California First 5 (or First 5 California) is a program that liberals like to throw up as a shining example of the good that government programs can do. A friend of mine is always extolling the program.

That's why we're here. First 5 California and 58 County Commissions throughout the state work to improve the lives of children from the time they are in the womb until they enter kindergarten.

One of their mandates is to increase the demand for preschool programs provide more access to preschool programs. Ever earlier putting our kids away in government institutions makes me uneasy, no matter how wonderful liberals, and certified teachers, like to promote it.

First 5 California does great things for children. It took me a couple of reads to realize why I feel uneasy about this kind of program:

Getting children ready for home school means more than packing their lunches funding school lunches, filling their backpacks requiring screening for back problems, and getting them to the taxpayer funded diesel fueled bus on time. In fact, the government job of helping children succeed and looking over the shoulders of parents in home school starts the day they're born.

It's great to have their concern for funding more programs for children, it would be a mistake to allow parents alone to exercise common sense in the raising of their children because parents have no common sense in the absense of another big government program. A big part of their program is to encourage even more health care consumption more children's access to healthcare, and give doctors a chance to find problems requring expensive intervention screen healthy children and give them labels for treatment at earlier and earlier ages, such as Michael Savage, and his callers, have exposed with the fraudulent labelling of kids as being autistic in order to qualify for more government funding.

California would not have been built into the great state it is without concern and programs like First 5 California for children for the last 250 years 9 years.

I dug a little deeper to see what is involved in the program. It didn't take too long to find out. Unfortunately, even the best government programs end up doing the same things as the worst:

California First 5 Money Wasted On Advertising Instead of Children

• Rob Reiner's use of taxpayer money (from California First 5) for a multi-million dollar advertising buy that was timed to help the signature gathering of his new tax hike initiative
• [McCarthy]'s press release: "Instead of lining the pockets of wealthy Los Angeles advertising executives, we believe it is better to invest the people's money in accelerated preschool programs that will help disadvantaged children across California, at a fraction of the cost of year-round preschool."
• More details: http://capoliticalnews.com/discuss.php?id=389
• First 5 program used primarily as a vehicle to launch television advertising to influence pending ballot issues

http://articles.latimes.com/2006/apr/14/local/me-preschool14

• California First 5 loses nearly $3 million it was using to air preschool ads

More fun and games from other programs:
http://www.apatheticvoter.com/GovernmentWaste-CA.htm

• The Los Angeles Times reports that the state commission, First 5 California Children and Families Commission, created by our boy Robin Hood, faces increased scrutiny and will be audited by the Bureau of State Audits. The uproar started when First 5 Director Kris Perry appeared before a hearing of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and replied she would not answer questions "on the advice of counsel." A committee of state senators and Assembly members want to investigate reports that First 5 spent $23 million in tax money to tout the benefits of preschool to fund the preschool initiative, and then spent $230 million in contracts to public relations and ad firms to win the campaign to raise the cigarette tax by $0.50. Perhaps that answers the question of taxpayer confusion when that much money is illegally thrown behind an initiative.

There is no question in my mind that government taxes are so high because government is involved in doing plenty of things that government shouldn't be doing. More taxpayer money gets sucked into to justifying the continued existence of those programs, often spurred by the bigshots who are benefiting from the program. Often the things government shouldn't be doing are manipulated into taking taxpayer money and funneling it to the upper 5% or less of the population.

How about a program to mercilessly cut government programs based on the simple premise "is there a direct constitutional mandate to do this", so that taxes could be lowered to allow moms to stay home with their kids, and give their kids a chance to play and be kids, instead of being herded into school like situations long before it is developmentally appropriate.... But, perhaps we've passed the point when lowing tax rates would allow more women to make the choice to stay home. Perhaps they are all too hooked on consumerism, and paying for overpriced mortgages, to even consider being stay at home moms anymore... And don't even think of doing away with even more programs for the children of teenaged pre-high-school graduation moms who need to feel a lot of pre-accomplishment self esteem about their lives and choices. They have a right to attend school with their children, and not feel any stigma about the choices that put them in the position of being unwed teen mothers. That wouldn't be good for the still pregnant teens in their circle of friends.

I know... What a traditionalist, even sexist, approach. I should think about all the single moms who work for such government programs, and would not have had as much freedom to leave their husbands and fathers of their children if such government jobs weren't available. I know, it would be terrible if people didn't have so much freedom to turn families into single parent households when they get the idea that their own personal needs aren't being met. How silly to be like Dr. Laura Schlessinger who repeatedly advises women callers to her radio show that the time to leave their husband was before having children, and that now that they have become moms to drop their fantasies of leaving their husbands, that the children need to be the top concern...

Husbands, ignore your wife's desire to stay home and take care of the kids, here comes the election with politicians promising programs to help us all.....

Maybe our society has gone too far to return to the programs and policies of our first 175 years which helped us to grow into one of the greatest nations at using up too much energy and resources on the earth.... Maybe Darwin was right. Instead of arguing about theistic evolution, we should forget about that. Our nation was founded on survival of the self-sufficient, but that is so yesterday. Now we need to seriously consider governmental evolution, and how big government is now the guiding hand of evolution and survival of the fittest to qualify for government handouts without regard to legal status or moral choices.