Sam Brownback: “When the institution of marriage breaks down and we tax it, we cause it to break down further. The children do suffer. A…”

“When the institution of marriage breaks down and we tax it, we cause it to break down further. The children do suffer. A number of single parents struggle heroically and do a good job of raising their children. But the best institution to raise those children in and to build family values that we have all talked about is the institution of marriage. That is the best place; the values emanate from that. The past few decades have seen a huge decrease in that institution, as the study I have just cited from Rutgers points out. We are taxing marriage across the country. So we are getting what we are paying for-- fewer marriages. That is happening. We are taxing over 259,000 of them in the State of Kansas. That is not good for the children. The past few decades have seen the problems befall our children because of that overall situation, the well-being of children in virtually all areas of life--physiologically, psychologically, health-wise, sociologically, academic achievement, and the likelihood of suffering physically. They are better off in that stable, two-parent family--not to say that a number of single parents don't do a very good job. They do. Overall, statistically, they are still better off in that two-parent, stable family.”