John Thune: “Moreover, it is a moral imperative that we get rid of the marriage penalty and the Tax Code. A lot of people, I think…”

“Moreover, it is a moral imperative that we get rid of the marriage penalty and the Tax Code. A lot of people, I think, who probably listen to what comes out of Washington as we talk about this whole issue probably think to some degree that it is a discussion like a lot of things in Washington in the abstract; this is some theoretical thing. The reality is, this is a real issue which affects real people in a very real way. Think about the number of married couples who are out there. The marriage penalty strikes hardest really at middle-income families. Most marriage penalties occur when the higher earning spouse makes somewhere between $20,000 and $75,000 a year; and I will give an example of someone who came into my office a few weeks back who fits right into that category.”