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At yesterday's tax day protest in New Hampshire, Wonk Room's Igor Volsky couldn't find a single Tea Party activist who cares about gay marriage.

Catholic League blowhard Bill Donohue's war with the New Hampshire GOP is escalating, as today he threatens to sue them for libel.

Never in the nearly 18 years I have spent as president of the Catholic League have I seen more totally irresponsible statements issued by the lawmakers in any one state. While some Republicans—and all of those attacking the Catholic League are Republicans—are merely upset with our criticism of Rep. Bettencourt, two have clearly crossed the line. Rep. Lynne Ober wrote the following to us in an e-mail: "I agree that it is certainly unfortunate that the Catholic League chooses to harbor a person who helped pedophiles continue abusing children." Rep. Andrew Manuse wrote this missive: "I am now considering a bill to remove the Church's tax exempt status in New Hampshire, for you have clearly shown that you no longer want it." I have a challenge for the two of them. Why doesn't Ober take the next step by personally accusing me of harboring a person who helped pedophiles continue to abuse children? Organizations can't sue for libel, but individuals can. Why doesn't Manuse go right ahead with his bill to remove the Church's tax-exempt status? We'd love to present his e-mail in court.

Popcorn. Recliner. Feet up.

New Hampshire House GOP leader D.J. Bettencourt is under fire for calling Bishop John McCormack a "pedophile pimp" after the cleric demonstrated against proposed budget cuts for social services.

Before being named bishop of Manchester in 1998, McCormack served as a top aide to Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston, where the Catholic sex abuse scandal began and where he was in charge of investigating sexual misconduct allegations. In 2002, McCormack averted unprecedented criminal charges against the New Hampshire diocese by agreeing that it had harmed children by moving abusive priests from parish to parish. "Would the Bishop like to discuss his history of protecting the 'vulnerable?'" Bettencourt wrote. "This man is a pedophile pimp who should have been led away from the State House in handcuffs with a rain coat over his head in disgrace. He has absolutely no moral credibility to lecture anyone."

The Catholic League's Bill Donohue is predictably outraged: "As president of the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization, I am contacting every member of the New Hampshire House calling for a Resolution of Censure. House Majority Leader David J. Bettencourt has had plenty of time to retract his vicious assault on Manchester Bishop John B. McCormack and refuses to do so. Therefore, it is only fitting that he be censured for his invective."

RELATED: Bettencourt has already earned the scorn of the Christian right for saying that a repeal of same-sex marriage should not be among his chamber's priorities. That prompted NOM to brand him "an enemy of the family."

We won't have to worry about marriage repeal in New Hampshire for the rest of the year.

A House committee voted today to take repeal of the state’s same-sex marriage off the table this year. The 15-0 vote of the House Judiciary Committee effectively means two bills repealing the 2009 law won’t return to the full House of Representatives until early next year.There was no debate in committee about the move. House Majority Leader D. J. Bettencourt, R-Salem, had decided that this divisive issue would distract from GOP priorities to adopt a balanced budget, change the education funding constitutional amendment and alter pension programs. The committee decided to retain the bills (HB 343 and HB 437), which keeps them in its custody until early in 2012 without a further vote of the Legislature. The panel unanimously recommended killing a third bill (HB 569) that would have replaced marriage with domestic unions for all adult partners, be they heterosexual or homosexual couples.

The haters are gonna be furious! Hah.

The New Hampshire-based anti-gay group Cornerstone Action plans to demand that 2010 presidential candidates sign a pledge to "defend traditional marriage." Roll Call reports:

“It was never a plan to make it into a national issue, but it just seems like the timing is right,” Kevin Smith, executive director of the socially conservative think tank New Hampshire Cornerstone, told Roll Call. In New Hampshire, where the GOP now holds veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate, legislative leaders recently decided to postpone action until next January on a high-profile bill to repeal same-sex marriage rights. The debate, which clogged hearing rooms and dominated Granite State headlines earlier in the month, is now scheduled to re-emerge at roughly the same time as the state’s first-in-the-nation presidential primary. Cornerstone will ask each Republican presidential candidate to sign a pledge agreeing marriage should be between one man and one woman. “Why not try to leverage the influence of the candidates to get them to declare their support for traditional marriage?” Smith said. “If you have a candidate saying they’re not willing to oppose same-sex marriage, I think they’ll have a problem. ... We have a wide membership list. We’ll certainly let them know.”

(Tipped by JMG reader Scott)

Over at Think Progress, Igor Volsky has compiled some of more outrageous claims made at yesterday's marriage debate in New Hampshire. A sampling from the below video:

REP. ALFRED BALDASARO: “The same thing happened in Canada, where they passed gay marriage. Now they’re fighting in the courts to get 3 husbands, 3 wives.”

SEN. FENTON GROEN: “[Homosexuality] will significantly increase their risk of serious diseases and can be expected to significantly shorten their lives.”

HOWARD KAUFMAN: “A future redefinition of marriage that permits polygamy would facilitate the introduction an aspect of Sharia or Islamic law that permits a man to have up to four wives.”

The first guy on the clip denounces the "anti-Christian bigotry" inherent in same-sex marriage.

Towleroad directs us to the below clip of NOM's Maggie Gallagher testifying yesterday at New Hampshire's hearing to repeal same-sex marriage. That sea of red surrounding Maggie are supporters of equality. The NH legislature is not expected to vote on the repeal until next year.

Longtime JMG reader Calvin writes to brag about his big brother, who has published a full-page pro-same sex marriage ad in New Hampshire's biggest newspaper.

Fred Karger's Californians Against Hate have rebranded themselves as Rights Equal Rights as Karger takes his battle against NOM to New Hampshire.

Earlier this month New Hampshire House GOP leader D.J. Bettencourt announced that his chamber had more important items on its agenda than to bother with repealing same-sex marriage. Right on cue, NOM is now attacking him as "an enemy of the family."

Bettencourt said the National Organization for Marriage sent a direct mailer to his district in Salem saying he doesn't support traditional family values. He said the mailer was the result of his announcement last week that the House Republican agenda did not include repealing gay marriage. Bettencourt said the incident shows how controversial the issue is and reinforces his belief the House should focus on fiscal issues this year. In a letter to House Speaker William O'Brien, Bettencourt said the organization and its supporters in New Hampshire know the repeal bill will be acted upon because legislative rules require floor votes on bills. "This assault on our agenda has the potential to take important focus and energy away from our focus on the budget," Bettencourt wrote O'Brien. "Therefore, it is my belief that the same sex marriage repeal must be retained in the Judiciary Committee this year so that our full and undivided attention is focused on New Hampshire's outstanding financial issues."

As noted above, the New Hampshire House will be forced under its own rules to eventually vote on the repeal bill. But unless Bettencourt surrenders to the attack from NOM, it won't happen this year.

A short but very interesting item just popped up on my Associated Press feed.

House Republican Leader D.J. Bettencourt confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that jobs and the economy will be the top priorities that Republicans will use as their scorecard to measure themselves by for the next two years. Bettencourt said social issues will take a back seat. He said one abortion initiative will be on the agenda but he declined to say what it is.

Stand by for NOM's hissy fit.

UPDATE: New Hampshire Freedom To Marry responds:

"We hope press accounts are accurate that House Republicans have decided not to pursue a repeal of New Hampshire's gay marriage law this year. If so, we applaud the Republican leadership for listening to the people of New Hampshire. There is bipartisan opposition to repeal marriage equality. All families here want the legislature to focus on the economy, and now is not the time to consider taking away rights from committed couples and their families." - Mo Baxley, Executive Director, New Hampshire Freedom to Marry.