Gay Marriage. Again - I've

Gay Marriage. Again - I've talked many times about Gay Marriage. While the idea bothers me on a religious and moral level, our government's decisions aren't always made for reasons that match any given person's - or group's - religion or morals.

And, to be honest (especially to those of you who've emailed to excoriate my prior takes on this subject), while I still believe that the best, most equitable solution to this conundrum is to get government out of the marriage business, the "culture war" aspects of this bother me as well. It would be a big victory for the cultural left - and we don't want that, either.

Medved was talking about the subject last night. He made the point (which Virginia Postrel of all people disputes) that the family, fundamentally, is an institution in which children are created and raised. He's right, of course (sorry, Virginia).

And I started thinking - where does government interact, not with a married couple, but with its children? Where can we strengthen the notion of marriage where it actually interacts with its most important impact vis-a-vis children?

Taxes.

So why not play it like this. Cultural liberals - you want Gay Marriage (or gay Civil Unions, anyway)? Fine. Then let's jack up the child tax credit while we're at it. Double the deduction per child.

How much is gay marriage worth to the left - enough to give ground on "Subsidies of the the family?"

I think the market will eventually settle this. Are there really so many gays that want to "marry" (and, eventually, divorce, with all the attendant legal and financial anguish to go along with the emotional distress)? In the grand scheme of things, I doubt it, but I remain to be convinced.