It isn't just those crazy right-wing Republicans dragging the country to the far right

by Ken

As Howie has been pointing out, of course there are alternatives to the right-wing-gone-wild program for budget cuts that allow those least able to afford them to do the most sharing in this "shared sacrifice" we're hearing so much about. (ThinkProgress's ProgressReport has a customarily excellent roundup today on "The Progressive Path to Deficit Reduction.")

There's a general feeling that the president's budget speech wasn't as bad as it might have been -- or as a lot of people expected. Which doesn't mean it's okay, or more important, that it's anywhere near where the "compromise" process will wind up. As Paul Krugman pointed out on his blog, if this is the "extreme" position on the side of sanity, then halfway between it and the position staked out by the likes of Paul "Die, Granny, Die" Ryan is going to be, well, way out there.

I do have a certain sympathy with what the president is up against in the hard-core right-wing opposition, as reflected in a headline link I noticed on the Washington Post e-newsletter after the speech, in which some genius was remonstrating that the president's speech reflected "a partisan tone." Um, I'm speechless. I'll bet all those nonpartisan Teabaggers are in shock.

Still, the evidence remains unmistakable that it's far from just the loons of the Republican Right driving this ideological lurch, which -- let us say it once again -- has nothing to do with budget crises, except insofar as the present situation provides cover for all sorts of right-wing onslaughts that have been on the crazyfolks' wish list for ages. Not just in the U.S. House but in statehouses all over the country where Republicans used the combination of economic terror and the absence of any meaningful Democratic commitment to solutions to take or retake control.

However, a scare that materialized suddenly in Illinois turned out not to be a Republican but a Democratic shenanigan, averted by the narrowest of margins. In how many other cases will we not be so lucky? Jen Sabella reports on HuffPost:

Anti-Gay Adoption Bill Shot Down In Illinois Senate Committee

A bill that would have allowed religious organizationsto deny gay couples adoption and foster care services was voted down in Senate committee Wednesday.

The legislation, which was sponsored by Democratic Sen. David Koehler, would have amended the state's recently passed civil unions law and allowed religious child welfare agencies to "decline an adoption or foster family home application" to a couple in a civil union if "if acceptance of that application would constitute a violation of the organization's sincerely held religious beliefs."

The Senate Executive Committee voted down the bill 7 to 6, with 1 abstention, and it is now dead.

"This is a huge victory for the LGBTQ community and families across Illinois," said Anthony Martinez, Executive Director of the Civil Rights Agenda, in a statement Wednesday. "This is also a huge win for the tens of thousands of children that are in the adoption and foster system and need loving families."

Martinez worked to mobilize opponents of the measure earlier this week. The American Civil Liberties Union, Family Equality Council and the Log Cabin Republicans all voiced their opposition to the measure Tuesday. One main issue with the legislation was whether religious agencies would be breaking anti-discrimination laws by rejecting openly gay prospective parents while taking public funds for adoption and foster care services.

"This proposal would deny loving homes for many children who are in foster care or who are awaiting placement in foster homes," Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director of the Family Equality Council, said in a statement. "Given the need for adoptive parents in the state of Illinois there is no justification in allowing agencies using public funding to facilitate adoptions to discriminate."

Martinez told HuffPost Chicago Tuesday that his organization was concerned about the bill passing due to its sponsors. Koehler is a respected and usually progressive senator and his co-sponsor Sen. William Haine is a moderate Democrat. He said he feared the men would have the support they needed to pass SB 1123.

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