Bush, and Family, and Education (Oh, MY!!!)

Well, I did it... done created my very own blog! Cool. I believe I'll start by posting something a week or 2 (or 4) old - an email that I sent to some family and a few friends, in hopes of discussion.

I Really didn't get any.

...Oh well.

Maybe I'll get reaction here... Anybody out there????

...We'll see!


Bush, and Family, and Education (Oh, MY!!!)

Of late I've been listening to "W", and his ideas on keeping the American family together, and I've just finished reading this Reuters article RE: "Healthy Marriage Plan"

Read the article!

... the more I think about it, the more I believe that government should just stay away (Far, FAR away) from family and morality issues altogether.

So, "W" wants to be a marriage counselor? He wants to spend 1.5 Billion in the next 5 years on prospective bride and grooms to be??

Now, I could be WAAY off base here (please tell me if I am), but it seems to me that there are 2 fundamental reasons why marriages fail... (A) a lack of willingness for couples to want to stay together (children be damned, spouse be damned), and (B) financial difficulties that increase tensions between couples, eventually tearing them apart. Maybe I'm being naive here, but it feels like "W"'s plan will be ineffective to the 1st group (hey, they're not interested in remaining a family - is it logical to assume that they are they going to volunteer for "how to stay a couple classes" together?), and increasing the (financial) tensions (thru added "marriage penalty taxes" to pay for the plan), for the other group, seems to me a bit like throwing gasoline on the fire.

I for one have little sympathy for the first group, above (at least the "adults" in the family - the children always lose here). I'm of the opinion that one has to work at making a family unit successful. Couples classes are a great idea! Wifey and I attended a Marriage Encounter several years ago, I recommend them... I feel they help a person get closer to their mate... but you need to be motivated to take the Encounter in the first place, ya know? A successful marriage (or civil union) is work, man!

According to Bush - the plan "would teach communication skills to couples before and during marriage." - Hey "W", I have an idea... how about giving the 1.5B to the public school system, so that they can more effectively do their job, and teach everyone how to communicate lucidly before the marriage issue even comes up??? I'm personally getting very tired of double-digit land tax increases and school program cuts, because our federal (and state) government doesn't want to invest in it's education system.

Hey - Bush cares for America's children... He passed "No Child Left Behind"

Saying that Bush initiated the "No Child Left Behind" Act is a bit like saying Al Gore invented the internet... Besides - the bi-partisan NCLBA has turned into this huge finger-pointing circle-jerk!!! Now, schools are "teaching to the test" - what I feel (OK - the evil "MiniMe" inside feels) could lead to subtle forms of government-sanctioned brainwashing... "Hey Dude, wanna trade your 4th grade No Child Left Behind textbook for my 3rd grade No Child Left Behind textbook?"... I digress.

Here's an interesting report on where "W" stands with regard to helping the middle-class family out - give it a read...

Where "W" stands...

Ah, the government givith - and the government taketh away!!!

What do you think??? Enquiring minds need to know!!!
//  ¶ Wednesday, February 04, 2004 - PermaLink

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