Trump child care plan breaks with conservative orthodoxy
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016, in Clive, Iowa. A war of words over Donald Trump’s “deplorables” is intensifying as Republicans and Democrats fight to score political points over Hillary Clinton’s charge that millions of the New York billionaire’s supporters are racist, sexist and homophobic.
ASTON, Pa. >> Donald Trump rolled out a plan Tuesday 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.
“We need working mothers to be fairly compensated for their work, and to have access to affordable, quality child care for their kids,” Trump said in Aston, Pennsylvania. “These solutions must update laws passed more than half a century ago when most women were still not in the labor force.”
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.
Trump previously proposed reducing child care costs by allowing parents to fully deduct the average cost of child care from their taxes. On Tuesday, he expanded that proposal to allow families with a stay-at-home parent to qualify for the deduction and to include costs associated with caring for elderly dependent relatives.
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The deduction would apply only to individuals earning $250,000 or less, or $500,000 or less if filing jointly. But because Trump’s proposal is a tax deduction rather than credit, its greatest benefits would go to affluent households. More than 40 percent of U.S. taxpayers don’t make enough money to owe taxes to the federal government, meaning they would not benefit from a deduction. Lower-income earners would receive child-care spending rebates through expanding the existing Earned Income Tax Credit, the campaign said.
Trump also proposed incentives for employers to provide child-care options at work. But some of his proposals to prod businesses and communities into providing childcare and other services are anathema to conservative orthodoxy.
At one point, Trump was interrupted briefly by a crying baby — but, unlike at a rally in August, he did not suggest he wanted the child ejected.
The timing, location and subject matter are no coincidence. Democratic presidential candidates have won Pennsylvania since 1992, but Trump hopes to flip the battleground to win the White House in November. And Trump has been trying to soften his image among college-educated women who have been reluctant to support a candidate who has made many derogatory remarks toward women.
Ivanka Trump introduced Trump in Pennsylvania and, earlier in the day in Iowa, the candidate credited his daughter for his action on the issue. “She is the one who has been pushing for it so hard: ‘Daddy, Daddy we have to do this.’ She’s very smart, and she’s right,” the candidate said.
The timing raised some eyebrows among skeptics.
“Given the late-breaking nature of this policy proposal it’s hard not to feel like it’s a pretty naked attempt to speak to women voters less than 60 days before the election,” said Vivien Labaton of Make It Work Action, which pushes for increased child care access.
Trump laid out plans to create “Dependent Care Savings Accounts” that would allow families to set aside money to look after children or elderly parents. The accounts would allow tax-deductible contributions and tax-free appreciation and could be used to pay for child care, after-school programs and school tuition. To help lower-income parents, the government would match half of the first $1,000 deposited per year.
For elderly dependents, the accounts could be used to help pay for services including in-home nursing and long-term care.
Currently, families can set aside up to $5000 annually for child care expenses or elder care but not for school tuition and cannot carry over the amount in the account.
Trump did not lay out how much the proposals would cost, but insisted the extra spending would be offset by economic growth and other cuts.
Clinton, meanwhile, proposes that no family should spend more than 10 percent of its income on child care. To achieve this, Clinton would seek to boost federal spending on child-care subsidies and provide “tax relief for the cost of child care to working families.” Those benefits would be offered on a sliding scale based on need, though Clinton has offered few other details since introducing the plan in May.
11 responses to “Trump child care plan breaks with conservative orthodoxy”
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Even 10% of income on child care is high. When rent is 30-60%, esp. in Honolulu, many peeps don’t have an extra 10% for childcare.
GOOD ONE Donald! All this time we’ve been constantly hearing how much the Republicans don’t care for Hardworking Families!Of course this was all a myth,a myth created my yours truly The Democratic Party. Well at least you can have some comfort with Mr.Trump in office,because instead of robbing the tax payers,( The Treasury or Medicare lol) to pay for Child Care,he’ll figure which way would be the best way and also sustainable.
Man! this past week has been tremendous for Donald and I am soooooo elated that Donald Trump,who no one would have thought, would be leading the polls .Yaaaay! And btw, wasn’t Ivanka’s Speech spectacular too? Way to go Mr. President ,Good Hardworking and Smart kids, all of them!
