Political Quotes

“we have often asked over the last several years, is it right, is it fair, that under our Tax Code, 25 million married working couples on average pay $1,400 more in higher taxes just because they are married? Clearly the folks back home in the south side of Chicago and the south suburbs that I have the privilege of representing say it is just wrong, it is unfair that married working couples pay more just because they are married. $1,400 in Illinois, it is 1 year's tuition for a nursing student at Joliet Junior college. It is 3 months of day care. It is a washer and dryer to take care of the kids' clothes. Let me point out what causes the marriage tax penalty. The marriage tax penalty, I have got a machinist and a schoolteacher, $31,000 in income or $31,500 of income each. While the machinist stays single, he is in the 15 percent tax bracket; the same with the schoolteacher. But they chose to get married. Because when they are married, they file jointly, they are pushed into the 28 percent tax bracket, causing almost $1,400 in marriage tax penalty. We want to help couples like the machinist and schoolteacher, people who pay the marriage tax penalty.”