Louie Gohmert (R-TX) yesterday called President Obama’s jobs bill “something nice he’s throwing out for gay folks,” and claimed it “takes a shot at traditional, conventional marriage.”
Meet Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert. Yes, Louie Gohmert, the man who made infamous the idea of “terror babies,” the man who called Obama the “Evil Emperor” who’s riding around in his “Darth Vader bus” on a “magical misery tour,” the man who called homosexuality “adultery,” the man who said gays “cannot control their hormones,” the man who said he fears the “end of existence” if Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell were repealed (still standing here!) now claims Obama’s jobs bill attacks opposite-sex marriage.
Marie Diamond at Think Progress offers the transcript and video below, and this intelligent, thoughtful, and, well, you know, reality-based response to Gohmert’s craziness:
Giving single parents and unmarried couples a similar tax exemption as married couples is not, of course, an assault on marriage, but an attempt to level the playing field. President Obama has, in fact, kept his promise to end marriage penalties in the tax code, in addition to extending child tax credits. Clearly, his aim is to use the tax code to help all families, married or not.
Married couples filing tax returns together have typically gotten a far greater financial benefit than people filing individually, but Gohmert has no problem with the government essentially incentiving marriage with economic inducements. Yet he thinks that giving other Americans the same exemptions is somehow encouraging immorality because people can live together without getting married. Is Gohmert concerned that the institution of marriage will unravel if there’s no longer a government kickback for walking down the aisle?
Â
GOHMERT: This may be something nice he’s throwing out for gay folks that are living together so he can tell them actually you’re better off not getting married, because there’s a marriage penalty here…If you’re the head of a single household, you have an exemptions at $225,000. All other cases $200,000. So it really penalizes married individuals…But if you want to get divorced it is good news for you…the good news if you’re thinking about divorce is you can actually get divorced and have $75,000 to $100,000 higher exception. And you can even live together! This is the president’s proposal — live together and you get a higher exception than if you’re married. Now of course the founders — they all understood marriage to be between a man and a woman. […] This president…takes a shot at traditional, conventional marriage.