Tit for Tat on Preferred Legislation

If liberals can refuse to defend laws that they don't like, then conservatives can refuse to fund those that they deem undesirable. As most who follow politics well know, on the issue of marriage, twice recently, liberals refused to honor the law when it comes to marriage. Of course, as we also know, such efforts were successful.

Particularly troubling was the case involving California's Proposition 8. Because the state of California refused to defend Prop 8 in court, it was left up to plaintiffs without legal "standing" to do so. Because of this lack of "standing" (the plaintiffs didn't have the right to be a party to the case because they hadn't suffered any specific harm) in federal court, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the case and directed the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate their decision in the matter. This in effect upheld the district courts decision to strike down Prop 8. Since the state of California still refuses to defend what was passed by their citizens, same-sex marriages were allowed to resume in California. In other words, California officials scanned the political landscape and deemed it now safe to simply ignore the law. Other states are taking notice. Earlier this month, the Attorney General of the state of Pennsylvania, Kathleen Kane, announced that her office would not defend her state's ban (since 1996) on recognizing same-sex marriages. Liberals across the country seem to be perfectly content with this approach. However, they will howl like rabid dogs whenever it is proposed that the House GOP may consider a similar approach when it comes to funding Obamacare. As some conservative pundits have recently noted, most notably Rush Limbaugh, there are republicans that are also balking at the proposition of not funding Obamacare. As Heritage Action for America has noted, "The most viable approach to stop the implementation of Obamacare is a complete and total defunding of the law by Congress. Fortunately, Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) [my representative until the recent realignment] and Sen. Cruz have introduced the Defund Obamacare Act of 2013." As Heritage has also noted, once Obamacare is fully implemented, the politics of this debate will change. Open enrollment begins October 1, 2013 with the massive subsidies beginning on January 1, 2014. As Heritage also notes, without the legislation mentioned above, the next best opportunity to defund Obamacare comes this September when Congress must pass the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government. Senator Cruz and other senators, along with a growing number of Representatives, have pledged not to vote for a CR that funds any part of Obamacare. This is a political fight that conservatives can win. Obamacare is more unpopular than same-sex marriage is popular. Some members of the GOP need to be reminded that defeating Obamacare was the biggest reason most of them were elected to Congress.

Trevor Grant Thomas At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason www.trevorgrantthomas.com

