One Letter In a Name Cost Edie a Third of a Million Dollars

Edie Windsor, the plaintiff in the DOMA case that was heard yesterday at the Supreme Court, summed up the case better than any of the lawyers or Jurists ever could: “If Thea’s name had been Theo…”. Brilliantly pointing out the absurdity of our stupid laws that force gay Americans to live as second-class citizens.

One letter in a name; one X chromosome; that is what it’s about. Because Edie and Thea were legally married according to the laws of New York, Edie shouldn’t have had to pay $363,000.00 in Death Taxes when Thea died after a long battle with MS. But because a homophobic Congress passed a stupid law called the “Defense of Marriage Act” (and because that horndog Bubba signed it), she got ripped off, big time, by her own government.

Politicians love to squawk about the Death Tax, and give speeches about how evil it is: many of the loudest squawkers are, however, also supporters of DOMA. So it’s once again, one letter that determines the degree of their hypocrisy. If you’re straight, Estate Taxes are badbadbad; if you’re gay, they are a just and righteous punishment upon you – so say the homophobic bigots who have been running the show around here for the past few decades.

One letter in a name should not give the government license to discriminate, to steal, to ruin the lives of taxpaying citizens. But until DOMA goes away, that one letter will continue to do so.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Under Prop 8, My Straight Marriage Would Not Be Legal

Yesterday, at the Supreme Court, the backers of California’s gay-hating piece of crap Proposition 8 (which outlaws marriage between people of the same gender) came up with this ludicrous bit of specious nonsense legal rationale to justify their hatred of gays support of the law: they claim that the only reason to get married is to make babies and raise them. The Supremes (literally) mocked this notion and the audience laughed at Charles Cooper, the poor schlub who had to try to sell the Court on this idea.

Mr. and Mrs. Blunt and Cranky are not on their first marriage: indeed, their children were pretty much grown and had flown the nest by the time they crankily tied the knot. And they cannot have more children (although to be honest, at this time of life, grandbabies are a lot more fun anyway). So, since procreation is the purpose of marriage, this would seem to mean that this marriage between two straight Americans should be illegal according to the Prop 8 Backers.

When pressed by the Justices, Mr. Cooper could not talk his way out the hole he dug with his legal reasoning. Which means that whether you are gay or straight, if you can’t make babies, the backers of California’s Existing Constitutional Law are saying that your marriage is illegal.

Fortunately, the Cranky Fam does not reside in Californ-ai-ay, but in Ohio. Unfortunately, Ohio also has outlawed same-sex marriages, and for all we know, the backers of that law think the same way as the whackadoodles who are backing the Left Coast Law. Which would mean that millions of Americans could wind up getting ripped off by the IRS, Insurance companies, and lawyers; just like gay folk get ripped off right now.

Think you don’t have a dog in the same-sex marriage fight? Think again, Gentle Reader. This type of reasoning, if allowed to stand, could put straight people in the same second-class-citizen status that gay people presently occupy in our nation.

Yes, maybe you should care because of basic human kindness, Christian charity or some such reasoning. This writer does. But let’s say you don’t give two s***s about the Gays, Lesbians, and Transgender individuals who are your fellow citizens: you should at least be aware that after these thinly-disguised Puritans take away the rights of GLBT people, they will take away yours next.

Want your marriage rights protected? Stand up for the marriage rights of others. As Thomas Jefferson said, “If we do not all hang together, we shall all surely hang separately”.

Mr. B & C

Memo to the U.S. Supreme Court: Please Abolish the “Gay Tax”

As Mr. Blunt and Cranky noted in Monday’s post, there are cases coming up before the Supremes Tuesday and Wednesday regarding “Gay Marriage” (one of the more inane bits of phrasing of the modern era, but ah well). They are being fought on the grounds of human rights, equal protection, Constitutional minutiae, and other such legal-beagle considerations. This writer would like to focus on one ill-reported aspect: taxation.

Inequality of taxation is one reason our nation was founded in the first place (Google “Boston Tea Party” if you’re clueless), and Americans are usually pretty sensitive to any sort of IRS overreach. But somehow, the fact that gay folk get taxed at an absurd rate has flown under the radar, what with all the Culture War B.S. cluttering up the Zeitgeist.

Gay folk cannot file taxes as “married”, even if they legally are. They have to pay taxes that we straights do not (check out Evie Windsor and her 1/3 million-dollar tax bill for just one example). Because of irrational, unconstitutional restrictions, they often have to pay more for taxes on insurance products, financial transactions and a host of other items.

Call this what it is: the Gay Tax. You can’t be taxed for the color of your skin, your gender, your religion, or indeed much of anything but your economic status. But you can be (and will be) taxed for being part of the LGBT community. And that, fellow citizens, is a monstrous, unfair, discriminatory, unconstitutional abuse of power. Indeed, to coin a phrase, it is “taxation without representation”.

Here are some links for those who won’t take some random cranky codger’s word for it: http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2007/12/pdf/domestic_partners.pdf

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/lgbt/news/2012/04/17/11451/unequal-taxation-and-undue-burdens-for-lgbt-families/

Mr. B & C

If You Oppose Gay Marriage, You Are a Hateful, Hypocritical Bigot. Period.

The plaintiff in this week’s DOMA (“Defense Of Marriage Act”) case that hits the Supremes this Wednesday had $363,000.00  stolen from her by the government because, and only because, she was gay.  No other reason. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Windsor

You see, Ms. Windsor (an early computer scientist with IBM) and her partner got married legally, and their marriage was recognized by the State of New York. But the Feds don’t recognize such unions, and after her wife died, she was obliged to fork over a third of a million dollars that she would not have had to pay had she been a straight married woman. Think of it as a “Gay Tax”.

If you are a Republican who believes in lower taxes and smaller government, you cannot also support DOMA, because it imposes unjust taxes on certain citizens, and is a result of Big Brother governmental intrusion into our private lives. If you are a Repub, therefore, and  support DOMA, you’re a hateful, hypocritical bigot,

If you are a Christian whose church has tax-empt status  and you  support DOMA, you’re a hateful, hypocritical bigot who is making someone else pay your bills for you. Look up “usury” in the Bible and see what it says.

If you are a Libertarian and  support DOMA, you’re a  hateful, hugely hypocritical bigot.

If you are black and support DOMA, you’re you’re a  hateful, hugely hypocritical bigot who has no memory of anything that happened prior to this century. Read up on the Civil RIghts struggle, slavery, and such.

No matter who you are in our country, this writer is pretty sure you don’t like the idea of Uncle Sam jacking people out of thousands of dollars. Unless, of course, they are part of a group that you don’t like, in which case you’re OK with it.

Which makes you a hateful, hypocritical bigot.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Lying Sack of S*** of The Week: John Kasich

This week’s ever-so-very-worthy recipient of the Crown 0′ Polished Turds is Ohio’s Guv, John Kasich. On Thursday of this past week, The Kasich “evolved” and said he had some gay friends, and was willing to throw them a bone in the form of civil unions. But hey, no marriage for the gayward according to The Kasich.

This lasted less than half a day . Now the story is, he’s back to his old gay-hating self. Last time Mr. Blunt and Cranky checked, evolution didn’t work in reverse. Which means, he’s lyin’ like a moldy shag rug.

A crown, then, for The Kasich: our Lying Sack of S*** of The Week.

Mr. B & C