Bush Threatens To Veto DC Budget For Not Blocking Domestic Partner

God forbid DC try to be good to ALL its people! This is what they get? Punished for being good?
The President has a funny way of demonstrating his so-called "Christianity".

Read on:

Bush Threatens To Veto DC Budget For Not Blocking Domestic Partner
Funds
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: June 27, 2007 - 5:00 pm ET

(Washington) President Bush issued a warning to Congress on Wednesday
that he will veto budget appropriations for the District of Columbia
unless the measure contains language barring the district from using
any of the money for its domestic partner registry.

The registry allows same and opposite-sex unmarried couples to
register their relationships.

Three quarters of the District of Columbia's budget comes from local
revenue - city taxes and fees. But, about $120 million in additional
funds comes from the federal government.

That money is contained in the Financial Services and General
Government Appropriations Act.

Under Republicans the legislation stated that none of the federal
money could be used to support the partner registry. When Democrats
took control of Congress the requirement was removed.

In threatening a veto the White House on Wednesday issued a statement
saying: "The Administration strongly opposes the bill's exclusion of a
longstanding provision that disallows the use of Federal funds to
register unmarried, cohabitating couples in the District, to enable
them to qualify for benefits on the same basis as legally married
couples. Under Federal law, legal marriage is the union between a man
and a woman. Federal tax dollars are not used to extend employment
benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees, and D.C. should
not enjoy an exception to this rule."

The Domestic Partner registry includes such partner rights as
hospital and nursing home visitations, medical decisions, and
inheritance rights.

"With his popularity at an all time low, this President has yet again
dipped his cup into the well of anti-gay bigotry," said Human Rights
Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

"He has issued a veto threat on funding for the District of Columbia
because long-term, committed couples want to have such basic rights as
visiting each other in the hospital and making medical decisions for
their partner. The anti-gay zeal of this Administration has reached a
new low."

Gay Democrats seized on the veto threat as another example of wedge
politics.

"This is a misleading veto threat designed to parrot the talking
points of the anti-gay special interests which control and finance the
Republican Party, said National Stonewall Democrats Executive Director
Jo Wyrick,

"President Bush would never threaten to withhold federal funds from
California because it employs a domestic partnership registry. Yet,
Republicans feel that the District of Columbia is their financial
playground that they can use to bully local families at the pleasure
of their anti-gay agenda. That is wrong."

The District of Columbia established a local domestic partnership
registry in 1992. However, the Republican congressional leadership
routinely prevented the registry from being enacted until 2002.

Since that time, the Republican-led Congress have repeatedly attached
anti-gay language to past appropriations bills which stipulate that
federal funds cannot be used to operate the program. Since local funds
are used, observers have noted that the provision was simply used as a
way for Republicans to demonstrate their disapproval for the law and
for same-sex families.

The removal of the domestic partner provision from the financial
services act came at the request of Congressman José Serrano (D-NY)
and other Democrats.

"There are serious issues for the country to deal with, yet the
President wants to focus on this," said Congressman José Serrano
(D-NY) in a statement.

"This was a redundant provision that bashes the District of Columbia.
There are no federal funds directed at the domestic partners registry.
Its like putting out a statement that says that José Serrano is not a
Republican. Yeah, we know that already. I took out this past provision
because it is a bad statement that doesn't bring people together, but
tries to divide them instead."

Ironically the legislation also provides financial support for federal
programs including the salary of the President.

It is the second time in two months the president has threatened a
veto over a gay issue.

In May the White House said that if legislation adding gays and
lesbians to federal hate crime laws the president would nix it.