All posts by Wintery Knight

https://winteryknight.com/

British tax and benefit system favors single parents over married couples

ECM found this article by Carolyn Moynihan on MercatorNet.

Excerpt:

An analysis of 98 couples with different earnings and numbers of children carried out by the charity Care showed that 76 of the couples would be better off if they split up and claimed welfare benefits that average £8007. Increasingly it is middle-income families where both parents work that suffer this “couple penalty”.

[…]Many do stay single — but they have children anyway, which entitles them to tax credits that take account of only one working adult per household.

Last year Labour MP Frank Field calculated that a single mother on the minimum wage with two children under eleven would get a weekly income of £487 if she worked 16 hours a week. A two-parent family with one earner would have to put in 116 hours of work on the same pay to get the same money.

It would be a poor sort of marriage that could break under the “pressure” of the partners receiving less in the way of tax breaks than the solo mum down the road (who has other disadvantages, to be sure) — as the Daily Mail suggests — but the messages being sent out are certainly not supportive of marriage as the best environment for children growing up.

The Conservative Party has promised to give back tax breaks to married couples.

This is how big government discourages marriage. The left-wing parties get elected by promising to help the poor. They help the poor by confiscating the wealth from married couples and giving it to single mothers. People see this wealth redistribution, and they stop marrying in order to get more money for doing less work. The children suffer from being raised without a father. This is called “compassion”.

Christians! Stop being ignorant! If you want to do some good in the world, do it with your own money. Don’t give it to a secular government who will try to solve the problem without any awareness of the moral law or human nature. Secular-left elites can’t solve social problems because they have no wisdom. Solve the problem yourself!

Michele Bachmann needs help raising funds for her next campaign

Representative Michele Bachmann
Representative Michele Bachmann

Commenter James notified me that the Democrats have made the lovely Michele Bachmann their number one target! Please, I’m begging you all – considering sending Michele a small donation. She is my favorite House Representative. And not just because she’s the prettiest. Or because she’s the smartest. Or because she loves children the most. It’s because she loves Christian apologetics, social conservatism AND free market capitalism. She’s perfect!

You can view some videos of her passionate, articulate speeches here if you need convincing.

Here’s the full text of appeal for contributions:

Dear Friend:

Last month, I appeared on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News Channel. I was talking about the Democrats’ latest scheme to pick the taxpayer’s pocket to pay for a $1.5-billion slush fund for ACORN.Before getting into the meat of this terrible new anti-taxpayer proposal, Sean Hannity said that he considers me “the second most hated Republican woman,” second only to Governor Sarah Palin.

With Governor Palin taking a well-deserved step out of the spotlight, it appears that I may be absorbing even more of the liberals’ scorn.And, I’d really appreciate your support so that I can defend myself against their attacks.

I’m out there every day speaking the truth about their attempts to guide this nation into socialism:

  • Their government-run health care proposal that will put government bureaucrats in between you and your doctor and end up rationing care — and the most vulnerable will suffer first and most.
  • Their cap-and-trade national energy tax that will drive up energy costs for every American and send our jobs overseas.
  • Their spending spree that has pushed the national budget deficit over the $1 trillion mark for the first time in our history. We’re already closing in on $2 trillion and there’s no end in sight to their spending.
  • Their dozens of White House czars with power over your lives and futures and absolutely no accountability to Congress or the people.
  • And, speaking of unaccountable — when are they going to open up the Fed’s books to the public?
  • Their political patronage to groups like ACORN — doling out billions of your tax dollars and partnering with them to collect your private information for the Census.

But just as they did with Sarah Palin, the more I talk about the issues, the more they attack with below-the-belt personal hits. In fact, yesterday, a Minnesota paper gave a full column to a hit piece on one of my kids!

Can you help me to defend against these attacks? Click here to make a donation!

I’ll tell you the truth: Their sticks and stones will not stop me from going out and speaking the truth about their bad policies! And, your support really helps!God bless and thank you for your support.

Sincerely,
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann

Please help her out if you can! There is no one else like her!

MUST-LISTEN: Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse explains basic economics!

Wow, I thought that her earlier podcast on marriage and family was good.

This new podcast is a MUST for social-conservatives who nevertheless like big government, taxing the rich, public schools, and single-payer health care. I listened to this twice already, and it’s going to become one of my favorites for sure!

The MP3 file is here.

Topics:

  • The study of economics is anti-postmodern – there is objective truth independent of what people think
  • The study of economics believes in fixed principles of human nature
  • Economics studies the allocation of scarce resources that have alternative uses
  • Economics studies how people exchange resources
  • How both people who engage in a voluntary trade always believe that they will be better off
  • How both people who engage in a voluntary trade both benefit from the exchange
  • How incentives motivate people to act
  • Understanding supply and demand
  • Understanding how “free” government services are rationed
  • Understanding opportunity costs
  • How prices signal producers to produce more or less, and consumers to buy or not buy
  • Market-driven prices versus price controls
  • The role of substitution
  • The necessity of allowing failure in a free market

The requirements of economic growth:

  • private property
  • contracts
  • the profit motive
  • competition
  • free trade
  • entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation
  • the rule of law

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST. REPEAT.

The Ruth Institute accepts donations. I sent her TWO already this year. She does on-campus events, just like William Lane Craig. If you want to have an impact on the university, she should be considered for funding.

You can find more economics lectures at the Acton Institute.