Posted on 02/09/2007 8:08:06 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
Mamas, don't let your babies grow up in “red” states.
That's the compelling conclusion of author Michael R. Petit, whose new book, “Homeland Insecurity,” makes a strong case that children in red states are more likely to suffer from poor prenatal care, early death, child abuse and teen incarceration than children in “blue” states.
Petit's argument is that states with anti-tax, anti-government ideology are significantly harming their children's health. His book should be required reading for parents and lawmakers -- especially so in California, which is considering legislation that would significantly improve the health of its children. Petit, president of the Every Child Matters Education Fund and a former commissioner of Maine's Human Services Department, has been studying state government's impact on children for the past 25 years.
California ranks 19th on Petit's child vulnerability index, which is based on 16 different child-focused criteria. Ten of the top 11 states on the list are blue states. No fewer than 24 of the 25 bottom states are red states.
California would rank significantly higher in the overall rankings if it did a better job of insuring its children. More than 12 percent of California's kids -- roughly 800,000 -- have no health care coverage, ranking the state 42nd in the nation. The only states that are worse are all red states: Texas, Florida, New Mexico, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, Oklahoma and Colorado.
California ranks considerably better in the number of deaths of infants per 1,000 (No. 7), per capita child welfare expenditures (No. 5) and child abuse fatalities (No. 21).
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
• Twice as likely to die by the age of 14.
• Seven times more likely to die from abuse and neglect.
• Twice as likely to be living in poverty.
• More than twice as likely to be incarcerated as juveniles.
The well-being of the nation's children matters. The investment that blue states make in their children not only pays off ultimately in lower medical bills and less need to provide social services, but also creates a higher percentage of productive, well-educated members of society.
The nation's red states should be red-faced about their disgraceful health care response. Their selfish practice of being unwilling to part with tax dollars to help guarantee their children's future is in direct opposition to the American values they so often claim to cherish.
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With the blue states driving out jobs and losing population, I guess it won't be long before all of our children will suffer thus.
Well, this makes sense. Seeing as how children are owned by the state, the government need to have enough money and be big enough to properly "care for" the children they own. They need to be properly "educated" so they can grow up and be content house slaves who will gladly hand over whatever the state demands.
Blue states or red states, every time I look at the finances of state I see undeclared bankruptcy and insolvency, which will have to be eventually declared when the babyboomers start drawing full force on each state's public pension system. My statistical interpretation would be that blue states will publicly declare bankruptcy before most of the red states. The statistic that this Maine bureaucrat doesn't mention is that our abysmal public school system in EVERY state is failing to make productive citizens and taxpayers out of a large sector of the public school population many of which never complete their education.
If you don't believe him about the Joys of Blue, just look at Blue Heavens like New Orleans, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Detroit...
..."studying state government's impact on children for the past 25 years."
Either a total waste of 25 years, or locked into an agenda based focus.
Freedom is slavery, dude.
Sounds like another wasted life...
At least the headline is more correct than it knows.
Is there no barf alert you can attach?
I don't believe abortions was included in this number. For New York, there are 500 abortions for every 1000 live births. That might increase the "infant mortality" rate a bit if included.
This is slightly off, but didn't they used to switch the state colors in elections like in '96 Dole was blue and Clinton was red etc, seems like we've really been stuck on the '00 election colors especially the media and thats how we're identifying them, will they ever change again?
The thing is when I hear "red" state I automatically think of Socialism and Communism which I more closely associate with the Democratic Party haha.
Petit's child vulnerability index,
Bump
"Petit's argument is that states with anti-tax, anti-government ideology are significantly harming their children's health".
Very scary statement!
39,000 gang members in LA
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