Max Baucus: “If I might ask the Senator one more question, is it better to try to find some way to pay down the national debt at the…”

“If I might ask the Senator one more question, is it better to try to find some way to pay down the national debt at the same time we are fixing the marriage tax penalty problem? The Senator gave a hypothetical of a man and woman each earning $30,000. They get married and have to pay more taxes. That is not right. I totally agree that is not right. That ought to be fixed. Somebody who pays more income taxes as a consequence of getting married should not be facing that situation, and we should, in the Congress, figure out a way--as various proposals do--so a couple does not have to pay any more income taxes as a consequence of getting married. I agree with the Senator. That is not right.”