What was noticeably absent was a discussion of policy that will help foster strong families.
A new poll released last week by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal contains surprising information that could have a profound cultural impact in the years to come. It is interesting to note that the article releasing the results of the poll buries the lede. The NBC News’ headline reads, “‘A deep and boiling anger’: NBC/WSJ poll finds a pessimistic America despite current economic satisfaction.” Carrie Dann writes, “The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that — despite Americans’ overall satisfaction with the state of the U.S. economy and their own personal finances — a majority say they
On Tuesday, U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., offered a bipartisan paid family leave plan for new parents. The proposal would allow parents to use the recently expanded child tax credit to receive a $5,000 benefit after having or adopting a child. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees eligible parents 12 weeks of unpaid leave without the threat of loss of their job. Many parents cannot afford that much unpaid time off of work, or they were ineligible to take the leave. Only 17 percent of Americans currently have a paid family leave plan. In 2016, the Pew
In late May, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that reauthorized the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) by a voice vote. The new version, H.R. 2480, the Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act sponsored by U.S. Rep. Kim Schrier, D-Wash., expands the current law’s abuse prevention outreach requirements to include “sexual and gender minority youth.” CAPTA was first passed in 1974 and was last reauthorized in 2010. Since then, the law has been amended four times. CAPTA provides federal funding and guidance to states in support with their child abuse prevention, assessment, investigation, prosecution, and
Julia Beck, a self-described radical lesbian feminist and the former law and policy co-chair of Baltimore’s LGBTQ Commission, testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday during their hearing for H.R. 5, the Equality Act. The Equality Act would amend virtually all current federal laws covering employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service to include sexual orientation and gender identity among the prohibited categories of discrimination or segregation in places of public accommodation. The Equality Act also expands the scope of what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 considers “public accommodation” to include
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) last week tweeted out opposition to the ban on transgendered persons serving in the military. She said, “Banning transgender people from serving in our military violates the fundamental value at the heart of our country: equality. This cannot be our America.” Harris and others who want to see the ban lifted believe that the military should be inclusive. I don’t want the military to become inclusive. It is effective because it is exclusive. When I enlisted in the Army (I served in the Army National Guard from 1989 to 1997), I had to go down
Last Wednesday, the Idaho House of Representatives passed HB 120, a bill that requires parental opt-in for sex education, by a party-line 56 to 14 vote. It now heads to the Republican-controlled Idaho Senate. The bill is sponsored by State Representative Barbara Ehardt (R-Idaho Falls) and co-sponsored by 23 Republican lawmakers. It reads, “Any parent or legal guardian who wishes to have his child participate in any planned instruction in sex education or any instruction or presentation regarding sexuality shall file written permission with the school district board of trustees.” In addition, the bill specifies that schools must provide proper permission
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Congressmen Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Bobby Scott (D-Va.) reintroduced a bill that would essentially render the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) useless. According to its sponsors, the “Do No Harm Act” would prevent the RFRA from being used to deny: Protection against discrimination laws or the promotion of equal opportunity, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other laws; Workplace protections or protections against child abuse; Healthcare access, information, referrals, provisions, coverage or services to which persons are otherwise legally entitled; Services that the government has contracted to be provided to beneficiaries through