Barney Frank: March is "Useless," Lobby Politicians at Home

Congressman Barney Frank came on the show yesterday (audio of full interview is below). We discussed several issues, from hate crimes, to ENDA to DOMA repeal, but it was his comments on the National Equality March that got the phones going, mostly with people disagreeing but with some agreeing. He believes the march doesn't do anything, that President Obama "doesn't need any pressure" and says people should stay home and lobby their politicians rather than go to DC.


On the hate crimes bill:

Barney described the attempt the other night by Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas and others to remove the gay and trans inclusive hate crimes bill (the Matthew Shepard Act) from the defense authorization bill, to which it is attached as an amendment. Says that it will remain attached to the defense authorization bill and that Democrats beat back the attempt to take it off. There will be a vote on the authorization bill next week, he says, and Barney Frank believes it will be on President Obama's desk to sign shortly after that.

On the Employment Non-Discrimination Act:

There will be a vote in the House later this year on the trans-inclusive ENDA, and he believes it will pass. He says it will be in the Senate for a vote early next year, but that it will be difficult to get the 60 votes there needed to avert a filibuster. We will have our work cut out for us.

On the Defense of Marriage Act repeal:

Barney says that he isn't co-sponsoring Rep. Jerry Nadler's bill that would repeal DOMA -- called the the Respect for Marriage Act -- because he believes the bill, as it is written, is not worth the backlash it will cause since it won't have a chance anyway. Clarifying some of the discussions prior, he said he would endorse the bill -- and has endorsed DOMA repeal in the past -- if it did not have the provision that would give federal recognition to marriages of gays and lesbians in states where marriage is not legal for gays and lesbians (i.e., under the bill, a couple from Ohio could go to Vermont and get married, and go back home and have federal, if not state, recognition of their marriage). He says that is precisely the kind of thing that will stimulate opposition and whip up the opponents (he's said in the recent past they will charge that we're "importing" marriage). He believes that for a a bill that has zero chance of passage -- and he's not opposed to endorsing such bills, and has in the past, and understands why it's important to back bills that are not likely to pass -- it's not worth it to pick fights that will incite opposition and which we will lose.

On the National Equality March:

Barney Frank believes the march this weekend and rally on the mall are "useless" and don't put pressure on the White House. "I literally don't understand how this will do anything," he said. "People are kidding themselves. I don't want people patting themselves on the back for doing something that is useless." Besides, he says, "Barack Obama does not need pressure." He says we should model ourselves as lobbyists on "the National Rifle Association." He says people should not come to Washington and should stay home and lobby their members of Congress. "Nobody in Congress even knows they're there, he says, and he is not attending the March: He is going to California to raise money for himself and other Democrats.

Obama Tries to Deaden the Pain

President Obama has a new approach on the Defense of Marriage Act, having learned the hard way that the previous one was offensive and outrageous. Yesterday the White House released a statement from the president, on the same day that new papers were filed in the DOMA case in which the Justice Department filed the now infamous DOMA brief back in June. This time, the papers made clear that DOMA is "discriminatory" and that the administration wants it repealed, even though government lawyers claim they must uphold it, bound by the Constitution.

As I said on the show, it was a brilliant move of the White House to also release a statement from the president that he wants to repeal DOMA, even though he's saying nothing new and he is continuing to refuse to say when he'll do it, and it's clearly no time soon. The strategy threw the media off, with some outlets actually focusing on Obama's call for repeal rather than the fact that the administration is still defending DOMA in court.

Bottom line: It's good that the administration is at least thinking about how its defense of a heinous law will play out, and is trying to deaden our pain while slitting our wrists. But please don't take it as anything more than that. Obama is taking the easiest path -- some Christian righters even think he wants the court to undo it so he doesn't have to spend any capital -- and the one that is least brave. Our protests have gotten through and the administration is worried about what we -- and others -- may think about the president's promises and his commitment to civil rights. But the White House is not worried enough to actually move on the repeal of DOMA now.

Stonewalling

Colbert's take on Obama and the gays. And hey, I'm in the report, check it out.

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Barney Frank: Criticisms "Inappropriate, Unfair"

I interviewed Barney Frank today about his introducing the trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act in Congress this week; the LGBT agenda that Congressional leaders met on this week; the Defense of Marriage Act brief by the Department of Justice; President Obama on LGBT rights; and the gay DNC fundraiser in DC tonight.

Barney became very unhappy with me and pretty heated when I played Howard Dean's comments on the DOMA brief, trying to stop me and saying he didn't come on for me to "play records."

He defended the brief, defended the President on LGBT rights, defended Democrats in the House (though he said we need to take on Democrats in the Senate) and defended the DNC fundraiser.

Barney and I have known each other for many years, agree on many things, disagree on others, and often when he comes on the show it can be a spirited discussion. This time I'd say he was a bit more angry about issues, particularly about how some of us have criticized the Democrats and the White House. And like I said, the Howard Dean clip really rubbed him the wrong way. Let me know your thoughts.

