Gay marriage and The Deficit

[kallend 2,182]

I guess the teabaggers didn't get to see this:

The Congressional Budget Office looked into the question in 2004 at the request of Republican Representative Steve Chabot of Ohio. The CBO’s findings suggest that federally recognized gay marriage would reduce the budget deficit by about $450 million a year, or roughly 0.01 percent of total federal spending.


The more interesting part is how same-sex marriage affects the budget. Most people will think of it as changing income taxes and benefits for gay public employees. But some of the biggest effects come in welfare programs: Marriage makes people more robust against financial shocks and less likely to qualify for welfare programs. Same-sex marriage would save hundreds of millions of dollars a year by getting some gay men and lesbians off the Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income rolls.
On the revenue side, the CBO estimated that gay marriage in all 50 states would increase tax receipts by about $400 million a year if the George W. Bush tax cuts were extended and by about $700 million a year if they were not. Because those tax cuts ended up being mostly extended, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle, but closer to $400 million.
The added revenue comes from the “marriage penalty”: Two-earner married couples where each spouse has a similar income tend to be taxed more heavily than they would be if both partners were single. Other couples get a “marriage bonus,” generally when the spouses’ incomes are very unequal, but the marriage penalty effect is more important.
On the expense side, gay men and lesbians would get access to Social Security benefits based on spousal income. This would raise benefits for some couples, particularly those in which one spouse had much higher career earnings than the other. The CBO estimated these added benefits would cost $350 million a year by 2014.
The other main area of added expense would be benefits for the same-sex spouses of federal employees and retirees. The CBO estimated that covering same-sex spouses in the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program would cost about $80 million a year.
But there would be savings in means-tested entitlement programs, as fewer gay men and lesbians would qualify. The CBO estimated annual savings in 2014 of $100 million in Supplemental Security Income, $300 million in Medicaid and $50 million in Medicare. That makes for a wash on the expense side: $430 million in added costs and $450 million in reduced costs.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Southern_Man 0]

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Same-sex marriage would save hundreds of millions of dollars a year by getting some gay men and lesbians off the Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income rolls.

Interesting, although .01% of the federal spending is not very much.

Just wanted to address the point in the clip I left. I work with people w/ disabilities. Marriage is a horrible choice on a purely financial basis for people w/ disabilities--especially those receiving Medicaid and SSI. This is true even if both parties are disabled. I advise my clients against it when they ask my opinion. They are on the financial margin anyway and cannot afford any reduction in benefits.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[lawrocket 3]

Isn't it amazing just how pervasive the government is? When gay marriage is being argued in terms of government outlays and revenues it is evidence of it being totally out of control

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[OHCHUTE 0]

Don't forget Bloomberg study that mentions gay couples add to housing value increases.

Gay couple depiction on entertainment shows have filled hollywood coffers.

Gay couples revitalize shopping districts

Gays add to the economy buy buying clothing, handbags and scooters and Hermes scarves.

And when more gays get married they'll help to fuel the divorce industry, wedding industry, housing industry, insurance industry etc.

No one is against gays adding to any economy. Money is forever green.

[Andy9o8 3]

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And when more gays get married they'll help to fuel the divorce industry, wedding industry, housing industry, insurance industry etc.

Seems like a win-win.

[lawrocket 3]

Having handled gay divorces (civil unions in Cali) I can say this: gay men are the easiest divorces I ever handled. Lesbians were the toughest.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[OHCHUTE 0]

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Having handled gay divorces (civil unions in Cali) I can say this: gay men are the easiest divorces I ever handled. Lesbians were the toughest.

Toughest means $. Aaaah OK, so you're one of the one salivating all this goes through.

[StreetScooby 5]

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Isn't it amazing just how pervasive the government is? When gay marriage is being argued in terms of government outlays and revenues it is evidence of it being totally out of control

+1

We are all engines of karma

[BillyVance 35]

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Having handled gay divorces (civil unions in Cali) I can say this: gay men are the easiest divorces I ever handled. Lesbians were the toughest.

Sounds like what Normiss said....

"You never really know a woman until you meet her in court."

Bitches....

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[Andy9o8 3]

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Isn't it amazing just how pervasive the government is? When gay marriage is being argued in terms of government outlays and revenues it is evidence of it being totally out of control

Well, that's true to that extent, but it's not exclusively about such outlays. It's about things like a spouse's right to presumptive inheritance and the "marital share", the right to de-facto spousal medical power of attorney which hospitals often will honor for spouses but won't for non-married SO's, the right to be covered under a spouse's employer-provided health insurance. (I'll also mention the right to take the marital deduction from estate taxes; although some might argue that that's sort of an indirect govt outlay...)

[BillyVance 35]

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Having handled gay divorces (civil unions in Cali) I can say this: gay men are the easiest divorces I ever handled. Lesbians were the toughest.

If you ever get another divorce case involving lesbians, ask them about this very observation... I'm curious what their response will be.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[ryoder 1,590]

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Having handled gay divorces (civil unions in Cali) I can say this: gay men are the easiest divorces I ever handled. Lesbians were the toughest.

If you ever get another divorce case involving lesbians, ask them about this very observation... I'm curious what their response will be.

Oh, yeah; Take two angry lesbians, and have them focus that hate on him.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[BillyVance 35]

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Quote

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Having handled gay divorces (civil unions in Cali) I can say this: gay men are the easiest divorces I ever handled. Lesbians were the toughest.

If you ever get another divorce case involving lesbians, ask them about this very observation... I'm curious what their response will be.

Oh, yeah; Take two angry lesbians, and have them focus that hate on him.

Dude... he's a lawyer.

Just kidding Jerry!

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban