Chad’s Morning Brief 12.10.12
Here is your Morning Brief for the morning of December 10, 2012. Give us your feedback below and tune in to The Chad Hasty Show for these and many more topics from 8:30 to 11 am.
1. Tuberville Chickens Out
Who would have thought that on Saturday Texas Tech would be without a Head Football Coach? Who would have thought that Texas Tech would have lost a Head Coach to Cincinnati in the Big East?
By leaving Texas Tech to go to the Big East and to take a job no one thought he would want shows just how much Tuberville wanted out of Lubbock and away from Texas Tech. It was a slap to the face of fans who supported him, a slap to the face of Texas Tech, and a punch in the gut to the football team.
Sure, there are some fans that are happy about this and while it may be good long-term, it hurts Texas Tech right now. To recruits looking at Texas Tech, they just saw a coach bolt from a Big 12 team to the Big East. Not good.
Ryan Hyatt had a good article over the weekend that showed what may have gone wrong.
Obviously Tuberville faced an uphill climb coming to Lubbock after the firing of Mike Leach. There was a third that would always hate him for not being Leach. There was a third that would embrace him for the same reason. There was the vast third in the middle that just wanted to win. Somewhere along the way, Tuberville must have decided that he wasn’t going to win over not just that fan-base but maybe that he just couldn’t win in Lubbock. The minute that happened, he was done here.
Hyatt is right. Tuberville never stood a chance with many people here in Lubbock. He wasn't Mike Leach and he took the blame for everything that happened. Tuberville never could bring the fans together and most likely no one could have. The next coach will have a much easier time at healing the fan base. However, it's still no excuse for the actions that Tuberville took over the weekend.
It's for the best though and it's time to move on. Tuberville couldn't stand Lubbock it seems and now Lubbock can't stand him. During his press conference, Kriby Hocutt, Tech's Athletic Director said that the next coach will be someone who wants to be here. So who will that be?
Fans want Kliff Kingsbury and it wouldn't be the worst hire if Tech could lure him away from Texas A&M. Other candidates include Art Briles from Baylor and Chad Morris the Offensive Coordinator at Clemson.
It's time to move on and to forget about Tuberville. He raised a lot of money for Texas Tech and brought in some great players, but his actions on Saturday put a stain on his time here. He slapped Lubbock, Texas Tech, and the fans in the face with his departure but long-term it's for the best.
2. Gay Marriage at the Supreme Court (link)
The Supreme Court will take up the issue of Gay Marriage for the first time. The Supreme Court will look at two cases that challenge federal and state law. According to Reuters:
The high court agreed to review a case against a federal law that denies married same-sex couples the federal benefits heterosexual couples receive. It also unexpectedly took up a challenge to California's ban on gay marriage, known as Proposition 8, which voters narrowly approved in 2008.
Same-sex marriage is a politically charged issue in a country where 31 of the 50 states have passed constitutional amendments banning it, while Washington, D.C., and nine states have legalized it, three of them on Election Day last month.
The tide of public opinion has been shifting in favor of allowing same-sex marriage. In May, President Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to say he believed same-sex couples should be allowed to get married. A Pew Research Center survey from October found 49 percent of Americans favored allowing gay marriage, with 40 percent opposed.
Yet even where it is legal, married same-sex couples do not qualify for a host of federal benefits because the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, passed by Congress, recognizes only marriages between a man and a woman.
Gays and lesbians married under state laws have filed suits challenging their denial of such benefits as Social Security survivor payments and the right to file joint federal tax returns. They argue the provision, known as Section 3, violates equal protection provisions of the U.S. Constitution.
Meeting in private on Friday at their last weekly conference before the court's holiday recess, the justices considered requests to review seven cases dealing with same-sex relationships. Five of them were challenges to the federal marriage law, one to California's gay marriage ban and another to an Arizona law against domestic partner benefits.
The court had been widely expected to take up at least one of the challenges to the federal marriage law, given that two federal appeals courts had found the law unconstitutional. Less clear was what the court would do with the California gay marriage ban.
I am not sure how the court will rule on these two cases. The ObamaCare ruling showed just how difficult it was to predict how the court would rule. It would not shock me though if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage.
3. Another Republican Caves (link)
Another Republican on Sunday signaled his possible support for raising taxes in order to avert the fiscal cliff. According to FOX News Senator Bob Corker is ready to cave.
Sen. Bob Corker, in doing so, joins a small but growing group of Republicans who say the party should cave to President Obama on this issue in order to not only resolve the current crisis but move on and start negotiating spending cuts, which could result in more significant deficit reduction. Without a deal, taxes are set to rise on everybody in 23 days.
"There is a growing group of folks that are looking at this and realizing that we don't have a lot of cards as it relates to the tax issue, before year-end. I mean, we have one house, that's it," Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said on "Fox News Sunday."
Corker said the idea has "merit" that Republicans should let rates rise on the top 2 percent in order to then press for cuts to entitlements in return.
"The focus then shifts to entitlements, and maybe that puts us in a place where we actually can do something that really saves this nation," Corker said. "I actually am beginning to believe that is the best route for us to take."
Corker said Obama has "some leverage," but also said Republicans will soon have leverage to get what they want considering the looming vote on the debt ceiling and the expiration early next year of the current short-term budget law.
Despite a more gloomy outlook from Republicans on the House side, Corker indicated he's optimistic about a deal. "I do think something's going to happen," he said.
I do think a deal will get done, but not until closer to Christmas. That way people won't be paying attention.
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