Legal marriage is a package covering a whole lot more things than just taxes. It is insurance, paternity/maternity leave, military benefits, visitation rights, travel visas, adoption, custody of children, right to make health decisions, inheritance... LOTS of things.
These are absolutely the sort of things that government exists to be involved in.
the big thing with the hobby Lobby ruling goes a -lot- further than not paying for contraceptives.. and goes in a direction nobody in business wanted it to go. Right now there is a 'veil' between a corporation and it's owners and employees. the Corp exists as a separate entity from those that own and run it. This protects the owners and their personal assets if the corp gets sued or goes belly up.
Now that the courts have ruled that a corporation can be one and the same as the owners.. that veil has been rent. You could tell it was going to be a bad decision when all the major corporations and the US Chamber of Commerce filed friends of the court briefs against ruling for Hobby Lobby before the SCOTUS took it up
Beer Baron wrote: Legal marriage is a package covering a whole lot more things than just taxes. It is insurance, paternity/maternity leave, military benefits, visitation rights, travel visas, adoption, custody of children, right to make health decisions, inheritance... LOTS of things. These are absolutely the sort of things that government exists to be involved in.
That's true.
But the Federal government does not establish marriages, and does not issue marriage licenses. They do not have that authority. States do.
The Federal government gets involved in an interstate commerce sort of way. They enable a marriage lawfully established and executed in one state to be recognized in another.
Kenny_McCormic wrote:Beer Baron wrote: Frequently, being a part of a society is having your taxes go to support things that you do not believe and agree in, because society as a whole has decided it is a benefit. The trade off is that you probably get the benefit of programs that someone else does not totally agree with.This, my tax dollars go to spying on american citizens, militarizing the police, perpetuating the prison industrial complex, bombing brown people, etc. etc. things that I intensely dislike, but you don't hear me screaming about it on Faux News.
I agree.
(EDIT: Comment removed. Apparently I was mistaken, or at least am not interested in leading folks astray regarding their intimate relations with the IRS).
SVreX wrote: That's true. But the Federal government does not establish marriages, and does not issue marriage licenses. They do not have that authority. States do. The Federal government gets involved in an interstate commerce sort of way. They enable a marriage lawfully established and executed in one state to be recognized in another.
I'm not sure what your point is in relation to this debate. People are saying the government shouldn't be involved in marriage, and now it sounds like you're saying... they aren't.
I can see the argument being made that whether or not to issue marriage licenses is a state issue. But the Federal Government can and should step in and say that marriage licenses are something under the full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution, and that states need to recognize them as valid legal documents, just like they have to recognize you drivers license, birth certificate, or will.
In reply to SVreX:
I'm not so sure that the IRS would let me withhold 80+% of my taxes because The Church of the Latter-Day Dude holds beliefs against what it gets spent on. Care to be a guinea pig?
Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to SVreX: I'm not so sure that the IRS would let me withhold 80+% of my taxes because The Church of the Latter-Day Dude holds beliefs against what it gets spent on. Care to be a guinea pig?
You are right to be cautious, as none of the previously mentioned groups get a discount on their income taxes. The amish etc do not pay into medicare or social security due to their religious beliefs. They also do not have to register for selective service due to their religious beliefs. They DO have to pay income taxes regardless of their religious beliefs as they are not able to avoid paying something towards the military budget. This has been the law of the land for quite a long time. SVreX is incorrect in stating that the amish are able to reduce their taxes spent on the military, as that is patently untrue. They do not have to join the draft, and they do not have to pay into SS or medicare, but they are also unable to draw funds from either SS or medicare.
The amish, mennonite, etc are not able to recede their tax burden by the amount that might be used for defense. This is settled law and their is no argument. The hobby lobby decision is something entirely different and IMHO opens pandoras box for all religions.
SVreX wrote:Kenny_McCormic wrote:I agree. However, all of those things are things you could legitimately claim a religious exemption for, so I don't think your argument holds water. You are NOT required to pay for any of those things if you have a religious objection to them.Beer Baron wrote: Frequently, being a part of a society is having your taxes go to support things that you do not believe and agree in, because society as a whole has decided it is a benefit. The trade off is that you probably get the benefit of programs that someone else does not totally agree with.This, my tax dollars go to spying on american citizens, militarizing the police, perpetuating the prison industrial complex, bombing brown people, etc. etc. things that I intensely dislike, but you don't hear me screaming about it on Faux News.
ok .. need some educating here … how do I go about designating where my taxes get used
I remember this being an issue during the Viet Nam protest era … didn't realize that there was a method of designating where/how my tax money was appropriated
edit: mattm already answered … should have read to the bottom before I posted 
In reply to mattm:
Thanks for the clarification.
I know no details, but I do know Mennonites who withhold a percentage related to military spending based on their religious views.
HOW they do it, I'm not sure. Perhaps they do it by holding assets in a non-profit. Perhaps they do it illegally, and risk the consequences.
But it IS done.
You may know a lot of tax code better than me (and I therefore retract my comments), but I know a lot of Mennonites. 
Since I have never done it, I make no claims to first hand knowledge.
Previous comment edited.
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