Trek Today reports that former Star Trek actor George Takei, who has appeared alongside Patty Duke to support online filing of Social Security claims, has appeared at a rally to support legislation to require that Social Security recognize same-sex marriages. Currently, the Defense of Marriage Act prevents the Social Security Administration from recognizing same-sex marriages. (No, I don't ordinarily read Trek Today. Try
Google Blog Seach. It's very useful.)
7 comments:
Just more evidence that the same-sex marriage movement is more about garnering additional government benefits than about "equality".
Since when were government benefits outside the realm of equality?
Equality includes access to the same benefits. Otherwise it wouldn't be called equality.
Recognizing same-sex marriages could actually save the government some money - at least on the SSI and DAC side of things. I had a client who had a same-sex marriage who got SSI and DAC benefits even though the same sex-spouse had substantial earnings earnings.
I would love to see a conservative make the argument that SSA should recognize same-sex marriages to reduce payments to the disabled.
To 2:59 pm--exactly--access to benefits is the key--the treasure trove of govt benefits is the problem. If there were no auxiliary or survivors benefits, the issue would be moot. But, because they exist, the expansion to additional potential eligibles must be pursued. If Social security were for the NH only, no issue would exist.
Since the institution of the Social Security Act, men and women could potentially engage in "fraud" by marrying simply to entitle the spouse to benefits. The only obstacle was the 9 month duration of marriage requirement (i.e, you can't have a preacher perform a marriage ceremony over someone's deathbed in order to qualify for widow(er)'s benefits). There has never been evidence that the marriage rules were abused.
The question is why same sex couples would engage in fraud any more than heterosexual couples?
Only a few years ago, the last few surviving "Confederate War Widows" died. They had been paid a small benifit by some Southern states. It was a common practice for an aged veteran of the War Between the States, as it is called down South, to marry a very young lady, giving her a small income for her life. With a 99 year old veteran and a 14 year old girl, the state benefits were paid for many years.
Post a Comment