Lieberman Introduces Repeal of DADT

Yesterday, Independent congressman Joe Lieberman, along with supporters, introduced historic legislation aimed at repealing the military’s current discriminatory policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell into the U.S. Senate.

Have a look!

Senate Committee Approves Equality Bill

Yesterday, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act of 2009, which would provide federal employees in same-sex partnerships to receive the same employment benefits as married heterosexual federal workers.

The benefits offered would include health care, retirement, disability plans, family medical and emergency leave, life insurance, long-term care insurance and access to worker’s compensation.

Joe Lieberman (I-CT) the Committee Chairman, stated that he, along with ranking Senate Member Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the bill with the goal of providing equality in the federal work force. Lieberman stated:

“I believe this legislation is really on the right side of history, and it, in a sense, is another expression of a concept we believe in, which is equal pay for equal work, and in this case, equal benefits for equal work.”

Lieberman also noted that if enacted, federal employees and their domestic partners would be held to the same standard as married couples in terms of existing employment related obligations including conflict of interest provisions, anti-nepotism rules and financial disclosure requirements.

President’s Speech Sparks Movement on DADT

Reports came in earlier today claiming the White House is talking to Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) about a strategy to repeal the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Lieberman has stood in opposition of the policy since it was enacted and signed into law in 1993.

Representative Patrick Murphy (D-Penn) has sponsored a bill in the House of Representatives that was introduced in March, but so far, it hasn’t moved forward swiftly enough for those who support military equality for LGBT Americans.

Reports also say that Lieberman is looking for a Democratic sponsor for the repeal bill in the Senate.

Earlier reports revealed claims by Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis) that the repeal initiative is gaining momentum and expected it to pass by spring.

Support for repealing the law is also being backed by Representative Joe Sestak (D-Penn), who is the highest-ranking former military officer serving in Congress. Under the Murphy bill, those discharged under “Don’t ask, don’t tell” will be allowed to re-enlist, if they are still eligible for service.

Do People Actually Believe Joe Lie-berman?

I only caught about the last 10 minutes of Joe Lieberman’s speech at the Republican National Convention. In the part I did see, I heard a lot of misinformation, heard an ideology that scares the hell out of me, and heard a bitterness of one who feels they’ve been disenfranchised.

Lieberman made the statement that Senator “Obama voted to cut funding to U.S. Soldiers.” This is not true. In attempt to help bring an end to a war costing this country billions of dollars, Sen. Obama did not vote to cut funding to soldiers, he voted to cut funding to a war based upon lies in the first place. Lieberman would have you think Obama voted to cut personal finances of soldiers.

Lieberman also stated, thanks to McCain we have “thousands of troops” coming home from Iraq. What he so conveniently and disrespectfully did not mention was the thousands that have come home to grieving families.

The next thing that really caught my attention was he said John McCain would be a president that “allies would respect and our enemies would fear”. I do not want to live in a world where we live in fear, nor do I want others live in fear of us. I realize we have enemies in the world. But how many of those are enemies because of our policies of ruling by fear? We do need a president who is respected abroad, but we do not need to create fear, we need foreign relations. Our country is strong and can defend itself, but right now, our country has absolutely no reason to be in the war we are in.

Then, as he wrapped it up, Lieberman urged, no pleaded with, his audience to abandon their party (in other words there beliefs) and vote for John McCain. Keep in mind that Lieberman was the Democratic vice presidential pick eight years ago.who sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and during his re-election bid in 2006, he lost the Democratic Party primary election. He is now a senator as an “Independent”. The way I see it, someone isn’t very happy with the democratic party and is making a childishly vindictive effort to spoil the election.