It's funny how people make a big deal out of nothing. Like this for example.
It's true that JD Vance had an audience with Pope Francis and Pope Francis was dead within 24 hours. Some are trying to make a big deal about it. This is a good time to remember correlation doesn't equal causation.
But correlation multiplied by incompetence equals causation more often than not. Make of that what you will.
What I'm sure of is JD Vance will not be at Hillbilly Days. At least I'm pretty sure. Based on what I'm hearing out of the White House, JD's probably hard at it. Maybe I should explain.
Birth Rates in these United States have fallen over the last 20 years to record lows, especially among white people. Overall birth rate falling makes people nervous for many good reasons. And a few bad ones.
Whichever, the White House is determined to reverse that trend. Before they just go full Handmaid's Tale, which of course is coming anyway, the best thing they can come up with is bribery.
So the death cult is bully on a plan to pay mothers $5000 to have a child. Payable upon delivery, so to speak. For those of you who aren't familiar with the term "bully", it was a favorite of Teddy Roosevelt who was president when $5000 could raise a child from birth to adulthood.
In the no-woke world of MAGA, birth rates are down because women won't go for all these metrosexuals the liberals have turned us into. Men and women don't get married at all anymore. All we need to turn the birth rate around is be real men and pay women to have sex.
After the fact.
We should give the administration credit for recognizing a problem. Unfortunately with MAGA, problems serve as reasons to inflict policy. So we won't. You can expect stricter laws against abortion and diminished access to birth control all in the name of saving the population.
The great irony of the population and birth rate problem is they could be solved if the Death Cult would just go away. Actual surveys and studies, those things MAGA says aren't real, tell us young folks aren't procreating like rabbits for three reasons: it costs too much to raise a child, you've got zero reliable support to do it, and uncertainty of a future due to the effects of climate change and society's ills.
Republicans always vote for the corporations and wealthy which keeps expenses high, Republicans vote against universal healthcare and against childcare/head start, and Republicans don't believe in climate change so no reason to address it.
Even Gulf Oil believes in man made climate change, by the way.
Since a march to totalitarianism also has a tendency to keep birth rates down, it's likely this mistake disguised as a solution wrapped in a policy will have the opposite effect desired like all the rest of their answers.
That won't stop JD from doing his part. He's not at Hillbilly Days, he's on another honeymoon. Only three kids for a devout 6 year Catholic like him is embarrassing. He's got catching up to do.
And hey, five grand is five grand!