Gay Leaders To Be Feted at White House?

This is pretty outrageous. In the midst of all the anger from LGBT people over the DOMA brief and the inadequate response -- so far -- by the Obama administration, gay lobbyists, executive directors and assorted others who comprise what is identified as the gay leadership apparently have been invited to a party at the White House thrown just for them.

It's another photo-op in which everyone -- the president and the gays -- can look happy and like they're having fun, but more so, it's a way for the White House to wank off the gay leaders a bit while still not delivering. None of them should fall for it -- and that means they should not attend this event -- most all the Human Rights Campaign. We don't want cocktails for high-paid gay and lesbian lobbyists and executive directors looking to schmooze and feel important. We want action on our rights, and at this point it means DOMA and DADT.

The signing of the memorandum by the president to give some benefits to some federal employees was a crumb, which, as I wrote last week, should have been a gesture made five months ago. Nonetheless, unlike some others, I believed it was appropriate for Joe Solmonese of the Human Rights Campaign to be there, along with other LGBT leaders. It was business: The president was signing an order to benefit some LGBT people (in addition to a few partner benefits for some gay and lesbian federal workers he signed an anti-discrimination order banning discrimination in federal hiring based on gender identity). I think they should be there, be cordial, and let the president know it's not nearly enough.

I know some people think Obama should not have been given the photo-op, but really, the story of anger by gays was already out there and wasn't about to be changed by that event. In fact, the next day, the story line in the media was along the lines of "president offers some little thing but gays just are not happy and are in fact more angry." So the photo-op did nothing, but LGBT leaders kept the dialogue open by going, which they should.

But now, a cocktail party? No, that's not business -- it's schmoozing and sucking up, and it's all about buying off gay leaders by seducing them, very cheaply, so the White House can help get the money coming back in, since the DNC gay fundraiser for next week is collapsing. The response so far has only been about the money and it's not nearly enough.

What we need now is real action. Not these crumbs, whether it be the census inclusion or some benefits for federal employees. We need something big, and until then, the DNC fundraisers should continue to be threatened, and nobody among the gay leadership should be partying with this president.

Obama Cheerleader Now Excoriates the President

Stampp Corbin came on the show back during the Democratic primaries, representing the Obama campaign in our LGBT Caucus (you many remember Hilary Rosen came on as a supporter of Hillary Clinton, debating the issues).

Stampp was the co-chair of Obama's LGBT Leadership Council and was a committed and fierce advocate for Barack Obama. I saw him at the Democratic National Convention, and he was doing his usual cheerleading for Obama. But no more.

Stampp Corbin has written a piece headlined, The DOMA Brief Ruined Everything, attacking the President for the DOMA brief and also pulling out of that DNC fundraiser, which is getting pretty damned lonely these days.

Says Stampp:

Mr. President, your DOMA mistake awakened a sleeping giant. He is mad as hell and is not going to take it anymore. You better get LGBT affirming legislation moving quickly or the coffers of the LGBT community will be slammed shut on the fingers of your administration and the DNC. You and the DNC may find themselves asking about our donations “if not now, when” as we have been asking about our rights for the last few months.

Indeed, the anger is only building, and the president and Democrats need to do much more.

We Have Made Our Point

President Obama signed the memorandum giving some federal employees a few benefits (a clip of the event is below), having scrambled to respond to the outcry over the DOMA brief. It's too little, too late to a constituency that has felt like it is completely off the radar for months, and then suddenly felt under attack rather than protected by the man who promised so much.

The administration did itself a lot of damage, likely following overcautious advice that is out of step with the world today (a throwback to the 90s and the Clinton era -- yes, the presence of Rahm) and just being disorganized at the DOJ and not paying attention to a very political case. Surely, they didn't want to wake up to a New York Times lead editorial pointing to the president's apparent lack of sincerity. Let's hope it's shaken them up enough that today's event was the beginning of a new direction and more action, as lacking as the action today itself was.

A couple of things I want to clarify:

1) a memorandum apparently is, as Rachel Maddow noted, relatively interchangeable with the term executive order, in that both expire when the president leaves and do not have to be followed by the next administration. (Some of the thinking out there was that a memorandum expires but an executive order does not). My understanding after speaking with some people who know about this is that a memorandum is in fact broader (ordering a directive in a broad sense to an agency) while an executive order is specific to one, more narrow action. (Obama, by the way, used the term executive order when he signed the memorandum today, as well as the word memorandum.)

2) Health care benefits are not being given, as reported and predicted all day, but Obama did today back legislation in Congress that would give such benefits to federal workers. So yes, the actual benefits these federal workers got from his signature -- and it doesn't include members of the military -- are relatively little, and far below most of the Fortune 500 companies, which give full health benefits to domestic partners. The big thing the admistration is touting is that the federal workers will get the ability to pay into a long-term care insurance program -- woo hoo!

