Bush plan would encourage marriage

New York Times via Ft. Worth Star Telegram ^ | 01/14/2004 | Robert Pear;David D. Kirkpatrick

[varina davis]

More federal taxpayers dollars down a neverending drain. I surely hope GW eventually stops trying to co-opt every issue on the American landscape.

[Kay Soze]

"We have a hard time understanding, why the reserve?" said Glenn Stanton, a policy analyst at Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian organization. "You see him inching in the right direction. But the question for us is, why this inching? Why not just get there?"
AND

The Rev. Louis Sheldon, chairman of a national group called the Traditional Values Coalition, has started an e-mail campaign urging Bush to push for an amendment opposing the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Keep pushing the party to the right !

[PersonalLiberties]

"More federal taxpayers dollars down a neverending drain"

Amen.

[MineralMan]

"For months, administration officials have been working with conservative groups on the proposal, which would provide at least $1.5 billion for training to help couples develop interpersonal skills that sustain "healthy marriages."



Money down the toilet, IMO. Another boondoggle.

[The Old Hoosier]

"This is a way for the president to address the concerns of conservatives and to solidify his conservative base," a presidential adviser said.

I am truly, truly afraid about what this program is going to look like. At best, it will be a total waste of money.

Social conservatives like myself don't necessarily want government money being used to promote social conservatism--we just want to cut off funding for the forces of evil, like Planned Parenthood, and then end the failed war on poverty. We don't want to have to pay to prolong and exacerbate our own society's contemporary social ills.

How many more government programs is Bush going to introduce in his SOTU, anyway?

[Huck]

would provide at least $1.5 billion for training to help couples develop interpersonal skills that sustain "healthy marriages."

Last election was the first time I voted in a presidential race, and I voted for Harry Browne. I experienced voter's remorse the day after the election (ironic when you consider Browne's "no regrets" slogan.) The Florida debacle made me much more partisan than I had been.

I became convinced that it was automatic that I would be voting for GWB next time around. I looked forward to it. Once I was willing to accept them, the arguments for voting for the GOP made sense to me. I became the devil's advocate FOR the GOP, rather than against it.

But I have to tell you, this type of spending is the sort of thing that makes me think I won't vote for GWB in 2004. I know, if I throw my vote away, then a Democrat wins and they will be worse. Well, what we have right now is plenty bad enough. If it takes making it worse to somehow inject some semblance of fiscal conservatism into the GOP, then maybe that's what we need to do. In the long run this stuff has GOT to stop. I am so freaking mad about this that not only am I considering withholding my vote, but I am damn near ready to actively protest this Administration's insane spending habits.

When it comes to fiscal conservatism and limited government, this Administration is a disgrace. 1.5 billion to teach poor morons how to be nice to each other. BAAAAAAARRRRRRFFFFF!!!!!!!!!

jw, I am pinging you to see if you have anything to say to help me cope with this CRAP.

[Stingray51]

This is the most ridiculous proposal yet. Unbelievable.

[self_evident]

Pretty soon, the feds will send someone out to hold my hand when I cross the street.

[microgood]

So this is what it was like when Rome fell. What we are witnessing is truly historic.

[Huck]

Well, I called the White House comment line and said the following (more or less): The marriage spending bill is one of the most assenine proposals yet to come out of this Administration.

I am a registered Republican, and while the President's ridiculous immigration policy has cost the President votes already, he hadn't yet lost mine. But with proposals like this one, he is losing my vote very, very quickly.

So, I took some responsibility. What else can I do?

[Huck]

How many more government programs is Bush going to introduce in his SOTU, anyway?

We should start a thread guessing how much money the President will spend in his SOTU. I'm guessing....what comes after trillion?

[microgood]

We should start a thread guessing how much money the President will spend in his SOTU.

LOL..It would be nice to have a meter on TV that tallied up the total after each proposal, as well as cost per taxpayer, kind of like the National Debt Meter. That way we would know how much the speech was costing us in real time.

[Huck]

I can see it in the corner of the screen:

Dow: +25.65

Nasdaq: -12.34

Budget Deficit: +1,500,000,000

[Huck]

Is this a duplicate thread or something? No one cares about this?

[PersonalLiberties]

So, do you know anyone willing to run that is like Neal Boortz?

[Huck]

I don't know much about Boortz. He's pretty much libertarian, right? Libertarianism doesn't have a prayer of a chance.

[Huck]

But, I do think showing up and voting for a throw away is better than staying home. If you stay home, you could be just an apathetic loser. If you show up and vote, no matter who you voted for, you had your say.

[Kaslin]

Are you saying it is wrong for the president to promote marriage?