Why would I vote for a candidate that doesn’t live by the values that they stand for? Why as a woman would I vote for a candidate that doesn’t hold the same core values as I do?
I’m talking core values; do they hold dear what I hold dear?
Do they value life, do they value education, and do they value my children, most importantly do they value freedom? If they have not proven to me that they have those core values I will not vote for them.
I was a Republican at one time and in a way I still believe in the Republican core values but when I became a parent I switched my party and became a Democrat because first and foremost I value my children, their lives, and their education and I want my children to have the freedom to choose who they can become.
When you vote with your values and not your pocket book I can guarantee you, you will never have voter’s remorse because you have done your research.
When you vote with your pocket book, you end up voting against your own core values, you end up voting against your own child’s freedom to choose who they can become.
Yes, when you vote Republican, and I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you are voting against your already-born child’s best interests.
Defunding Head Start is one of the most economically unsound decisions that a society can make and Blaine Young and the county commissioners have made that decision and have devalued your child’s freedom.
Blaine Young said the program was expensive. "Spending $16,000 per child is a little excessive," he said. Excessive he says, really? Sorry, but I must respectfully disagree.
What Blaine Young has forgotten is, all-ready born children are our future and he should invest in them first and foremost. When is investing in a child’s freedom not a worthwhile investment? WHEN?
FACT:
When you invest $1.00 in a Head Start child the society they live in receives nearly $9 in benefits. These benefits include increased earnings, employment, and family stability, and decreased welfare dependency, crime costs, grade repetition, and special education.
So in a way Blaine Young just lost $144,000.00 in revenue per Head Start child and if you multiply $144,000.00 by how many children attend Head Start in Frederick County how much did he just cost the taxpayers of Frederick County?
There are 282 3- and 4-year olds in the county Head Start program this fiscal year which if you multiply 282 by $144,000.00 equals $40,608,000.00. To me that looks like a pretty awesome return on a $9 investment.
So did Blaine Young just cost you the taxpayers of Frederick County $40,608,000.00?
I thought there was a budget deficit? Yes, I know the benefits are not immediate and this is just an example but still….
I actually think society receives much more than $9 in benefits because not every benefit can be measured monetarily.
Blaine Young actually did save the taxpayers $4,512,000 by defunding Head Start but he has actually lost $36,096,000 in social values and benefits.
See what happens when you vote with your pocket book and not your values?
Republicans are supposedly pro-family. Families benefit greatly from Head Start also because they are family oriented and focus on parental involvement and training. Families that are involved in Head Start saw their family income grow by more than 51% and their reliance on public assistance was greatly reduced. Less people on the welfare rolls, that should make any Republican happy.
What an interesting concept -- enabling others to enable themselves so they can in turn can enable someone else. Pay it forward always works.
Studies have shown that at-risk children without quality preschool were 70% more likely to commit violent crimes, and have lower graduation rates and higher drug use. Multiply those costs by 282 children and it would probably be over a billion dollars that it would cost society.
A Head Start child gives back $9 in benefits to society; an uneducated child can cost society millions of dollars.
This in turn, if you stop to think about it, means that an educated society is a free society and an uneducated society is an imprisoned society.
That is why I vote with my values and not my pocket book, because I value my child's freedom to choose his future.
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