... is doing her part to prevent negative consequences and doing the best thing possible to ensure they wait until they can handle the responsibility of a child before having one.

"Teach America to wait until they can handle the responsibility of a family or a child before they have one, OR, limit the program to bare necessities. I have two children of my own and one more on the way. THings are VERY tight for us, but I am not asking for a handout. I have taken on another job or cut my cable and food bill and heat bill, because I am an American that chooses to provide for myself. Someone needs to reteach Georgia that we aren't a handout state. Save your tax dollars there. Teach Georgians what it means to be responsible...what it means to have high values for yourself. "

I'd love to live in a world where people reach certain levels in life, and stay there no matter what else happens in the world. I truly wish that world exists. Unfortunately, it does not. We live in a world where someone can have reached a point of relative comfort from their hard work and sacrifice, where they are more ready to have children than most people who successfully raise a family, and then suddenly lose it all because of events beyond their control. It could be an economic downturn of epic proportions precipitated by a housing market sent into overdrive from excessively loose credit, it could be the death of a family member (such as the typical "breadwinner"), or it could be spiraling out of control medical bills which lead to bankruptcy. I've seen all three of those examples cut down responsible, hardworking families who had managed to "make it". No one is immune, no one is safe, and not everyone has family that can save them from being lowered to "asking for a handout".

You might deem it noble to cut and cut and cut without asking for help from anyone, and indeed, that is the characteristic of a proud person who wants to ensure their own independence in all things. Some people, however, do not have that. That is not something that is merely learned-- that is a trait that is ingrained through unique life experiences; experiences that are not common to all. I, for my own part, am single with no children. However, if I were a parent, and the choice came between not taking a handout and providing a balanced nutritious diet for my children, I'd grovel at the feet of any man anywhere to ensure my children did not suffer from malnourishment. I'd do this for any number of social scientific, biological or economic reasons-- but I'd do it first and foremost because I wouldn't want any child to suffer for the sake of my pride.

You probably don't make that choice, and can provide balanced, nutritious meals for your children by cutting the fat in other places. But not everyone is in a position to do so-- Georgia is suffering from serious unemployment problems, not everyone CAN get two jobs in a way that doesn't end up with them essentially working so that they can have enough money to continue working. When I worked at a factory, I saw lots of hard-working folks working two or even three jobs, that were working essentially so they could make just enough money to pay for the bare basics (forget cable TV, some of them didn't even have a phone, and had to call relatives or friends living nearby in order to reach home in case of emergency) for them and theirs and pay for their car so they could get to work, with nothing left to save.

"The National Guard isn't used to "build roads." That's the DoT. The National Guard has been primarily tasked with training Afghan and Iraqi forces to take charge of their own security so we can, as you suggest, bring our troops home and cease with the "nation building.""

My hardworking friend in the Army Corps of Engineers would disagree. The military, both national guard and all branches of the nation's military have many individuals hard at work at rebuilding operations in Iraq, from roads to water purification (another thing desperately needed here in Georgia, particularly Carrollton). To deny this is to deny their service to this country.

"But, obviously, this process takes time. To pull our troops - active, reserve and guard alike - out prematurely would create a vacuum of power and organization whereby corruption and evil could once again take control of those countries and continue to pose a threat to the rest of the free world - thereby making our efforts there for the past decade completely moot. It's an investment well worth the tax payers' dollars."

There is already corruption and evil taking root there even with the soldiers there. The military is not a social engineering organization, they cannot make people behave themselves. They are there to do a job of providing security while rebuilding the nations they are in; the job of ensuring their governments don't turn into liquid defecation is the purview of the civilian sector, primarily that of the State Department. And even then, that's a question of attempting to persuade people in their government that it's in their own best interest to not listen to Iran's agents. Additionally, sunk costs are exactly that-- sunk. You can't get them back. The hundreds of millions of dollars that are still unaccounted for in Iraq are pretty much lost forever; we can't get them back by spending more money there, but we can keep from losing more there in the future.

"Beyond that, the Georgia National Guard is primarily funded through federal, not state, tax dollars. In fact, the Georgia Guard contributes millions MORE in revenue to the state than it takes. "

Point taken, though, with all those men and women deployed overseas, they probably aren't paying state income taxes (as I recall, taxes on salary earned while deployed are waived during deployments), and they definitely are not paying sales taxes.

"I agree with the previous comment on leaving our troops there and not coming home until the task is finished. How do you want to look to the rest of the world?"

