Mark Steyn: The real war on children

Orange County Register ^ | October 20, 2007 | Mark Steyn

[tips up]

On Thursday, Congress attempted to override President Bush's veto of the SCHIP expansion. SCHIP? Isn't that something to do with health care for children? Absolutely. And here is Bay Area Democratic Rep. Pete Stark addressing the issue with his customary forensic incisiveness:

"The Republicans are worried that they can't pay for insuring an additional 10 million children. They sure don't care about finding $200 billion to fight the illegal war in Iraq. Where are you going to get that money? Are you going to tell us lies like you're telling us today? Is that how you're going to fund the war? You don't have money to fund the war on children, but you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people? If he can get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement."

I'm not sure I follow the argument here: President Bush wants to breed a generation of sickly uninsured children in order to send them to Iraq to stagger round the Sunni Triangle, weak and spindly and emaciated and rickets-stricken, to get their heads blown off? Is that the gist of it? No matter, Congressman Stark hit all the buzz words – "children," "illegal war," "$200 billion," "lies," etc. – and these days they're pretty much like modular furniture: You can say 'em in any order, and you'll still get a cheer from the crowd.

[tips up]

Long live the nanny state...

[Viking2002]

The older I get, the more I pray that God's Wrath strikes these vermin in the most terminal way possible. Or, at least, let them be so bold as to become Starters Of Shit in my back yard.

[goldstategop]

Socialism is about selfishness for one generation. The children be damned! The reason Europe is NOT reproducing its too expensive to have children to work to pay for it. Its work out so well Europe is dying out because of the perverse incentives generated by the modern welfare state. Even if we could afford it, the last thing we should do is leave our children stuck with the tab of our own selfishness. Yet its precisely the argument Republican politicians are afraid to make: we must think of the welfare of future generations to come.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Vision Thing]

In this article, Steyn tells us that the real war on children is being waged not by the Republicans who refuse to make more kids “wards of the Nanny State”. Instead, the real war on children is being waged by the libs who want to pass the costs of their selfishness on to our children’s generation.

[goldstategop]

Its no accident that San Francisco, Seattle and other major Blue State cities have more dogs than children. If libs cared about the children, they would be pushing to get of all the obstacles that keep parents from having them. Instead, they seek to make parenthood and the core responsibilities of adulthood as unattractive and expensive to pursue as possible. Why, you too can be eternal children - if you leave no one behind to carry on after you. That is the message of modern liberalism.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[Baladas]

The left is going have to realize that I’m going to tune them out about every time with regards to these phony concerns about “the children”. They all like abortion far too much.

[Alex Murphy]

I'm not sure I follow the argument here: President Bush wants to breed a generation of sickly uninsured children in order to send them to Iraq to stagger round the Sunni Triangle, weak and spindly and emaciated and rickets-stricken, to get their heads blown off? Is that the gist of it?

Nailed it in one.

[Gritty]

[jcon40]

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Republican Presidential Canidate that could think and articulate things as well as Steyn?

[wita]

There’s too much articulating, and not enough action, but I get your point.

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[Joan Kerrey]

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Republican Presidential Canidate that could think and articulate things as well as Steyn? ================ Wouldn't it be nice to have a President who could articulate things. He just comes across as an idiot when I know he's not. He simply can not think on his feet, formulate thoughts and proceed to get them out through his mouth effectively.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Socialism is about selfishness for one generation.

IOW, Socialism is short-term thinking. Social Security is about the grandparents (like me, only without the conservatism); conservatism is about the grandchildren - even, the great grandchildren.

The Social Security Trust Fund contains government debt.

Government debt is an asset to anyone who owns it, but it is a liability to the government no matter who has it. As long as the government holds its own debt, that debt is meaningless. You can write an IOU for any amount you choose, and as long as you keep it it has no effect. But if ever you sell it to someone else, it becomes a liability to you.

Just so, the "safe" government bonds in the SSTF are meaningless in the governments hands - and engines of inflation if the government ever sells them to fund retiree benefits. There would in that case be no difference between selling those bonds, and just printing the money. Those bonds are useless for their putative purpose of helping our grandchildren fund our retirement without inflation.

What can fund your retirement without tending to produce inflation? Only paper backed by real assets - mortgage loans, corporate stocks, and so forth. Government debt is useless for that purpose. Conservatism is about bequeathing a legacy to the future; the opposite of conservatism is eating the seed corn now, and starving later.

[okie01]

The reason Europe is NOT reproducing its too expensive to have children to work to pay for it. Its work out so well Europe is dying out because of the perverse incentives generated by the modern welfare state.

The most profound conclusion in Steyn's book is what socialism -- and welfare programs -- do to society.

They destroy it.

If you want to insure the doom of a civilization, make everything "free"...

[tips up]

Both parties in the US want to grow the government. The only difference is in the speed of that growth...

[flat]

and let us not forget how they defended little elian gonzales...at least he never ended up in the hands of a bloodthristy tyrant........

wait wait..... wait wait....

[Intolerant in NJ]

Stark hit all the buzz words – "children," "illegal war," "$200 billion," "lies," etc. – and these days they're pretty much like modular furniture: You can say 'em in any order, and you'll still get a cheer from the crowd...exactly so - sort of like words and little phrases recorded on a CD - hit the random play button as many times as needed and no matter how they come out the left thinks they've heard the truth from on high......

[xzins]

Excellent article.

However, the absolute worst part of the real war on children is the 50 million who have been murdered in the womb since 1973.

Add to that the burden highlighted by this article and it is obvious that the DemocRat Party hates children.

[hershey]

The real war on children is abortion.

[Puzzleman]

And so, in a democratic system today's electors vote to keep the government gravy coming and leave it to tomorrow for "the children" to worry about. That's the real "war on children" – and every time you add a new entitlement to the budget you make it less and less likely they'll win it.

Well said!

[NicknamedBob]

"A couple of weeks ago, the Democrats put up a 12-year-old SCHIP beneficiary from Baltimore, Graeme Frost, to deliver their official response to the President's Saturday-morning radio address. And immediately afterwards Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Malkin and I jumped the sick kid in a dark alley and beat him to a pulp. Or so you'd have thought from the press coverage ..."

Not only does his rapier wit have great reach, it is spot on target.

"I'm in favor of tax credits for child health care, and Health Savings Accounts for adults, and any other reform that emphasizes the citizen's responsibility to himself and his dependants. But middle-class entitlement creep would be wrong even if was affordable, even if Bill Gates wrote a check to cover it every month: it turns free-born citizens into enervated wards of the Nanny State."

It needs to be emphasized that Medical Savings Accounts have to carry over from one year to the next or they won't be utilized. Current plans are "use it or lose it," which often equates to "lose it."

[kellynla]

“Liberalism is just Communism sold by the drink.”
P.J.O’Rourke

[magellan]

This gem from Steyn's article"

[The Frost's] have ... three vehicles – a new Chevy Suburban, a Volvo SUV, and a Ford F-250 pickup.

[tips up]

The Volvo puts them in the liberal camp I guess.

Actually not true for all. My father had a Volvo and he was to the right of Atilla the Hun.

[Old Student]

“The real war on children is abortion.”

And charging the survivors to support their murderers is NOT part of the war?

It’s all one war, FRiend.

[Vinomori]

bttt