(June 25, 2015 at 2:08 am)robvalue Wrote: I agree that married people should be taxed the same as non married. There should be no financial reward or motivation. It's ridiculous, in my opinion. And there is a lot of legal tangle, sure. I don't know to what degree you're allowed to fiddle with the specifics.
In the U.S., whether marriage affects taxes, and how much, depends on many other factors. If one makes substantially more money than the other, then marriage gives a tax break. But not if they earn the same. Then it can actually cost extra. Of course, different states have different taxes, and even different counties within states can have different taxes, so the situation is really a good deal more complicated.
There are also tax breaks for having children. Should people be paid to have children? I don't think so. But it is presently the way it is.
As for the poll, I think it should be understood as this: Your choices are, no marriage for gays but marriage is an option for straight people, or marriage is an option for both gay and straight. The poll isn't about every social issue, just one very narrow one.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.