Yes, this is encouraging to hear that both major parties are having this discussion. Please correct: Mr. Trump today was ahead in two of the ten most recent polls. The only one that matters however is the one in November.
IRT MoiLee, yes, Mr. Trump has come up with an excellent proposal. One is that Unemployment Insurance is administered by the States and in the plan on the six week maternity leave. The Feds would block grant to States needing assistance as in UI. Also, child and elderly care to be funded by tax credits at the State and Federal levels on a cafeteria system sliding scale. And, all done without creating another Federal Government Department or increasing taxes on individuals. Having States manage the program is what the Constitution directs. Democrats give, Republicans support.
No, this is a vote-getting lie. This plan goes against the Republican way. Is Trump flip-flopping again? Does he want to be the Democratic nominee? No, he doesn’t intend to deliver anyway—IF he gets elected.
IRT MM, what part of the child care plan goes against the Republican way? And, where is the statement from Mr. Trump that he does not intend to push this issue together with his daughter.
As a person who follows Trump news, you know that he sometimes says things off the top of his head (e.g., “I’ll deport all 11 million illegal immigrants”), then changes without warning (“We’ll send the bad criminals back” (about 700,000)).
His original plan, to offer tax deductions, was more Republican. That would’ve only helped wealthy people who actually have taxes to pay (the poor don’t have enough income to take deductions from, and don’t have any extra cash in the first place to hire care).
Because everyone jumped on him for his first plan, his team made him say this one, where the benefits would come out of an extension of unemployment insurance. The problem, even IF he’s sincere, is that this would cost a LOT of money.
The first sign that he’s not serious about following through is that he has no plan on how to fund it: “Trump did not lay out how much the proposals would cost, but insisted the extra spending would be offset by economic growth and other cuts.”
You have his everyday habit of flip-flopping, and now the built-in excuse he has in that if the economy doesn’t grow, he doesn’t have to keep this promise, because there won’t be money to pay for all those benefits. It’s easier for him to break his promise that way than to find ways to fund it.
IRT MM, Mr. Trump has never changed his position on the 11 million (?) illegal aliens being deported. He has clarified the 11 Million (?) with those who break our laws go first.
Mr. Trump said, he will pay the 6 weeks maternity leave through the State controlled Unemployment Insurance program. He also said, he will fund child care and elderly care through tax credits up to a fixed amount of income.
All programs are self funded and State controlled.
Good one, Hillary! LAST YEAR she backed a 12-week paid family leave (vs. 6 weeks in Trump’s current “plan”), to be paid by rich taxpayers, meaning it won’t burden businesses, especially the small ones.
Trump had to bring out this new plan (or read the script his managers wrote), because his original plan only benefited the wealthy. The problem now is he has NO idea how he’s going to fund it. When the economy stagnates, he’ll have a built-in excuse to not follow through.
In his business history, did Trump ever stiff a contractor because he filed bankruptcy or found a loophole to avoid paying a dime? http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/13/politics/trump-small-business-owners/index.html
“But because Trump’s proposal is a tax deduction rather than credit, its greatest benefits would go to affluent households. More than 40 percent of U.S. taxpayers don’t make enough money to owe taxes to the federal government, meaning they would not benefit from a deduction.”
Apparently people don’t understand the benefits of a credit vs a deduction. He should explain how this deduction benefits those who really need the help.
To clarify, the tax-deduction-only plan was his first BS plan a month ago, which would only have benefited the wealthy. Since everyone jumped on him for that, his team made him say this new plan, which is to extend unemployment benefits to workers on maternity leave. This would help middle class workers—but only if he follows through with this costly plan. He has NO plan on how to fund it, so we shouldn’t be surprised if he cancelled it for “lack of funds” (if he theoretically gets elected).
This new package also includes tax deductions for stay-at-home parents. So correct, this part only helps the wealthy who can stay home and still have big bucks to pay for child care. It’s not going to help the poor stay-at-home people, who have no job, no money to pay for child care, and no income to deduct.
That’s “what the h— you have to lose” if you aren’t rich and you support Trump.