Posted on 06/29/2012 3:31:33 AM PDT by scottjewell
Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Tacoma introduced a bill Wednesday that would grant the spouses of gay men and lesbians serving in the military the same benefits as their heterosexual counterparts.
Smith, the House Armed Services Committee ranking member, said that while the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” was a good start, there is more that can be done to ensure the rights of service members and their spouses.
Smith’s bill, the Military Spouses Equal Treatment Act of 2012, would redefine the term “spouse” in federal laws governing military benefits as any individual who has entered into a valid marriage.
The current definition of spouse, which comes directly from the Defense of Marriage Act, refers to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or wife.
As a result, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs can only provide limited benefits to spouses of gay or lesbian service members.
“Spouses of service members should not be prevented from receiving the benefits they have earned simply because they are the same sex as their partner,” Smith said.
According to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, benefits currently being denied to same-sex military spouses include surviving spouse benefits, medical and dental insurance, housing benefits, treatment in military medical facilities, and free legal services, among others.
Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/06/28/2197242/bill-redefines-spouse-for-military.html#storylink=cpy
A million bucks here , a few million there, soon we will be talking about real money. At least now we know what this gay marriage thing was all about. Money.
Sounds like a good time to rethink a lot of these unfunded benefits, which we can no longer even pretend to afford. No more retiring at 70% of your wages after 20 years service (38 years old!!). You want to retire, fine, but no benefits until you hit 65. No lifetime health insurance at give away prices. People have to wake up and realize that it’s not just social security and medicare that are getting us into trouble.
“Spouses of service members should not be prevented from receiving the benefits they have earned”
Tell me again how spouses “earn” benefits from their partner’s employment? Define “earned” in this society!
It brings tears to my eyes to be witnessing the total destruction of a once great and proud country.
Left Dems Go. Go Left with O. Uncontrollably Left, right over the Election Cliff.
Marie to Planet Earth:
I TOLD YOU SO.
As soon as DADT was repealed, I was telling anyone who would listen that this meant military benefits for gays. I was also saying that this would severely stress the already over burdened TriCare and retirement systems.
BUT, I’m taking that last part back.
As gays are only 2% of the population and probably only about half of them want to marry, I don’t think it’ll add that much to the costs. Especially with the drawdown swinging into full-force.
In a traditional marriage there are often kids involved. While one partner (usually the husband, but it can be the wife) is overseas deployed or on military assignment the other is often holding down a second job and raising the kids. This is how it should be and the military recognized this contribution by giving spousal benefits.
In Barry's brave new world, you're right, I don't see it. Homosexual unions produce no offspring and are for purely sexual purposes. Why then do these gay spouses need benefits? They can work whether their partner is away or not.
I may be looking at it wrong, but marriage is first and foremost what's best for the kids, that's why families joined by marriage can pass on property (and benefits), it's 2 families becoming 1 for the kids sake.
LLS
What are we going to do about it?
LLS
You have a complete misunderstanding of military retirement. You can retire after 20 good years at 50% of your base pay only. The percentage goes up incrementally, based on points, up to 30 years at a maximum of 75% of base pay only.
In effect, you are retiring at 50% of about 60% of your last years pay. It is nowhere near what PEU’s get. Sure, Active Duty retirees draw immediately upon retirement. Tell you what. Put in 20 years and then come see me and tell me how undeserved military retirement is.
I’m working on “Pre-Obama Heterosexual Veteran” bumper stickers.
In addition to the military benefits and the financial implications, I think what is also important here is that a precedent is being set for the redefinition of what a “spouse” is. Once redefined in this formal way, it will spread to all areas. Of course this is exactly what was so important to the gay advocacy groups in terms of the repeal of DADT: The goal being to redefine marriage and to drive the wedge into this area of the government.
Ha, I am sure they will sell like hotcakes. ;)
Over my military career I knew a lot of guys who were, as we called it, “shacked up”. They could not get military benefits for their girl friends without first getting a marriage license. And overseas, you couldn’t even marry a foreign bride without command approval.
My question for Adams is will he allow fags and dykes who are “shacked up” to marry? If so, will heterosexuals be allowed the same?
Which begs a bigger question...what will they call their goat/spouse?
And for this we ask those in uniform to risk life or limb?? They must be rolling in their graves on Iwo Jima.
Yup, I noticed the “Adam Smith” irony in the headline.
Adam Smith? Is there, by any chance a liberal Dem named Ludwig von Mises, too?
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