By Dan Gilbert Guest Commentary
NANCY PELOSI VOWED SHE WOULD place a “premium on family values” as Speaker of the House. While the Democrats’ “100 hours”consisted primarily of more than 600 oversight hearings, Speaker Pelosi and her Democratic cohorts in Congress have done nothing for the American family.In fact, their agenda is set to tear the family down.
Pulitzer Prize-winner and philosopher Will Durant once said “The family is the nucleus of society.” For over 2,000 years, the family has been the basis of stability in society. Countless studies and common sense have shown that what we become as adults is directly related to our experiences in the home. Why then would Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues attempt to systematically dismantle the single most important element to our existence as a nation?
The traditional family is a threat to the Democratic Party. While the family unit has always been viewed as the primary source of support, protection, nurturing, discipline and charity, what better institution to replace the traditional family than the federal government? By redirecting emphasis to an “It Takes A Village” mentality; power, influence and votes are awarded to those running the village. Belittling and even punishing the traditional family allows the government, and the village idiots in charge, to elevate themselves to self-gratifying and elitist positions depended upon by the masses. In control of the “village,” liberals are able to secure their positions in power by indoctrinating future voters via control of school curriculum and allying themselves with Hollywood and the mainstream media, which undoubtedly share the same goal: highlighting the unimportance of parents and the family.
Every day, leftist government officials chip away at the importance of the American Family. The Maryland Board of Education recently ruled that the rights of the state trump the rights of parents in regard to teaching our children about homosexuality. Nancy Pelosi and her comrades in Congress voted against parental notification for underage children seeking abortions across state lines. Democrats have consistently sought to usurp the authority of parents for their own agenda, while disregarding the disastrous impact immoral behavior has on our youth.
This is exactly what Pelosi and her Democrat colleagues in Congress are attempting to do by: ■Voting against ending the marriage penalty ■Voting against making the increase in the child tax credit permanent ■Voting against repealing the death tax ■Voting against the Defense of Marriage Act Unfortunately, those who do not yet have the power to vote, our children will suffer the most from these self-serving policies.
As the average American now works until July 12 just to pay their tax bill, more American families are dual-income families. 76 percent of mothers of children over the age of 5 are working and 40 percent of employed Americans work weekends, late hours or both. Parents, left with less time with their children, are allowing their kids to be raised by the media. When an average child reaches the age of 17, he will have squandered 63,835 hours on television, movies, videos, video games, the Internet and music, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, compared with spending only 11,000 hours in school and 2,000 hours with parents. Those not fortunate enough to be raised in a two-parent home face even greater risks. One-third of all babies are born out of wedlock in the U.S. Several studies conclude that a child born out of wedlock is at much greater risk for suicide, substance abuse, poverty, premarital sex and STDs. Despite the alarming rate of children being born out of wedlock and into poverty, Congress recently allowed Title V funding for abstinence programs to expire.
Not only is the traditional family looked upon with disdain, children are deemed expendable. Ms. Pelosi, who stresses how she has worked tirelessly “on behalf of America’s children,” and her colleagues have: ■Voted against a ban on partial birth abortion ■Voted against making it a crime to harm an unborn baby during another crime ■Voted against forbidding human cloning for reproduction and medical research. ■Supported experimentation on tiny lives through embryonic stem cell research As the leader of the Democratic Party in the House, Nancy Pelosi, who milked her image as a mother and grandmother for political gain, has some explaining to do.
DANIEL GILBERT is seeking the Republican nomination for President of the United States.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 11, 2007. Read the original PDF.