Free Republic

My liberal friends, all three of them, are up in arms over the Indiana RFRA controversy. As usual, their views on the issue are driven by emotion, not reason. That is because liberalism is not really a political philosophy. It is a stage of arrested emotional development. Since the Indiana RFRA controversy revolves around their core religion, which is the so-called gay rights movement, their emotionally laden “political” observations are not likely to subside in the near future. Until then, it helps to understand what the current crisis in Indiana is really all about. Hint: It’s the same thing we...

At a campaign rally in Colorado Springs last July, that former community organizer, Barack Obama, grandly told an enraptured audience: "We've got to have a civilian national security force that is just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded" as the U.S. military. Now, understand, he wasn't talking about a "security" force in the sense of an armed militia. He was talking about a network of social service workers. When I first heard that, I wrote it off as a politician's extravagant, feel-good campaign rhetoric. After all, the Department of Defense includes about 3 million men and women...

Should the federal government tempt people to cease volunteering at churches and instead be paid to “volunteer” at government-subsidized projects? That’s the essence of the “Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act” which President Obama signed into law on April 21. Sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), the bill passed the House by a vote of 275 to 149. The multi-billion-dollar spending bill triples the size of federal paid “volunteer” programs including AmeriCorps while killing funds for the faith-friendly Points of Light Institute. The ayes list had 26 Republicans, including Mark Souder (Ind.), Chris Smith (N.J.) and Vern Buchanan (Fla.). The...

"Hey, Comcast Team!" yells my 19-year old stepson, Kip, pointing to a billboard in downtown Boston. His red City-Year sweatshirt sports a Comcast logo. As he passes the billboard, he grins from ear to ear. Way to go, Comcast. (Other City-Year sponsor firms include Microsoft, KPMG, Deloitte and Touche, T-Mobile and Timberland.) Support for youth volunteer programs like City-Year isn't just about good branding, or Corporate Responsibity 101. Speaking of education in his address to the nation, Barack Obama stumped for the Serve America Act, a bill that would make participants eligible for educational awards. "I know that the price...

Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Rosa DeLauro got together today to introduce four public-service bills in their respective chambers of Congress. National service was a major theme of President Barack Obama's ascent to office -- mentioned prominently in his inaugural address. This package of bills speaks directly to that topic, expanding service possibilities for all age groups. One bill would establish a summer program for kids to serve in an organized community project. Another would allow high-school students to spend a semester getting academic credit for volunteering. And a third would establish a national program encouraging people 55 and older...

National service is often associated with patriotism, but the degree to which it becomes compulsory is the same degree to which it becomes involuntary servitude. Proponents of universal national service claim that it will bring this nation together and teach younger generations about what it means to be an American. Sadly, many Americans seem to believe those claims. Even with information that the program will be virtually mandatory and might lead to a new version of the draft, some Americans might shrug their shoulders and say "so what?" Well, there is much more wrong with national service than is immediately...

Thirty years ago, future U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford led the committee that concluded that year-long mandatory civilian-service programs were politically infeasible. Wofford, however, did not give up on the idea. And as the nation prepares to mark tomorrow's annual Martin Luther King Day of Service, maybe what was infeasible then is workable today. What's changed? The economy, for one thing. Consider City Year. City Year corps members, young adults ages 17 to 24, volunteer for a year of service in cities throughout the country - usually in public schools - and receive a college scholarship in return. It was described...

By: Steve Patterson (Chicago Sun-Times Reporter) ... Michael Wilford says he was simply a sperm donor. Christin Harris says he was much more than that to her. Now, the Glenview woman wants him to provide child support and college fund and pay medical expenses for the 2-year-old twin daughters he fathered. But the Downers Grove man says it's a case of "involuntary parentage" as he had no intention of doing anything more than provide his ex-girlfriend with the semen she needed to conceive. "No good deed goes unpunished," his attorney Enrico Mirabelli, said in court Tuesday. 'I Just Want Your...

Death of a Father June 23, 2005 by Roger F. Gay Perry Manley is dead. He was a father and a good man. He spent a great deal of time and effort over the past 15 years fighting injustice in family law, particularly regarding issues of custody and child support. On Tuesday, he gave his life to the cause.After years of protest marches, filing lawsuits, and objecting to the treatment he and other parents receive, to no avail, Perry Manley dressed himself in military clothing and went to the courthouse with one last appeal - and a dummy hand...

Inside the Child Support Puzzle June 15, 2005 by Roger F. Gay I have recently written three articles on "the solution" to the child support problem. (links below) The articles have been posted in various forums where people interested in the problem - including several who have engaged in the child support debate for years - have been able to comment. Reaction to my commentaries on the solution has been interesting and I hope through continued dialogue to promote understanding of the solution. As prelude to continued discussion, to reduce some of the background confusion in public review, it...

SEATTLE (AP) — Tough child support laws may dissuade men from becoming unwed fathers, a new study shows. Researchers at the University of Washington and Columbia University found that states with the most stringent child support laws and strict enforcement have up to 20 percent fewer unwed births. Child support laws' power to prevent single parenthood is an unintended consequence of a policy designed to help children and cut public welfare costs, the researchers said Friday. "Often the unintended effects are bad, so it's refreshing to see that," said lead study author Robert Plotnick, University of Washington professor of public...

Child Support Guideline Changes in Minnesota and Australia June 17, 2005 by Roger F. Gay The Australian government recently announced a new proposal for their child support guidelines. The design, presented by Patrick Parkinson, has been dubbed the Parkinson formula. But the basics of the formula are not new. They are in fact quite similar to guidelines fathers' rights advocates in the states have been complaining about since their introduction in late 1989. Australia, like several states in the U.S., has been using a percent formula in which basic child support is assessed simply as a percent of a...

By Curt Woodward ASSOCIATED PRESS 8:22 p.m. June 21, 2005 SEATTLE – A man killed by police after he brandished a grenade in the federal courthouse here had grown increasingly upset and unstable recently as years of frustration with the child custody system mounted, friends said Tuesday. Perry L. Manley, 52, was shot to death by police Monday in the courthouse's public lobby. Authorities said Manley had tried to bypass courthouse security while clutching a hand grenade, later found to be inactive. Police and federal agents evacuated the downtown building and cordoned off the surrounding streets during the standoff with...