Why do wealthy, single women vote for Democrats?

R.R. Reno observes:

“Thus we have the seemingly odd political instincts of a single, 35-year-old McKinsey consultant living in suburban Chicago who thinks of herself as vulnerable and votes for enhanced social programs designed to protect against the dangers and uncertainties of life. Why would a woman whose 401K already exceeds $1,000,000 and who owns a condo worth almost as much be so concerned to expand public support for in-home care of the elderly? It’s because she’s not married and feels as though she’s going to have to take on all the responsibilities of life on her own—a prospect that is indeed daunting."
 
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2014/08/the-dilemma-facing-social-conservatives

She seems to think that if Republicans are in office they will somehow take away programs that help her?  She cares about the poor and thinks the GOP will slash benefits? 

I’d like to see the evidence that Republicans have ever NOT supported massive government spending (Obamacare was the first ever that didn’t have a single Republican vote). It’s a campaign lie that women and minorities are told to keep their vote. If they didn’t, all our debt and deficit would be only on the shoulders of the Democrats. Do you really want that responsibility? The best (and least) they’ve done is to vote against huge increases, but nothing ever decreases. The biggest social services president was GW Bush, until Barack Obama came along. His ARRA added $100 billion in federal aid to education in 2009, and yet when it wasn’t continued or increased, it’s called a cut and blamed on Republicans. Race to the Top is Obama’s program, but No Child Left Behind was Bush’s, both extravagant, wasteful interference in local education systems which now have to teach to the test.

If wealthy, white educated women are worried about their futures as they age, because they aren’t married, they need to be studying investments, markets, tax loop holes, etc., not supporting a president who cavorts with Hollywood celebs, lobbyists for banks, and Union officials and wants to take more of their hard earned money by raising tax rates or contemplating a wealth tax.

The federal government alone currently funds and operates 126 different welfare or anti-poverty programs. If even one is “cut” or “combined” there are screams of mean and stingy GOP, yet obviously they are not moving people up the ladder of prosperity (nor are they even included in studies of income, which they should be).

Medicaid and CHIP are the biggest with about 65,000,000 participants, and SNAP is next with about 46,500,000 (Oct. 2014)—and those don’t include Indian tribes who get cradle to grave medical support and a different type of nutrition support. SNAP has never come down after the big push of ARRA money to increase the rolls with more money for recruiting.  SNAP doesn’t include school lunch programs, or summer lunch programs, or breakfast programs, or WIC, or emergency food assistance, or commodity foods assistance, or special milk program (I think they had that even when I was in school) or farmers’ market programs, or community food projects. But name one that the woman in Reno’s example with a million in her 401-k would ever use, or even know anyone who used them. But she’s still afraid not to vote Democrat!

What happened from 1950 to 1965 was economic growth and big increases in family income. The transfers actually had a small effect on the rate of poverty in the War on Poverty. It just grew the government bureaucracy. The largest gains ever for the bottom quintile was before the War on Poverty. What happened after the War on Poverty was the slide in marriages and children being left in poverty.

By 1965 only 13.9 percent of American families were officially classified as poor, down from 32 percent in 1947 and 18.5 percent in 1959. The recession has been over for 5.5 years, yet the government is supplying about 32% of the income (in transfers) for the poor and the rate is still higher than in 1965. Lack of marriage of the parents is probably the biggest reason for children in poverty. Two adults working full time at minimum wage are well above the poverty line (although they might not get as much as those earning less because they might lose their eligibility for gov’t programs). Norma

http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap

http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato- journal/1985/5/cj5n1-1.pdf

http://www.heritage.org/childpoverty/united-states

http://www.cga.ct.gov/2010/rpt/2010-R-0235.htm

http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/public_policy_institute/econ_sec/2013/income-and-poverty-of-older-americans-AARP-ppi-econ-sec.pdf

Conservatives need to invest and support positive movies and TV

Bi-racial actress Stacey Dash, star of the movie and TV series Clueless, appeared at the Media Research Center's 2014 Dishonors Gala. Dash ripped Hollywood as being full of "hypocrites." The conservative explained how the city's residents don't practice what they preach: "Want proof? There are no movies made in Hollywood. They make them in places like Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina. Do you know why? Lower taxes. Hypocrites."

