American Notes

Wisconsin Governor Tommy G. Thompson is no stranger to the carrot-and-stick approach to welfare: one state program withholds benefits from families whose kids cut class, another docks benefits from some recipients who don't work or get job training. But his Parental and Family Responsibility Initiative, a scheme linking welfare benefits to marriage and birth control, may be his most controversial idea yet.

Thompson wants to cap funds for unmarried mothers at $440 a month, the current limit for a single woman with one child. Benefits would not increase if the woman has additional children -- unless she gets married. "It sounds like a state-sponsored shotgun wedding," one critic said. "The state has no business dictating who should get married or how many children they should have," said Margaret McMurray, a spokeswoman for the National Organization for Women. "This is Big Brotherism."