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Who cares about working families?
Based on a survey of presidential hopefuls, Democrats do -- at least enough to respond
By Katha Pollitt
a columnist for The Nation magazine
December 31, 2007
Last week, Take Care Net released the results of its survey of presidential candidates' positions on 26 public policies related to work, family and care-giving. Co-sponsored by eight other organizations, including the Labor Project for Working Families, MomsRising.org and the National Council of Women's Organizations, the survey addresses the "silent crisis of care": the absence of social support for working families (I know, I know, I hate that moralistic, multi-focus-grouped phrase) that has made us a nation of stressed-out parents, day-care workers on poverty wages and children who aren't getting the high-quality attention and stimulation they need.
The number of Democratic candidates who responded? Five: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson.
The number of Republican candidates who responded? Zero.
This is one area in which the parties definitely diverge.
While some of the Democrats preferred their own policy proposals to those on the survey, all five support:
*Increased funding for child care -- both for mothers on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and for families in general.
*Public funding for universal, voluntary preschool programs.
*Expanding the Family and Medical Leave Act to cover workplaces with as few as 25 employees.
*Allowing leave for appointments related to domestic violence.
*A minimum number of paid days off to care for sick family members.
*Indexing the minimum wage to productivity and inflation.
*And more: I was particularly glad to see on the menu scholarships for education and training, as well as higher pay for child-care providers. The "magic of the marketplace" is never going to bring us quality child care, because most parents cannot begin to afford what that would cost.
Will the Democrats actually campaign on care? Or will the policies laid out by the Take Care Net survey join the long laundry list of wonkish positions you have to search their Web sites to find? Democrats say they want the votes of women, and especially want to mobilize single women, many of whom combine low-wage work with raising kids and/or caring for elderly parents.
Yet, except on abortion rights, about which they speak as little as possible, Democrats have not really made a pitch to women that goes beyond fluff and P.R. -- they're too afraid of scaring off the elusive white male voter: ew, the Mommy Party! Cooties! Yet care is an issue that affects men too. Even the Nascariest NASCAR dad can see the advantage of nursery school.
People who mock the Democrats for ceding big themes to the Republicans have a point. But the last time I looked, family values was certainly one such theme.
republicans dont care about families, its time for people to realize that, they dont care if your sick, unemployed, poor
I am not a Republican. At least not in real life. I did register as a Republican to vote in the primary.
But seriously, how can you say we should take care of more and more people when we can barely afford what we have now. We already have $9trillion in debt. Adding to that only makes things worse. It's not that Republicans don't care. That's an appeal to emotion and fails under scrutiny.
republicans dont care about families, its time for people to realize that, they dont care if your sick, unemployed, poor
you know that is just not true,at least among everyday Republicans like me though I'm not happy with many Repubs these days either.
It is about the approach on handling these issues that differ,not that nobody "cares".There is nothing free in this world even if it's spinned as "free".
Republicans generally like me,would rather tackle issues not using government as much as possible,but rather keep the power in the hands of the people over money and helping others,the more people help each other by freewill the more there will be true compassion and morals.
Am I totally against public welfare?....no but let it be a system that helps people become better and rise above rather than keeping people in perpetual poverty.The movie "Pursuit of happyness" with Will Smith was a great example of where public welfare helped someone in need but the person wanted (and did) rise above.
Read Arthur Brooks book titled, "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism". You'll see that conservatives on average donate 30% more than liberals, while liberals earn on average 6% more than conservatives. Conservatives are more likely to volunteer their time, and on average volunteer more days than liberals. Conservatives also donate more blood than liberals.
Read Arthur Brooks book titled, "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism". You'll see that conservatives on average donate 30% more than liberals, while liberals earn on average 6% more than conservatives. Conservatives are more likely to volunteer their time, and on average volunteer more days than liberals. Conservatives also donate more blood than liberals.
So what were you saying about not caring?
Conservative /= Republican. I respect conservatives.
Conservative /= Republican. I respect conservatives.
True there's not a direct correlation, but it's the closest statistic that I was aware of from past reading. I'm neither D nor R, closer to L but actually I.
But the point is that there is a huge difference between voluntary and compulsory charity. If you're looking at true compassion, look at people that are willing to spend their own time and money, moreso than people wanting to spend other people's money.
Read Arthur Brooks book titled, "Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism". You'll see that conservatives on average donate 30% more than liberals, while liberals earn on average 6% more than conservatives. Conservatives are more likely to volunteer their time, and on average volunteer more days than liberals. Conservatives also donate more blood than liberals.
So what were you saying about not caring?
As long as that blood doesn't go to the gays.
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