Why can't they be given health benefits and retirement benefits by executive order/memorandum? My understanding -- and if it's not correct I'm open to being corrected -- is because the statutes covering such benefits for federal workers specifically uses the word "spouse" while the long-term care insurance only specifies a beneficiary, who can be anyone. Thus, legislation is needed to specifically deem "domestic partners" as covered. (And in those few states where gays and lesbians do have "spouses" because they can get married, the Defense of Marriage Act prevents them from being recognized by the federal government.)

Obama needed to do this event five months ago. Now it is just not adequate to quell the anger, and he really needs to move fast on something else, be it DOMA or DADT. We made our point, got their attention, put the DNC fundraiser in jeopardy, got a lot of media focused on the president's broken promises and lack of passion on our issues. That's all good. And we have to keep the pressure up.

On MSNBC this Morning

I'lll be on MSNBC this morning speaking with Carlos Watson on Obama and the DOMA hate brief flap, 11:30 ET to noon.

It's All About the Money

The New York Times story today on the scramble by the White House to do something in response to the DOMA hate brief flap notes, according to unnamed White House officials, that it's all in response to the possibility of the DNC fundraiser collapsing. The story goes on to say the benefits for federal workers do not include health benefits -- thanks to DOMA -- and that the details were still being ironed out as they'd obviously not even thought this through. This was something that should have been done on day one, but here they are, going on the fly, trying to quell a furor. And why? Because it may cost them money, as the DNC fundraiser is imploding:

With the administration’s decision to stop short of extending full health insurance benefits or calling for legislation to do so, it remained an open question how significant the presidential announcement would be, Mr. Socarides said.

But administration officials said the timing of the announcement was intended to help contain the growing furor among gay rights groups. Several gay donors withdrew their sponsorship of a Democratic National Committee fund-raising event next week, where Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is scheduled to speak.

It's pathetic that taking away their money is what moves them to throw some crumbs. But as Pam Spaulding notes, it's working. We must shut down that fundraiser and all future events until they fork over something real.

Are You For Real, President Obama?

UPDATE: It doesn't even include health benefits and perhaps even retirement benefits, because of DOMA (gee, what do you get? the right to visit your dying partner in a hospital? Woo hoo!) and there is some discussion that as a "memorandum" and not an executive order, it expires when Obama leaves office. Gee, thanks.


Scrambling to do damage control re: the DOMA brief the Obama administration is throwing us a pathetic bone: benefits for federal workers. Wow. Give me a break! Says Alan Van Capelle of Empire State Pride Agenda: "Welcome to 1999." I mean, is Barack Obama for real? Check it out:

The executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda, a large state-based gay rights group, Alan Van Capelle, greeted today's announcement sarcastically.

"Welcome to 1999," he told POLITICO. "How revolutionary of the White House to give benefits to same-sex couples, when two-thirds of conservative Wall Street are already doing it. What an achievement."

"It's just one of the things that should have been done in January," Van Capelle, who was among those taking his name off the Biden event, said, calling for a "comprehensive strategy." "If the President makes the announcement tomorrow, it will still fall short of what LGBT people are expecting from this administration."

NY Times Slaps Obama

In an editorial headlined "A Bad Call on Gay Rights," The New York Times calls the DOMA brief "disturbing," and slaps Obama for using the excuse of political expediency for denying gay and lesbian Americans their rights:

The Obama administration, which came to office promising to protect gay rights but so far has not done much, actually struck a blow for the other side last week. It submitted a disturbing brief in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, which is the law that protects the right of states to not recognize same-sex marriages and denies same-sex married couples federal benefits. The administration needs a new direction on gay rights.

Yes, I'll say they need a "new direction on gay rights." Forward rather than backward would be a start.

Howard Dean: DOMA Brief a "Huge Mistake"

Howard Dean, on The Rachel Maddow Show, called the DOMA brief a huge mistake on the part of the Obama administration, said Obama couldn't have known but will have to "dig himself out of this" and that they must do something. He said you "cannot talk about gay Americans the way they were talked about in this brief." How will the White House respond? That will depend on if and how the media jumps on this.

HRC Slams Obama:" We are Human Beings"

The Human Rights Campaign came out full force in a polite but strongly-worded letter to President Obama from executive director Joe Solmonese, taking on the president for defending the Defense of Marriage Act with a heinous, homophobic DOJ brief that does enormous damage to our efforts:

Last week, when your administration filed a brief defending the constitutionality of the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act,”[1] I realized that although I and other LGBT leaders have introduced ourselves to you as policy makers, we clearly have not been heard, and seen, as what we also are: human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal to yours. I know this because this brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you.

The three-page letter goes through all the most offensive parts of the brief, including the comparisons to incest. Solmonese concludes:

As an American, a civil rights advocate, and a human being, I hold this administration to a higher standard than this brief.

Go read the whole thing.