SOTU: Same Old Talk Underway
February 12, 2013 - Tuesday
Maybe Nancy Pelosi is right. The government doesn't have a spending problem--it has a hearing problem. For years, voters have pled with Washington to get serious about the deficit, and for years, Washington has ignored them. Now, after digging a $16.5 trillion hole of floating outhouses and Martian food tastings, America is paying the price (or at least the interest) of a decade of reckless spending. Tonight, President Obama will try to prove that he has the answer to the highest levels of poverty, unemployment, joblessness, and economic stagnation our nation has ever seen.
Unfortunately for America, his solution to these crises is expected to be the same as the problem causing them: more spending. White House officials have hinted at a repeat of State of the Unions past, in which the President called for greater "investments" in education and infrastructure. Of course, throwing more money at our problems hasn't worked in the last four years, and there's no reason to believe it will now.
And while President Obama may be content to re-gift the same tired agenda, America isn't buying it. Seventy-three percent of voters now say cutting spending would help strengthen the economy, according to the latest Fox News poll--compared to just 15% of those who believe spending is the answer. It's time for the administration to drop the failed ideology that government is the source of America's greatness and allow the free market, fueled by strong families, get America on the road to economic recovery. Instead of sowing more big government liberalism, it's time for the President to make the connection between America's financial mess and its cultural one. While the Left looks for the answer to violence in gun control or poverty in welfare programs, America's greatest hope continues to be in the home. As FRC's research makes clear, an intact married family who worships regularly is the antidote for almost every social ill tonight's speech will address.
- CRIME: Only 12% of adults who attended religious services at least monthly and lived in an intact married family growing up have ever been picked up or charged by the police, compared to 21% of adults who attended church less than monthly and lived in non-intact families as children.
- ECONOMIC DECLINE: Married families who worship together further lower the risks of economic instabilities both for their own families and for the nation at large, especially during serious downturns. The key investors in both physical and human capital throughout America's history have been stable, married families.
- POVERTY: The married family is less likely to be poor than any other family structure. Only 5.8% of married families were living in poverty in 2009, compared to 16.9% of male householders and 29.9% of female householders. Additionally, intact families are less likely than cohabiting families or single individuals to have ever participated in the Food Stamp Program.
- EDUCATION: Children from intact families exceed their parents' educational attainment (sons by 2.8 years, daughters by 2.5 years), after controlling for mother's level of education. Students who grew up in an intact married family and currently worship at least weekly have higher grade point averages, are more likely to graduate high school, and are more likely to receive a Bachelor's degree than their peers.
- UNEMPLOYMENT: Married-couple families generate the most income, on average. Young married men are more likely to be in the labor force, employed, and working a full-time job than their non-married counterparts. Up to 20% of children are unequipped to compete in the modern economy because of a lack of essential skills that are formed within the intact married family.
New Military Policy Shell-Shocks Taxpayers
With the military staring down crippling cuts, the President has decided to add--not cut--costs. Hours before his State of the Union address, the commander-in-chief gave his Pentagon the thumbs up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in new spending for homosexual partner perks. Starting August 31, the same-sex boyfriends and girlfriends of service members will be eligible for privileges that even cohabiting heterosexuals are not: military ID cards, access to military commissaries, gymnasiums, and movie theaters, participation in family support programs on bases and posts, and the chance to fly on Defense Department aircraft on the taxpayers' dime.
For a liberal movement so intent on policing discrimination, this policy is full of it! The U.S.government has decided that what you do in the bedroom qualifies you for federally-subsidized benefits (unless you happen to be heterosexual, like 96.6% of the U.S. population). Once again, it's exclusion in the name of "inclusion." Under this policy, Washington is officially in the business of incentivizing homosexual behavior in our military--an observation that appalls veterans like Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.).
"The President is eroding our military's apolitical stance and forcing conformity onto the rest of society by pushing his liberal social agenda through the Department of Defense. In a weak attempt to not violate the Defense of Marriage Act, the administration is using a play on words by saying 'same sex domestic partners' can have access to benefits instead of 'spouses.'"
What's more, Sen. Inhofe points out, America is on a "slippery slope" with this kind of preferential treatment. "Why would the DOD extend benefits to same-sex partners and then deny cohabiting heterosexual couples the same benefits? The Department of Defense is essentially creating a new class of beneficiary that will increase costs and demand for limited resources that are currently available for military families, active and reserve forces, and retirees. President Obama continues to expand the government's financial obligations to support his liberal social agenda during a time when this administration has imposed drastic budget cuts to our military readiness and national security."
The Defense Department estimates that 5,600 active-duty, 3,400 National Guard and Reserve, and 8,000 military retiree troops would be eligible for the President's system of sexual favoritism. Once this inequity goes into effect, the radical transformation of the world's most elite force will be almost complete. The White House will have four more years to deliver its final blows: opening the ranks to transgenders and abolishing religious expression and exercise. Both are well within reach of a commander-in-chief who's more committed to fighting the homosexuals' battles than our own.
Celebrate Valentine's Day with National Marriage Week!
After hearing all the benefits to marriage, who wouldn't want to promote it? You can do just that by helping your pastor highlight National Marriage Week from February 7-14. For more information, check out the great events and resources provided by our friends at NationalMarriageWeekUSA.org. FRC also is offering a long list of free resources to churches, including bulletin inserts, sermon starters, and other tools to help pastors make a positive impact on marriages in the community. Check out all of the ways you can celebrate National Marriage Week at our Watchmen on the Wall page and share the kits with your church leaders and friends!
** Our friend Erick Erickson at RedState helped to shine a light on America's distrust of the media using the FRC shooting as one reason why. Check out his post, "Dear Howard Kurtz et al, Let Me Explain Why Conservatives Hate The Press Corps With One Easy Example." FRC's Ken Klukowski is still surprised that the District's first domestic terrorist conviction hasn't gotten any play in the mainstream news. He writes about it in his latest Breitbart column, "Media Ignore Domestic Terrorist Conviction of Gay Rights Activist."
*** President Lincoln's birthday is the perfect occasion for FRC's Bob Morrison-Ken Blackwell tandem to explain how the country has changed since our 16th President in "Losing Lincoln's Legacy." Also, Cathy Ruse reacts to the Pope's surprise announcement in her new piece for Human Events, "Benedict XVI: A Tough Act to Follow." She also had the chance to elaborate on those thoughts today on CNBC. Click below for the video.
