Realizing that the U.S. tax code is a spaghetti of ludicrous knots, I am left with a simple question:
Why is it apparently impossible to adjust the code to create exactly the same tax burden whether you file jointly or singly?
Whether the code jogs the tax bill up or down, it is unbalanced if it makes any adjustment based on the marriage status of the filing citizens.
And for another thing, this country got on fine until the first federal income tax when it had to pay for the Civil War (or "War Between the States" for you regionalists) and somebody forgot to repeal the damn thing. I think the war is paid for. So take away my Civil War Penalty!