Brain Trust - Hunter Baker

Dr. Hunter Baker is the Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences at Union University and author of The End of Secularism. On the Matt Friedeman Show he talked about - among other things - Obama's recent press conference, the GOP presidential field, and same-sex marriage in New York.

It seems like Obama really knows how to say one thing, and reality is the other direction.

One thing that's kind of strange about him, really, was that he was elected to the presidency as a transformational leader.

This debt crisis is his opportunity to transform American. This is not the opportunity he wanted.

And that's why he's frustrated at this press conference?

That's exactly right.

These are not the times he wanted.

Tell me about the state of the Republican presidential field.

Well, I've been looking over it, and it's not terribly encouraging.

Unless Rick Perry gets in, it seems like Romney will win by following the normal Republican pattern.

Romney might actually be the best chance to beat Obama.

The only way we're going to win is to bring over independents, as happened in the last election.

I think that Romney might be the kind of guy who will appeal to independents.

I think a lot of people would say that Republicans do better when they are conservative.

I think that logic applies when you have the right candidate.

No matter how the left tried to paint him as a scary man...it just didn't take.

He was obviously very gifted in terms of being on TV, in terms of speaking.

A candidate like Reagan through sheer force of personality and in terms of gifts was able to move the bell curve over to the right.

Obama did the same thing to the left in 2008.

So you think it's more personality than positions?

I think so.

The tendency is to elect the politician who is most well liked.

It's happy for us when the best person is also the person most well liked.

Romney is all over the map on positions. I think a lot of conservatives would say, "I don't think so."

I'm very concerned about that myself.

At this point, I'm not sure Romney is who I'd vote for in the primary, but I'd go that direction in a hurry if my only other choice was the form of statism that we have right now.

Does Romney have a stable, steady sort of Reaganite record? No.

Basically a person displaying an unalloyed Reaganism would never get elected in Massachusetts.

Does that make him opportunistic? Yes.

Can congress meet the moral imperative of this debt problem?

There is a moral hazard inherent in holding public office.

That moral hazard is the incentive to just do enough to get by.

Unfortunately we have had that sort of logic in work in Congress, and really in the presidency for  a long time now.

The problem has grown to epic proportions.

And now we have come to the unthinkable which is running trillion dollar deficits...and still nothing has been done.

You see what happens when politicians do try to solve the problem.

We need statesmen who need to solve the problems.

What the significance of same-sex marriage being legalized in New York?

I'll give you the silver living, at least it happened by democratic means instead of by judicial fiat.

If the courts do not take this in their own hands.

You might remember that Roe. V. Wade happened in the wake of New York legalizing abortion.

If this does happen, it needs to be through democratic means. We do not need to have the court imposing this.

Is it likely to spread, especially in the northeast? I would say that's very likely.

Do people have a problem with conservative women?

Absolutely.

Democrats rely on women to vote for them.

If someone like Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann was viewed favorably by women en masse, it would cause trouble for Democrats.

Brain Trust - Katie Pavlich

Katie Pavlich, news editor for Townhall.com, on the Matt Friedeman Show, talked up current political events, especially Bachmann news.


Bachmann neck and neck with Romney in Iowa. Is this a shock?

I don't think this is a shock.

The grassroots is really what matters, so yes, money wins elections, but grassroots support also wins election.

It seems like Bachmann is doing everything right.

I think people will get another feel for her.

I think she will continue to surge.

Do you think she actually has a shot at winning?

Obviously it depends on who gets into the race.

I do think that she'll do well going forward.

She has a doctorate degree in federal tax law, and she's for small government.

Put yourself in Bachmann's shoes. When Wallace asked her if she was a flake, how would you respond?

I thought the way that he treated her in that interview was pretty disrespectful.

I felt like that was something he wouldn't have asked Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich.

Hopefully next time he can refrain from using that kind of language.

What should Bachmann learn from Palin and the media?

She said that she understands how this works.

She said she understands that she will be scrutinized. And I think that's a good thing.

We get to see a well-rounded view of issues in the background, unlike the president we have now.

Do conservative women get the shaft?

Oh absolutely. I  think there's a definite double-standard there.

It's just a reality we all deal with it.

Jon Stewart made a claim that Fox News viewers were moronic.

Jon Stewart tried to go on Fox News and say that all the polls showed fox News viewers were the most uninformed.

