mad anthony

Rants, politics, and thoughts on politics, technology, life,
and stuff from a generally politically conservative Baltimoron.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

This quote seems kind of gay...

The Social Security administration is not accepting marriage licenses from New Paltz, NY, because they conducted a number of gay marriages.

I don't really want to make a whole long post on gay marriage. To be honest, I kind of "go both ways" on the issue - the libertarian in me has no problem with it, but Catholic in me isn't so sure. I kind of think it's a non-issue - I don't see not having gay marriage as a huge deal- I think those who claim it's a civil rights violation are blowing things way out proportion, but I also don't think it would be the end of the world if gays married.

But I thought that this quote in the article was kind of odd:

Dan Wilen, New Paltz's town supervisor, said the agency never contacted town officials to inform them that the certificates would not be recognized. He called the policy unfair. "They're delving into every aspect of our lives, including marriage," he said. "I'm appalled."

Two things about this strike me as funny. Number one, what the whole debate over gay marriage is if the government will grant same-sex couples the legal right to be married. It's the government that grants that, so how can it not involve the government?

Secondly, the agency he's accusing of interference is Social Security - the bemoth of government agencies, the agency (along with the IRS) that inspires the anger of anyone who is a fan of small government. An agency that helps take a large chunk of the money that people make and force them to "save" it for "social security" instead of allowing people to use it or invest it as they see fit, taking away their ability to pass that money onto their heirs, taking away their opportunity to enjoy a real return on their savings. To me, that is way more interference than the gay marriage debate. Except for a few things (like hospital visits), unmarried gays can pretty much live their lives as they want, with legal documents taking the place of marriage to decide things like inheritance. Social Security gives it's victims no such flexibility.

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