MAY 2018 PARKER COUNTY TODAY
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Christian perspective .
“ It ’ s pretty incredable ,” Hobson said . “ When you hear Star ’ s story , hear her talk about where she came from . Her story and her basic outlook is impressive .”
“ The state of the union is that there has never been a better time for the Urban CURE . There has never been a better time to help black communities ,” Parker said .
Her basic outlook includes the philosophy that envy doesn ’ t create wealth . “ Freedom and character creates wealth ,” Parker said . “ How about we focus less on punishing those who succeed and more on helping those who are not realizing their potential ?”
She points to statistics compiled by Harvard Economist Martin Feldstein .
“ He estimates that cutting corporate taxes would raise national income by $ 500 billion — $ 3,500 per household ,” Parker said . “ I say we cut them even more for businesses opening in distressed communities .
“ Let ’ s admit that our massive welfare state has been a disaster . I have long been for allowing low-income Americans to stop paying the payroll tax and instead use these funds to invest in a personal retirement account to build personal wealth .”
It was her business perspective and common sense approach to fighting poverty is what intrigued the Hobson family .
“ The big reason why we really want to support her and , ‘ the CURE ,’ is that it ’ s not about , ‘ How can we make things better ?’ It ’ s about , ‘ How do we fix it ?’” Hobson said . “ As Americans , as Christians , if we can actully help some people , if we literally can solve the problems , not just put a Band-Aid on them , don ’ t we have to do that ? That ’ s what drew me to help her . She wants to fix these things . I think she has the best idea of fixing the problem .”
While the three Hobson brothers were attending a seminar in Lubbock two years ago they discovered a new cause , a different way of giving back .
They were attending a conference sponsored by family friends . It was an educational event that focused on how America ’ s founding fathers based the foundation of the nation , particularily the Constitution of the United States , on principles set out in the Bible and how the best way to address the nation ’ s biggest problems should perhaps involve turning back to scripturual principles .
Who is Star Parker ? Parker is one of the leading names to surface these days in politically-savvy circles when conversations turn to black conservative leaders .
Parker is the founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education , a public policy think tank that promotes market-based solutions to fight poverty .
“ Star was one of the speakers at a conference we attended in Lubbock ,” Hobson said . “ Then , we just happened to sit at the table with her at lunch . We enjoyed her talk . She comes from an unique perspective .”
When Hobson refers to Parker ’ s “ unique perspective ,” he ’ s referring to her past . Before she became involved in social activism , Parker spent seven years of first-hand experience in the grip of welfare dependency . After consulting on Federal Welfare Reform in the mid-90s , she founded Urban CURE to bring new ideas to policy discussions on how to transition America ’ s poor from government dependency to economic independence .
“ After the life that I lived , listening to the lie of the left got me engaged in recklessness ,” Parker said . “ Why did I need to bother when people said I didn ’ t need to because my problems were all someone else ’ s fault and that America was too racist for me to mainstream . The wealthy would not let me prosper . I was just poor . So , I became reckless in my decisions . Criminal activity and drug activity …”
Parker began looking into the Bible . “ I was able to leave the drugs behind , leave the lifestyle behind , leave my friends and leave the welfare behind . It was all because of a scripture that said , ‘ God will supply your need .’”
Parker went on to earn her Bachelor ’ s Degree in Marketing and International Business from Woodbury University and has received numerous awards and commendations for her work on public policy issues .
She regularly consults with both federal and state legislators on market-based strategies to fight poverty ; she has spoken on nearly 200 colleges and universities about anti-poverty initiatives ; has authored several books ; and is a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate .
Many of national acclaim would agree that Parker has established herself as a thoughtful and energetic leader in Washington D . C and her CURE advisory board includes Generals John Ashcroft and Ed Meese ; Ken Blackwell , Larry Kudlow , George Gilder , Marvin Olasky and Walter E . Williams .
Addressing Poverty Close to Home
Parker has now set her sights on the Stop Six Neighborhood in Fort Worth .
Sure , there are much larger inner-city neighborhoods in the nation that could use some work — Chicago has a number of them . So does New York City and Detroit . So why Stop Six ? Essentially , because it ’ s a good place to start . “ It doesn ’ t take a crazy-big amount of money to do it either ,” Hobson said . The CURE ’ s model is fairly simple . It starts with picking an area and fixing it , then going on to another area .
“ If we can help some of these inner city neighborhoods first then we can break the cycle of poverty . We could spend $ 10 billion on just one of Chicago ’ s impoverished urban neighborhoods and still not make a dent in it . With Stop Six , it ’ s possible to make a big difference using a small fraction of that amount .
Once smaller areas of urban blight are “ CURED ,” then it ’ s on to larger , troubled neighborhoods ,” Hobson said .
What ’ s the Hobson ’ s ’ roll in the CURE ?
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