The (gay) marriage penalty

Boston Globe ^ | May 23, 2004 | Virginia Postrel

[billorites]

THE BAD NEWS for newlywed Massachusetts gays and lesbians is that, under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government won't recognize their marriages.

The good news is that by staying "single" in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service, they could save a lot on taxes. Despite some reforms in 2001, many two-earner couples still pay a "marriage penalty," particularly if one spouse earns enough to hit the top tax bracket on his or her income alone.

Same-sex couples are more likely to have dual incomes than heterosexual married couples. In Massachusetts, both partners work in 66 percent of same-sex couples living together, compared to fewer than 55 percent of married couples, according to 2000 Census data analyzed by M.V. Lee Badgett, a University of Massachusetts at Amherst economist, and the author of "Money, Myths, and Change: The Economic Lives of Lesbians and Gay Men" (Chicago).

In a 2000 article in National Tax Journal, Badgett and two economists known for their work on the tax effects of marriage estimated what would happen to federal income taxes if same-sex marriage were legalized nationally. The result, concluded James Alm, Badgett, and Leslie A. Whittington, would be "an annual increase in federal government income taxes of between $0.3 billion and $1.3 billion, with the likely impact toward the higher range of the estimates." (The article, "Wedding Bell Blues," is available on Alm's Georgia State University homepage.)

Using conservative figures for the number of gays and lesbians, the number living together, and the number likely to wed, they projected that there would be around 550,000 same-sex married couples nationally. Tax estimates depended on assumptions about how many couples have children and how their incomes match up.

Consider the average gay male earner, with $33,717 in 1997 adjusted gross income.

< SNIP >

[azhenfud]

Well, next they'll prolly claim they're discriminated against because the child tax credit is "exclusive and unfair".

[Red Badger]

I smell a lawsuit a comin'
Equal protection and all that stuff........

[biblewonk]

Sodomy itself is a penalty from God for idolatry.

[maryz]

I smell a lawsuit a comin'

Just a matter of time -- the Complaints are probably being drafted as we type.

[weegee]

REG: Furthermore, it is the birthright of every man--

STAN: Or woman.

REG: Why don't you shut up about women, Stan. You're putting us off.

STAN: Women have a perfect right to play a part in our movement, Reg.

FRANCIS: Why are you always on about women, Stan?

STAN: I want to be one.

REG: What?

STAN: I want to be a woman. From now on, I want you all to call me 'Loretta'.

REG: What?!

LORETTA: It's my right as a man.

JUDITH: Well, why do you want to be Loretta, Stan?

LORETTA: I want to have babies.

REG: You want to have babies?!

LORETTA: It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them.

REG: But... you can't have babies.

LORETTA: Don't you oppress me.

REG: I'm not oppressing you, Stan. You haven't got a womb! Where's the foetus going to gestate?! You going to keep it in a box?!

LORETTA: [crying]

JUDITH: Here! I-- I've got an idea. Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb, which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans', but that he can have the right to have babies.

FRANCIS: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother. Sister. Sorry. REG: What's the point?

FRANCIS: What?

REG: What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can't have babies?!

FRANCIS: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.

REG: Symbolic of his struggle against reality.

The Life of Brian

[Phantom Lord]

THE BAD NEWS for newlywed Massachusetts gays and lesbians is that, under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government won't recognize their marriages.

The good news is that by staying "single" in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service, they could save a lot on taxes

What this article doesn't point out, and is rarely brought into the discussion regarding this matter is that it is ILLEGAL for one to file a tax return with the state and the IRS claiming different marital status.

While I do not wish the IRS and its heavy hand beset upon anyone, I would like to see the law enforced.

[Phantom Lord]

the more rights we give them the less we have for normal people

I thought rights were ours by our birth, not given to us.

[azhenfud]

"the more rights we give them the less we have for normal people"

"I thought rights were ours by our birth, not given to us."

The more of our rights we yield to them in defining our institutions, the less we are a normal people.

[Go Gordon]

both partners work in 66 percent of same-sex couples living together,

What a bunch of lazy a$$es. With no child rearing (pardon the pun) responsibilities, only one person works in over a third of these "relationships".

[Go Gordon]

I thought rights were ours by our birth, not given to us.

Agreed. But one of those rights was equality. Heterosexual marriage and homosexual relationships are not the same thing. Giving special status to homosexual relationships will destroy traditional marriage (see also Sweeden/Denmark). But I guess as long as the DNC wants to lock up 2% of the popular vote, the Democratic party will keep producing politicians willing to ruin this country in return for political power.

[EdReform]

Ping

What We Can Do To Help Defeat the "Gay" Agenda

Homosexual Agenda: Categorical Index of Links (Version 1.1)

Myth and Reality about Homosexuality--Sexual Orientation Section, Guide to Family Issues"

Ping

What We Can Do To Help Defeat the "Gay" Agenda

Homosexual Agenda: Categorical Index of Links (Version 1.1)

Myth and Reality about Homosexuality--Sexual Orientation Section, Guide to Family Issues"

Ping

What We Can Do To Help Defeat the "Gay" Agenda

Homosexual Agenda: Categorical Index of Links (Version 1.1)

Myth and Reality about Homosexuality--Sexual Orientation Section, Guide to Family Issues"

[little jeremiah]

Homosexual Agenda Ping - Tax and marriage news.

Let me know if anyone wants on/off this pinglist.

[JesseHousman]

America has misplaced its moral compass and having it in our hands is what kept us ahead of the "pack" of slavering, communist/socialist wolves. The remedy, of course, is to cleanse our "central government" and get rid of all the dead weight: like Byrd-Brain, Specter, Daschole, Kennedy, The Twins From Maine, The two Rinos from Ohio....make no mistake, we're in trouble both from the DemocRATs and the RepublicRATs!

We need to rid our society of political correctness, pornography and the mysterious "love" affair the left (and our complicit politicians) are having with homosexuals that does nothing but further their demonic, sinful and disgusting lifestyle. They, of course, want to share this lifestyle with the rest of Americans by ruining the institution of marriage and family and they want to get their evil, clammy hands on the youngsters!

Americans need to stop moddy-coddling perversion; turn their backs on these satanists and relegate them to the sewers and dump-sites from which they spawned.