Full-Time Dads;
The E-Magazine for Caregiver Fathers
Issue 3, originally appeared in print - August 1991
In June the National Commission on Children, with the support of the Children's Defense Fund, American Academy of Pediatrics and many other advocacy groups called for new programs to assist families. The proposals, including a $1,000 per child tax credit, welfare reform, guaranteed health care for children and pregnant mothers, increased funding for Head Start and other education programs and a return to American family life characterized by strong parental leadership, appear to be stalled due to lack of money.
The 34 member commission agreed upon the proposals but not on how to pay for them. The cost was estimated at $52-$56 billion the first year. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., laid out this scenario: One in five children grow up in poverty; a quarter are raised by single parents; growing numbers are impaired by their parents' alcohol abuse; half a million are born each year to teenage mother. He stated that the report "is for all American's, not just those in poverty" and "These problems don't afflict every child in America. But they place every child at jeopardy. Our future as a world leader and an economic power depend as much on children who are poor or alienated as on those who are more advantaged."
No money for children and families. Once again the $300 billion military budget, Savings and Loans (currently asking for another $80 billion to add to the $80 billion of taxpayer money they have), War in Iraq ($1 billion/day), and foreign aid "to encourage democracy," are viewed as priorities, money is available for these causes, but not for our children and our families.
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