Empower Parents: Restore the Constitution by Returning Educational Policy to the States
Presidential candidates in the 2012 election must be prepared to protect the interests of parents and children nationwide by rolling back the progressive education agenda and returning to the states their constitutional power to make decisions about education.
Help the Sick and Reduce the Debt: The Moral Economy of the Health-Care Debate
The health-care debate presents us with a moral imperative to solve an economic problem, but how we solve this economic problem has moral implications: allowing individuals and families greater freedom to choose among treatment options in a market that drives down costs, or establishing centralized control that makes utilitarian calculations of the worth of different people’s lives.
Promote Democracy: Start at Home, but Don’t Stop at Home
At a time when the Arab world is ripe for change, our next president must understand the strategic potential of American credibility, constitutionalism, and communication in the promotion of democracy abroad.
Uphold Conscience Protection: Religious Freedom’s Contribution to the American Experience and Threats to its Survival
Religious communities are an essential part of the fabric of America, even over and above the vital services they provide to weak and vulnerable members of our communities; we must protect their conscience rights against legal coercion.
Defend Our Laws: Justice Matters
In developing their positions on Supreme Court appointments and the Department of Justice, presidential candidates should 1) welcome the battle over the Supreme Court, 2) determine to fight hard for high-quality justices, 3) frame the argument for why abortion policy should be restored to the democratic processes, 4) support the Defense of Marriage Act, and 5) commit to select senior legal leaders who fully embrace their goals and priorities.
Fix America’s Economy: Two Principles for Reform
Candidates in the 2012 presidential race should champion two principles for reviving America’s economy: the Adam Smith principle for limiting government and the subsidiarity principle for regulating government intervention.
Defend Marriage: Moms and Dads Matter
Presidential candidates in the next election should uphold marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
Protect the Weak and Vulnerable: The Primacy of the Life Issue
Public officials—especially the President—are obligated to protect the intrinsic equal dignity of all human beings, regardless not only of sex and race, but also without regard to age, size, condition of dependency, vulnerability, or the esteem of others. Abortion and embryo-destructive research are profound and lethal violations of this principle of equality to which the law (and the President) must respond.
Liberty, Justice, and the Common Good: Political Principles for 2012 and Beyond
Introducing a Public Discourse symposium on the 2012 election.
40 Years Later: How to Undo the Autonomy Argument for Abortion Rights
In response to pro-choice appeals to autonomy in support of abortion, we feminists should advocate that parents—both mothers and fathers—have binding duties to their unborn child as the product of their life-giving sexual act.
Sex Ed Mandates and Children’s Innocence
New York’s new sex education mandate excludes abstinence-only options and forces all city school children to learn about “safe sex” in the sixth and seventh grades.
Nation of Faith, Nation of Immigrants
America’s laws and institutions come from a moral worldview shaped by Christian belief. They depend not on where her people came from, but on what they are willing to sacrifice to keep the experiment alive. Adapted from a keynote address delivered to the national gathering of CALL (Catholic Association of Latino Leaders).
Perry, Prayer, and Politics
Rick Perry’s prayer rally engendered accusations that he wrongly crossed the church-state divide. But great leaders in American history have long held that religion is a necessary basis for public morality.
Pornography and National Security
The frequency with which terrorists are found with pornography raises important questions about the possible effects of pornography on our national security.
Contraception and Healthcare Rights
Contraception does not respond to an authentic healthcare need, and the state acts untruthfully and beyond its legitimate authority when it mandates contraception coverage.
The Balanced Budget Amendment: What Would Hamilton Say?
The balanced budget amendment would rob the federal government of an essential power.
Republican and Classically Conservative in 2012
An important book from the 1980s can teach today’s Republican presidential candidates the importance of classical conservatism.
Overcoming the Obstacles to Faith-Based Approaches to Crime
Prejudices of secular and religious groups alike stand in the way of successful crime reduction efforts.
The Debt Ceiling and the Constitution
The attempts by both the right and the left to politicize our Constitution must be firmly rejected for the sake of our nation’s health and prosperity.
