Religious conservatives tie support for Social Security reform to marriage amendment
Populist headbangers are in the news today:
A coalition of major conservative Christian groups is threatening to withhold support for President Bush's plans to remake Social Security unless Mr. Bush vigorously champions a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
The move came as Senate Republicans vowed on Monday to reintroduce the proposed amendment, which failed in the Senate last year by a substantial margin. Party leaders, who left it off their list of priorities for the legislative year, said they had no immediate plans to bring it to the floor because they still lacked the votes for passage.
But the coalition that wrote the letter, known as the Arlington Group, is increasingly impatient.
In a confidential letter to Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political adviser, the group said it was disappointed with the White House's decision to put Social Security and other economic issues ahead of its paramount interest: opposition to same-sex marriage.
If it will satisfy the party's religious conservatives, I say bring the FMA to a vote -- for a second time. Here's the result of the first time. The November elections brought a few new faces to the Senate, but not enough to change the outcome of this vote.
In the absence of mischief by the federal courts, the numbers just aren't there to pass the amendment. Rail at the president if you want, guys. But give the man a little credit: he can count.