Is this an accident or was it by design? Jonathan V. Last reports on yet another hidden gem in Obamacare.
A married couple can get Obamacare subsidies if their income is less than 400 percent above the poverty line. But because the federal poverty level for married couples is less than double the level for individuals, a couple that lives together without getting married can make more money than a married couple, yet still get Obamacare subsidies.
The Atlantic reports that in practice, this means that a married couple in New York making more than a combined $62,040 gets no subsidies from Obamacare. But two people who live together without getting married? They can make up to a combined $91,920 and still get subsidies from the government.
On one hand, this may be accidental because, let’s face it, no one read Obamacare before passing it, so who know’s what’s in there?
But on the other hand, studies and polls have shown that the so-called “gender gap” is really a marriage gap. Single women and men vote for Democrats, while married women and men tend to vote Republican.
Source: Wall Street Journal
The US marriage rate has declined over the past several decades. Speaking of politics, this would tend to help which side?
Married people tend to be better off than single people, and children raised by married couples tend to do better than children raised by single people. The better people tend to do on their own, the less they need government largesse. More dependence on government helps which side?
Would the same bunch who want “comprehensive immigration reform” expressly because it would help them mint millions of new voters also enact a law that stealthily undermines the economics of marriage?
Yeah, they would. In a heartbeat.
And someone had to write this effective penalty into the law.
Obamacare delenda est.
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