Politifact, a Pullitzer winning website actually showed that Fox News viewers were the most informed.

It's pretty interesting.

In the interview, Stewart wasn't even challenged on his claim.

I don't know if Chris Wallace just didn't have all the data or what.

I don't know if Jon Stewart will accept that data or not.

We've found out that Pelosi feels left out of the debt talks.

I don't think it's necessary for her to be in the debt talks.

I think that she really wants that gavel back, and I think she feels kind of left out.

What's the impact of the news about Hugo Chavez being in critical condition?

I personally think if he passed on, it wouldn't be the worst thing for the people of Venezuela.

I'm not really sure what would happen if he passed on.

"We need to make messages about marriage as ubiquitous as messages about smoking."

Chuck Donovan is a Senior Research Fellow for the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at the Heritage Foundation. Donovan has authored A Marshall plan for Marriage, examining how marriage in America can be saved.


How troubled is marriage in the United States?

Well, Matt, it's approaching a breaking point, really.

We have a 41% out-of-wedlock birth rate.

As you know there are campaigns underway to redefine marriage.

I went back and looked at the last 40 years of European marriage....I had trouble finding even a half dozen years where out-of-wedlock births went down.

We're on the verge of giving up.

How dangerous is it if we give up?

All the data and research shows that couples themselves suffer when there is not a stable support for marriage.

We have replaced marriage as an institution with marriage as an idea a rotating search for a soul mate.

What we've added to the mix is the cohabitation.

Unfortunately, in 40% of those instances, there are children in the homes.

Those children don't show up in the divorce statistics, but they are in the single-parent statistics.

Can we do a better job of preparing people for marriage as the church?

Well they're doing tremendous work.

We do have a divorce rate reduction.

The government can encourage the private sector.

Why is it that we know it's a problem, but no one wants to speak out?

There's certainly an issue when talking to legislators.

There's going to have to be some pride swallowed in connection with these things.

We've gotta start using the bully pulpits.

The president speaks very clearly on fathers, on the importance of fathers.

But he doesn't speak to the importance of marriage.

What do we need to do in order to regain this issue for the country?

Well, number one we need to make messages about marriage as ubiquitous as messages about smoking.

Secondly, we need to get ride of welfare programs that penalize marriage.

We also need to encourage organizations that promote marriage.

You're hopeful?

Well, it's going to take a mammoth effort, but we look to Europe and see what will happen if we don't do anything.

Obama Afghan strategy "clearly geared toward having a victory for his radical leftist base"

Matt Barber is Director of Cultural Affairs with Liberty Counsel and also serves as Associate Dean with Liberty University School of Law. On today's Brain Trust segment, Barber talked about the president's Afghanistan strategy.

Anything that you know about the president's speech last night that changes the course of what we ought to be doing?

My problem with his whole strategy here is that it's so obviously politically based.

His plan draws down 33,000 troops by September 2012.

That's not even subtle. It's so clearly geared toward having a victory for his radical leftist base to be able to tout.

He is going completely contrary to the direction and advice of his generals and boots on the ground.

Here we're talking about a constitutional law instructor and former community organizer saying that he knows better.

The guy's arrogance and narcissism really is staggering.

If you're the president and have his economic record, wouldn't you do something this baldfaced?

Well he's gotta do something. His ratings are falling faster than MSNBC's.

He's falling faster than a shotput in a bathtub.

He has the homosexual activists. You cannot appease this homosexual activist appetite.

He's losing them. So the more he tries to throw the radical left a bone here and there, it's never enough.

It's like Jimmy Carter on steroids...everything is based on a political calculation. His move in Afghanistan is clearly, not even subtly, based on political calculation.

The Democrats say what we need is more spending, because of this debt crisis!

It's just mind-boggling. Truth is stranger than fiction. This is really surreal.

Here we are driving towards the cliff's edge, with Harry Reid and Obama driving the car. Instead of hitting the brakes, they're pressing the accelerator.

We're looking at a future in fairly short-term here that the Great Depression could pale next to.

I don't see anyone on either side of the aisle willing to do what needs to be done.

What's going on out there in the presidential sweepstakes?

This is the drama associated with the presidential primaries.

I wrote an article: Bachmann - Reagan in pumps.

Here we see that based on her performance in New Hampshire...she had jumped based on a Zogby poll to the top of the pack.

