One person who won't have to wait to get a new job is a former Bushie, who Speaker Boehner thinks employing right now is the most important thing ever.
ThinkProgress:Earlier today, Speaker John Boehner’s (R) office announced that American taxpayers would pay former Bush Solicitor General Paul Clement to defend the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. Clement, a former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, is widely viewed as one of nation’s leading appellate attorneys. He is also one of the most expensive...
Clement is on track to make $5 million a year, the report tells us, so this guy's not going to come cheap. But congratulations Speaker Boehner, you're now on track to create one job. That is, if we're generous. The guy already has a job, but you're still throwing work his way.
See, back in February, President Obama announced that his administration wouldn't defend the Defense Of Marriage Act -- which bars the federal government from recognizing same sex unions -- because he believed the law was unconstitutional. Republicans, who'd been making a lot of noise about states' rights and the Tenth Amendment, decided this was the worst thing ever. Apparently, Republicans feel the same way about states' right as they do about all their other of their basic, core beliefs -- they're for them until they're not. State governments can bust up unions and deny their citizens healthcare, they can outlaw abortion and decree that brown people show their papers on demand, but if two men or two women want to get married, then states' rights go out the window -- who needs them? Apparently, states only have the right to oppress their citizens. If state governments start expanding freedom and recognizing new rights... Well, clearly something must be done.
And Boehner, being newly concerned about deficit spending, has a plan to both pay for this big-money lawyer and punish the administration for recognizing the Tenth Amendment.
The Hill:
Speaker John Boehner asked House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's for her support to cut funds for the Department of Justice and use them to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.
In a letter sent to Pelosi (D-Calif.) Monday, Boehner (R-Ohio) wrote that the funds Justice would have used to protect the law should be used by the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) to protect the act.
"The burden of defending DOMA, and the resulting costs associated with any litigation that would have otherwise been born by DoJ, has fallen to the House," Boehner wrote. "Obviously, DoJ’s decision results in DoJ no longer needing the funds it would have otherwise expended defending the constitutionality of DOMA. It is my intent that those funds be diverted to the House for reimbursement of any costs incurred by and associated with the House, and not DoJ, defending DOMA."
Justice won't be defending DOMA, because that's a waste of time, which means they won't need the money for other things which aren't a waste of time -- like, you know, fighting terrorism and stuff. Can you imagine how the right would've reacted to Pelosi wanting to cut funding for the DoJ under Bush? "Siding with terrorists!" would've been the phrase of the month.
And is Boehner defending the will of the people, who don't want same sex couples marrying their sweethearts? Not if you ask the people. The last poll on the issue -- taken almost a month ago to the day -- found that a clear majority (53%) supports marriage equality, while only 44% oppose. This is a trend toward marriage equality that's been going on for some time. It's not going to turn around. So Speaker Boehner wants to cut funding from federal law enforcement to pay for a big-money lawyer, who'll then defend a law that most people don't want.
At least he can say he created a job with a straight face. Well, almost anyway...
-Wisco
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