Campaigns and the "M" word - 3/07

[Smartmarriages]

- TOO MANY DADDIES NOT ACTING LIKE DADDIES
- MARRIAGE KEY TO A BETTER BRITAIN, SAYS CAMERON

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- TOO MANY DADDIES NOT ACTING LIKE DADDIES

Hey Diane, 
You told us to listen for presidential candidates that use the "M" word.  Do
you give Obama any points for his call for "responsible fatherhood" in his
speech Sunday at Selma?
Dwayne

Well, I was thinking about that as I listened.  It wasn't the "M" word
though I allow that he did weave marriage in ­ he talked about how his wife
was able to stay home with the kids as he was doing the demanding work of
running for office.  That does make the point of the importance to kids of a
married, two-parent family.

Keep listening and please send me what you find. EVEN BETTER, WRITE the
candidates and tell them we are listening.  And, maybe send them the example
Cameron is setting across the pond.  I must admit he makes me envious. -
diane  

For those of you that missed it here's the reference:

> We have too many children in poverty in this country and everybody should be
> ashamed, but don't tell me it doesn't have a little to do with the fact that
> we got too many daddies not acting like daddies. Don't think that fatherhood
> ends at conception. I know something about that because my father wasn't
> around when I was young and I struggled.
> 
> Those of you who read my book know. I went through some difficult times. I
> know what it means when you don't have a strong male figure in the house,
> which is why the hardest thing about me being in politics sometimes is not
> being home as much as I'd like and I'm just blessed that I've got such a
> wonderful wife at home to hold things together. Don't tell me that we can't do
> better by our children, that we can't take more responsibility for making sure
> we're instilling in them the values and the ideals that the Moses generation
> taught us about sacrifice and dignity and honesty and hard work and discipline
> and self-sacrifice. That comes from us. We've got to transmit that to the next
> generation  . . .

For the full speech:
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/03/04/selma_voting_rights_march_comm.php

###############################
- MARRIAGE KEY TO A BETTER BRITAIN, SAYS CAMERON
Marriage Tax-break Vow to Rally
Mar 5 2007
Martin Shipton, Western Mail


> ³I think it¹s time we recognised that family breakdown is the central factor
> in the social breakdown we see in our country today.² . . .
> 
> At the party¹s main conference in Bournemouth last October, he said, ³There¹s
> something special about marriage.
> 
> ³It¹s not about religion. It¹s not about morality. It¹s about commitment. . .
> 
> He was yesterday unapologetic about its centrality to his agenda. . .
> 
> In addition to his proposals for more favourable taxation terms for married
> couples, Mr Cameron also wants businesses to make allowances for parents.
> 
> And he advocated punishing fathers who abandon their family responsibilities
> with the ³full force of shame².

A CULTURE change in favour of marriage is needed to save the UK from
complete social breakdown, the Conservative leader David Cameron warned
yesterday.

Speaking at the Welsh Conservative conference in Cardiff, the Tory leader
said that problems of crime, violence and poverty could only be solved
through placing greater emphasis on the importance of marriage.

His views last night received a cautious welcome from church leaders and
family groups, along with a warning that solving anti-social behaviour would
not be as simple as increasing matrimony rates.

Mr Cameron said married couples were far more likely to remain together,
providing a stable base for bringing up children, and repeated his
willingness to use tax incentives to make a formal union more attractive
than cohabiting.

³This is not about saying that single parents do a bad job,² he said.

³They do the hardest job in the world. It is simply saying that kids do best
when mum and dad are both there for them.

³And we should not ignore one compelling fact. Nearly one in two cohabiting
parents split up before their child¹s fifth birthday. The figure for married
couples is one in 12.

³That is why we support marriage and, yes, we should back it with the tax
system.²

Education Secretary Alan Johnson last week said politicians should deal with
child welfare, not the status of the parents¹ relationship, after Mr Cameron
called for tax breaks for married couples.

Tony Blair said the argument about ³marriage versus lone parents² was not
enough to address gun and gang culture.

But Mr Cameron said he was not concerned by criticism of his decision to
herald marriage as the best cure for social problems.

³We are fighting to support our families with child care and more flexible
working opportunities and with a commitment to marriage as the central
institution in a strong society,² he said.

³You know and I know and everyone out there knows that the big argument in
British politics today is about our society.

³Because it¹s not economic breakdown that Britain faces today, but social
breakdown.

³I think it¹s time we recognised that family breakdown is the central factor
in the social breakdown we see in our country today.²

Marriage has been a key theme in several of the Conservative leader¹s
addresses since he assumed the role in December 2005.

At the party¹s main conference in Bournemouth last October, he said,
³There¹s something special about marriage.

³It¹s not about religion. It¹s not about morality. It¹s about commitment.

³When you stand up there, in front of your friends and your family, in front
of the world, whether it¹s in a church or anywhere else, what you¹re doing
really means something.²

He was yesterday unapologetic about its centrality to his agenda.

³Some people say it¹s wrong to single out marriage in this way,² he told
party activists in Sophia Gardens.

³I don¹t care. The evidence is there and we need to support it.²

The Conservative leader¹s continued promotion of marriage may be seen as a
risky strategy after John Major¹s 1993 family-friendly Back To Basics
campaign backfired amid allegations of sleaze.

In addition to his proposals for more favourable taxation terms for married
couples, Mr Cameron also wants businesses to make allowances for parents.

And he advocated punishing fathers who abandon their family responsibilities
with the ³full force of shame².

But the Rev Aled Edwards, chief executive of the church group Cytun, said a
focus on marriage should form only part of a wider package to help young
people, while the Rev John Owen, the Catholic chaplain of Cardiff
University, said although marriage played a key role in creating stability,
in many cases the reality was very different to what he called Mr Cameron¹s
³idealised² view.

Katrina Williams, of Children in Wales, said, ³It¹s not as simple as the
legality of marriage. It¹s all to do with the quality of relationships.²

The speech provoked criticism from Labour for what it said was a lack of
consistency in the Conservative position on tax breaks.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms said, ³The Tories are now
clearly in total confusion on tax breaks for married couples.

³With every day that passes, David Cameron¹s commitment on tax breaks for
marriage unravels further.²

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