"Pro-marriage, pro-fatherhood is necessary for a healthy society at large."

Ryan Messmore is the William E. Simon fellow in religion and a free society at The Heritage Foundation. This Father's Day weekend, Messmore talked about just why fathers are so important.

Why have we had a father problem over the past few decades?

There are a lot of factors that have contributed - changes in views towards sex and marriage.

But political views have played into this as well.

The impact of fathers not being in home isn't reported like it should be in the media.

A pro-family, pro-father, pro-marriage message is the most potent factor in overcoming child poverty.

It's just astounding that this goes unreported...on the left.

Children living in intact families tend to fare better on cognitive achievement and behavioral outcomes. Fathers have a positive impact on behavior and intelligence.

Growing up, we take our cues...by watching our moms and our dads.

Just think about why every young boy wants to grow up and have the job they see their dad do.

It's having books in the home and having your children see you read.

We take our cues, we watch carefully everything our parents do.

Adolescents with more involved fathers tend to exhibit lower levels of behavioral problems. Why is it that fathers are so important to this?

I think this boils downs to some basic, fundamental differences between men and women.

We are benefited by having a nurturing, loving mom.

We're also benefited by having a father in the home.

It's so important to have a good father role model in the home, not only for the well-being of the children, not only for the well-being of the family...this is an issue of the well-being of society.

Pro-marriage, pro-fatherhood is necessary for a healthy society at large.

Why are worship and wedlock so important in raising kids?

In the absence of a married father and mother in the home, being involved in a local faith community can cover for a lot of that.

Those who are motivated to worship, tend to understand God's design for the family, for the importance of fatherhood.

The Church not only offers a vision of family, a vision of marriage, it offers resources for the family.

All those benefits are passed down to the children.

Three things a dad should start doing if he wants to have great kids.

Number one, I would say love their wives well. That sends incredible signals to the children.

Number two, spend time with your kids, read with your kids.

Number three...go to familyfacts.org and see how important fathers are.

"The mother at home is making huge economic contributions to society"

Patrick Fagan is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Research on Marriage at the Family Research Council. Fagan came on the show to discuss his new paper, The Family GDP - How Marriage and Fertility Drive the Economy.

You mentioned the breakdown of the family as a cause of the economic slowdown. Is that an overstatement?

No, it's not.

We're drawing on the research of Nobel Laureates who worked out a fair bit of this, but we're digging even deeper.

Our rate of economic growth is slowing down, which has all sorts of consequences.

Talk to us about the married parent, weekly worship and  children. How do these things flow together?

The intact family is...hands down the one that buys houses, the married family is the one that saves.

Married families are the ones that overwhelmingly pay taxes.

There's a whole lot of industry based on kids growing up.

Our average IQ is dropping over the past few generations.  A result of the breakdown of the family.

Why does worship makes a difference?

If you go  to church, you're thinking about right and wrong...you're trying to figure out how to get along with your wife and kids.

That translates into all sorts of good actions. For employers it turns into a guy who shows up for work and works hard.

Talk about the benefit of having a dependent wife at home.

The husband and wife work out how they're going to run the family economy.

Unless the married mother is earning pretty high income, the family is actually losing money.

If she's poor, the family loses money if she goes out to work.

The economic productivity of a household goes up, if the mother is at home making her contribution to the economy.

The mother at home who cooks dinner gives much more nutritious food at a much lower cost than if a family were to go out and eat.

What is the economic impact of mothers who homeschool their kids?

The mother at home raising the kids is essentially raising the long-term producers.

Let's say she raised four kids. These are four highly productive people.

Over sixty years who's making a bigger impact on the economy?

The mother at home is making huge economic contributions to society.

Last night's debate, Weiner, and the economy

Warren Smith, Associate Editor of World Magazine and member of the Matt Friedeman Show Brain Trust, on Weiner, the economy, and last night's debate.


Your perspectives on last night's debate?

Well, my perspective is that a number of them looked pretty good.

Bachmann did better for herself than most people did.

Romney was trying to not make a gaffe....I think he generally did that.

If there was a loser, I think it might have been Herman Cain.

Pawlenty had a chance to hang Obamneycare around Romney, and didn't. Is he the loser?

He's got to walk a fairly delicate tightrope right now.

