There ARE alternatives to Governor Malloy's budget

By Chris Powell
Published: Monday, March 14, 2011 3:45 PM EDT
Journal-Enquirer

Connecticut- At public hearings around the state, Governor Malloy is bravely taking his lumps for his 2011-12 budget proposal, which would impose Connecticut's biggest tax increase in history just to keep state spending relatively stable, with marginal cuts here and there.

....As huge as state government's nursing home costs are, there are several other huge costs whose underlying policies also go from budget to budget without any questioning. If ever there was a time for such questions, it's now.

....What is the cost to state government of childbearing outside marriage -- not just the direct welfare costs, the stipends, housing and food subsidies, medical insurance, and social work for single mothers and their children but also the costs of child abuse and neglect (most of the work of the state Department of Children and Families, approaching a billion dollars per year*, involves such "families"), and the costs of juvenile and adult crime (more police, courts, and prisons)? Why doesn't public policy discourage childbearing outside marriage more than subsidize it?

You really HAVE TO read this entire article

* I think this means a BILLION a year for Connecticut ONLY.  Maybe want to multiply that up nationally?  Our figures are at LEAST $235 BILLION nation-wide.