Lawmakers in Washington have passed a hate crime legislation that is attached to the National Defense Authorization Bill, which continues funding for military operations. The legislation calls for harsher punishment for troops that kill based on sexual preference, gender, or race. Because of the hate crime legislation, Senator Jim DeMint is now in opposition to the bill.

“I call it legislative extortion when they attached something like this that is, I mean, the same crimes should be punished the same, not based on what we were thinking,” says DeMint.

Now, DeMint is being attacked for not being in favor of a bill that gives the troops funding. However, he says he does want the funding for the troops, but he’s not voting for a bill that calls for higher punishment based on what the individual was thinking when he or she killed someone. DeMint says the question remains: how does someone know what another person was thinking? [Read more...]