Reuters examines one example of the problem with believing campaign promises

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Friday urged a U.S. court to dismiss a lawsuit by gay married couples from Massachusetts who say they were unlawfully denied federal marriage benefits.

Well, that sounds like a broken promise to me.  And to members of the gay community.  But the reality is he had no choice.

But the gay community has been angered by the Obama administration’s defense of the law in court proceedings. Justice Department officials say they are obligated to defend federal statutes when they are challenged.

“In making this filing, the department is bound by the only precedent that exists, which is that no court has found such a right to federal benefits based upon marital status to be constitutionally required,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler.

The Government is required to defend Federal Statutes.  Was President Obama lying when he made the promise?  We don’t have any way to know that.  We do know one thing though.  President Obama should have known his administration would have to defend Federal Statutes.  He is, after all, a constitutional expert.

Most politicians promise whatever they think they need to in order to get elected.  The lesson to be learned here is that the politician not promising what you demand might be the most honest politician.   And maybe voting on a single-issue basis isn’t the best idea.  A better idea might be to elect honest, learned, wise representatives who faithfully represent the best interests of their constituency even if they don’t seem to agree with you on your favorite issue.  At least then you have some hope of persuading someone like that to consider your point of view instead of believing the promises of someone who will say anything to get elected.

Among the announcements were new rules concerning lobbyists, including a requirement that aides not lobby the White House after they leave for at least two years.

In addition, current administration employees will be barred from working on issues on which they have lobbied in the past, and lobbyists will be forbidden from giving gifts of any size to members of the administration.

The rules on lobbyists are tighter “than under any other administration in history,” Mr. Obama said, according to the AP.

The president also said he was altering policy when it comes to Freedom Of Information Act requests so that government agencies and departments are more responsive to the requests.

“For a long time now, there’s been too much secrecy in this city,” the president said.

News outlets and other groups and individuals submit FOIA requests when they are seeking information they believe should legally be made public. Mr. Obama said he wants agencies to make public such information whenever possible instead of looking for reasons to withhold it.

“…these historic measures do mark the beginning of a new era of openness in our country,” Mr. Obama said. “And I will, I hope, do something to make government trustworthy in the eyes of the American people, in the days and weeks, months and years to come.”  CBS News Blogs

At the same time, he authorized increases for the military.  Kudos there too Mr. President!

On the military side, however, Obama proposed increasing pay by nearly 1 percent more in an effort, the document said, to reflect “the priorities of an administration that is committed to caring for the service members who protect our security and the families who support them.”