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Feds OK First Burial Of A Veteran’s Same-Sex Spouse In A National Cemetery

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Photo Credit: The U.S. Army The government has cleared the first burial of a same-sex spouse of a veteran in a national cemetery, but it’s far from certain how easy it will be for other gay military couples to win the same benefit.

Who gets buried where is one of the practical decisions that the federal government is grappling with following repeal of the military’s don’t ask, don’t tell policy.

At first glance, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki’s decision to grant burial to a same-sex spouse in Oregon represents a big departure from past federal policy. In 2004, the VA warned the state of Massachusetts that burying the same-sex spouse of a veteran in a state veterans’ cemetery could lead to the federal government taking back nearly $12 million in grant money.

Then in 2008, the National Cemetery Association published a directive stating that individuals in same-sex civil unions or marriage are not eligible for burial in a national cemetery or state veterans cemetery that received federal money. Those directives were based on the language of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines a spouse as a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. The law is being challenged before the Supreme Court.

Then along came retired Lt. Col. Linda Campbell and her spouse, Nancy Lynchild. Campbell, with help from Oregon officials, pressed the VA to allow Lynchild to be buried at the VA’s Willamette National Cemetery.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pelosi: Federal Government Doesn’t Have A Spending Problem

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Sunday downplayed concerns about federal spending levels, arguing that Republicans’ laserlike focus on budget cuts is misplaced.

“It isn’t as much a spending problem as it is priorities,” Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“It is almost a false argument to say that we have a spending problem.” she added.

Mrs. Pelosi, a former House speaker, also warned against the looming sequester cuts, saying Congress must work with the White House to avoid those reductions, calling them “something that should be out of the question.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Miller: Parnell should ‘resist unconstitutional mandates of the federal government’

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A recent exchange from one-time U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller’s Facebook page raises an interesting question about Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell’s strategy in dealing with the tangle of federal permitting that can slow oil and gas projects. Miller says Parnell should ignore those pesky laws and just do as he wants by invoking the state’s right to “nullify” or “resist unconstitutional mandates of the federal government.”

Miller, the tea party candidate who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski and has since gone on to become chairman of the Western Representation Political Action Committee, is pitching a strategy that others nationwide have used to push back against marijuana laws, health care mandates, gun control, the TSA and more. A website tracking the 10th Amendment Nullification movement details these and other issues the movement is taking on.

The site includes coverage of a sovereignty resolution signed by Sarah Palin in 2009 just weeks before she stepped down from her job as Alaska’s governor. The Tenth Amendment Center describes the document as a resolution that “serves notice to the federal government that it should cease and desist any activities beyond the scope of their constitutionally-delegated powers.”

Read More at Alaska Dispatch by Jill Burke, Alaska Dispatch