I don't know about you, but I'm outraged that MY Federal Taxes are being used to defend discriminatory legislation and policy. If you think for 1 Minute that House Republicans care about the Budget (which they say is the biggest issue), unemployment, economy, poverty, health care, you would be Totally Wrong. Here's why:
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard lawyers arguing that the Defense of Marriage Act which prevents federal recognition of same-sex couples like me and Tom from being legally protected in our marriage, and California's Prop 8, which bans same-sex marriage in California.
The U.S. Dept of Justice refused to defend DOMA because it is unconstitutional and discriminatory, just as the Atty General and Governor of California refused to defend Prop 8.
SO, WHO DEFENDED THOSE DISCRIMINATORY ACTS? The U.S. House of Republicans spent $3 Million of OUR tax money to defend them.
I have to hold my tongue here, because I really want to go off, but you can read the facts yourself in the article below from the Seattle Post Intelligencer Newspaper.
Taxpayers get $3 million bill for defending DOMA, Boehner clams up
SOURCE: http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2013/03/27/taxpayers-get-3-million-bill-for-defending-doma-boehner-clams-up/
The House Republican leadership has billed American taxpayers $3 million to defend the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, but GOP leaders did a deep dive on Wednesday as the high court heard the legal challenge to DOMA.
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| House Speaker John Boehner and Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, R-Washington: House Republican leaders don't want to talk about $3 million bill to taxpayers for defending the Defense of Marriage Act. |
The growing approval of same-sex marriage, and declining popularity of anti-gay laws, seems to have gotten under House Speaker John Boehner’s orange skin.
Boehner was tweeting Wednesday on familiar topics — “Time to Build the Keystone Pipeline,” “Bad News for Obamacare” — but said not a tweet about a federal law that discriminates against same-sex couples and denies them federal benefits. (BTW- Boehner has personally invested in the Keystone Pipeline. ARTICLE: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/16/1055222/-John-Boehner-s-Keystone-XL-conflict-of-interest
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was carrying on about an Indiana Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for school vouchers.
By contrast, freshman Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., whose district
includes conservative rural areas, was trumpeting the fact that she was
one of 200 Democratic House and Senate members who signed legal briefs
advocating that DOMA be overturned.Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who voted for DOMA in 1996, tweeted that she hopes the Supreme Court will overturn the law. She is a cosponsor of legislation that would throw out the anti-gay law.
With public opinion rapidly changing, House Republicans have tried to disguise the big legal bill, used to hire ex-Solicitor General Paul Clement. The House leadership assumed defense of DOMA when the Obama administration decided the law was no longer defensible.
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., scoured House rules in January, seeking to find the legal bill for DOMA’s defense. He finally discovered it on page 17, disguised as a $3 million spending authorization for something called the “Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group.”
Nina Totenberg, the veteran court correspondent for National Public Radio, reported on Wednesday morning: “Those defending DOMA have been strangely unwilling to make their arguments outside of the court. House Speaker John Boehner declined to be interviewed for the article, as did Clement and leading House members who voted for the law.”