This is crunch time, boss-- we have a choice to make. We can worry about our country first, or we can worry about what other countries say about us behind out backs at the U.N. lunchroom, like geopolitics is some kind of damn high school drama. Georgia roads are looking like Alabama roads, and our state government's trying to make our schools even low-rated. You might want to impress some European Socialist hippies, but I'm worried about saving our country, and more specifically, our state.

"Second of all, why not change how welfare programs are run. People should be allowed to have welfare if needed and not just becaus they had an extra child."

I'm certain your scholarship in the field of welfare benefits is top-notch, but I'm somewhat dubious of talking points that assume that getting any kind of "welfare" is easy. Ever tried getting food stamps even while making half the poverty level? Damn near impossible, in my experience working in the private sector from before I came to college. And it's not because the standards for getting it are difficult to meet for a working person, but that the bureaucracy is arcane and not something I can see too many people navigating with ease. The few people I've met in this life who have managed to get any kind of welfare from this state were people who were in desperate need of it, didn't get nearly enough to cover their needs (let alone get a bunch of awesome freebees), and were kicked off of it at the State's earliest convenience for missing the slightest bureaucratic hoop.

"For that matter, I don't want my tax dollars going to pay for some young girl's monthly depo shot."

I wouldn't, either-- that's just stupid AND unhealthy, as Depo-Provera is a three-month shot. Anyone getting it more frequently than that runs serious health risks and should consult their doctor. Eh, but if I were someone concerned about "welfare mommas" sucking up all their taxes with excess babies, I think a $30 every 3 months to prevent said babies would be more than sensible, especially since on the aggregate, you'd probably pay less than a fraction of a cent in taxes each year to give every female on welfare in the state a depo shot.

"Actions bring rewards or consequences. Teach America to wait until they can handle the responsibility of a family or a child before they have one, OR, limit the program to bare necessities."

I'd say a woman getting a depo shot to prevent unwanted pregnancy is doing her part to prevent negative consequences and doing the best thing possible to ensure they wait until they can handle the responsibility of a child before having one.

"Teach America to wait until they can handle the responsibility of a family or a child before they have one, OR, limit the program to bare necessities. I have two children of my own and one more on the way. THings are VERY tight for us, but I am not asking for a handout. I have taken on another job or cut my cable and food bill and heat bill, because I am an American that chooses to provide for myself. Someone needs to reteach Georgia that we aren't a handout state. Save your tax dollars there. Teach Georgians what it means to be responsible...what it means to have high values for yourself. "

I'd love to live in a world where people reach certain levels in life, and stay there no matter what else happens in the world. I truly wish that world exists. Unfortunately, it does not. We live in a world where someone can have reached a point of relative comfort from their hard work and sacrifice, where they are more ready to have children than most people who successfully raise a family, and then suddenly lose it all because of events beyond their control. It could be an economic downturn of epic proportions precipitated by a housing market sent into overdrive from excessively loose credit, it could be the death of a family member (such as the typical "breadwinner"), or it could be spiraling out of control medical bills which lead to bankruptcy. I've seen all three of those examples cut down responsible, hardworking families who had managed to "make it". No one is immune, no one is safe, and not everyone has family that can save them from being lowered to "asking for a handout".

You might deem it noble to cut and cut and cut without asking for help from anyone, and indeed, that is the characteristic of a proud person who wants to ensure their own independence in all things. Some people, however, do not have that. That is not something that is merely learned-- that is a trait that is ingrained through unique life experiences; experiences that are not common to all. I, for my own part, am single with no children. However, if I were a parent, and the choice came between not taking a handout and providing a balanced nutritious diet for my children, I'd grovel at the feet of any man anywhere to ensure my children did not suffer from malnourishment. I'd do this for any number of social scientific, biological or economic reasons-- but I'd do it first and foremost because I wouldn't want any child to suffer for the sake of my pride.

You probably don't make that choice, and can provide balanced, nutritious meals for your children by cutting the fat in other places. But not everyone is in a position to do so-- Georgia is suffering from serious unemployment problems, not everyone CAN get two jobs in a way that doesn't end up with them essentially working so that they can have enough money to continue working. When I worked at a factory, I saw lots of hard-working folks working two or even three jobs, that were working essentially so they could make just enough money to pay for the bare basics (forget cable TV, some of them didn't even have a phone, and had to call relatives or friends living nearby in order to reach home in case of emergency) for them and theirs and pay for their car so they could get to work, with nothing left to save.