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As we drum our fingers and tap our feet waiting for the Supreme Court's verdict on the Affordable Care Act, let's take a moment to reflect on one of the many benefits set to kick in soon if the ACA is upheld.  

Think Progress reports:

Yesterday's SCOTUS ruling on Arizona's draconian immigration law SB1070 prompted no shortage of press releases from Democrats here in Texas. The bill is a stark reminder of Republicans' hostility towards Latinos, and the way in which many members of the GOP view immigrants as second-class human beings, regardless of their immigration status.

Today, in a 5-4 party-line vote, the SCOTUS made clear that their previous Citizens United decision trumps any individual state's efforts to prevent big corporate money from outright buying elections.

In April I celebrated twenty years since my last joint. Our dismal American drug policy hasn't made much progress since then.  Today, as then, the whole world pays the price for our machinery of repression.  We should start now to dismantle the drug war industry.

This past Friday was Burnt Orange Report's first attempt at a Google Hangout. Four of our staff got together on Google+ to talk about the TDP convention, TDP Chair Gilberto Hinojosa, the Republican and Democratic run-offs for US Senate, Democratic run-offs in CD-23 and CD-33, and Hurta's recent post on Perry's appointees fleeing before the next Legislative session.

If you didn't hang with us live, you can catch up on all of the fun in the video below:

The Texas Democratic Party recently rolled out a press release highlighting their support of decriminalizing marijuana citing the "failed policy" of the drug war as fiscally and morally irresponsible.

President Obama will visit Austin for a fundraiser for his campaign at Austin Music Hall on Tuesday, July 17th at 3pm. This is expected to be one of, if not the last campaign stop for Barack Obama in Austin this election cycle.

Republican Quico "I Hate Cops and Firefighters" Canseco took a break from voting against first responders to refuse to say if he supports President Obama's decision to halt the deportation of DREAM Act eligible immigrants.

As Burnt Orange Report continues to expand our coverage of elections and increase our capacity to take on other projects, we're excited to announce the addition of two more team members. David Feigen will be joining our writing staff, and Shelby Alexander will be working as our BOR Summer Intern. Both are great young Texans who have much to add to our BOR team.

Here are their bios:

Could Abraham Lincoln win re-election in 1864 if today's technology and methods were available to his opponent? That's the question posed by FlackCheck.org, which produced more than two dozen very funny ads poking fun at the extreme language used in political advertisements. The ads attack Lincoln's character, criticize his ties to special interests, and slam the 16th President for his war on religion. To get a taste, check out FlackCheck's video, "Lincoln, a Tax and Spend Socialist".

The following content was originally posted at the Progress Texas blog.

Fifty votes in ten years is no accident - it's intentional.

In a head scratching development, Florida Senator Marco Rubio is not being considered as a possible running mate for Mitt Romney.  Romney has scoffed at those speculating on the selection process and Rubio has refused to comment on anything pertaining to the Vice Presidency. But if this report is true, Democrats should give a heavy sigh of relief.

Find out why below the jump.