Tim Pawlenty's trying to make himself seen as a non-everybody else.

If Mitt Romney's going to be knocked off the top perch, his opponents will have to go after him. Will they?

One of the thing Tim Pawlenty's facing right now is some poll numbers that nobody in New Hampshire knows about him.

I think he's going to end up on the stump in New Hampshire, in Iowa.

Was this debate too early to matter?

It is early, but it's not as early as it was.

We're now into the summer. People are beginning to start paying attention a little bit more.

This is the time when organizations, when campaigns have to get their staff in place and start raising some serious money.

Even South Carolina, which is a relatively small state, has three major media markets in it...you've got to spend some money there.

Anthony Weiner. Larger lesson to be learned here than we've got a pervert for a congressman?

One lesson we should learn here is that character matters.

Even looking at someone like Newt Gingrich here or Bill Clinton...it's character issues that ultimately bring down these great men.

Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said we've turned the economy around. Does this sort of rhetoric actually work?

Sometimes it does work. But this time I don't think it will.

If people don't really understand what's going on, that rhetoric might have an influence.

We are not out of the woods in terms of this recession. We look at these massive debts that are ballooning out of control.

I'm hopeful that the truth will win in this particular debate.

The president's saying the recovery's going to take time. By extension that means Bush is still to blame.

Why wouldn't he? If he doesn't, he'll have to accept so much of the responsibility.

I think Barack Obama is a brilliant politician. I am not, candidly, that hopeful that one of these Republicans will knock him off in this election cycle.

I think many people are seeing through what the true cause of these economic problems is.

One piece of this that is true, is that George W. Bush does share some of the blame for these massive debts.

Somebody's gotta take a long, hard look in the mirror...the American people.

"There's a sort of animal hate against her"

Today's Brain Trust interview, Jay Nordlinger, is a senior editor of National Review. The GOP debate, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, and Anthony Weiner were all on the agenda. 


What are your thoughts about the GOP debate tonight?

Well, it's a first look and a first hearing. A lot of Republicans are itching to beat Obama.

I know a lot of people on the Right side in particular...are really, really hungry to get at it.

It seems like Mitt Romney has the upperhand right now. But will the newly-minted term Obamneycare hurt him?

It seems like Governor Pawlenty was waiting to spring that one.

The electorate is pretty hot against Obama's healthcare law.

Romney could have denounced this Romneycare or chosen to defend it. He chose to defend it.

Is Texas Governor Rick Perry in? Or is he just playing the pundits?

It could be a bit of toying.

A lot of people on the Republican side think the field is too small.

These people keep demurring, so there's room.

Rick Perry is an extremely successful governor.

Perry's problem, of course, is that he's another Texas governor.

The media is going after Palin's 24,000 emails she sent as governor. Is this crazy, or what?

Nutty, crazy.

If someone found 24 of my emails, I guess I'd have to retire from life.

If this was supposed to hook or further embarrass her, I don't think it has.

What is it with them and Palin?

There's something about Sarah Palin that gets under people's skin.

There's a sort of animal hate against her.

According to establishment opinion, she has the wrong views.

She doesn't toe a line a lot of people expect her to toe.

It frustrates her that she's pro-life. It frustrates people that she went ahead and had this child with Down's Syndrome.

She seems to have a happy and loving marriage with a union man.

Hillary Clinton is a feminist, but her husband was president of the United States. I believe that Sarah Palin's husband works in the oil fields.

She bothers a good many Americans, not all of them liberal, but it would take a better psychologist than I to figure that out.

We almost made it through the whole interview without mentioning Anthony Weiner. What's your take?

I think he can weather this.

Memories are short. Certain electorates are very, very forgiving.

Bill Clinton gutted it out...the American people didn't seem to mind all the much.

His Democratic colleagues have turned on him.

I take a jaundiced views of voters, sometimes.

Judges "aren't real keen" on Obamacare

Robert Alt is a Senior Legal Fellow for the Heritage Foundation and the Deputy Director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Alt gave us his expert opinion on recent developments surrounding Obamacare.


The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on Obamacare, and the results surprised some. Why is that?

These judges aren't real keen on the idea.

The panel is sort of a mixed panel. You had one George W. Bush appointee and two Clinton appointees.

Many people thought it would be an easy win for the justice department.

But most observers thought the justice department was getting a lot of the tough questions.

