A Letter to Senators and Representatives regarding the Marriage Penalty.

Dear ____________________

I am writing you regarding an issue that I believe to be of great moral and social import.  It is obvious to me that the institution of marriage in our country is being challenged on a number of different fronts.  With the social controversy around "gay marriage" and the recent trend of couples simply choosing to stay single, I am concerned that traditional marriage is being cast further and further to the cultural margins and may one day be a footnote on a page in a history text book. 

What doesn't help is the fact that individuals in low income situations (such as those in inner city neighborhoods, seniors, the disabled and the mentally handicapped) who depend on government assistance continue to be placed in a moral quagmire by the marriage penalty that resides in the legal code of the SSI program.  Couples are being forced to have to choose between living together without being married (which for many violates their faith and their conscience), giving up their home and dignity in order to afford to be married, or simply choose to stay single and not be able to experience the joys of being married.  That especially for the poor, the senior and the mentally challenged who are people of faith is an unconscionable choice to have to make.

I am asking you to be a champion of those who should never have to make that choice.  I am asking you to stand up for what is right and remove the marriage penalty from this program.  Please don't let another person have to make the choice between moral conviction and financial solvency.  Please take action now to make this happen.  I know it is hard and the choices that will have to be made to pay for this change will be difficult and perhaps unpopular but doing what is right isn't always easy.

There was a scene in the recent movie "Valkyrie" where Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg stood before a firing squad for his part in an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler but he stood tall know that while he was being executed for his actions, history would remember that he stood up for what was right.  Now, no one will need to go to the firing squad for challenging the marriage penalty but there will no doubt be opposition.  Just as von Stauffenberg decided to be a light in a very dark time, you can be that light for the underprivileged and physically and mentally handicapped all over our country.  They are looking to you to do what is right.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very Sincerely Yours,