She also implored right-leaning Americans to get involved in the industry, saying, "Now, we as conservatives must put our money where our mouths are and we have to produce films and TV that show and represent the United States of America like we believe it to be. We can't wait for anyone else to do it."

https://grabien.com/story.php?id=15000

Ms. Dash is also a contributor for Fox News.

The Orthodox Church in Russia

In 1917 (year of the Russian revolution) the Orthodox Church had 50,000 parishes, a thousand monasteries and 60 theological schools.  By 1941, (World War II) Russia had 150 – 200 parishes, no monasteries or seminaries.  The Soviet Union collapsed about 25 years ago, and now in 2014 the Orthodox Church in Russia has 30,000 parishes, 800 monasteries, and over 100 seminaries and theological schools.  Christmas and Easter are again federal holidays and churches are overflowing on those days. Churches that had been turned into state or secular buildings like clubs, movie theaters or museums, have been returned to their former glory.   In just two decades since the fall of Communism, the church has become Russia’s largest and most important non-government organization.  Despite very poor regular participation (about 4%), about 80% of Russians claim the baptism of the Orthodox faith.  Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow, is leading the “in-churching” movement of Russian society, taking the good news of Jesus (and the Orthodox faith) to all segments of Russian society—bikers, drug addicts, and political candidates.  He believes the church can re-Christianize a secular society built by the Communists.  Popular testimonies are “how I went from being a good Communist to being a good Christian” and a book about the faithful with scars and warts called “Everyday Saints” is a best seller.

From In-churching Russia by John P. Burgess, May 2014 First Things

Since the church in Russia supports Putin, some think the regrowth of the church is a pact with the devil.  If it is, what can we say about the church in the U.S.  In many ways, the U.S. is becoming more secular, but the churches still chase the government for grants to support their  “good works,” and concede on gender issues in the name of “social justice.”

The church photo is from our trip to Russia in 2006.  This is the interior of The Church of the Spilled Blood which was closed by Stalin to store opera sets, and in 1970 it became a museum. These are not paintings, but mosaics.

Scott Walker—a winner

I'm really liking Scott Walker, not because of his looks or personality the way a lot of women choose political favorites, but because of what he's done for Wisconsin. Could he do the same for the rest of the country? The Democrats went all out to defeat him because they knew the importance of this race. He has faced down the unions and won; he’s promised to return tax money to the people and made good on the promise. President Obama , first lady Michelle Obama (twice), Bill Clinton, Elizabeth Warren and AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka all stumped for his highly qualified and appealing opponent--but she lost. Lets hope Republicans don't shoot themselves in the foot again come 2016.

Salary gap in the sciences—is this fair?

http://www.the-scientist.com/Nov2014/11_14_SalarySurveyforWeb.pdf

Comparing salary information gathered in May 2008 to the most recent BLS data collected in May 2013, Saranna Thornton, an economist at Hampden–Sydney College in Virginia and chair of the committee on the Economic Status of the Profession at the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), found that while positions in chemistry, physics, and computer science received pay increases of 8.3 percent to 10.6 percent over the five-year period, the life sciences saw the smallest increases. Industry biochemists and biophysicists received just a 3.6 percent increase over the same time and those in the academic biological sciences a mere 4.6 percent. The Scientist, Nov. 1, 2014. 

Pecan Pie Muffins

Pecan Pie Muffins

1 - cup light brown sugar

1/2 - cup all purpose flour

2 - eggs, beaten

2/3 - cup melted butter

1 - cup chopped pecans
1 - teaspoon vanilla extract

additional pecan halves, optional

In a bowl, stir together all ingredients except pecan halves. Line a mini muffin tin with liners and spray the liners with non baking spray. Fill each mini muffin tins 2/3 full with batter. Top each with a pecan half. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 2 1/2 dozen mini muffins.

