Trump Child Care Plan

One point of concern with our candidates first President this year is Child Care. Yes, there’s more topics of importance, and I’ll be writing on them later. But this can’t be passed up.

I’m going to start with Trump’s ‘promise’ to Child care from 7 years ago, when he was the GOP nominee for President of the United States, running against Hillary Clinton.

Here is Donald J. Trump’s promise to help American families, citizens, with the cost of child care.

Donald Trump rolled out a plan 7 years ago aimed at making child care more affordable, guaranteeing new mothers six weeks of paid maternity leave and suggesting new incentives for employees to provide their workers childcare. Spurred on by his daughter, Ivanka, Trump waded into topics more often discussed by Democrats.

Trump unveiled the proposals in a speech in a politically critical Philadelphia suburb as he tries to build his appeal with more moderate, independent voters - especially women. Child care is one of the biggest expenses many American families face, surpassing the cost of college and even housing in many states.

Trump proposed guaranteeing six weeks of paid maternity leave to employees whose employers don't offer leave already. The campaign says the payments would be provided through existing unemployment insurance - though it has yet to spell out how the system would cover those costs.

Trump's Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, has called for 12 weeks parental leave for both mothers and fathers paid for by taxes on the wealthy.

Ivanka Trump:

As  a society, we need to create policies that champion all parents, enabling the American family to thrive. My dad agrees, and he's in a very unique position to do something about this problem and the numerous other problems facing tens of millions of parents and caregivers across our country.

Donald J. Trump, 2016 Presidential Nominee:

Too  often those who have power have disdain for the views, beliefs, and attitudes of those who don't have any political power. Those in leadership must put themselves in the shoes of the laid-off factory worker, the family worried about security, or the mom struggling to afford child care.

Child care is such a big problem. The first part of my child care plan allows for every parent or family in America, including adoptive parents and foster parent guardians, to deduct their child care expenses from their income taxes. That's a first. Families with a stay-at-home parent will be able to fully deduct the average cost of child care from their taxes. It's a big thing. Wow. Immediate family and employers, and this is like right away, can also contribute to a dependent account, each of which is designed and designated for a specific child, including an unborn child. The money that is put into these accounts can also be spent not only on child care, but also child enrichment activities. See? We'll start with that child. That will be our first child.

By recapturing fraud and improper payments in the unemployment insurance program, we can provide six weeks of paid maternity leave to any mother with a newborn child whose employer does not provide the benefit.

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Now, let’s fast-forward to 2024 during the first week of September. Trump is again the Republican Presidential Nominee. While in New York at “The Economic Club of New York” meeting, the following was said.

One of the panel participants asking Trump questions:

President  Trump, you talked about how the increase in the price of food, gas and rent is hurting families. But the real cost that's breaking families' backs and preventing women from participating in the workforce is childcare.

Childcare is now more expensive than rent for working families and is costing the economy more than $122 billion a year, making it one of the most urgent economic issues that is facing our country. In fact, the cost of childcare is outpacing the cost of inflation, with the majority of American families of young children spending more than 20% of their income on childcare.

One thing that Democrats and Republicans have in common is that both parties talk a lot about what they're going to do to address the childcare crisis, but neither party has delivered meaningful change.

If you win in November, can you commit to prioritizing legislation to make childcare affordable?

And if so, what specific piece of legislation will you advance?

Here is the response to the above very important questions given by Donald J. Trump:

Well,  I would do that. And we're sitting down. You know, I was somebody we had Senator Marco Rubio and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful on that issue. It's a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I'm talking about, that, because the childcare is childcare, it's couldn't you know, there's something you have to have it in this country, you have to have it. But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I'm talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they're not used to, but they'll get used to it very quickly.

And it's not going to stop them from doing business with us, but they'll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country. Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we're talking about, including childcare, that it's going to take care we're going to have I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country. Because I have to say with childcare, I want to stay with childcare, but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I'm talking about, including growth, but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just that I just told you about, we're going to be taking in trillions of dollars. And as much as childcare is talked about as being expensive, it's relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers will be taken in, we're going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people.

And then we'll worry about the rest of the world. Let's help other people. But we're going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. It's about make America great again. We have to do it because right now we're a failing nation. So we'll take care of it.

Thank you. Very good question. Thank you.

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I would be totally remiss if I did not have at least some critique of his comments recently on his child care plan. Here is MSNBC “Morning Joe” critiquing Trump’s response:

Joe Scarborough:

And thus ends the sixth grade book report presentation. Little Donny obviously did not read his. Mika, that took me back to, I must admit, freshman year of college I was supposed to read a book and went in and Dr. Bryant asked me what the book was about and something about the Habsburgs or I don't know, but it didn't end well and then he goes, what did you think of the book? Not a good book. I would not recommend it.

Mika:

Wait a minute.

And he said, could you hold it up? I held it up. And he said, that's a penguin book. Aren't penguin history books considered to be- It's easy to devolve into  joking, but Willie, what the hell is he saying?

No, no, no, but

Joe Scarborough:

I'm  saying he sounded- And that is who people, by the way, I've just got to say too, because it's a pet peeve. The man who promised to pay down the debt and balance the budget in 2016 raised it more than any president in the history of this Republic. Now he's going, oh, because of my high tariffs, because of my high taxes on working class Americans, my high taxes on middle-class Americans, we're going to balance the budget quickly and we're going to make so much money, I don't have to even talk about childcare.

