Bush: Attacking the Family, Again

Anti-family forces have long been in control at the Bush Department of Health and Human Services. But the irony of Bush's latest appointment to lead the Office of Population Affairs could have been lost on no one except those who felt that John Bolton was an inspired choice to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. As Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population Affairs, Dr. Eric Keroack will be in charge of the Title X program, which has provided confidential and unbiased contraceptive services to women in need, without regard to age or income, for more than three decades. (That Title X was originally signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon and was called an urgent "public health matter" by George H.W. Bush in 1969 shows how far the anti-family Republican Party of today has strayed from its roots.) Dr. Keroack is an obstetrician-gynecologist who serves as the medical director of A Woman’s Concern, a so-called "crisis pregnancy center" which counsels women not to have abortions. AWC calls the distribution of birth control, for which Dr. Keroack will now be responsible in his new role at HHS, "demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality and adverse to human health and happiness." To the patriot-haters in control of the Executive Branch of our government, it seems, forced unplanned child-bearing honors women and celebrates human sexuality.

--Dr. Carole Fisher-Ford, MD, MPH, Margaret Sanger Fellow

The Wealth of a Nation

For the incoming Congress, one of the first orders of business will be rewarding hardworking American patriots with an increase in the minimum wage, currently set at $5.15 an hour (and last changed 10 years ago). Opponents have used "labor demand curves" to argue that an increase would reduce the number of jobs, and brave economists who deviate from this politically correct line are threatened with "re-education" from radical campus rightists. However, different studies find conflicting evidence on this point. It is time to move beyond such details and go forward on a new front: a Preventative War on Poverty.

But let's suppose the anti-patriot argument is correct, and the total number of jobs falls. The remaining workers would still be earning a higher wage than they were previously. Some of the lost jobs might be in households where both spouses held minimum wage jobs. True, the household might now only have one worker, but the non-working spouse can help keep down other costs, such as childcare and transport. Consider that a minimum wage job translates into a salary of $10,000 a year, and is liable for social security taxes paid into a system that family-haters on the right want to abolish anyway. Who would not prefer an alternative of fewer but better jobs, with more childcare provided in the home to nurture a new generation of great American families?

--Dr. Frank Galton, D.Phil, Resident Scholar

(updated 13:02)

A Victory For America's Families

Today's pro-marriage news from Massachusetts bodes well for the future of the American family. We salute the commonwealth of Massachusetts and its legislators for honoring the sacred bond of matrimony, and encourage other states to follow suit.

A New Era

Only a few days ago, our country was under attack. The forces of evil were at the very gates, and their agents had infiltrated the highest levels of our government. But now a new day has dawned. The balance of power is resettling. Our children's future may yet be safe.