Huckabee insists he’s not uncomfortable around gays

By STEVE KRASKE

Updated April 10, 2014 11:06 AM

Good morning.

• “I’m not homophobic.” — former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, addressing a crowd in Iowa Tuesday night in which he also said he opposes gay marriage.

If you’ve got to explain yourself like this, you’ve got a political problem.

• “Nobody wants to have a caucus again, at least most nobodys that I know.” — Senate Elections Committee Chairman Jay Wasson, a Nixa Republican, who wants to see a March 2016 presidential primary in Missouri. (Link via johncombest.com).

Missourinet’s Bob Priddy reports

that lawmakers want to avoid a replay of 2012 when the state spent $7 million on a pointless presidential primary. The Republican Party refused to recognize the results of that election because it was held too early in the cycle. So delegates had to be picked in a caucus, which few voters attended because of the time commitment involved. A bill calling for a March presidential primary is expected to pass the Senate this week and head to the House.

• “At a time when we should be focused on policies that create jobs and move our state forward, this misguided political maneuver would take us backward by undermining workers and weakening our economy.” — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, proclaiming a big win Wednesday when the General Assembly passed a right-to-work law, but not by the margin needed to send it over to the Senate.

Democrats claimed a big win on a key 2014 issue. The legislation, which would prohibit some workers from paying fees to a union, had been a GOP priority.

• “The action taken by the committee today finally debunks the administration-created myth that the IRS targeting scandal originated with low-level employees in Cincinnati.” — Kansas Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins, a Republican from Topeka.

Jenkins serves on the The House Ways and Means Committee, which voted 23 to 14 Wednesday to recommend prosecution of former IRS official Lois Lerner in connection with the improper targeting of conservative groups. The committee’s step is a rare one and is designed to keep the issue alive ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Democrats noted that the Justice Department is already investigating the matter.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-house-committee-lois-lerner-20140409,0,1908375.story#ixzz2yQm9N62m

This story was originally published April 10, 2014 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Huckabee insists he’s not uncomfortable around gays."

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