Willie

Yeah.  That's the one where you go, you know what? I actually didn't read the book. May I present on Monday? Can I have the weekend, even if you knock me down a grade, because this is going to be embarrassing. And by the way, remember one of the core arguments about Kamala Harris that you hear in certain cable news channels and websites is that she's always in the middle of a word salad. Do you ever watch Donald Trump? You may want to give up on that argument. Do you ever watch his rallies? Did you watch him yesterday? Had absolutely no clue what he was talking about and then brought it in for that landing.

By the way, tariffs, which now apparently is the foundation of how he's going to pay for everything, including childcare, are a tax on consumers in this country. Conservative economists tell you that too. They hate the idea.

He's talking about growing an economy. We have to finally have growth. Well, two days ago, Goldman Sachs said, if Donald Trump becomes president, the economy will not grow. If Kamala Harris does, it will grow. That's Goldman Sachs. That's not me. That's not us. Those, those noted socialists over at Goldman Sachs say the economy would be stronger under Kamala Harris.

So, yeah, I mean, he doesn't obviously have any idea what he's talking about when it comes to policy. And you wonder at what point, even yesterday, we saw online conservatives, Joe, and some Republicans saying, rolling their eyes and saying, what is he talking about here?

If you push even a  little bit on policy you find out he's an inch deep.

Joe Scarborough:

Yeah he just doesn't know. And Gene Robinson again as Willy said Trump will talk about word salad as it pertains to Kamala Harris. Let me tell you there is no comparison.

Donald Trump not only that answer but in most rallies he's about three feet deep in lettuce and ranch dressing. He is in the middle of a word salad that he can't get out of and and to a more important point he has never understood. Well let's just go through it. He's never understood American history. He's never understood the Constitution. He's never understood our founding documents. He's never understood policy and he's never apologized for not understanding policy.

That's one of the reasons why when people say oh I support Donald Trump. But well you know I don't like him as a man at all. He's a terrible human being but I like his policies his policies really. I mean there were there were very few policies. It was gesture. It was ninety nine percent gesture one percent policy.

Eugene Robinson:

Absolutely. So Joe, War and Peace, by Count Leo Tolstoy, is about war and about peace and better than war but war is more exciting. And you know it was absolutely absurd. I mean you listen to that and he clearly has no idea what he's talking about.

And this idea about tariffs that he has which is wrong one hundred percent of or as Donald Trump would say one hundred and ten percent of economists will tell you that he's totally wrong about tariffs. It is not a tax on foreign companies. It is a tax on American consumers. It's a regressive tax. It's a horrible tax that affects low income and working class Americans more than it does more affluent Americans.

It was, and, this was at the Economic Club of New York. I mean how did how did those people who were listening to him not just like gag or laugh or how do they keep a straight face listening to that ridiculous nonsense. I have no idea.

Katty Kay:

Yeah, I was I was wondering the same thing when that woman when he kept looking back at the woman who'd asked the question and I just wanted to zoom in on her face and see what she was actually thinking. If I was the mother of young children I wouldn't be reassured by those child care policies.

I mean maybe J.D. Vance's policy frankly of having aunts and uncles and grandparents as if grandparents didn't have other things to do and aunts and uncles didn't have other things to do as well. Looking after your children that, that seems to be the closest there is to a child care policy.

But Charlie Sykes I mean one of the reasons I think you know you keep hearing from business people who say well I don't like Donald Trump. I don't like his character. But you know there are the policy issues clearly on the child care front there aren't very many policy issues.

I'm sure many of them don't like the idea of tariffs. They know that this is a tax on the American consumer. Does it really just come down to the idea that Donald Trump has proposed to cut corporate tax rates to 15 percent and people in the business community and on Wall Street are prepared to hold their noses at everything else because of that 15 percent corporate tax rate?

Charlie Sykes

Well  I think it's that I think it's also Donald Trump's position on regulation. Look I mean Donald Trump is essentially told you know the business class you know if I become president I'm going to do whatever you want me to do. I will, I will give you whatever subsidies you want. I will eliminate regulations that you find to be pesky. I will not raise the taxes.

You know, I mean basically, this is very very transactional from their point of view. I mean this is, this is kind of the Faustian bargain. And the question of course is whether or not at some point they're sitting in that room and, you know, I'm watching them applaud that, that, that bizarre word salad whether they it occurs to them that you know this man is not good for the nation. This man is not actually good for economic stability. What we most want is a stable economy that we can predict. We do not want an international trade war. But for many of them it's simply yeah this guy is going to do what I want.

And by the way Elon Musk is out there basically saying, yeah, you know Donald Trump is going to put me in charge of all kinds of things involving, you know, government and government regulation, everything. What could possibly go wrong there? So you know if you think the incoherence of the word salad is troubling, wait until you see the kind of people that Donald Trump brings into a second administration.

I leave you to make your own conclusion. Compare what his ‘promise’ was 7 years ago to what he is saying now. Huge difference. And, ask yourself, did his ‘promise’ come to fruition? Remember, the first two years of his term he had a majority House of Representatives and Senate. Everything he wanted, he got. Including billions of dollars for ‘the wall’ which we since learned never made it to build the wall. He, and Steve Bannon ‘diverted’ that money somewhere else. Where? No one knows!!!