Proposition 8 money tracking resources

The Los Angeles Times has online resources for following the money race to pass or defeat Proposition 8, California's anti-gay marriage amendment.

There is an interactive map that allows the reader to click on a county to see how much money came from that county and by what margin that county voted against 2000's Proposition 22, the Knight Initiative. Proposition 22 barred same-sex marriage by statute and was approved statewide by 61.4-38.6.

Click on the green bar to find figures for marriage ban opponents, and on the blue bar for marriage ban supporters.

As of yesterday, gay marriage supporters have raised $5,702,253 versus $3,500,090 for opponents.

There is also a donor database that can search by city, ZIP code, or state (use two-letter postal abbreviations). Find out what the neighbors are up to.

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California Republican Party Chair Ron Nehring on gay marriage ruling

In which Chairman Nehring expresses pride that the California GOP is opposed to equality for all citizens:

JUDICIAL ACTIVISM: CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT REDEFINES MARRIAGE.

On the domestic side, the California Supreme Court re-opened the issue of same-sex marriage with its 4-3 decision substituting its will for the will of the people on the matter (vote for Proposition 22: 61%). This is certainly an emotional issue for many people, and understandably so. Yet, Republicans can agree that it is not the role of the judiciary to fundamentally redefine the basic tenets of society. That is a function appropriate for the legislative process, and Governor Schwarzenegger has consistently vetoed bills aimed at reversing Proposition 22. (See today's Wall Street Journal editorial.)

It will be interesting to see how Barack Obama tip-toes around this issue. Make no mistake: the activists behind his campaign insist on rewriting the definition of marriage as a beginning, rather than an end point, on their agenda of social engineering.

When we witness judicial activism, it's worth noting that the legislative branch -- that closest to the people -- is outlined in the Constitution's Article I, while the branch most removed from the people, the judiciary, is described in its Article III. The judiciary is intended to interpret laws, not make them, as the California Supreme Court in his case has chosen to do.

Significantly, the state Republican Party has already endorsed the November constitutional amendment ballot initiative that would reverse this court decision by putting Proposition 22 into the state constitution, as other states have done.