Posted by
Always To The Right on Sunday, October 11, 2009 2:23:05 PM
First, DOMA does not limit how states can recognize partnerships, as
the AP writes. States can pass whatever partnership laws they want.
What DOMA does is keep the federal government from forcing states to
recognize the partnership laws of other states, bypassing the
“full faith and credit” clause of the Constitution for marriage laws.
Congress enacted it when it became apparent that judges in state courts
wanted to bypass legislatures and carve out legal civil marriages for
gays through judicial activism.
Repealing DOMA would take some work. Obama has to get both the
House and Senate to pass a repeal of the law, which still remains
popular. If he wanted to do that, he would need to act rather quickly,
as Democrats will likely lose a lot of ground in the midterms.
However, with the increasingly unpopular ObamaCare bill stalled in
Congress, another unpopular cap-and-trade bill stuck as well, and 2009
running out of days, we’re not likely to see any attempt until at least
2011. Democrats know a repeal attempt in an election year would be
political suicide for the midterms — and after the midterms, they’re
not likely to have the strength to pass it.
DADT is another matter entirely. All it would take to end it is an
executive order. Obama is, after all, the Commander in Chief. Obama
wants Congress to take the heat for this as well, though, and has
passed the buck on the issue since his first day in office.