[BDBopper]

Okay I have returned at a time that isn't almost 3 AM in my neck of the woods. This is a very complex issue we are dealing with and my response isn't going to be brief. Let me start on my opinion (both personal and otherwise...because there is a difference):

I PERSONALLY believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman. HOWEVER I am of the opinion that marriage should not be regulated by the Government. Marriage is a religious institution between two partners and God. Big Brother need not apply. Unfortunately Big Brother profits from marriage with taxes and fees. Most of this is because of our tax structure. I'll explain that later. I can't tell y'all how to live your lives and Big Brother shouldn't either. Especially when Marraige doesn't violate any of the following:

LIFE: Is anyone being denied their right to live - Is anyone being murdered?

LIBERTY: Is anyone's freedom being taken away

PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS/PROPERTY: : Is something physically being stolen or the ability for someone to have property being violated?

When you ask these questions of Gay Marriage existing the answers are clearly no.

I have two issues.with the movement. which makes some people rather uncomfortable.

1. Our opinions will obviously differ on this but I see a lot of the environmental movement being more "Anti-Capitalism" then "let's leave the campground cleaner than we found it" In that same being I fear (and so do many others) see the Marriage issue being more about an assault on the church. What I mean is that a lot of these laws &amendments being written include the refusal of a church to marry two men or two women as a hate crime with severe penalties.

2. Courts/Constitution: The process that has just occurred in your state I don't have much problem with. The legislative branch acted, the people voted, and the judicial branch came in to check. So a Constitutional Amendment was written to definie Marriage, the people voted, and the judicial branch did its thing again. I'm a bit uncomfortable with a Federal court throwing out a passed amendment to a state's Constitution (has that ever happened before?) otherwise no foul. What I do have a problem with is what happened in Iowa. Everything happened in reverse. The Supreme Court of Iowa decided one day last year to declare gay marriage to be legal and play activists (which is a violation of the State Constitution because they decided to write their own law from the bench.

A candidate for Governor of Iowa (whom I campaigned heavily for because of his advocacy for those with disabilities) wanted to write an executive order to put a stay on Gay Marriage until the people could vote on the issue. While the candidate, who lost is anti-Gay Marriage, the effort had nothing to do with Marriage at all. Because the executive or legislative branches in Iowa did nothing to stand up for the Separation of Powers that exists in Iowa's Constitution the judicial branch has now been allowed to run roughshod over the other branches and the people. It wouldn't be anywhere near a problem if things had progressed in Iowa like in the California version of this. (That candidate is now fighting to get the people to vote no on retention of three of these justices to send a message to Judicial Branch)

Yes it is true that in every state that has voted on the issue, traditional marriage has won every time. What is lost on most people though is that America is a Republic, not a Democracy (Majority or Mob Rule). There are checks and balances that make up our system of Government.

Now on to taxes and to Huckabee. Yes both are related because of an ironic twist. For all the rhetoric...including what was linked to above, one of the key aspects of his platform, The FairTax would take away a major hurdle to getting the Government out of marriage regulation? Because the FairTax would replace the current tax on income (what we earn) to a tax on what is consumed at the point of sale, there seems to be no real good reason for Big Brother to regulate marriage anymore because the information of whether you are married or not is not needed for tax collecting purposes anymore,

(To be continued...my fingers are tired of typing at the moment).