No clue...go check it out and bring us back a link so we can all talk about it
here's an editorial piece from the period. I can get more links if you like.
Orphanages Are No Solution - Editorial - NYTimes.com
It was not Gingrich's idea but he did support a proposal, according to that link, which would "allow states to deny cash subsidies to single teen-age mothers and use the money instead for group homes for unwed mothers and their children -- or orphanages for their children."
So it was only single teenage mothers according to the article but they are still single moms as you claim. My memory from 94 is fuzzy, it was my freshman year of college after all, but I think I remember his reasoning back then was "teenagers can still get help from their parents" or something like that.
I'm not sure I'd support that proposal myself. I wish the article told me the name of the proposal so I could look up the details for myself and tell you if I would have supported it or not. The way its portrayed I wouldn't support it but we all know now, unlike back then, that you really shouldn't trust what the media is saying without verifying it first, especially in any op-ed
This would be a deal breaker with you? I DO remember this and I remember Newt explaining it on camera. His rationale: Very few teenage girls are competent to properly care for themselves when pregnant, let alone competently care for a child. Those who are will have a family support group and won't need government help. The children of those who are not have a much better shot when reared in a loving environment in an orphanage than do kids of immature and too often irresponsible single parents.
The statistics bear this out. Almost ALL kids raised in a good orphanage--Boys Ranch, etc.--graduate highschool, most go on to college, almost all accomplish themselves. Very few wind up in any kind of trouble.
Conversely, a disproportionate number of kids of single parents drop out of school, run in gangs, and wind up in various kinds of trouble with the law. The single most common factor in children living in poverty is having a single parent even with government assistance.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT saying that all single parents cannot or do not do a commendable job of raising their kids.
Newt's argument was that the government is not being compassionate by encouraging and subsidizing teen pregnancy.
Liberals will still call that hateful. I think conservatives will at least think about it and put it into perspective before passing judgment.