Mama Lacona’s 1957-2010

LAST NIGHT MY WIFE AND I had our last dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Mama Lacona’s. It was our last meal there because Mama Lacona’s closed at the end of business Sunday. It was a sad end, not due to lack of business or poor management, but government bureaucracy. It seems that Mama Lacona’s grease traps did not meet EPA standards, and the cost of upgrading was prohibitive to the restaurant’s owners. Thus, rather than bend a rule, a long-time, stable, and locally-owned family business was forced to close. To top it off, 30 employees of Mama Lacona’s are today out of work. Chalk one up for the bureaucrats. Mama Lacona’s RIP.

Divorce, unwed parenting costs taxpayers $112 billion per year

DIVORCE AND OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS cost U.S. taxpayers more than $112 billion a year, according to a study commissioned by four groups advocating more government action to bolster marriages.

The study was conducted by Georgia State University economist Ben Scafidi. His work was sponsored by four groups who consider themselves part of a nationwide “marriage movement” - the New York-based Institute for American Values, the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, Families Northwest of Redmond, Wash., and the Georgia Family Council, an ally of the conservative ministry Focus on the Family.

Update:
The Wisconsin Family Council has issued this press release in connection with the report.