What are the main issues at play here?

The government really still hasn't got a good answer to, "If the government can require you to purchase insurance on the open market, what can't they do?"

The only answer they have so far is, "The insurance market is special."

The advocates on the other side have shown that that's just not true.

The big question people have asked before is the broccoli. Can the government make you eat broccoli?

One of the things that really came through yet again on this court is the sense that government has never tried to do this before.

Is it unprecedented that policy is passed by congress, signed into law, then 26 states oppose it?

I've tried to find a situation like this, but I can't find one.

I don't recall at any point in recent memory or even in historical records that the majority of the states have marched into court to oppose a federal law.

This isn't just a couple crank attorney generals; this is half the states.

Any court that looks at this has said it's far beyond anything they've seen before.

Do you think the fact that 26 states are opposed to the law impacts the judges?

Justice is, of course, supposed to be blind.

But obviously if the government is on one side, the court may give certain weight to their arguments. But when you have more than half the states on the other side, that evens the sides out.

I think this is the case that the Supreme Court wants to hear.

If it is stopped here, that won't invalidate Obamacare?

There's no way that the government wouldn't appeal in that case.

There are often times you almost make wagers to see whether or not the Supreme Court will or won't take. This is an easy call. The Supreme court will take it.

When will we get a decision and what could happen?

You'll probably get a decision around late summer.

You're looking at three options.

One. The court upholds Obamacare as a whole.

Two. The court strikes down the individual mandate.

Or, they could uphold Vincent's decision in full and strike down the entire statute.

I think the right decision is the one Vincent made.

The question is, "Would Congress have passed the bill is the individual mandate wasn't there?"

Brain Trust - Janice Crouse

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, former Bush speechwriter, columnist, and Senior Fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute, was featured on the Matt Friedeman Show's Brain Trust segment. Dr. Crouse talked about the recent "slutwalks" that have been going on in dozens of cities.


What in the world are slutwalks?

Several months ago in Toronto, a policeman was talking to a group of students, and said they should watch how they dressed, because it could cause rape.

So they started what they called a "slutwalk".

It spread to 75, and then a 100, cities around the world are holding these demonstrations.

Feminists are using this as their new mantra.

Well my article says, no. It's not blaming the victim to say to young people that you have to be careful and not put yourself in harm's way.

I think that's good advice for all people. That doesn't mean it's a victim's fault if she's raped.

Do feminists even care about our pornifying and oversexualizing culture?

Well there's a whole group of them who do.

Any time you're sexifying, pornifying our culture, you're objectifying women.

I think a lot of people today, Matt, don't understand today's pornography.

The pornography today is not playboy and simple nudity.

Pornography today is way beyond Playboy, it's way beyond Cosmo.

Our young people right now are getting a lot of confused messages.

Anthony Weiner should resign.

He was so arrogant, he was so condescending to a reporter.

When I first came to Washington, my boss lied to me.

I just stood there astounded, because I couldn't believe he was lying, knowing that I knew he was lying.

When you have a guy like a congressman carrying on the kind of dirty talk he was carrying on.....for a congressman to carry on like that with someone....it's beyond believable.

For him to lie about it, he's lost the trust of the public.

If you're a real feminist, you think you'd stand up to this guy.

This is the thing that's so contradictory about the far Left.

Nancy Pelosi is no friend of women. Secretary Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk when it comes to protecting women.

Have feminists lost all credibility?

Young college women do not want to be identified with the feminist movement, even though they have absorbed the feminist values.

We had a huge conference of feminists not long ago....they were all older.

In contrast you go to the March for Life and find that the overwhelming majority of the people there are young people.

Brain Trust - Ken Klukowski

Ken Klukowski, co-author of Resurgent: How Constitutional Conservatism Can Save America, joined the Matt Friedeman Show to talk about his  book as well as constitutional conservatism in general.

Could you define constitutional conservatism?

Constitutional conservatism is the form of government given to us by our founding fathers.

In that document there are eight keys to constitutional government.

Is constitutional government just a the thought that the federal government should only do what it's allowed to by the Constitution?

Well that's certainly the core of that, but it's a bit broader.

It talks about the family as the most basic unit of human government.

It talks about empowering families, empowering individuals.

So I think it goes beyond just the issue of what is the role of government to what is the role of fathers, mothers, families, churches.

