The Contributor Staff Posts

While the eyes of the nation were turned toward President Barack Obama’s second inauguration, the Virginia State Senate managed to sneak pass a bill that would redistrict the state’s senate seats.

Pentagon officials say they are bound by the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which forbids the federal government from recognizing any marriage other than that between a man and a woman.

President Obama used his Second Inaugural Address as a moment to highlight the struggle for LGBT equality, making a direct call to all Americans to support marraige equality for gays and lesbians.

Read the full text of President Obama's second inaugural address, as prepared for delivery.

Capitalism is a cult. It is devoted to the ideals of privatization over the common good, profit over social needs, and control by a small group of people who defy the public's will.

As President Obama prepares to begin his second term, political cartoonists read between the lines about today's inauguration.

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), one of the leaders of the civil rights movement, responded to remarks made by right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh indicating Lewis would not "have been beat upside the head" during the march to Selma in 1965 if he had a gun.

South Carolina better prepare for a dose of truthiness. The state's upcoming congressional race already promised to be exciting, with disgraced former Governor Mark Sanford, fresh on the heels of his sultry trips up and down the Application Trail, deciding to attempt a political comeback.

Virginia state delegate Joe Morrissey (D-Highland Springs) pulled out an AK-47 on the floor of the state's House of Delegates on Thursday, in an attempt to rally support for a bill that would ban assault weapons in the state.

With revenues down and residents weary of ever-increasing local taxes, some states have made a push to privatize services in recent years to save money. In New Jersey, a small town could become the first municipality in the state to privatize 911 police dispatching services.

Following President Obama's announcement on Wednesday of new proposals intended to curb gun violence in the U.S., Texas Governor Rick Perry released a statement saying Obama's remarks "disgust" him, and insisted "no gun law" could stop "evil individuals" intent on killing people.

The NRA has released a vicious attack ad that goes after Obama's children and calls him an "elitist hypocrite" for protecting them with "armed guards." Apparently, Obama is an "elitist" and a "hypocrite" for having Secret Service protection while American families do not.

A graphic created by the Wall Street Journal might help explain the conservative mindset about cutting taxes for the rich. Despite writing about the effect tax increases will have for the poor, apparently no one in their world makes under $100,000 a year.

The NRA has made it its mission to force the blame of gun violence onto everything except guns. Following the tragic shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary School where 20 children and six adults were gunned down, NRA president Wayne LaPierre was quick to place the blame on the influence of violent video games.

When the Obama administration made the promise to respond to any "We the People" petitions on the White House Web site that attracted at least 25,000 signatures, I bet they never imagined having to feild a request to "begin construction of a Death Star" by 2016.

If only certain lawmakers valued the First Amendment as much as they do the Second. Wisconsin Assembly leaders came to an agreement Thursday to eliminate the body's all-night sessions, but Republicans were able to force through stricter rules on Capitol visitors, banning everything from cellphones to newspapers.

They may refer to themselves as the invisible empire, but at least in Virginia, the Ku Klux Klan have stepped up recruitment to Richmond-area residents. And according to the Grand Dragon, they have one person to thank - President Obama.

In the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut school massacre, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart took on the right's refusal to take up the topic of gun control, targeting everything from Fox News to NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre's contention that gun violence can be blamed on everything but guns.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is threatening to hold up the confirmation of President Obama's nominee to direct to Central Intelligence Agency, John Brennan, "until our questions are answered" about the September attack in Benghazi, Libya.

A local Wendy's franchise with 11 restaurants in the Obama, Nebraska metro area is slashing about 100 workers' hours in order to avoid paying for employees' health benefits.