re: Got married and paycheck went up about 10% (after Taxes)

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I agree that marriage is a great thing to promote. However, why do we have to promote it by rewarding people with money? Are people not going to get married if they do not get the tax benefit? Are people not going to have kids if they don't get the tax benefit?

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That's a decision made by the govt. To change it the people need to tell the representatives who may or may not agree and vote to change it.

But the tax code is filled with tax breaks for this group, or that group.

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I agree that marriage is a great thing to promote. However, why do we have to promote it by rewarding people with money? Are people not going to get married if they do not get the tax benefit? Are people not going to have kids if they don't get the tax benefit?

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If you look at the individual or individual couple, of course not. No single couple will get married specifically because of this. If you take a step back, and then take another 50 steps back, you'll see that history has shown that our society, as well as virtually every civilized society in human history, has nurtured a social climate that presents marriage as normal and a single life abnormal (with obvious notable exceptions such as unmarried members of the clergy, for example). That marriage is the social norm is, historically, what most has encouraged people to get married for millennia, and one thing that worries me about the future of this country and the futures of most first-world countries is that things like women's rights and sexual freedom appear to have come at the expense of marriage as the social norm. Don't get me wrong--women's rights and sexual freedom are great, but that they came at the expense of marriage as the social norm is the worrisome part. The message sent today by society, the way I hear it, is "You don't need a man. You can be your own person. You don't need to be married to be happy," when I would prefer the message to be something more along the lines of "You don't need a man. You can be your own person. You don't need to be married to be happy...but keep marriage on the table. It's been around for thousands of years for a good reason, so just keep an open mind about it and at least consider settling down at some point in your late 20's."

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The Preamble has absolutely nothing to do with marriage ... NOTHING. Those words definitely mean something, but its not what you think.


In fact, the Preamble isn't law and the federal constitution didn't have any influence on the state institution of marriage until the 20th Century.

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I was only justifying my view under the general, possibly rhetorical umbrella of the Preamble, which outlines and summarizes the entire purpose of this country's Constitution and, therefore, every law written by an entity that is subject to it. I know that "the Preamble isn't law."

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which outlines and summarizes the entire purpose of this country's Constitution and, therefore, every law written by an entity that is subject to it

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False.

The Preamble is specifically addressing the problems encountered with the Articles of Confederation. It is not an overarching statement on all of the powers within the Constitution.

"Establish Justice" = Establish a judicial branch to interpret national (federal) laws which was absent under the Articles.

"Provide for the Common Defence" = Create a national military as opposed to the 13 individual militaries present under the Articles.

"Promote the General Welfare" = Establish national taxing systems in order to raise national revenue which was illegal under the Articles AND establish an Executive Branch to enforce nation (federal law) which was absent under the Articles.

"Insure Domestic Tranquility" = Prohibit interstate tariffs and competing currencies which had seriously hampered the national economy under the Articles

All of those phrases are very specific as to rectifying the issues with the Articles. They are not overarching statements on the power of the Constitution.

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This - you will be back after you file your taxes bitching about how single people get more back than married people

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Get back more of what? Their own money?

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The only thing that changed on my paycheck is that I went from Single to Married. I am not sure what else it could be.

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You are in a different tax bracket now that you are married and filing jointly. LINK

They probably changed your witholding a bit. Check with HR.

I couldn't change mine until Jan 1 of this year even though I was married last year. I will end up getting almost $6,000 back since we filed jointly. I'd rather not give them a zero interest loan like that.