They probably have noticed how gays and lesbians don’t seem to

Curing poverty takes more than a wedding ring

outlet moncler January 22, 2004By Clarence Page outlet moncler

piumini moncler saldi WASHINGTON I was pretty excited last week when I heard President Bush would propose spending $1.5 billion over five years to help couples develop interpersonal skills that piumini moncler outlet promote “healthy marriages.” piumini moncler saldi

moncler saldi For moncler outlet trebaseleghe a fleeting moment, I hoped he would toss some of that money my way. A cool million alone could make my marriage a lot healthier. moncler saldi

piumini moncler Mr. Bush’s plan would direct the money to train counselors to help couples, especially low income couples, stay married. That’s a refreshing turn for an administration that passed two hefty tax cuts during wartime that mostly benefited taxpayers with high incomes. But, ah, this is an election year. Now the president is redoubling his efforts to get it through the Senate, just in time to snatch another liberal concern fighting poverty away from moncler outlet serravalle the Democrats. In addition, Mr. Bush hopes his proposal will placate demands from the religious right for a constitutional ban on same sex marriage. piumini moncler

moncler donna Mr. Bush opposes same sex marriages too moncler bambino saldi but balks at pushing a piumini moncler scontatissimi constitutional amendment to that effect. Indeed, the Rev. Al Sharpton will be elected to the White House before gay marriage is legalized nationally. President Bill Clinton signed a Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Even the Democratic front runner candidates for president oppose gay marriage, although not civil unions. That’s a bipartisan front against holy homosexual matrimony. moncler donna

moncler outlet serravalle But Mr. Bush is no political dummy. Or, at least, his political adviser, Karl Rove, isn’t. They probably have noticed how gays and lesbians don’t seem to be all that scary to Middle moncler bambino outlet America anymore. moncler outlet online shop The success of gay characters on programs such as Will Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and now The L Word scares the daylights out of the religious right. moncler outlet serravalle

piumini moncler uomo Short of acting as matchmaker, the administration wants simply to help states to do more moncler outlet go to this website https://www.moncleroutlet-i.org moncler outlet of what some states are doing already. In Oklahoma, for example, the state provides piumini moncler saldi voluntary marriage workshops for women on welfare. West Virginia offers an extra $100 a month in benefits to welfare moms who marry, to offset other government benefit cuts they might incur. piumini moncler uomo

moncler uomo Conservatives have long held that poverty, particularly child poverty, can be reduced by moncler saldi increasing the number of marriages. They use persuasive statistics to make this argument. After all, only 6.8 percent of married couples with children are in poverty, Census figures show, compared with a third of families headed by unmarried women. Get more single moms married, the conservative argument goes, and you reduce poverty and the welfare rolls, which means states save money. moncler uomo

moncler bambino outlet Fine. It’s hard to argue with such simple logic, but let’s try anyway. moncler bambino outlet

piumini moncler outlet After all, single parenthood is as much an effect of poverty as a cause of piumini moncler uomo it and since poverty is the absence of money, the best cure for poverty is not just a healthy marriage but also a healthy income. piumini moncler outlet

moncler outlet online shop With that in moncler outlet online uomo mind, if the Bush administration wants to encourage marriage, it should get back to moncler donna ending the “marriage penalty” that conservatives correctly criticize as an irrational penalty on piumini moncler working couples who file joint tax returns. workers who have lost their jobs since 2001. moncler outlet online shop

moncler outlet trebaseleghe The marriage minded moncler saldi uomo Bush White House also might consider the family stresses endured by the more than 40 million people who are underinsured or lack health insurance altogether, according to the American Medical Association. moncler outlet trebaseleghe

piumini moncler scontatissimi And the administration might consider a study of moncler uomo women from disadvantaged families that was published last outlet moncler February in the journal Social Problems. The Ohio moncler saldi outlet State University study found that while women reaped some economic benefits from marriage, those who married and then divorced experienced higher poverty rates than those who never married. piumini moncler scontatissimi

moncler saldi outlet No, marriage alone will not solve all of the problems caused by unwed parenting. Married or single, parenting is a tough challenge. Parents don’t always get the help they need, but they need all of the help they can get moncler saldi outlet.