I supported Ben Carson for president due to his good moral character, obvious intelligence, life achievements and good temperament. I consider him smarter than anyone on your editorial board. In your editorial about his appointment as secretary of Housing and Urban Development ("Will Carson's HUD stop desegregation?" Dec. 6), you made a point about looking at hard statistics to help kids grow into productive citizens. You ignored the unpleasant statistics about the outcome for kids born to young, undereducated girls in homes without fathers. A big part of the solution is a four-part program for life. This is: first, finish your education (at least high school); second, get a job; third, find a mate and get married; fourth, have the children you can afford to support. Do not do it out of order.
When children arrive as the first step rather than the last, the cycle of poverty is likely to repeat itself. Public assistance and housing vouchers are only Band-Aids for a serious hemorrhage in our values system. Please don't blame Dr. Carson for a problem your paper and our society at large will not address.
John C. Foertsch, Perry Hall