It looks as if the Defense of Marriage Act is likely to be struck down by the Supreme Court -- and after reading Politico's story on what's likely to take place if that happens, I'm pretty sure the GOP will be able to respond with some old, familiar talking points:
... Same-sex couples are excluded from federal benefits given to heterosexual married couples, including the estate tax exemption and Social Security and Medicare payments for spouses.The Republican spin? It's obvious:
That would all change if justices rule that DOMA, or the other law in question -- California's Proposition 8 -- violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
But along with new benefits would come a bigger tax bite, for some.
That's because of the so-called marriage penalty. When couples with relatively equal incomes file jointly, the tax breaks they receive often are not as great as if they were filing as single....
"The joint return is not going to provide them a benefit," University of Illinois law professor Richard Kaplan told POLITICO. Many same-sex couples "are in better shape right now by not being obligated to file a federal return as a married couple." ...
[But if] the IRS recognizes same-sex marriages, it will likely be revenue neutral or raise insignificant revenue, Kaplan predicted.
That's because while the government might collect more from joint filers, it would also owe these couples benefits it currently doesn't provide same-sex couples.
"Actually, the government could be paying out a lot more money, because some of these people will be getting benefits that they would not otherwise receive," Kaplan said....
Liberals love taxing people, so that why they support gay marriage: it means they can collect more taxes from gay people. And liberals also love making people dependent on government. Gay marriage means more taking collecting more government money and becoming more dependent.
I guarantee you will actually hear right-wing pundits making this argument.
