On Thursday, George Stephanopoulos touted how legalizing same-sex
"marriage" would supposedly bring in additional revenue into the federal
government's coffers. The former Clinton administration official
claimed that "the Treasury would actually take in more money if gays and lesbians were allowed to get married and get federal benefits."
Stephanopoulos cited an eight-plus year old study from the Congressional Budget Office [1] that found that redefining marriage to include homosexual couples "could bring in up to $1 billion a year – so, a net benefit for the Treasury from gay marriage."
The ABC anchor devoted part of an online video report to "How Legalizing Same Sex Marriage Could Help Reduce the Deficit [2]."
He led with a viewer question: "Donna Lynn Lewis...says, 'My friend
argues that it would somehow hurt the economy, as far as benefits or
Social Security. This doesn't make sense to me. Maybe you could explain
what the financial effect would be for our society.'"
Stephanopoulos began his reply by noting that "it's actually hard to gauge what the overall economic impact would be."
He continued with his assertion that "the Treasury would actually take
in more money if gays and lesbians were allowed to get married", and
explained that "if gay or lesbian couples are married and they have
about equal income, they would actually pay more in taxes than if they were single."
The liberal ABC journalist isn't alone in playing this up. During a brief on Thursday's CBS This Morning,
anchor Charlie Rose cited a story in USA Today on the Supreme Court
case concerning the Defense of Marriage Act. Rose outlined that "if it's
[DOMA is] struck down, it may not be a financial windfall for same-sex couples. The case has centered on federal benefits. If they become eligible for the benefits, they would also have to pay higher taxes."
On Tuesday's Morning Edition, NPR's Carrie Johnson ballyhooed [3]
that the clients of a tax accountant who caters to homosexuals "have
been surprised to find out they could pay the dreaded marriage penalty."
Johnson highlighted that the accountant "tells them that's just a price
of equality."
The relevant transcript of George Stephanopoulos's online segment from ABC News' website:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Hello, everyone. I'm George Stephanopoulos here
with today's 'Bottom Line', and lots of questions coming in on gay
marriage, after those two days of emotional arguments at the Supreme
Court. Let's get right to them.
First one comes from Donna Lynn Lewis. She says, 'My friend argues that
it would somehow hurt the economy, as far as benefits or Social
Security. This doesn't make sense to me. Maybe you could explain what
the financial effect would be for our society.' Fantastic question.
It's actually hard to gauge what the overall economic impact would be.
But – but – you know, there are more than 1,100 federal regulations and
laws that affect marriage, and your friend might be surprised to know
that, in fact, the Treasury would actually take in more money if gays
and lesbians were allowed to get married and get federal benefits.
Here's why: it turns out that if gay or lesbian couples are married and
they have about equal income, they would actually pay more in taxes than
if they were single.
In fact, the Congressional Budget Office did a study of this back in
2004, and said it could bring in up to $1 billion a year – so, a net
benefit for the Treasury from gay marriage.