the proposals bandied about by state lawmakers in a budget hearing Thursday that at times had a touch of the surreal. 

A $15 billion budget shortfall remains to be fixed, and the Senate Budget Committee hearing was the first held since talks for a referendum on taxes between Gov. Jerry Brown and Republicans collapsed late last month. 

Democrats made it clear they saw this and upcoming hearings as an opportunity to rally public support for raising taxes without GOP backing. They talked about how low state spending is today by historic measures -- spending per personal income is the lowest in four decades -- and how firing every state worker would not close the gap. 

Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) asked about shuttering a UC or CSU campus in the state to preserve some of the state’s flagship schools, such as UC Berkeley in her district. "Do you have a viable economy if you don't have a first-class higher education system?" she asked.

Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) asked about cutting teachers' pay by 5%, admitting the question was politically "like lighting a fuse on a rocket."

Partisan squabbling punctuated the hearing, and no consensus emerged.

Surging Oil Prices Brings Huge Surplus in Alaska. With more than $11 billion already in its savings accounts, Alaska is projecting a new $3.4 billion surplus because of soaring oil prices. The debate now turns to what to do with all the money. Stateline looks at the enviable fiscal position up in the Last Frontier.

Bishop E.W. Jackson Seeks GOP Nod in Virginia Senate Race. Bishop E.W. Jackson, the head of STAND for America (Staying True to America’s National Destiny), is filing paperwork to run for the Virginia Senate seat being vacated by Senator Jim Webb.  Bishop Jackson will face former Senator George Allen and at least one other Tea Party-backed candidate. Right Wing Watch has more on Bishop E.W. Jackson.

A federal judge in Richmond has denied the Department of Justice's motion to dismiss Virginia's lawsuit challenging the health care reform bill passed by Congress. The ruling is only a procedural step but sets the stage for a full hearing with significant Constitutional implications.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed the state's lawsuit shortly after President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in March. Cuccinelli is challenging a provision, specifically Section 1501 in the PPACA, that will require individuals to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty. Virginia's legislature passed a law earlier this year that prohibits a requirement for individuals to buy health insurance.

In a 32 page decision (pdf), U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson wrote that "although this case is laden with public policy implications and has a distinctive political undercurrent, at this stage the sole issues before the Court are subject matter jurisdiction and the legal sufficiency of the Complaint." Ruling that the existence of the state law "is sufficient to trigger the duty of the Attorney General of Virginia to defend the law and the associated sovereign power to enact it," Judge Hudson has allowed the suit seeking declaratory and injunction relief to proceed.

In his opinion, Judge Hudson summarized:

While this case raises a host of complex constitutional issues, all seem to distill to the single question of whether or not Congress has the power to regulate - and tax - a citizen's decision not to participate in interstate commerce. Neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor any circuit court of appeals have squarely addressed this issue. No reported case from federal appellate court has extended the Commerce Clause or Tax Clause to include the regulation of a person's decision not to purchase a product, notwithstanding its effect on interstate commerce. Given the presence of some authority arguably supporting the theory underlying each side's position, this Court cannot conclude at this stage that the Complaint fails to state a cause of action.

The Secretary's [Kathleen Sebelius is the defendant in this case in her official capacity of HHS Secretary] Motion to Dismiss will therefore be denied. Resolution of the controlling issue in this case must await a hearing on the merits.

A full hearing on Virginia’s lawsuit is scheduled for October and will determine if Virginia has standing to challenge the Federal law.

There's more...

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli speaks on why he's not getting his children a social security number.

And then there's this:

Yes, Virginia, your attorney general is a nutcase.

Kudos to Congressman Jim Moran for calling it as it is.

From the Washington Post:

At a get-out-the-vote rally in Fairfax County, Moran said: "I mean, if the Republicans were running in Afghanistan, they'd be running on the Taliban ticket as far as I can see."

Moran was talking about Republicans Robert F. McDonnell for governor, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling and state Sen. Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, who is running for attorney general. By some accounts, the three represent the most conservative Republican ticket to run in Virginia in many years. Moran's comments clearly were aimed to motivate Democratic voters to turn out on Tuesday and vote blue.

At age 34, two years before his first election and two decades before he would run for governor of Virginia, Iman Bob McDonnell submitted a master's thesis to Regents University, an evangelical school in Virginia Beach, in which he described working women and feminists as "detrimental" to the family. He said government policy should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators." He described as "illogical" a 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples.

According to Post, this isn't the first time McDonnell has been compared to the Taliban; in 2003, a liberal columnist for the Daily Press of Newport News dubbed him "Taliban Bob" for his role in ousting a female Circuit Court judge who had been accused by another woman of sexual harassment. I am sure it won't be the last either.

There's more...

Creigh Deeds

Bob McDonnell

Here are four ads currently running in Virginia. Each is a 30 second spot. The top two are from the Creigh Deeds campaign and the bottom two are from Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate. The Deeds campaign continues to trail in the race by near double-digits. It is thus not terribly surprising that the Deeds campaign is focusing on attacking Bob McDonnell in his ad campaign while McDonnell avoids mentioning Creigh Deeds altogther in his ads. Which ads work for you?

There's more...