King Francis

Yesterday  in a Christmas catalog (I'm getting 2-3 a day) I saw a little statue of Pope Francis, solar powered, which will smile and wave through the window.  Keeping up with the culture, I suppose.  A tacky statue would be electric—coal fired, so yesterday. I wonder if the Pope spends much time on the internet and sees what is coming down the road in the sex culture wars.  Progressives in the U.S. don’t fret about the poor—they whine about their sexuality and who is sleeping with whom.  Will the church go from not recognizing marriage if either the man or woman is known to be sterile to recognizing those where everyone is sterile? This blogger for First Things has some serious charges against the Pope—covert operative and seditious authoritarian.  Wow. And that’s a loyal Catholic writing for a Catholic magazine.

"Set aside, if you can, the specific moral teachings that are in the dock. Suppress for a moment whatever conscientious sympathy you might have with Francis’ aims. What bewilders me here is the precipitous end-run being made around collegiality and subsidiarity, with scant regard for the trust of the faithful in the validity of the Church’s essential moral suasion on essential matters. If McGavin’s report is correct—what reason to think it is not?—Francis is more a covert operative than the shepherd we welcomed at the outset.

The law of unintended consequences is inexorable. And fearsome. We already have one seditious authoritarian in the White House. To think there could be another on the Chair of Peter breaks the heart." Maureen Mullarkey First Things   http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350910?eng=y

Internet Fast

Except for e-mail, and since no one telephones or writes letters anymore, that had to be the exception.

But I’ll still be journaling, and hope to have some really great thoughts after clearing out the shimmering screen time.

How to be poor in the 2nd and 3rd quintile

Even from sound conservative sources I see comments like this, "No one who works full time should live in poverty." Well, think about that and the personal choices that people make, even those with good jobs and an education, that impoverish their families and soul. Sure, the "income" may put them in the 2nd or 3rd quintile, out of range of the census figures that describe poverty, but they've maxed out the credit cards, drinking and drugging, too many vacations, too many manicures and fashionable clothes. They've forgotten they could eat that $20 restaurant meal for $3 at home. No savings, no retirement fund, no money for the church. Yes indeed, you can work full time and be poor and miserable, and it's no one else's fault. No government program will force you to marry the mother of your children to protect them; no government program will force you to eat right and exercise (although it will spend millions to nag you).

Lifestyle choices condemn many to poverty.

The next Republican candidate will need to run against the Democrats

These days you have to run against the party.

" Republicans run against their opponents, rather than against the left and the Democratic Party. That’s what Mitt Romney did. And that’s why he lost an election he should have won. Romney never defined his presidential campaign as being opposed to the left or to the Democratic Party. It was solely against Barack Obama, a popular president at the time and the first black ever to serve as president, something that continued to mean... a lot to many Americans who hoped that this fact would reduce black animosity toward white America.

Had Mitt Romney constantly repeated that he was not merely running against Barack Obama, the man, but against Barack Obama, the most left-wing president in American history, and continually explained what that meant, he might well have won."

It may sound lofty and moral to say you vote for the candidate and not the party, but unfortunately the parties not the individuals control the government.

 http://www.dennisprager.com/dont-vote-candidate/

Defining conservatism

Here's a good definition of conservatism: "Our common cause as conservatives is based on shared principles and convictions about the primacy of freedom and liberty, the dignity and sacred value of human life and the essential role of private property and the rule of law in the construct of a civil society."

See? Not hard to memorize, but tough to get on a bumper sticker or campaign ad. Know what you believe and why--don't limit it to Obama's mistakes, or sound bites. There are 50 sound, conservative principles to dismantle ACA and start over, but they need to be articulated.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/seymour-fein/2014/10/29/progressive-fallacy

http://americanconservativeparty.com/blog/2014/03/aca-as-an-abuse-to-constitutional-process/

http://www.conservativefactcheck.com/content/articles/QA_Why_Conservatives_Dont_Support_the_ACA

There is something positive about the Ebola scare

One good thing about the Ebola scare is the audit of our readiness for a pandemic. Hospitals, CDC, and Homeland Security failed despite billions poured into preparation in the last decade. $9 billion given to local health authorities since 2002. The bad thing is that Republicans have taken their eye off the ball of all the other scandals--IRS, NSA, VA, growing poverty rolls, race baiting by the president his AG, Fast and Furious, Benghazi, etc. Democrats are so excited that they've pulled this off (see articles in Huffington Post where operatives use Ebola to lie about "cuts.")

