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Killarney Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 12:39 PM
Original message
Family Values? Massachusetts Leads
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/10/31/walking_the_walk_on_family_values/

PRESIDENT Bush and Vice President Cheney make reference to "Massachusetts liberals" as if they were referring to people with some kind of disease. I decided it was time to do some research on these people, and here is what I found.

Stats included in the article:
- The state with the lowest divorce rate in the nation is Massachusetts.
- born-again Christians have among the highest divorce rates
- the highest divorce rates are to be found in the Bible Belt
- Massachusetts has the highest rate of education in the country, with 85 percent completing high school
- Births by teenagers, as a percent of total births, was only 7.4 for Massachusetts and 16.1 for Texas.

As the article says:
For all the Bible Belt talk about family values, it is the people from Kerry's home state, along with their neighbors in the Northeast corridor, who live these values. Indeed, it is the "blue" states, led by Massachusetts and Connecticut, that have been willing to invest more money over time to foster the reality of what it means to leave no children behind. And they have been among the nation's leaders in promoting a living wage as their goal in public employment. The money they have invested in their future is known more popularly as taxes; these so-called liberal people see that money is their investment to help insure a compassionate, humane society. Family values are much more likely to be found in the states mistakenly called out-of-the-mainstream liberal. By their behavior you can know them as the true conservatives. They are showing how to conserve family life through the way they live their family values.
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Anarcho-Socialist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 12:47 PM
Response to Original message
1. kick
:kick:
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Imalittleteapot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 12:48 PM
Response to Original message
2. Kick
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kayell Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 12:50 PM
Response to Original message
3. Big KICK
:kick:
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MuseRider Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 12:54 PM
Response to Original message
4. Kick from a
red state dem who is happy to have blue state dems keeping us afloat.
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JuniorPlankton Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 12:59 PM
Response to Original message
5. Kick
from Boston, MA

:kick:
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Donna Zen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 01:03 PM
Response to Original message
6. A great article
thanks for posting!
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Killarney Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 06:38 PM
Response to Reply #6
10. you're welcome
:)
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HootieMcBoob Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 01:07 PM
Response to Original message
7. That's a keeper!
:kick:
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LisaLynne Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 01:10 PM
Response to Original message
8. Another example of ...
people believing things but never having actually looked at the stats. Oh, yeah, the bible belt is so much more "moral". But somehow, in these things that they find SOOOO important, they are lacking. Hmm.
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idiosyncratic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 01:13 PM
Response to Original message
9. Kick!
:kick:

This should be sent out to EVERY newspaper in the country!!

Maybe it could be in LTTE everywhere.
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Arkana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 06:50 PM
Response to Original message
11. I love the Bay State
Edited on Tue Nov-09-04 06:51 PM by Arkana
"Massachusetts...having borne the brunt of the King's tyranny AND IT IS TYRANNY!! Massachusetts now and for all purposes says yea!"

--John Adams, 1776 (the movie)
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Sleepless In NY Donating Member (749 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 07:00 PM
Response to Reply #11
12. Kick
And shame on you John Kerry for not defending it.
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Abelman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 07:05 PM
Response to Original message
13. Wow
I'm want to move to Massachusetts.
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blm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 07:07 PM
Response to Original message
14. GREAT ARTICLE. Send it around and to your local papers.
.
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merbex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 07:08 PM
Response to Original message
15. As a MA resident, who voted this past April to INCREASE my property taxes
so that public education in the town in which I live will continue to excel this article SAYS IT ALL

John Kerry and every democrat from MA and the northeast need to start fighting back when "attacked" as a liberal
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Rockholm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 08:42 AM
Response to Reply #15
30. MyY town recently had an override too for the schools.
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donheld Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 07:09 PM
Response to Original message
16. The best read on DU
That is a wonderful articule
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Sleepless In NY Donating Member (749 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 10:23 PM
Response to Reply #16
17. kick
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City of Mills Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 10:33 PM
Response to Original message
18. Love Mass, Hate Romney
I love living in Mass (lifelong resident) but it's getting tough trying to make a living in Higher Ed. The state has renegged on the signed contracts with AFSCME, withholding back wages and hanging us out to dry. And then Romney claims the state is operating with a surplus now. Pay your bills Mitt!
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jmowreader Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 10:37 PM
Response to Reply #18
19. That which is Massachusetts only works...
if there is a Democrat in the statehouse.
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MADem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 10:48 PM
Response to Reply #18
23. Romney needs to take his carpetbagging ass
...back to Utah. He "does not share OUR VALUES!"

And he and Andy Card are in hot water--they knew the state would go blue for the presidency, but all of those "competitive" GOP rep, state and local candidates did not make the cut--despite their promises to the contrary.