Could you say that the federal government is an enemy of family?

I wouldn't want to label the government as an enemy of the family.

The government is made up of individuals, and some of those individuals have been heroes for constitutional conservatism.

I would say that in general the government hasn't been kind to constitutional government.

Was there some point in our history where an accelerator was pressed that shouldn't have been?

Absolutely.

We explained in the book that government only grows when the families fail and when the churches are silent.

In the 1930's, that's where we start to take big steps away from the family.

Why isn't voting and giving money enough?

We talk about making Americans citizen activists.

And we speak in the concluding chapter about the parable of the talents.

We make the point that the talents we are given by our creator here in America - that the right to vote is one of those talents. But our right of free speech is another talent.

The Lord expects for us to earn a return on each talent he's given to us.

Why have homosexual activists been so successful?

With the secularization of American culture, they have taken it to the next step...There should be no moral judgment.

If you silence the churches, if you jettison the churches...then you cannot have moral absolutes.

Brain Trust - Guy Benson

At only 24, Guy Benson is Political Editor for Townhall.com.  He also hosts his own radio show. Benson talked about entitlements, presidential candidates, and Obama.


How long can White House get away with attacking GOP on entitlement reform without offering a plan of its own?

That's a good question.

It's very clear that's their plan at the moment. And it's not just the White House. It's the Senate Democrats too.

The White House will say, "Oh, we have an alternative. The president gave a speech in April."

But I think Republican would say, "You can't debate a speech. And you certainly can't vote on it."

Right now the Democrats' plan is (only) magic.

Why haven't Republican been pointing out that Obamacare cuts Medicare by $500 billion?

That's what Republicans need to do.

This needs to be an all hands on deck effort.

If you want to talk about ending medicare or changing Medicare as we know it, let's look at those $500 billion in cuts.

It's not just the $500 billion they cut in Obamacare. It's the math of Medicare today.

The Republican plan is the only plan on the table right now that saves Medicare.

If we continue on the same trajectory and do nothing, Medicare will become insolvent in 2024, thirteen years from now.

Could you explain the Herman Cain phenomenon?

Well I think Herman Cain is an extremely popular guy, because I think a lot of people had never heard of him.

It was just such a refreshing moment (in the debate) that Herman Cain just gets it.

He just comes across as a guy who is genuine and has private sector experience.

People are hungering for dynamic leadership, and Herman Cain fills that void.

How positive is it to have a whole bunch of social conservatives at the same time?

Primary voters are going to have to decide a number of factors.

The president may not be especially skilled at governing, but he's especially skilled at campaigning.

Voters need to look at candidates on numerous levels.

Could this person be president and can this person beat Barack Obama?

I think it's so early in the process that it's premature to make any of these calls.

There's no clear front runner. Some people want to call Romney the front runner...but he's not light years ahead of anyone else.

Brain Trust - Jennifer Marshall

The Heritage Foundation's Jennifer Marshall believes that budgets are moral documents...just not in the same way as religious leaders on the left do.

 

Budgets are moral documents. What do you mean by that? 

This is something we're hearing quite a bit, particularly from religious leaders on the left.

 

What they're trying to do with those four words is...as a measure of our nation how much we give to the poor.

 

We can't have a thriving free society without strong families.

 

It does an injustice to human dignity to measure our compassion by how much government gives to the poor.

 

The poverty rate has hung at about the same rate for the last four decades.

 

On the other hand we've seen massive family breakdown. The rate of unwed births has soared to over 40%...When the war on poverty started, that was a single digit number.

Shouldn't we start talking about effectiveness? 

Absolutely. I'm so glad you brought this up.

 

We have delegated our responsibility, our personal responsibility to care for the poor, to the government.

 

Instead, the way we should be measuring success is how effective it is.

 

Compassion must be effective - not just what we put in to a program, what comes out

If government can't do something, should we allow them to keep on doing it with more money? 

Government can provide a safety net for people with great material need.

 

Instead of trying to redistribute wealth...let's start targeting that ladder.

 

Let's find out what the needs are...rather than developing a welfare state that is cyclical.

 

That is antithetical to the American dream and the freedom we enjoy.

Why is it easy to be tempted with more money is better for the poor? 

It sounds right...but we have to be more careful.

 

What's fundamentally happening here - it's a misdiagnosis of the problem. It diagnoses poverty as a lack of material possession.

