Comments about ‘A letter to President-elect Obama’

What a horrible idea to give breeders an extra vote.

As if these parasites aren't using the political process enough already to loot the rest of us who pull our own weight.

Richard,

I suspect you wrote a similar note when Bush was elected. If not, why?

Oh yes and I'm sure his proud history of drug use is also a great example to the children. And his current drug use (tobacco) also.

I too admire obamas' personal situation, and his commitment to education and especially personal responsibility. But this responsibility applies to and can come from one and all, regardless of their situation. We don't have to use government power to favour the utah view of family only, that being the requisite dad with subservient mom(s) and a mess of bratty, overentitled kids. Empower the family? Ok, but that included blended,mixed, single parent and maybe even gay families. Even non religious ones. And this should be about people, not some insane crusade to give huge tax breaks for more kids or to sterilise prime time tv. Personal responsibility starts at home, so practice your own birth control and censorship.

Fine letter until this...

"Give every parent of minors one extra vote in all elections so that children have a voice and so that with the additional responsibility of parenting comes additional power at the ballot box."

Are you kidding me? That is the most asinine proposal I have ever heard - aside from its obvious unconstitutionality.

Is it the season of the year that brings out all the nuts.

How about instead of looking for government to solve your problems, which it rarely does. How about you start advocating this yourself? Or, how about you work within your community to encourage stronger families so that crime rates drop, education rates rise, and all of the other benefits that come from strong families?

I have a hard time finding anything that the government has implemented that actually works. Even the government barely works as it is, and we expect them to fix our homes?

Ahhh, the child-worship! It burns!
How about focusing on retaining the rights and responsibilities of adulthood so childhood is something worth getting through? Let childhood take care of itself.

The letter started out so nice. Then it went crazy. If you look at Utah's financial situation the problem is too many children (many dependents per tax payer). Clearly additional tax deductions for children is not the solution, however eliminating the deductions for children in excess of two (or completely) might be. One of Obama's examples is a two-child household where there are enough parents to give individual attention to each child. I didn't see that mentioned. The other main idea Obama should pursue is promoting gay marriage and adoption to make all families equal under the law so that children are protected when horrible things like death and divorce happen.

What did the traditional family ever do to you? Good grief! Having several children is the best way to make sure they AREN'T over entitled or bratty. Having one or two makes it very difficult to not spoil them. As for subservient moms - HA HA HA ROFLOL!!!!!! Do you really know any stay at home moms? Because I am one, and I know many more, and I don't know any who are subservient. I do know plenty who are in charge of the family finances, who contribute to the family budget in too many ways to count, with degrees and skills who've made the hard choice that their children are more important than a new car, for now. Nobody made them stay home, or have kids, or do anything else, they WANT to do it. Our husbands treat us as equals, and consult US before they spend money or schedule their vacation days or whatever. When finances force moms to go to work, that's the sacrifice, because they truly want to be home for their families.

And no, I don't agree with just about anything in the article. Government, just leave me alone - I don't want the village.

A cabinet level person for families??!?? That would be the WORST thing for families! The first thing Obama would do is redefine the family and use this person to promote homosexual and "alternative" life styles. It would stick the government into the family, thus sealing it's demise.

The last thing true conservatives need are so-called "family friendly" neo-conservatives proposing more government to "solve" problems for the family. This is kinda like the neo-conservatives wanting vouchers for private schools. The best way to ruin private schools is to give them government money (and the regs that this money will bring).

The constitution will hang by a single thread, so they say. If so, this guy Eyre is swinging a machete at it.

"I don't mind carrying you but get your spurs out of my back:" comes to mind. Don't have kids you can't afford. Parenting isn't an entitlement program. What happened to "equal justice under our laws?"

I'm not like many who have devalued marriage. I never bent to external cultural pressures to marry. I've seen the results of people making bad choices. Half of marriages fail. There's open marriages. Sure, I'm descended from three generations of LDS polygamous. In my values system, arriage is between two consenting adults.

I never found a person I could commit to marrying. Why should I pay your tab because I was responsible?

To Anonymous @ 2:18pm:

Socialism is only socialism until its called a "tax break". Many people, especially here in Utah, have large families beyond their means, but the real problem is how exponential our population growth is. At some point, we are going to have to stop granting tax benefits to those who have children beyond their means. There is not enough room on this planet for the 6 billion we have now, let alone the 12 billion we'll have in a couple generations.

I'm scared to think of what our society will be like in a few decades. There is no happy ending in our future unless we do something serious now.

For my own part, I'm not going to have children. If I want a child, I will adopt. And only will I adopt when I can financially afford to support myself and a child. The article complains about parents not being there for children--could it be that they don't make enough and therefore need to work long hours just to make ends meet?

Boy I'm glad you never got to be Governor, Eyer.

What will bring the family back is: To get the government out of every aspect of our lives, stop welfare, medicaid, social security, taxes on everything, user fees, get rid of the Education Department, let parents actually parent their kids without worrying who will rat them out, let the schools actually punish bad behavior, work to overturn the cult of victimhood that crawls through our whole society, tell people no, don't bail out banks, insurance companies, car companies. Let the market decide their fate and that will force them to adapt, let god back into the classroom and public life.

There are many other things I could suggest, but I don't have enough space.

Boyd | 3:17 p.m. The Utah I grew up in was crime free. The village raised all the children. My parents knew the neighbors. We could play in the streets. If you fell on you bike neighbors called your parents. I miss the village concept. It's reviled in Utah today.

SLC was clean. There was no inversion layer. Main Street was wonderful. Main street in SLC during Christmas was so all American. It was a monument to the common man. It was welcoming to all. It was the center of Utah.

Then, Utah was for Utahans. Utahans didn't mind the strange factor. Utahans weren't trying to be everything to anybody. Utahans wee happy being a unique people with a regional favor. We liked our chips from Clover Club not Lays.

Hillary co-opted the village concept, which is why it's reviled today. Nobody minds a real village helping to look out for each others children. Her concept was the village as the government - and that deserves reviling. Government education, healthcare, day care, social services, you name it she thought the government could do it better and therefore ought to do so, with government employees overseeing parents to make sure they were doing it right.

Wonderful article!!! I agree whole-heartedly. The Obamas and their children speak volumes for family and family values. Thank you so much for speaking up . . . . . I hope that this articles gets sent directly to Mr. Obama . . . please, Deseret News, send it on its way!