Vote For Democrats to Make Childcare Affordable

Republicans Contradict Themselves

(This piece originally appeared in the foxcitiesprogressive.)

By David Haas

A recent article in the Post-Crescent showed the cost of childcare in various parts of Wisconsin and made it clear that it is too expensive for many Wisconsinites. An earlier article in the same newspaper informed us that Republicans in Madison had voted down a Democratic proposal to extend Child Care Counts, a program to use state funds to subsidize childcare in our state. This Republican decision contradicts the “pronatalist” position of many Republicans. They proclaim loudly that Americans are having too few children and that they need to have more.

How can anyone support the idea that Americans should have more children and at the same time oppose programs to make it more affordable for families to have children? How can a party that claims to represent the interests of ordinary Americans want to make life more expensive and difficult for them?

Republicans Represent Business

The answer is that the Republican claim to represent ordinary Americans is a fraud. In reality, the Republican Party represents the interests of business as it always has. Businesses benefit when Americans have lots of children because they grow up to become workers. A large supply of workers helps to keep wages from rising, and that is good for businesses. At the same time, businesses benefit from keeping public expenditures low because public expenditures must be paid for with tax revenue, and business people generally oppose high taxes.

So, in the short run, business people oppose programs like Child Care Counts, and the Republican Party – which represents business – opposes those programs, too. In the long run, of course, the opposition to subsidizing childcare will conflict with the desire for Americans to have more babies, but that is a problem for the distant future. So, Republicans are caught in a contradiction. They like the idea that Americans should have more children, but they oppose any program that might make childcare more affordable.

Democrats Support Making Childcare Affordable

Democrats, on the other hand, are clear. We think that childcare should be affordable for families that want to have children, and we think that parents should decide for themselves how many children they want to have. If you agree with this clear and sensible approach, you should vote in November for Democrats to represent you in Madison and in Washington. If you live in Northeast Wisconsin, you can learn about our outstanding, Democratic candidates by going to Fall Election Candidates — Democratic Party of Outagamie County (outagamiedems.org).