 http://www.cbsnews.com/news/department-of-homeland-security-gets-a-bad-grade-for-pandemic-readiness/

---------------------

We've let Ebola push all the Obama scandals to the back burner, much to the delight and encouragement of his team, so let's review what really happened in Fast and Furious.

 http://sharylattkisson.com/20-examples-of-the-violent-legacy-of-fast-and-furious

Record cold in South Carolina

Global warming is natural and has been taking place the last 8,000 years or so; that said, there are so many things individuals, organizations, non-profits and the local, state, and federal government can do to preserve the best and enhance the rest without damaging cultures and nature. Unfortunately, it has become a political battle and a war for profits as investors and utilities chase the latest windmill and solar panel. The gulf between gain and truth seems to be getting wider.

http://www.drroyspencer.com/2014/11/earliest-snow-in-columbia-sc/

Why Democrats talk about gaps instead of consumption

This is why the Democrats have to talk about a gap rather than quality of life and consumption.

1. The typical poor household, AS DEFINED BY THE GOVERNMENT, has a car and air conditioning, two color televisions, cable or satellite TV, a DVD player, and a VCR. If there are children, especially boys, the family has a game system, such as an Xbox or PlayStation.

2.  In the kitchen, the household has a refrigerator, an oven and stove, and a microwave. Other household conveniences include a clothes washer, clothes dryer, ceiling fans, a cordless phone, and a coffee maker.

3.  The home of the typical poor family is in good repair and is not overcrowded. In fact, the typical average poor American has more living space in his home than the average (non-poor) European has.

4.  By its own report, the typical poor family was not hungry, was able to obtain medical care when needed, and had sufficient funds during the past year to meet all essential needs.

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/07/what-is-poverty

The Christmas drawing

Our niece Joan who is a year older than our daughter has 8 grandchildren, and one of the moms has already posted who buys for whom at Christmas.  She’s going shopping. It’s arranged so siblings don’t get each others’ name.

Arielle BUYS FOR Jaxon.
Bella BUYS FOR Hallie.
Brody BUYS FOR Taylor.
Taylor BUYS FOR Brody.
Anthony BUYS FOR Arielle.
Hallie BUYS FOR Bella.
Kali BUYS FOR Anthony.
Jaxon BUYS FOR Kali.

I’ve got to say, I’m impressed with her organization.

Pathetic Democrat campaign tactics

It's just stunning that in the 2014 election all the Democrats have in their tool box of lies is equal pay for equal work for women (1963 law) and the myth that Republicans will return blacks to slavery and Jim Crow, when Democrats control all the major cities with the highest black unemployment, and we've had a black president for 6 years and a higher black voting rate than whites.

Democrats, instead of just saying, I’m not happy with Obama’s record, will lie that voting with him 97% doesn’t mean they approve, or they pretend ignorance, or they make outrageous statements like the female Senator from Louisiana a state that had a female governor during the Katrina disaster, that southerners don’t like women and blacks therefore she’s in a tough race.  Louisiana also has a minority governor at this time. She’s desperate to separate herself from Obama, so she just makes things up.

The Walker vs. Burke race in Wisconsin—most important in nation

I hope he wins. If he can turn Wisconsin from the steep left going over a cliff, any governor should be able to learn from him. It may be the most important election in the nation on Tuesday. Unions are going all out to defeat him. And that's BIG money. The academics are going crazy with fear that their reign of terror over students could be challenged. Walker has something very few Republicans have--a backbone (you thought I would use a different word, admit it).

http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/102914-724074-unions-seek-to-oust-wisconsins-walker-for-daring-to-stand-up-to-them.htm

The reality is that Wisconsin has made a remarkable comeback in four years. The $3.6 billion budget deficit Walker inherited is now a surplus. Property and income taxes have been cut by $2 billion — for everyone. Jobs have come back, and the unemployment rate is down to 5.6% from 7.7% when he entered office.

How liberals respond to a discussion on “mercy” killings.

The Righteous Mind; why liberals and conservatives can’t get along

Wharton professor Philip Tetlock recently spoke with Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind.

Close ties, state universities and federal government

How dependent are state universities on the federal government?  In September 2014, Ohio State University received 185 grants totaling over $39 million.