The other night my wife read an article to me from Parenting Magazine, titled Listen up, Washington! For some reason I was shocked when my wife read the article, but with socialism becoming so accepted in the United States my annoyance quickly turned to anger.
The article was in the November 2008 issue of Parenting Magazine, pages 131 and 132. I will save you the money my wife spent and just type the article in this blog. Plus I will add my own commentary.
Listen up, Washington!
Dear Mr. President,
As we go to press, we don't know who you are: John McCain or Barack Obama. Whoever you are, God knows there's a lot on your plate - the economy, the war, the environment... Still, there are some things that can't fall between the cracks. This is Parenting's wish list: 8 things moms and dads all over the country need you to do.
Note to Parenting Magazine: Having read the article it is kind of obvious who you want as President and it isn't John McCain.
*Invest in education - where it counts.
When kids get a comprehensive early education, the benefits last int adulthood, and that means only good things for this country. But get this: Since 2002 almost $1 billion has been cut from Head Start, and now fewer than 40 percent of eligible kids are served by the program. And fewer than 2 percent are served by Early Head Start (for babies and toddlers). This is really bad timing because more children need the program now: The number of poor kids grew by 13 percent between 2002 and 2006. Give them what all children deserve - a fair start.
And while we're on the subject: Fix No Child Left Behind - and fund it. It was noble in intention, but it's deeply flawed. Seriously, fix it.
Note to Parenting Magazine: These are just talking-points from Senator Barack Obama who has been promoting 'early' childhood development during his entire campaign.
Howabout if the federal government got out of the education business and left that to the states? or maybe the parents? Now there's a thought!
*Make health care available to everybody.
It's unconscionable that 1 out of almost every 12 kids in this country doesn't have health insurance - and 90 percent of them live in working families! Millions more have insurance but can't get proper care because their medical problems aren't covered or the co-pays are too high.
It's time for a universal health-care program. Moms and dads should never have to wonder if they can afford a doctor.
Note to Parenting Magazine: Instead of promoting socialism why don't we just reform our legal system, especially tort and medical malpractice laws?
*Change the future for poor kids. NOW!
13 million kids in the U.S. are living in poverty - a number that has increased by more than a million since 2000. Poor children are much less likely to graduate from high school, which makes it hard for them to break the cycle of poverty. But you can: Invest in education and job training, raise the minimum wage, do whatever it takes. We're parents: all kids are our kids. Take care of them.
Note to Parenting Magazine: I wonder what would happen to 13 million kids if their parents didn't have to pay such high taxes to fund socialist programs? Allow parents to keep their own money and maybe they'll get out of poverty. And, allow parents to invest in their own education and their own job training to build up the economy.
*Get serious about helping new moms and dads.
The Family and Medical Leave Act is great: It lets workers take up to 12 weeks off, unpaid, to care for a new baby or a newly adopted or foster child. The problem? Forty percent of workers aren't protected by it - and those who are often can't afford to take advantage of it. Expand it, and encourage (okay, push) states to adopt paid-leave laws - so far, only three have - and help them with funding.
Note to Parenting Magazine: Parenting Magazine, these aren't "workers", these are human beings, remember? Also, by having the federal government force private businesses to provide benefits that they can't afford, won't this hurt our employment and economy? Just a thought.
*Give mom vets more than thanks.
There are about 10,000 mothers serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, and many have experienced combat conditions and long separations from their families. Last year, a Joint Economic Committee report found that there aren't enough mental-health services to help these moms and their kids cope. It's time to give them more: more money for counselors, and more research into the specific issues they face.
Note to Parenting Magazine: Why are mothers serving in Iraq or Afghanistan? Shouldn't they be with their children?
*Help mompreneurs succeed.
Women, many of them moms, now own more than 40 percent of all small, privately held businesses. Two of their biggest issues are health care and access to capital. So support tax incentives or deductions to help them offer health care, and work toward reducing discrimination in lending. Then these moms can continue boosting our economy.
Note to Parenting Magazine: NO! Leave these women alone! Let these women develop their own small, privately held businesses, and see where they go. I trust that if these women have the spirit to make their dreams come true then there is no limit to what they can do. If these women have come this far without government, why not let them go even further without government. Can't they make it on their own?
*Give abused women a way out.
More than half of the 5 million women who suffer abuse each year live in households with kids under 12. It's hard - harder than many of us who live in safety think - to leave an abuser. The Violence Against Women Act needs to be reauthorized in 2010, and strengthened: The country's shelter and support system needs to be expanded.
Note to Parenting Magazine: If a man abuses his wife then he should be put in jail - for a very long time. The federal government needs to leave this issue to the states - where it belongs.
*Support child support.
Fewer than half of parents who are owed child-support payments receive the amount they're due. Improve enforcement, and make sure the states don't keep a portion of the money they collect. It should go to the ones who sits up late with a vomiting kid: the parent, not the state.
Note to Parenting Magazine: If a parent is not receiving their child support then they should take the dead-beat parent to court and get more support out of them. Again, this is a state-issue, not a federal issue.
We hope you're listening, Mr. President. What kids and parents really need right now is someone who takes us seriously, who knows we're not a constituency or a special interest group. we are this country, and we're counting on you.
Note to Parenting Magazine: If you (parents) want to be taken more seriously then you (parents) need to contact your legislator and get tuffer laws in the books. This entire article should be directed at the state-level, not the federal-level.
Oh, one more thing Parenting Magazine, parents are a special interest group, probably one of the most important special interest group!
Sincerely,
The editors of Parenting
P.S.
The mean annual wage for elementary school teacher: $50,040
The average salary for basketball players in NBA: $5.2 million - c'mon really. Can you work on that, too?
Note to Parenting Magazine: Maybe if the federal government weren't involved in education all that money could go to the teachers. Maybe if the state government weren't so involved in education all that money could go to the teachers, and not their administrators!
This entire article is packed full of socialist views and Barack Obama talking-points. What's the world coming to?
One final thought: Why in the world did my wife get this idiotic magazine in the first place???
