Why are there marriage benifits in the U.S.?

Greetings all!
I was talking to a girlfriend of mine and we were wondering why the U.S. government provides special benifits to married couples (vs. single people), such as tax breaks. Why do you have to be married and not just commited? Does anyone know of good links to read about this or have any information they could share?


Thanks
JAH

Originally posted by JustAnotherHologram
Greetings all!
I was talking to a girlfriend of mine and we were wondering why the U.S. government provides special benifits to married couples (vs. single people), such as tax breaks. Why do you have to be married and not just commited? Does anyone know of good links to read about this or have any information they could share?


Thanks
JAH

well commitment doesnt have a legal contract for one and i think things like tax breaks, dont ask me because ihavent researched all that.

It, monitary incentives to be married, is just another way to get people to continue the tradition. Wether you want to argue that it is to help the continued existence of religious ideas or a certain morality or what not, it is all just another form of passive control by those that make the laws.

Why should I have to be married in either the eyes of religion or of the government in order to declare my love and comitment to another person. My girlfriend and I believe that we will be together for the rest of our lives and that we do not need the approval of another in order to validate what we feel.

Now someday we may have children and we would both like to pass on these beliefs, but is it benificial to a child that does not understand why his mommy and daddy are not married like all of his/her friends? Would this lead to the child feeling that something is unstable in his parent's relationship? I would hope that the child would understand that it is not about love, but instead about realizing how we give away control without knowing it. However I do not have children and therefore do not know how they would react, but it is definatly something to think about.

Just my two cents...

Actually being married is a penalty for 40% of married couples.

Here is how it works:

If a man and woman, each making $60,000, fall in love and marry, they will be pushed into a higher tax bracket. The $120,000 couple will pay a higher rate than the two singles would have

Originally posted by BlackJackal
Actually being married is a penalty for 40% of married couples.

Here is how it works:

If a man and woman, each making $60,000, fall in love and marry, they will be pushed into a higher tax bracket. The $120,000 couple will pay a higher rate than the two singles would have

And half the mortgage/rent/utilities/ and insurance as single people. But look at it this way, gay and childless people still pay taxes to educate and jail the obnoxious brats of marrieds.

The married "penalty" is overblown. Single people without that magic dual income rarely can buy a house and take all those payments off taxes. There's a very real single/poor tax penalty in effect applied to people that pay a landlord as opposed to a bank.

Originally posted by RANT
[And half the mortgage/rent/utilities/ and insurance as single people. But look at it this way, gay and childless people still pay taxes to educate and jail the obnoxious brats of marrieds.

The married "penalty" is overblown. Single people without that magic dual income rarely can buy a house and take all those payments off taxes. There's a very real single/poor tax penalty in effect applied to people that pay a landlord as opposed to a bank.

And married people with brats pay taxes to educate and jail your silly asses! As far as deducting your house payment, the only part of a mortgage that is deductable is the interest on your loan and that ends up being irrelevant after you take into consideration all the repairs and property taxes that come out of the homeowners pocket that a renter never has to worry about.

Ok, lets break it down..

One of the prime reasons for government, is the continuation of the the state, and continuing prosperity...

A married couple (man and woman), tends to contribute to this, by producing offspring, thus ensuring the continuance of the state. (As stated above, married people without offspring may be more penalized than rewarded for marriage, but can still file separate taxes if so...). (I would argue, that a gay marriage that adopts, should be entitled to the same tax breaks....).

Family is the backbone of society. You must have a good solid family foundation to have a good society. I believe that this is the foundation for why there are certain tax breaks for married couples.

Originally posted by Gazrok
Family is the backbone of society. You must have a good solid family foundation to have a good society. I believe that this is the foundation for why there are certain tax breaks for married couples.

All true. But let's break it down further. Drinking and whoring are the backbone of fun in society. My family typically gets in the way of these interests. A wife would most certainly interfere. Not sure where I was headed with this, just had drinking and whoring on my mind. Now you see where I'm coming from. And possibly George Bush.

That's all well and good, but nowhere in the constitution is "fun" listed as a right....You have the right to pursue it, but not to have it, hehe....

Not to mention, it's not really a goal the government shares... It could care less whether you have fun, but does want you to crank out more workers and consumers, hence the benefits of marriage granted by said government.....