This past April, on the last day of the legislative session, the Hawaii House of Representatives voted 31–20 in favor of HB 444, a controversial measure creating civil unions. This week, Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle replied with a veto of the bill. She states, “I have been open and consistent in my opposition to same gender marriage and find that HB 444 is essentially marriage by another name.” In her public statement, Lingle also points out that the last-minute vote by legislators represents a “flawed” legal process: The legislative maneuvering …
Rather than being inevitable cesspools of crime and sin,” says Howard Husock of the Manhattan Institute, “cities are, rather, the key foundations of prosperity and economic dynamism, the places where social and economic freedom [take] root and bear fruit.” Husock joined a panel at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in DC—“Saving Freedom in Urban Centers”—where panelists discussed conservative solutions to inner city challenges such as poverty, crime and education. The solutions focused on the need to restore human dignity and empower individuals by encouraging personal responsibility through relationships. …
The recidivism rate among ex-offenders in the U.S. is massive—upwards of 67 percent. Helping former inmates find and keep a steady job is crucial to bringing this number down. That’s what makes an article that ran in the Washington Post this past weekend so interesting. Michelle Singletary is a Personal Finance Columnist who runs the “Color of Money Challenge.” In past years, Singletary has used her writing and personal finance skills to both work with and share the story of unemployed individuals and struggling military families, but this year she …
A new report -The 2009 “State of our Unions”- out of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and the Institute for American Values, reports that divorce fell during the first full year of the Great Recession, the first annual dip since 2005. “Tough times foster real family solidarity and encourage many couples to stick together,” says UVA sociology professor W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project. “Many couples are rediscovering the longstanding sociological truth that marriage is one of society’s best social insurance plans.”
Youth violence, substance abuse, homelessness, and deteriorating neighborhoods ravage both low-income communities and prosperous suburbs alike. There is a great need to explore both the root causes of these problems and their effective solutions. The Bob Woodson Show—“What Works and Why”—premiered yesterday with this very aim. Focusing on solutions to some of America’s most troubling societal problems, each week the show provides examples of effective solutions, and special guests provide first-hand testimonies as to how their lives or neighborhoods have been changed for the better. Host Bob Woodson then directs …
