I really don’t like to try and see issues as if they are as simple as left/right or Republican/Democrat. The issue is almost always far more complex than that. Except when it comes to the House GOP and John “Boner” Boehner.
John Boehner may not think he broke any House rules by hiring a law firm to defend DOMA. But, he doesn’t get to decide that. Problem for Boehner is that in his zeal to defend DOMA, he never checked to see if there’s money to pay the lawyers. There isn’t. And, that’s a crime. Today, CREW filed an ethics complaint against Boehner.
I especially love this statement from the CREW press release because it illustrates the point so well!
“It is ironic that Speaker Boehner — a fierce critic of government overspending — did not hesitate to pledge half a million dollars he does not have to defend a law of dubious constitutionality,” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. “It seems the speaker believes fiscal responsibility starts at home, but not in the House.”
Now Boner Boy Boehner wasn’t born yesterday, and he has been in the House for a while. It isn’t like the rules about how things are done are secretive or he didn’t have a chance to pay attention to them. I can accept that he feels the House should defend DOMA. I don’t personally agree, but I can intellectually understand how he arrives at that position. and that is one reason we have courts- so that people who see things differently can seek a legal judgement. But here is the thing. When the GOP gained power in the House, they were placed in the position that they had to start to act like adults and actually lead. They had to stop the perpetual politicking and start to govern. They aren’t doing that- have no desire to, nor ability to do that. Everything they claimed to run on was all BS designed to bamboozle voters and ride the wave of Tea Party crazy.
The GOP has two objectives: allow Corporate America to rule, and inflict intrusive government on the personal lives of Americans. They are all about small (really no government) when it comes to Corporate regulation and oversight, and BIG BIG government when it comes to forcing their conservative social values on all of us.