(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Does a Child-Care Crisis Await Us? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-08-31 Who wants to fix an unfair game when their guys are winning? Why rush to level the playing field when it’s your team that gets to run downhill? Republicans love to call people struggling to make ends meet who avail themselves of various government aid programs as lazy takers, sucking up money that could instead be used to cut taxes – particularly of the rich and corporations. So, as important funding that helps millions of children get into child care so their parents can go to work winds down, it’s not surprising that the GOP apparently couldn’t care less. What is surprising is that at this point President Joe Biden – who’s pushed for government spending in this area in the past -- isn’t stepping up to the plate, either. Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell, in a typically insightful piece, warns of an upcoming child-care crisis in “Think child care is hard to find now? Wait a couple of months.” Rampell explains that the American Rescue Plan – the emergency Covid relief bill opposed by all Republicans in both houses of Congress – included $24 billion in “child-care stabilization grants.” This money was distributed by the states and used by various child care centers for things like raising staff pay, reducing tuition, and defraying rent and maintenance costs. Now, this funding expires Sept. 30, and Republicans – not surprisingly – don’t want to renew it. What is surprising is that Biden didn’t include any money for this effort in the supplemental appropriations request his administration released this month. Rampell reports that this is happening “despite pleas from child-care experts and lawmakers who had been warning of the coming funding cliff for months.” This loss of funding is expected to cause 3 million children to lose their child-care slots, Rampell warned. More than 70,000 child-care programs are expected to close entirely, according to estimates from the Century Foundation. In some parts of the country, the number of licensed programs could be cut in half, or more. “The country is facing a cascading crisis not only for the children losing care, their families, and the small businesses that watch and educate children, but also every other sector of the economy that needs the care industry to exist so parents can work,” she wrote. You can read Rampell’s column here. *** As we wait to see whether Washington will fail these kids and their parents, we should look back at two Democratic initiatives from a couple of years ago that failed to make it into law. One was enhanced child care for working families in which low-and-middle-income households would pay no more than 7 percent of their income on child care for kids younger than age 5. Another was the establishment of universal Pre-K for 3-and-4-year-olds. Both are great and much needed ideas. Here’s the GOP con: They call programs to help people and families socialism. They’re not. They’re really components in a capitalist system that’s fair, as opposed to one that’s stacked in favor of the rich. All we’re doing when we provide help for child care is allowing parents – a lot of them single mothers – to enter the workforce instead of staying home with their children because the cost of putting them in child care is either unaffordable or so high that they’d had little left over from their salaries once they paid that cost. That’s not a handout to a lazy bum. That’s a hand up to someone so they can get a job, pay taxes, and contribute to the economy, while not worrying about their children being taken care of while they’re gone. What are their other options if they have no family or friends to watch their kids? Helping people in need with child-care costs is money well spent. The challenge for Democrats is to understand you can’t have every program you want and to focus on the most needed. This, of course, is never a quandary for the Republicans because they don’t want any programs that help people to begin with. And it sounds like Biden might need a kick in the ass on this one, too. If so, so be it. Fairness ought to count for something in a nation that bills itself as the greatest country in the world. *** Thank you for reading my post. You can see more of my writing on my blog: Musings of a Nobody. Also, please check out my video blog: The 3:13 on Politics. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/31/2190820/-Does-a-Child-Care-Crisis-Await-Us Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/