At OPM, the Benefits Policy Is Berry Disturbing
Homosexuals may not want the government to interfere with their sex lives, but they have no problem asking taxpayers to subsidize them. Under this administration, the President’s plan for getting the economy back on track is spending millions on benefits that violate federal marriage law. According to John Berry, the first openly gay director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), his office is close to finalizing a long list of perks for the same-sex partners of federal workers. Under the regulations, significant others would qualify for child care subsidies, insurance and retirement benefits, evacuation pay for overseas work, survivor annuities, eligibility for non-competitive federal jobs, and the employee assistance program. Although couples don’t have to be in a legal union to qualify, OPM refuses to give straight workers the same benefits. Only gays and lesbians are eligible for these incentives, making it one of the more discriminatory policies in the federal workforce.
In the meantime, how does John Berry propose that we verify these relationships? If the government isn’t relying on marriage law to distinguish who is and isn’t a legal partner, how can it stop a single person from cheating the system and claiming their cousin as a same-sex partner? Back in 2009, when President Obama first revealed this agenda, he said, “Extending equal benefits to the same-sex partners of federal employees is the right thing to do. It is also sound economic policy.”
That’s interesting since even the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force had to cut its domestic partner program in half in 2003 because it was “prohibitively expensive.” Imagine the costs for a workforce of 1.9 million! According to estimates, the price tag for these benefits would be upwards of $630 million in the next decade, which is more than a drop in the deficit bucket. But in the end, it’s not about benefits or dollars—it’s about undermining the definition of man-woman marriage. Forcing the issue only feeds the Left’s argument that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) needs to be overturned.
And the courts are doing their part to make it happen. Yesterday, a San Francisco judge struck down the part of DOMA that stops the government from offering benefits to same-sex spouses. When the suit was originally argued, the Justice Department was still fighting to uphold DOMA. Now, the White House is not only refusing to defend the law, its attorney is arguing on the plaintiff’s behalf! Fox News reports that “[The head of the Justice Department’s civil division] Tony West, joined lawyers from the gay rights legal group Lambda Legal in arguing on Golinski’s behalf, leaving the job of defending DOMA to a lawyer hired by a House of Representatives group.” I’m sure taxpayers will be thrilled to know that we’re not only footing the bill for Congress to argue for DOMA, we’re also paying for the President’s team to attack it!
Here in Hollywood, there’s a Home Depot chock-full of ILLEGALS in the parking lot while across it, is OSH..with no illegals whatsoever.
Guess which store you would go for hardware needs and not get the dirty look when you go back to your car?