How Else Might They Have Spent $9 Million In Maine?

The whole idea of justifying why civil rights should apply to all, and why those rights should not be placed on a public referendum for the average joe to consider at the same time he is watching The Simpsons, should be obvious without saying.  Yet a large targeted series of ads were placed in Maine media to persuade voters to deny civil rights to gay couples from marrying this year.  As  a consequence the proponents of civil rights had to defend the moral need for equality when if comes to marriage. 

In the end over $9 million dollars was used for what should have never been needed to be fought over.    It seems to me that in this era of budget shortfalls and economic gloom there might have been a better way for ‘the Christians’ to have used their money than to promote hate.  They might have taken the millions and fed the homeless or constructed houses.  They might have helped families with children who needed expensive operations, or paid heating bills so elderly people could stay warm in cold Maine winters.  Countless ways to spend the money that was instead used to spread hate and bigotry. 

Campaign finance reports show that the two sides in the ballot fight that overturned Maine’s gay marriage law spent $9.6 million.

And the side that successfully argued to revoke the gay marriage law last month spent $3.8 million, less than the $5.8 million spent by those supporting the law.

The Kennebec Journal is reporting that 20 groups spent money to influence the vote.

The campaign finance reports were released Tuesday.

The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices says the amount of spending on the gay marriage vote is believed to be second only to a vote in 2003 on a proposed tribal casino