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The low birth rate overall is a much more serious problem for the country than welfare payments to single mothers. Affluent people delaying or abandoning having children is the bigger problem. If they'd rather have their money redistributed to help poorer people have children, then that's better than no one in the country having children at all. The indigenous population not having children means the slow extinction of the culture, the economy and the country.

Do you think these out-of-wedlock births are planned or accidental? A percentage breakdown?

What financial incentive from the government does a man have to abandon his kids? He's not getting any welfare payments for that. And the absence of the father is the main reason the mother needs the welfare. Whether it's a government-caused problem or not is debatable. I think it's much more of a culture-oriented problem. And conservatives need to figure out some real solutions, which probably will have little or nothing to do with elections, politicians and government.

. And the absence of the father is the main reason the mother needs the welfare. Whether it's a government-caused problem or not is debatable.

One of the only worthwhile contributions Slick Willie made to the national discourse was his use of the phrase: "welfare as a way of life". Welfare is a way of life for all too many, a planned way of life, just as planned as anyone else's finishing HS, applying to college, picking a major, etc., etc.

A great TV moment I witnessed during the '80s was on PBS. That great lib Phil Donahue was conducting a discussion about welfare with a panel of several. The statement was made that many black girls got pregnant intentionally so they could get welfare, food stamps, an apartment, etc., and move out on their own.

This drove Phil up a wall and his problem was greatly compounded by the fact that those statements came from a black, female social worker from SC. Old Phil was craning his neck and loosening his tie, really between a rock and a hard place as to how to handle the dilemma. He finally said that he just couldn't allow those statements to stand, that black girls intentionally got pregnant to obtain welfare benefits.

The black, female social worker from SC held her ground. Of course, she was telling the truth and she knew it from her job experience. A pretty high percentage of out-of-wedlock births are planned. They are 'career' moves.

And it is insane to suggest that high birth rates among people with few jobs skills and no means of support is a good thing, no matter the birthrate among the more productive.

Out-of-wedlock births and the trillion dollar annual cost, (about 30% of our budget), and all the other problems that are amplified in single mom families, is our greatest national problem, at present and getting worse for the future.