One nice thing about MA, when we get out and vote (unlike the last lame governor's election) we pick the right candidate. I do think it is time for a hard hitting dem in the corner office who can push our agenda at the Gov's conference AND keep the legislature in line (they do go off the page on occasion).

Enough of this crap!!! Just say NO to Republicans!
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Kathy in Cambridge Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 10:55 PM
Response to Reply #18
25. Welcome to DU!
:hi:

Where in Lowell are you?

I have family there.
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City of Mills Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 08:16 AM
Response to Reply #25
27. Pawtucketville
I'm currently living by the river towards the Tyngsboro town line, but I've lived all over the city at various times. Anyone who wants to invest in a vibrant, growing historic mill city should check Lowell out.

/Shameless promotion
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Bill McBlueState Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 11:09 PM
Response to Reply #18
26. also reneged on my contract
I'm with GEO (UAW Local 2322), the Graduate Employee Organization at UMass. We're in the same boat you are.

Some legislators were trying to get an emergency session called to override Romney's veto right after the elections. I haven't heard anything about that in a few weeks. In any case, the prospects for an override (eventually) look good.

Solidarity!
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bicentennial_baby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 09:08 AM
Response to Reply #18
32. Honor the Contract!!
IT's such bullshit. We're dealing with that at my CC in Western MA
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Mr_Spock Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 10:42 PM
Response to Original message
20. This is the RW hypocrisy - EXPOSED!
Why this isn't common knowledge is beyond me. Maybe we want to keep it our little secret why they play with toy soldiers?
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phylny Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 10:42 PM
Response to Original message
21. KICK! n/t
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Still_Loves_John Donating Member (688 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 10:44 PM
Response to Original message
22. That's because
That brand of Christianity (I don't even like to call it fundamentalism, because I don't see what Christian fundamentals they follow) is rooted in the judgement of others. They never spend any time with introspection, they just bellow about how evil everybody else is.

It's interesting. Jesus never spent any time talking about how prostitues or theives or gays were going to hell. The one group of people he ever singled out were the self-styled arbitrers of God who cared more about how religious they looked than how they actually were.
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MO_Dem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Nov-09-04 10:49 PM
Response to Original message
24. Sure wish I'd had this info before the election
but I'm sure as heck gonna use it whenever any right-wing fundie gets in my face about the righteousness of GeeDub
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Rockholm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 08:41 AM
Response to Original message
28. New Constitutional Amendment in Mass.......
There is a move afoot in Massachusetts to have a constitutional ameendment that will guarantee health insurance for all citizens of the Commonwaelth. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!!
While the pathetic red states are adding hateful amendments that destroy gay families, we in Massachusetts are actually HELPING our people.
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Rockholm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 08:42 AM
Response to Reply #28
29. Oh...4th HEALTHIEST in the Nation.
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Killarney Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 09:06 AM
Response to Reply #28
31. WOW! I haven't heard about that.
That's fantastic.
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RollergirlVT Donating Member (452 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 09:13 AM
Response to Original message
33. its really a shame....
that they didn't do this research and story BEFORE the election.
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Kathy in Cambridge Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 09:18 AM
Response to Original message
34. Lowest infant mortality rate
Lowest rate of teenage pregnancy (more women give birth over 30 in Mass than under 20).

Second highest average income (Connecticut, another Blue State, is 1st)

Best public school system.

40th in overall tax burden.

And there's something wrong with Mass? :grr:
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midnight armadillo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 09:23 AM
Response to Reply #34
35. My only two big complaints
1) Housing prices are outrageous, due to 'home rule' policies causing a lack of regional planning, and snob zoning that prevents enough housing being built.

2) the Big Dig. We could have utterly transformed public transportation in eastern MA, instead we dug a big frickin' hole in the ground to shave 15 minutes of people's commute.

That's about it :-)
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Kathy in Cambridge Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 10:49 AM
Response to Reply #35
37. I agree-I'd love them to extend the "T" to the exurbs
the traffic is STILL a nightmare here, despite the completion of the Big Dig.
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Tracer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 09:51 AM
Response to Original message
36. And bury the "Taxachusetts" label!
Far from taxing everyone in sight, Massachusetts actually is low on the list of heavy taxers:

http://www.taxfoundation.org/statelocal04.html
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NoSheep Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 10:50 AM
Response to Original message
38. Thanks for that. n/t
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cubsfan forever Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 10:58 AM
Response to Original message
39. Thank you!
Edited on Wed Nov-10-04 10:59 AM by cubsfan forever
Having lived in several red states, but now residing in MA, I must say this is one of the most refreshing things I have read in a very long time. I got so sick of the bible-thumpin', hypocrites spouting off about "family values" while their actions belied their words. Bless you.

Professor 2
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RollergirlVT Donating Member (452 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-10-04 11:04 AM
Response to Original message
40. kick
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