Deny Defense Department Funds To Texas

The state of Texas has a recent history of shooting itself in the foot so they can play politics -- by refusing to abide by federal guidelines. They refused to accept the new education standards, and lost hundreds of millions of dollars in federal education funds. They banned Planned Parenthood from receiving government funding, and lost 90% of the funding for women's clinics (resulting in the closing of dozens of clinics that provided the only medical care many poor women could get). And they passed up many billions of federal dollars by refusing to expand Medicaid (even though the state has the highest percentage of uninsured citizens).

None of this has resulted in any tax savings for the state's citizens. They pay just as much in taxes as they would if the state got those billions of dollars it has lost -- they just don't get the benefit of those federal dollars. But for the Republicans running the state, scoring political points with their teabagger base is more important than providing needed services for citizens.

Now the state is doing it again -- snubbing the federal government by refusing to follow the rules. This time it is Defense Department guidelines they are refusing to follow. When the Supreme Court overturned the DOMA, ruling it an unconstitutional denial of equal rights for those in same-sex marriages, the Defense Department announced they would now provide the same benefits to all married couples -- whether in a same-sex or opposite-sex marriage (as long as the couples had a valid marriage license).

But Texas officials have decided they will not comply with the new guidelines for members of the Texas National Guard (even though they get most of their funding from the Defense Department, and are supposed to comply with Defense Department rules and regulations). Major General John F. Nichols (pictured above), the Adjutant General of all Texas military forces (including the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard) says the Texas National Guard will refuse to register same-sex couples for military benefits -- because state law forbids the marriage of same-sex couples. And he has the backing of Texas Governor Rick Perry.

This is ridiculous. No one is asking the state of Texas to allow same-sex marriages to be conducted in the state (although it is something they should be doing). They are simply asking the state to comply with Defense Department guidelines for couples who have been legally married -- and the state doesn't have the authority to "un-marry" those who have been legally married in other states (regardless of where they now live).

Making the matter even more ludicrous is the fact that other states with right-wing Republican governments (like Oklahoma, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, etc.) are complying with the new Defense Department guidelines -- and don't see it as an abrogation of their own state laws banning same-sex marriages.

It is time for the federal government to once again remind the state that accepting federal dollars means they must follow federal rules -- and no state, not even Texas, can ignore those rules (or the Constitution). If Texas continues to ignore the constitutional guidelines of the Defense Department by discriminating against some soldiers in the Texas National Guard, then I believe the federal dollars going to that organization should be withheld until they agree to comply with the new guidelines. Defense Department funds (or any other federal dollars) should not be sent to an organization that won't follow the rules.

If Texas wants to discriminate against its own soldiers, it should not be able to do so with U.S. government dollars. Let the Republican government in Austin pay for their own bigotry.