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A strong year for gay-marriage advocates ends with a surprise

We’ll always have… Utah?

When scholars write the history of America’s gay-marriage battles, they may declare 2013 the year the balance tipped. For in the past 12 months the president has compared the campaign to America’s other great civil-rights struggles, the Supreme Court has declared that the federal government has no business denying equal treatment to legally wedded gay couples, and the number of states in which people may marry whom they please has doubled, from nine to 18 (plus Washington, DC), covering 39% of the population.

Most of the 18 are the sorts of progressive places one might expect. The last is anything but; as home to the Mormon church, a firm foe of gay marriage, Utah is among America’s most conservative states. Yet on December 20th Robert Shelby, a federal judge, gave Utah’s gay couples an early Christmas present by scrapping the state’s same-sex marriage ban, approved by 66% of voters in 2004. Caught out, state officials are appealing against the ruling, but Judge Shelby and an appeals court declined to suspend his decision in the meantime. (Utah has asked the Supreme Court to do so, and was awaiting its decision as The Economist went to press.) Hundreds of couples flocked to the altar.

If the decision stands Utah will become the seventh state to have gay marriage delivered by judges (the day before Judge Shelby’s ruling, New Mexico’s Supreme Court legalised gay marriage in that state). Eight legislatures have passed pro-marriage laws, as have voters in three states. But, says Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights group, “all the low-hanging fruit is gone”. Most of the 32 outstanding bans are in state constitutions and cannot be overturned by legislatures. So bar a few states, mainly in the West, which may hold public votes in the coming years, advocates are likely to enjoy most of their advances, and surely some setbacks, in courtrooms. And that could mean more Utah-style surprises.

Altared states: a world map of gay marriage rights

At least 35 lawsuits are making their way through federal courts in various states—including the curious case of two gay couples married in Massachusetts now seeking divorce in Texas, which does not allow gay marriage. Many plaintiffs have drawn succour from the Supreme Court’s decision in June to strike down Section 3 of the Defence of Marriage Act, which had denied federal benefits to married gay couples. Anthony Kennedy’s decision said nothing about the legality of state bans, but its anti-discrimination argument strengthened the case for opposing them.

Ultimately one or other of the state cases will make it to the Supreme Court. When that will happen is anyone’s guess. In June the justices declined to hear a challenge to California’s gay-marriage ban on procedural grounds; they may prefer to let the issue unfold further in lower courts before taking on another case with national implications. Meanwhile, the court of public opinion appears to have reached its verdict; in July 54% of voters said gays should be granted the same marriage rights as heterosexuals, 12 percentage points higher than when Utah passed its ban.

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This past Sunday, the Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots to win the AFC title. The Seattle Seahawks defeated the San Francisco 49ers to capture the NFC title. Now the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks will face each other in the Super Bowl on February 2nd, 2014. Both football teams will help to bring in tons of revenue dollars for the economy and their respective cities. This coming Super Bowl is expected to be the most highly watched Super Bowl game ever. It features one of the best offensive teams in the NFL going against one of the best defensive teams in recent history. It has been estimated that a 30-second television commercial will go for about $4 million during this year’s Super Bowl.   At the start of 2014, two states began selling marijuana legally, Colorado and Washington. Since the two football teams that will be playing in the Super Bowl are coming from these two states it is safe to say that marijuana stores will likely do very well on Super Bowl Sunday. We can only expect marijuana sales to be up leading into such a major sporting event. After all, alcohol sales always increase during the week of the Super Bowl, so we should expect the same type of reaction from marijuana sales. Here are three marijuana related stocks that could benefit from the upcoming Super Bowl game. Please note, all of these companies mentioned below trade on the OTC-BB so they are equities that carry much higher risk. These stocks have also had big gains since the new year began. Traders and investors must make sure that they understand the risks involved before trading these stocks.   1. Cannabis Sativa  (OTC-BB: CBDS) 2. Medbox Inc (OTC-BB: MDBX) 3. Terra Tech Corp (OTC-BB: TRTC) Nicholas Santiago InTheMoneyStocks.com

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Park Lake City, UT

Former Bush aide now top private equity lobbyist

By Lawrence Delevingne

Kenneth Mehlman, the public affairs chief at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. who was previously a leading Republican operative in Washington, is now the top lobbyist for the private equity industry.

Mehlman was elected Thursday as the chairman of The Private Equity Growth Capital Council, the most prominent industry advocacy group for firms like TPG Capital, Silver Lake, Apollo Global Management, Carlyle Group and Blackstone Group.

He will continue several long-running fights in Washington, including higher taxes for PE firms from a potential change in the treatment of carried interest and increased registration and disclosure rules from the Dodd-Frank Act.

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Mehlman succeeds Mark Tresnowski, the top lawyer for Madison Dearborn Partners. PEGCC, launched in 2007, is also led day-to-day by president and chief executive officer Steve Judge.

Mehlman joined KKR in 2008 from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where he was a partner in the law firm's legislative and regulatory counseling practice. He is best known for his work on behalf of conservative politicians before: chairing the Republican National Committee and running George W. Bush's presidential reelection campaign in 2004.

Mehlman is also a prominent gay rights advocate and serves as a director of the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

Mehlman's primary responsibilities will be to "help expand the PEGCC's outreach efforts to educate and engage a broad set of stakeholders about the value of a vibrant and dynamic private equity industry," according to a statement from the association.

"I have enormous respect for the PEGCC's important work engaging with public policy makers to encourage more economic growth and retirement security for millions of Americans," Mehlman said. "I also share the PEGCC's goal of building a community of investors who seek superior returns while also emphasizing active, responsible governance, long term investment and measuring success in years not quarters."

Mehlman also credited Tresnowski for his work in helping block changes to carried interest taxes as yet and countering negative views of the private equity industry that emerged during former Bain Capital executive Mitt Romney's failed presidential bid.