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04/20/2011
'Concerned' Wendy lures Dems with 'gay tax' trap; Dems too busy laughing at bait's absurdity to even consider taking it
There's of course a world of difference between paying a higher tax on the basis of income and paying a higher tax on the basis of unequal citizenship. But in an obtuse commentary regarding Edie Windsor, a lesbian widow who has filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) because of the fact that she wasn't able to claim the estate tax marital deduction that's common to surviving spouses of the opposite sex, Concerned Women For America president Wendy Wright tries her darnedest to connect the two concepts:
Last week in a highly-partisan speech on the deficit, President Obama said the rich "want" to pay more in taxes:
"And I believe that most wealthy Americans would agree with me. They want to give back to the country that's done so much for them. Washington just hasn't asked them to."
A few years ago, Vice President Joe Biden said it is "patriotic" to pay higher taxes. In an interview on ABC's Good Morning America, he said:
"We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people … It's time to be patriotic … time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."
So, does the Obama administration believe that Edith Windsor and the ACLU are unpatriotic for not wanting to pay more taxes?
Does Obama Think Homosexuals are Unpatriotic? [CWA]
The "logic" is almost too absurd to be believed. Basically Wendy's saying that a fair proposal to reduce the deficit by limiting the streak of tax cuts that have long benefited the wealthiest 2% of Americans at the expense of the middle class is analogous to a wholly unfair, completely unconstitutional burden imposed on certain kinds of legally married Americans for no reason greater than their sexual orientations. Plus Wendy's suggesting that if the President or his supporters balk at unfair burdens, then they are being both hypocritical and unpatriotic. To hear Wendy tell it, it's as if the Democrats can no longer sing Lee Greenwood's greatest hit without adding a verse about the "gay tax." Or something.
It's reasoning that could only be concocted within the contrived confines of social conservatism. Or perhaps within the lens of some neo-Fellini film commenting on the absurdity of our modern political discourse. But here in real world America circa 2011: It's a steaming pile of bull caca.
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