I have to admit I didn’t see this one coming. I should have. But I didn’t.
Seattle officials now want to pay people to get married to people of the same sex. Seriously.
Seattle officials want to provide a small, monthly payment to employees in same-sex marriages because they will pay higher federal income tax than married heterosexual couples on medical benefits.
Mayor Mike McGinn was poised to introduce legislation Wednesday to make up for the inequality created by the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bars federal recognition of gay marriage.
But late Tuesday, the City Attorney’s Office advised McGinn that that approach might not be legal…
Mayor Mike McGinn included the money in his 2013 budget recommendation to the council. At a news conference Tuesday morning, he said that providing what he called a “gay allowance for health care” is the right thing to do.
“If the federal government has an unjust law, it’s not fair to punish city workers,” McGinn said.
This seems to me to be a bit of vote buying. Sure, they might argue that it’s straightening out the tax code. But it seems to me that politicians can always find a reason to fund something that’s got votes attached to it.
They’re talking about giving $90 a month to people who get married to people of the same sex. So if two employees hooked up they’d be raking in $180 a month. Not bad. Now, if we can get polygamy rolling we could be talking some crazy cash here.
What government likes, government federally subsidizes. It’s pretty simple. That’s why we have the HHS mandate. The government has had a long and steadfast commitment to contraceptives until it took the plunge and just forced employees to cover it.
Now they want to fund same-sex marriage.
