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03/21/2006
Carlson Blasts GOP for Putting Interests of Business Ahead of Families ROCKFORD, Ill., March 20 -- In a featured article in the current Weekly Standard, an influential national periodical, Howard Center Executive Director Dr. Allan Carlson blasts the Republican Party for consistently favoring Wall Street over Main Street. In the March 27th issue of the magazine (“Indentured Families : Social Conservatives and the GOP – Can this Marriage Be Saved?”) Carlson charges, “Where the interests of the proverbial ‘Sam’s Club Republicans’ collide with the interests of the great banks, the Sam’s Club set might as well pile into the family car and go home.” Carlson notes that the recent federal bankruptcy reform act makes it harder for financially troubled families to file for bankruptcy, but does nothing to curb the predatory practices of lending institutions, which targets these families. “The Republican Party has done relatively little to help traditional families, and may in fact be contributing to their new indentured status,” Carlson observes. While the inflation-adjusted income of two- income families increased 35% since 1970, for married couples where the wife isn’t in the paid labor force, inflation-adjusted income growth has been stagnant over the past 35 years. Parents who choose to put their children in day care get tax credits ranging from $1,500 to $2,100 a year. Parents who sacrifice to care for their children at home receive no comparable tax relief. The Republican leadership in Congress has shown little interest in passing the Parents’ Tax Relief Act of 2006 (H.R. 3080) which would provide some equity here. Carlson does credit the Republicans with increasing the child credit, eliminating the marriage tax penalty, passing a bill to ban partial-birth abortion and appointing conservative, pro-family judges. However, says Carlson, “When push comes to shove, social conservatives remain second-class citizens under the Republican tent. During the 2004 Republican Convention, they were virtually confined to the party’s attic, kept off the main stage, treated like slightly lunatic children.” All of this may come back to haunt the Party of Reagan. The Family Research Council just released a poll showing 63% of Values Voters, the core of the party, feel Congress has not kept its promise to act on a pro-family agenda. To read “Indentured Families” on line, click here: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/ Articles/000/000/011/991nmrow.asp or go to www.weekly standard.com. For more information on the Howard Center for Family Religion and Society, go to www.profam.org. The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society is an independent, non-profit research and education center that strives to be the leading source of fresh ideas and new strategies for affirmation and defense of the natural family, both nationally and globally. The Howard Center is also the founder and organizer of the World Congress of Families project which unites people of goodwill who recognize that the family is the fundamental unit of society and coordinates the efforts of pro-family groups from more the 60 countries worldwide.
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