 

So it's not so much the material living conditions, but it's the other aspects.

 

It's the absence of fathers.

We've spent $16.5 trillion in our war on poverty. Do you have hope that we can fix this? 

There are several things we need to do to fix this. I do have hope.

 

One thing is the moral responsibility of not handing down a load of crushing debt to future generations.

Brain Trust - Phill Bryant

Mississippi Lieutenant Governor, Phil Bryant, came on the Matt Friedeman Show to describe how faith and politics intersect, especially in light of recent natural disasters.

 

How important is it that people of faith run for office? 

It's critical, Matt.

 

I don't know how someone can operate in an office like Lieutenant Governor or Governor without faith.

 

You depend on your faith.

 

I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the Lord, and said, 'Help me grasp why this occured.'

 

It personally critical for your wellbeing to have that faith.

 

I have reporters who are shocked when I tell them my goal is to not have any abortion in Mississippi.

 

When you have organization or indivials who try to give you money to influence your decisions, you have to say no.

 

That's all a faith-based position I think you have to have if you're going to serve well in an office like Governor of the state of Mississippi.

How involved are people of faith in natural disasters? 

Oh, it's been amazing, Matt.

 

Just like in Katrina, we've seen churches turning out in record numbers.

 

I'm on the board of the Salvation Army...the reason I became involved with the Salvation Army as my charity of choice is because it's a Christian ministry.

 

My pastor came to me and said, "What can we do." Well the school's closed...so perhaps we can get some WalMart card and let the superintendent distrubute those.

 

We were able to buy 165 of those gift cards.

 

That's the type of thing that has been going on with faith-based groups here in Mississippi.

Is the government doing a better job here with these tornadoes and flood? 

I think so.

 

The one thing people have to understand is that government can't solve all your problems after a disaster...that's where churches come in, Salvation Army, United Way is doing a great job.

 

So we just need to understand that we cannot be totally dependent upon government everytime something occurs.

 

When you live in areas affected by weather, you have responsibilities as does your insurance company.

Are you in contact with officials from other states? 

We do. Just the other day I was talking with the Lt. Gov. of Florida, and she was offering help.

 

We have contracters who are volunteering to help other places.

Rising Voice: How to reach Millennials

 Dawn Vargo is in charge of Rising Voice, a new intiative from Focus on the Family to reach out to the Millennial generation. She came on the Matt Friedeman Show to discuss Millennials and their importance.

 

What is a Millennial? 

Millennial is the term we use for the up-and-coming generation.

What are you learning about the Millennials? 

We're really learning that the Millennial Generation is large for one thing. It's about the size of the Baby Boomer generation.

 

There's a lot of opinions among Millennials.

What is the key social issue most Millennials can agree on? 

I would have to say life.

 

It's an encouraging thing to see.

 

This is a generation that's grown up missing siblings, missing friends because of abortion.

 

I think that's an issue we can all really rally around and move forward with.

What's an issue where they're all over the board? 

The same-sex marrage issue.

 

We've got some criticism on, and a lot of discussion.

 

When it comes to the gay marriage issue, it's still really a mixed bag.

In the 2020 presidential election many of the voters will be Millennials...

It is enormous, so we want to think through how we reach Millennials.

 

In addition to that website, we have a Facebook.

 

We have a lot of great dialogue on that site.

 

We're partnering with TOMS shoes soon.

 

What we've seen with this Millennial generation is that they're really passionate about causes.

 

We're really being able to see where we need to act as Christians and where God would have us move.

Outside of social networking, what's the way to meet the millennial heart? 

Dialogue.

 

I think sitting down and having a conversation with a millennial.

 

They connect on a heart level.

 

There are some things that Millennials think about, and there are things Millennials do.

 

Sometimes. I think that can be true. I think that can be a characterization.

You guys are trying to have an agenda, right?

We do want to talk about those issues that we think are biblical.

 

We also want to challenge Millennials to engage in a wide variety of topics.

Will Millennials mature out of some of these positions? 

I think every generation matures to a certain extent. I'm newly married, and I see a difference in my perspectives.

 

I think in many ways Millennials will mature.

 

But we need to meet them where they are now.

 

So we're really looking at a generation that's not...following that typical American lifestyle.

 

I think it's absolutely essential to reach Millennials where they are now.