Tag: John Boehner

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DOMA defense fund almost empty

Talking Points Memo makes note of the face that the House GOP authorized spending account to defend DOMA is almost drained.

As of this month, taxpayers have spent $1,447,996.73 defending a law that prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage, according to numbers released Tuesday by House Democrats. The contract that House Republicans entered into with an outside law firm to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) currently has a cap of $1.5 million.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler reacts: “Speaker Boehner has wasted more than a year, and more than $1.5 million taxpayer dollars defending DOMA. So far, he has lost five cases in a row as every court has ruled that there is no legitimate justification for this law. Every day, DOMA harms thousands of American couples and their children. Instead of wasting taxpayer money defending this unjust law in court, Speaker Boehner should join us in our effort to repeal it.”

I’m guessing Speaker Boehner plans on asking for more money to defend the discriminatory law.

Spending cuts on health care, veterans, teachers and firemen, but we need to spend more on marriage inequality?

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Another Federal judge finds DOMA unconstitutional

The Advocate is reporting yet another court has found DOMA to be unconstitutional:

Judge Vanessa L. Bryant ruled in the case, Pedersen v. Office of Personnel Management, that the 1996 law violates the Equal Protection Clause found in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The plaintiffs are being represented by Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, while the House Republican-controlled Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group has intervened to defend DOMA.

In the ruling that ran more than 100 pages, Judge Bryant, a George W. Bush appointee, concluded that,  “having considered the purported rational bases proffered by both BLAG and Congress and concluded that such objectives bear no rational relationship to Section 3 of DOMA as a legislative scheme, the Court finds that no conceivable rational basis exists for the provision.  The provision therefore violates the equal protection principles incorporated in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.”

The ruling comes as the Supreme Court is facing requests in several cases to decide the question of DOMA’s constitutionality once and for all.

Paul Clement, a very expensive, big-deal lawyer, was hired by Speaker of the House Boehner to defend the anti-gay law.  Unsuccessfully.

Your tax dollars at work.

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John Boehner says “ample laws” exist – no need for Employment Non-Discrimination Act

Although the Obama administration insists it will work with Congress to pass legislation in lieu of an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers, House Speaker John Boehner seemed unaware of ENDA (Employment Non-discrimination Act) in response to a question from the Washington Blade, saying, “I haven’t seen the bill. I haven’t thought much about it.”

“No one should face discrimination in the workforce,” Boehner said. “There are ample laws already in place to deal with this. Having been the chairman of the Education & Workforce Committee, I’m quite familiar with employment law. But if there are further changes that are necessary, I’m sure the committee will look at it.”

No federal law or federal regulation bars employers from firing LGBT workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Firing or discriminating against someone because they’re gay is legal in 29 states; firing or discriminating against someone because they’re transgender is legal in 34 states.

ENDA is important. Just the mention of, say, going to the movies with your same-sex partner – the way heterosexual employees might do on a Monday morning at work – could get you fired.

The dark states in the map below are where you can be fired just for being gay or lesbian.

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Debt-limit bill yanked by House GOP

From Politico: House Republicans delayed by at least a day a floor vote on their package to raise the debt ceiling, the latest challenge facing Speaker John Boehner and GOP leaders as they try to avoid a default on the nation’s debt.

The decision to move the vote to Thursday or beyond came after the Congressional Budget Office reported late Tuesday night that the package Boehner crafted would only reduce deficits by $850 billion, $150 billion short of the speaker’s goal of $ 1 trillion in budget and spending cuts.

House Republican leadership aides were looking for ways to revise the bill to address the shortfall. This could include either lowering the borrowing authority Congress approves, or recommending additional spending cuts. GOP aides said the first option is more likely. The United States is projected to default on its debt Aug. 2, according to the Treasury Department.

Boehner was hauling members who are undecided or leaning “no” into his Capitol suite for one-on-one meetings, using the time-honored tradition of his office to twist arms and win votes. Boehner had “made progress,” but the CBO scores threw all that progress into doubt.

House GOP leaders are betting that if they get the bill in front of Obama within a week of a possible U.S. default on its $14.3 trillion debt, the president will have no choice but to sign it, despite a veto threat issued Tuesday afternoon by the White House.

No official whip counts are available, although some Republican lawmakers estimate 40 to 50 GOP lawmakers are no’s or undecided heading into the dramatic floor fight. Boehner is unlikely to bring such an enormously important proposal to the floor without being completely solid on his whip count, preferring not to roll the dice on this issue. And on Tuesday night, that determination was made.