Wed Jun 2, 7:22 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday expanded benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees, a move likely to be welcomed by gay rights activists who have questioned his commitment to their causes.
Obama said he had directed government agencies to offer a number of new benefits to the families of gay and lesbian federal employees, including family assistance services, hardship transfers and relocation expenses.
His directive builds on a move he made last year to offer healthcare benefits, sick leave and medical evacuation for same-sex partners of federal employees.
Obama said in a statement that while his directive was an "important step on the path to equality," existing federal law prevented him from taking further action to provide same-sex domestic partners with the same benefits offered to heterosexual married couples.
He called on Congress to swiftly pass a measure that would address that discrepancy.
Gay rights activists, who were big supporters of Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign, have criticized him for not moving fast enough to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prevents gay men and women from serving openly in the military.
(Editing by Xavier Briand)
Between this and pushing to have DADT repealed, it looks like Obama is at last doing SOMETHING for the gay community.
I know most in the community have been bitchy about it, but considering how much Crap Obama has had to deal with, I haven't minded waiting. At least we are getting some improvements and there is talk of repealing DOMA as well.
Praying is another way of doing nothing helpful
"Congratulations, you get a cookie. You almost got a fundamental English word correct." Pick
"Outlaw star has spaceships that punch eachother" Joviwan Read "Tales From The Crossroads"! Read "One Wrong Turn"!
Yes, it's very encouraging. However I think people are still pushing him too fast. The more he fixes other major problems like the economy, the better like he'll be and have far greater support. Also with every passing year the trend has been towards increasing acceptance of gays
(sans religious groups as a rule).
Hopefully he'll be successful and doesn't end up setting back the advancements many more years.
You have to realize that most Christian "moral values" behaviour is not really about "protecting" anyone; it's about their desire to send a continual stream of messages of condemnation towards people whose existence offends them. - Darth Wong alias Mike Wong
"There is nothing wrong with being ignorant. However, there is something very wrong with not choosing to exchange ignorance for knowledge when the opportunity presents itself."
Justforfun000 wrote:Yes, it's very encouraging. However I think people are still pushing him too fast.
Too fast? Obama has demonstrated that if he's not prodded, he's more than happy with the status quo between Republicans and their altar boys Democrats. Without regular prodding, pushing, and displays of disappointment and outrage by the progressive interests that got him elected; Obama's shown tendencies that'd suggest he'd be a "center"-seeker at best, and bending over and taking it from the GOP with glee at worst.
The appropriate reaction to hearing him throw these bones towards the LGBT and other disadvantaged communities is not to cluck and go "we're moving too fast," but to grab him by the short-n-curlies and remind him that he campaigned on not being a regressive troglodyte, and not serving their interests.
Justforfun000 wrote:Yes, it's very encouraging. However I think people are still pushing him too fast.
Too fast? Obama has demonstrated that if he's not prodded, he's more than happy with the status quo between Republicans and their altar boys Democrats. Without regular prodding, pushing, and displays of disappointment and outrage by the progressive interests that got him elected; Obama's shown tendencies that'd suggest he'd be a "center"-seeker at best, and bending over and taking it from the GOP with glee at worst.
Obama unfortunately is fitting the "all hat, no cattle" adage and I'm afraid the US might have entered a time when the ability to be elected President and actually act as President are not that compatible. I was hoping that GWB's election was due to temporary insanity and Obama would return competence and a semblance of honour to the US presidency. But it isn't proving the case so far.
^ You think that Obama HASN'T returned any competence to the executive branch? Honor is subjective and arguable, but it think competence is no contest..."All hat, no cattle"? I think that's a gross oversimplification.
The Original Nex wrote:^ You think that Obama HASN'T returned any competence to the executive branch? Honor is subjective and arguable, but it think competence is no contest..."All hat, no cattle"? I think that's a gross oversimplification.
It is a saying, so it is an oversimplification but with too much truth for my liking as I was really hoping that Obama could perform even at half his campaigning level. But as far as competence, I haven't seen that much. Health reform - you get a Frakenbill which people are still trying to decipher. Financial reform - very weak and token. I haven't seen anything that would prevent or even significant reduce another financial disaster and in my view the moral hazard remains as high as it ever has. Justice reform - still jailing people for 5 grams of pot and wrecking their life without showing any signs of change. Also hasn't handed out one single pardon and isn't showing any signs of giving one anytime soon given the recent staff changes. I think he has now passed Adams to the fourth stingiest. And I give Washington (the slowest at almost 5 years) a pass simply because how many federal laws existed back in his Presidency outside the military where a pardon could apply to start with? Almost all of the true "criminal" laws were state enforced at that time.
I'm reserving judgment on the BP mess in the gulf since I'm still not sure how much of it should be ascribed to the US government in addition to BP.
Jalinth, I have to come in here and ask just what exactly do you expect Obama to be doing right now? It is less then 6 months till the Midterm Elections, the country is still in a finical Disaster, and we have the Gulf blowing up for the next 100 years. What would you want Obama to do that he isn't already doing?
Praying is another way of doing nothing helpful
"Congratulations, you get a cookie. You almost got a fundamental English word correct." Pick
"Outlaw star has spaceships that punch eachother" Joviwan Read "Tales From The Crossroads"! Read "One Wrong Turn"!
-NOT clamping down on government whistleblowers.
-NOT perpetuating Bush-era claims about extensive presidential powers at the expense of due process and civil liberties issues
-NOT cancelling the Constellation space program
For the rest, my complaints boil down to "I think he could have and should have done more, faster." And I really do think so. But maybe he disagrees with me, either because he's not the man I thought he was or because he's convinced that the American public will not support a president who isn't at least 25% Republican by weight.
