Rod Grams: “I answer the Senator from Idaho by saying it does not. Again, if there are those in the Senate who believe this is one…”

“I answer the Senator from Idaho by saying it does not. Again, if there are those in the Senate who believe this is one of those rich families who can afford to pay this tax, believe me, these are not rich young people. They are a hard-working young couple but by no means rich. They will work hard and probably will get there someday but right now they are not. It is the furthest thing from fairness. That is the Federal Tax Code. Even if this couple escapes the marriage tax penalty this year, they will still have to pay next year and the next year and the year after, for most of the rest of their lives, unless we change that, as we are trying to do this week with the legislation before the Senate. We are not talking about abstract tax policy. We are not talking about economic theory. We are talking about average families, real families, who are hurt every year by the marriage tax penalty. In many cases, we are not talking about a delay of a wedding. We are talking about a Tax Code that says do not get married if your family may need that second income because the IRS has first claim on that income. I asked that member of my staff why they felt they needed to postpone their wedding a few weeks. He told me it did not make any sense for him and his fiance to fork over another $1,400 to the Federal Government. Some might think that is cheating the Government, but he didn't think so.”