Twelve years after “welfare reformâ€ÂÂ, marriage is still in the emergency room, father-absence is still the greatest problem we face, and federal government is more aggressive than ever entitling illegitimacy at the direct expense of marriage.
Feminists and lawyer-politicians in both political parties have collaborated for the past 45 years to get what they want. Feminists gained sole control of about half the families in America, while lawyers made a killing murdering marriage.
It is a marriage made in hell. Millions of Americans are intimately aware of this fact because so many have been enticed or dragged into the system – leaving most of them in great economic and social distress – clamoring for relief that cannot possibly be delivered regardless of the amount of deficit expenditures.
The machinery of the feminist kleptocracy is simple to understand: Heavily entitle women to have children out of wedlock or to divorce for no reason whatsoever while ensuring that children remain chattel of women. Promise them more money than their husband or boyfriend makes. Promise them victim-status, free health care, and free day care. Then, blame it all on men and strip them down to their BVD’s to pay for it.
Republicans wonder why so many Americans are unhappy with them. The reason is plainly visible on page one of the newspaper every day. Just read about all those single-mom strippers, imputed rapists, spousal murderers and child sexual abusers (of both sexes), and messed up children. Most “deadbeat dad” stories involve a man persecuted for more money than he makes. For every publicized deadbeat dad, there are thousands of invisible men and their friends and family who are equally upset.
Primary responsibility for this problem now rests on the Republican Congress. Many states would like to enact pro-marriage reforms, but are unable to do so because federal mandates require that federal monies be spent executing the anti-family agenda of feminism.
Republicans at the federal level and the RNC have absolutely refused to consider any change. They have gone out of their way to zip the tent shut to anyone who might have better ideas. Americans are clamoring for relief from this divisive and dangerous oppression – and Republicans still refuse to respond wisely.
It is a classic Abilene paradox that will probably cost Republicans their majority this fall. Certainly, Democrats didn’t treat marriage any worse than the Republican Congress has. Where a lot of Republican supporters have noticed this, you can bet a lot of Democrats have too.
As a sturdy Republican supporter since 1990, I must confess to being exceptionally disappointed with Republicans at the federal level. At the state level, Republicans tend to be pro-marriage and reasonably sensible. Tom Cruise was probably a sensible guy before he landed in the middle of a very famous Botticelli painting.
Why Republicans are so averse to reforms that many Americans want and need begs for explanation. Welfare is a trap — a self-fulfilling prophesy — not a safety net helping a few women in trouble. Women would not be stripping for a living after becoming destitute single mothers if government did not lead them down the reprehensible path of feminist greed, spending billions of other people’s money debauching women’s natural reproductive desires down to the lowest moral denominator. Men would not settle for cheap girlie entertainment, or turn gay, or give up on marriage entirely if Republicans had not spent the past twelve years pimping women straight out of the marriage market.
The promises of pro-family reforms made in the 1994 races basically called for gently phasing out the Great Society and letting marriage do what it has always done best. But after winning, Republicans went deeper into predatory socialism than Lyndon Johnson ever dreamed of. Many were astonished to watch Republicans attempt to fly this prehistoric granite blimp just to impress a few feminists who will never vote for them in a billion years.
Marriage education is all well and good. But it is useless in the face of a welfare system that is the structural equivalent of paying women large sums of money to drink and drive.
There are so many excellent things that the Republican Congress could do. We can end the need for the vast majority of divorces and end most family violence and child abuse, by enacting laws that help the responsible marital partner get the spouse abusing drugs or alcohol into treatment. Drinking and family causes far more human wreckage than drinking and driving does.
We can end father-absence and substantially reduce the numbers of under-parented, seriously troubled children by requiring states to order some form of 50/50 joint custody (such as time-shift shared parenting) in order to qualify for child support enforcement funds. DNA testing must never be used to perversely replace living fathers with valueless checks. It must be used to assure that children have fathers and mentors in their lives.
We can reduce divorce and illegitimacy by enacting policies that expect marital responsibility and help spouses work through the normal problems and processes of marriage and aging.
Conservatives have worked for years to end abortion by “choiceâ€ÂÂ. Now, we must end entitled abortion of marriage by “choiceâ€ÂÂ. A solid policy based on personal responsibility looks like this: “If you want a divorce, and you don’t have a really good reason for it, there’s the doorâ€ÂÂ. Could anybody (except for perhaps a few ditzy radical feminists) not vote for this?
Conservatives should not become advocates of shot-gun marriage. But we must end federal policies that entitle shot-gun illegitimacy and divorce.
The answer is right here in front of us. It is called the “marriage marketâ€ÂÂ. It is so simple, so fundamentally-important, and biblical too. A free marriage market promises a much happier, more competitive America, and a balanced budget to boot.
David R. Usher is President of the
American Coalition for Fathers and Children, Missouri Coalition
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