What the Marines Have to Say About Don't Ask Don't Tell

The Commandant of the Marine Corp, General James T. Conway testified in Congress about his views on the current ban on gays serving openly in the military.  As reported by ABC news:

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Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. James T. Conway

(Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that he does not think the law should be changed.

"At this point, I think that the current policy works," Conway said. "My best military advice to this committee, to the secretary, to the president would be to keep the law such as it is."

Conway said he looks at the issue strictly from the point of view of whether changing the law would "enhance the war-fighting capabilities of the United States Marine Corps by allowing homosexuals to openly serve."

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented the administration's proposal that Congress repeal "don't ask, don't tell". At the time, Mullen said he supported changing the policy because letting gays serve openly in the military would be "the right thing to do."

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I like Secretary Gates' plan for a year-long study of military attitudes within the ranks before Congress proceeds with repealing the law, but it's more than about attitudes, it is about military effectiveness.  I mean will we need separate showering and sleeping facilities for gay and non gay soldiers, sailors and marines?  Do some jobs need to be restricted from openly gay service members?  The military needs time to figure out these answers.

Public Option Support Surging In Senate

Public Health Care Option in the Senate?  Hmm...you know we've looked at this before, but it still astounds me that we fail to heed the lessons learned.  Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D., Director of Domestic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation, published a set of lessons learned regarding European government run healthcare back in 2001.  Some of his lessons learned are below.

Some Lessons: For Members of Congress and state legislators, there are some valuable lessons from the European experience:

• If you insist on government management of the health care system, do not expect freedom from waste, inefficiency, or inequity in the delivery of care (look at France).
• If you want to promise citizens a national or state program of universal insurance coverage, don't expect that you will be able to deliver universal access to high-quality health care. You won't and you can't (look at Britain).
• If you want to fix prices for medical services, prescription drugs, or other medical devices, don't expect demand for these goods and services to be met or investment in research and development to continue apace. It won't (look anywhere).
• If you insist, with a straight face, that in a government-run health care system, all of your fellow citizens will be treated equally--regardless of their class, station in life, or disease condition--you are not merely enthusiastic or well intentioned. You are lying.

If you haven't figured it out, health care policy is complex and difficult.  We'll fix one problem only to find we create an even bigger problem.  Why isn't anybody talking about limiting the size of mal-practice awards?  Why aren't we focusing on removing inefficiency in health care administration?  Why aren't we looking towards the more successful health care plans in the United States, such as with our military, veterans and members of Congress.

Man I wish we would spend more time talking about this instead of politicizing health care.


More Research from the Heritage Foundation:
Would Europe's health-care-for-all model work here?
Fiscal Policy Lessons from Europe

Other Health Care Resources:
President Obama's Health Care Plan
NPR's List of Health Care Stories
Health Care Stories from change.org

Gays in the Military? Damage to Morale? Hmmmmmm....

Supporters of the "don't ask don't tell" policy often point to unit cohesion and morale as a sufficient reason to continue the ban against gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.  Steve Chapman, an editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune, thinks the cohesion and morale argument is at best a red herring.  Countries that have repealed their bans do not seem to be suffering from a great deal of discipline problems or a lack of unit cohesion, but then again they often do not face the same stresses placed on US Forces.  I agree with Admiral Mike Mullen, it's time to end the ban, but we need to go slow and smart to make the integration work.  Mind you, I do not think homosexuality is moral or correct (I place homosexuality on the same level as alcoholism), nor do I support gay marriage.  I do think gays and lesbians can serve, with honor, without impacting unit effectiveness, as long as privacy for both the straight and gay service members is respected.