PALM SPRINGS, Calif., Nov. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Charles Merrill, the cousin
of the man who founded Merrill Lynch & Co., and who predicted (Wall Street
Journal, 10/31/2007) a stock market crash that will put the 1929 crash to
shame, has also been a key figure since 2004 resisting paying federal income
tax. Merrill is legally married to Kevin Boyle in California, and his case is
going to court. The docket at ustaxcourt.gov is 3058-08, Merrill vs
Commissioner of Internal Revenue and is scheduled to be heard in 2009, at U.S.
Tax Court, San Diego.
The latest celebrity to join a tax protest is singer Melissa Etheridge,
who rails against the passage of the gay-marriage ban in California -- and she
won't be paying the state a dime.
She stated on http://www.thedailybeast.com: "Okay. So Prop 8 passed.
Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright
then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You
are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now.
Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution
as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay
my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be
wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds
sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history
books." She added at the end of her statement, "Come to think of it, I should
get a federal tax break too ...."
Merrill said, "During this time of economic strife, shouldn't it make
sense that the federal and state governments recognize our marriages? We want
to pay taxes, but we don't like being treated as second class citizens because
of religious bigotry. President-elect Obama promised to repeal the Defense of
Marriage Act which prohibits us from getting federal benefits, 1,138 of them.
We must hold him to his promise."
