by Charles Merrill
The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and the religious motivation for the law is a clear violation of the Establishment Clause in the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Congress over-reached its authority under the law and discriminates and violates the Equal Protection Clause. The law violates the fundamental right to marriage (including same-sex marriage) under the due process clause and it should be repealed immediately to help reconstruct the economy.. Supporters of DOMA argue that the act is a legitimate exercise of Congressional power under the Full Faith and Credit Clause and the act does not violate either the Equal Protection Clause or the due process clause of the United States Constitution.
On June 21st, 2004 an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office called “The Potential Budgetary Impact of Recognizing Same-Sex Marriages“, was sent to Honorable Steve Chabot, Chairman, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives at his request. The analysis stated that recognizing same-sex marriages by the Federal government would affect federal revenues through both the individual income tax and the estate tax. Revenues would be higher: by $400 million a year from 2005 through 2020 and by $500 million to $700 million annually from 2011 through 2014. A billion dollars earned from Federal tax revenue is what would be added to the U.S. Treasury every three years if same sex-couples were allowed to file Federal Income tax forms.
The stock market keeps on crashing as I predicted with my words of warning written in the Wall Street Journal, Oct. 31, 2007. No one listened. Not lawmakers, not President Bush, not Vice President Cheney. Exactly a year later after my warning, Christian evangelicals gathered around the Merrill/Lynch bronze bull sculpture, the standing one with shiny low hangers to pray for a bull market.. The organizer of the prayer group stated to Pat Robertson’s 700 Club, “This is so severe in the economic area because we are facing judgment from the actions, not only for our stance towards Israel, but our blatant sin against Him in passing laws such as the one allowing homosexual marriages.”
More below the fold.President Obama promised in his campaign to sign a repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act once Congress hands him the repeal law.. I of course am speaking of marriage as a civil marriage. Ms. Nair, a Chicago based journalist recently blogged, "Couples can get married in the Church of the righteous cheese cracker, but the marriage will not be official until the paperwork down at the courthouse goes through in regards to getting the privileges accorded to married couples. In fact, the state also has to recognize the validity of a person's authority to perform a wedding, before the wedding is legal. Authority over weddings is purely a government controlled process, the church stuff is only window dressing."
My late wife Evangeline and I were married by my brother in law, J. Seward Johnson on his luxury yacht “Ocean Pearl” sailing in the waters off Hobe Sound, Florida.. Although Seward was a captain of a ship and had the authority to conduct a marriage, a Florida Justice of the Peace was also in attendance to make sure our marriage was recorded in the county records.. Evangeline and Seward’s father founded Johnson and Johnson Pharmaceutical Co. and our tax bills as a couple filing jointly were huge adding a lot to the government‘s revenue.. As a one man one woman marriage we were also allowed to automatically receive the 1,138 benefits allowed by the Federal government and Internal Revenue Tax Code. Evangeline and I were a couple for 23 years. Evangeline passed away and I fell in love with a man and have been with Kevin 18 years.
In 2004 I organized a tax protest against President Bush’s initiative to amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as only a union between one man and one woman. Kevin and I are legally married in the State of California.. We are treated as second class citizens by the government seen as the "ick" factor. The Internal Revenue Service claims I owe millions of dollars in past taxes since 2004 and my case goes to court in May at U.S. Tax Court, San Diego, California. .
Celebrities such as performing artist Melissa Etheridge have joined the tax protest and recently said on “Oprah” that she would see if she will pay state and federal taxes come April 15th, 2009.. If nothing is done soon to start the repeal of DOMA, the consequence of having thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community members angry to the point of not filing taxes April 15, 2009 is a real possibility. The tax discrimination protest could further add to crashing the economy.
In the mode as a credentialed new media reporter for Pam's House Blend, I'll be heading up to Los Angeles early tomorrow morning to cover the Equality Summit. It's billed as follows:
The Equality Summit is a gathering of community leaders committed to winning back marriage equality in California to network, share information and resources, and plan next steps.
You can read about the goals of the Equality Summit here.
Personally, I'm extremely pleased to see in the schedule that I there is a transgender interest/constituency group listed for the 11:30 AM breakout session. About to the same level that I'm pleased seeing the transgender specific breakout session, I'm concerned that I don't see the phrase lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender used anywhere in the description, goals, or anywhere else on the webpage for the summit.
My concern stems from the lesson I took away from watching the film Milk: The LGBT community must be visible with our identifications in our political campaigns, and seeing that the phrase lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender is used in our campaigns is paramount. The lack of on the phrase lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender on the summit's webpage seems like a huge omission.
To me, clarity matters; inclusivity matters; and language matters.
There are going to be a lot of mainstream and new media reporters at the event who are likely going to do a good job in covering the main thrusts of the Equality Summit. 
As someone who identifies and transsexual and transgender, I'm going to cover from a very militantly trans and you-"leaders"-better-say-the-phrase-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender perspective.
How I'm going to report goes to the core of what blogging is -- new media reporting is reporting with a visible agenda.
I've been preparing for the summit this week. For those who follow my tweets on twitter, you know that I recently bought a new RCA Small Wonder just for covering events like the Equality Summit. I've been trying to figure out today who I want to get one or two minute interviews with, and what's the one or two questions I'm going to ask all of those folk I have an opportunity to get on camera.
And hey, I like even steamed the wrinkles out of two blouses for wearing tomorrow! -- I haven't decided whether to go with a light blue or a white blouse. Hardly a world-shattering decision to make on blouses to wear, but I really do need to look somewhat professional at the summit.
It's going to be a really long day, Saturday. The summit starts at 7:45 AM PST, and is scheduled to close at 7:30 PM. Add to it a 2-1/2 to 3 hour drive each direction from San Diego.
So hopefully I'll have some interviews and a report or two from the summit up tomorrow. If not, Sunday for sure we'll have something up.
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Related:
* January Prop 8-related summit will restrict media access?
* Wockner: Equality Summit drops restrictions on media
* Taking A Short Break To Think About Freedom To Marry
* Writing A Toast; Being A Maid Of Honor
* Marriage Equality Beyond Just Gays And Lesbians
When The Politico inquired about this disconnect with reality, this was the response:
"The site is currently under construction. We are looking forward to relaunching the site and fostering a discussion on just how Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues' plan to spend their way out of recession is absurd at best and financially ruinous at worst."And those robust GOP policies under George Bush really have the U.S. rolling in the dough. Another fail.
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