Policy Snapshots - March 24, 2010

March 24, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

But one also finds in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to want to bring the strong down to their level, and which reduces men to preferring equality in servitude to inequality in freedom.

- Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59)

HOUSE LEADERS PERVERT FOUNDING PRINCIPLES
by Forest Thigpen

As infuriating and disgusting as the Houses approval of the Senate-passed health care bill was, it is perhaps more disturbing how the House leadership perverted the words and intent of our nations Founders in justifying their vote.

First of all, they thumbed their noses at the concept expressed in the Declaration of Independence that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Opinion polls have consistently shown that the American people do NOT want and have NOT consented to the health system schemes included in this bill.

Then, in her closing speech before the vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned on their heads the beliefs our Founders had about the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She contorted the meaning of that principle to justify support of the bill, when the truth is that this bill violated every one of those rights. This bill takes life, restricts liberty, and subjects our pursuit of happiness to the whims of bureaucrats. This is a dark day in American history.

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WE ALREADY KNOW SOME EFFECTS OF HEALTH CARE REFORM

To see how some of the key components of the federal health care bill will play out doesnt require theoretical estimates. New York State has experimented for the longest time with a mandate that insurers must offer coverage to all comers, and that insurers limit how much they can vary the price of a policy for different demographic groups. These two mandates - known as guaranteed issue and community rating - in 1993, making it unique among the states - only five others have both mandates but none has requirements as strict as New York's. According to the Manhattan Institute, New York's individual health insurance market disappeared within four years, shrinking by 95 percent, sending premiums skyrocketing. Meanwhile, the ranks of the uninsured spiked to 20 percent. New York responded with increased subsidies, followed by increased taxes to pay for the subsidies. And on it goes.

There's no reason to believe that the nation will escape the fate of New York or Massachusetts, which has seen similar disastrous results since in passed universal health insurance. Given that there is so little in the federal bill designed as incentives to restrain costs, once guaranteed issue becomes commonplace, policymakers will have the choice of higher taxes, higher premiums, or higher fines for those who go uninsured. Likely, you wind up with all three.

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MISSISSIPPIANS OVERWHELMINGLY FAVOR MORE PUBLIC EDUCATION OPTIONS

More than 8 in 10 Mississippi voters (83 percent) favor providing parents with more public school options according to a survey released on February 23. The survey also confirmed that this strong support is higher for African-Americans (88 percent), low-income voters (89 percent), Democrats (87 percent), and those who live in the Delta/Hills region (85 percent). In addition, by an almost four-to-one margin (51 percent to 13 percent), Mississippi voters believe that providing more options would improve, rather than harm the public school system.

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Source: The National Alliance For Public Charter Schools

PARENTS' INFLUENCE ON ADOLESCENTS' SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

In light of a recent report that, for the first time in more than a decade, the rate of pregnancies among 1819-year-olds in the United States is on the rise, parents should keep in mind that their attitudes and actions can have a substantial influence on their adolescent childrens sexual behavior. In particular, conveying the messages that it is best to wait until marriage to have children and that marriage should be a bond of commitment can decrease the likelihood that teens will be sexually active.

The Heritage Foundation lists ten top measures parents can take that have been found effective in curbing sexual activity in teens. Teenagers whose parents communicate the social and moral consequences of sexual activity, monitor their teens closely and were married at the time of the child's birth are less likely to be sexually active. Other factors that encourage abstinence are strong parental disapproval toward sexual activity in teens, parental limitations on television viewing and open communication with parents concerning the standards of sexual behavior. Conversely, mothers who date quickly and often after a divorce will be more likely to have sexually active teenage boys; the likelihood that teenaged girls will become pregnant increases with each change in their family structure; and teens with divorced parents and in single family households tend to be more sexually active.

Read more at the FamilyFacts.org

Source: The Heritage Foundation

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JUDICIAL RULING

NATIONAL MOTTO "IN GOD WE TRUST" IS CONSTITUTIONAL

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the national motto, "In God We Trust", does not violate the United States Constitution. California atheist Michael Newdow had filed suit claiming that the national motto, "In God We Trust", and the laws calling for the inscription of that motto on the nation's coin and currency were unconstitutional. Newdow's prior suit, filed on behalf of his daughter, to remove "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance was also unsuccessful.

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Source: Liberty Counsel

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Mississippi Center for Public Policy's mission is to advance the ideals of limited government, free markets, and strong traditional families by influencing public policy, informing the media, and equipping the public with information and perspective to help them understand and defend their liberty.

Mississippi Center for Public Policy's vision is for Mississippi to be a place where entrepreneurs are free to pursue their dreams, parents are free to direct the education and upbringing of their children, government functions according to the principles that enhance freedom, and all Mississippians are free from dependence on government for their daily needs.

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