Beware The Government Freebies- Their Free Gifts Can Cost You Plenty!

I guess it depends upon what side of the political divide you are on when deciding how you view this news.  Most of the KIT crew will see the "Build Back Better" budget deal as less desirable than the "Betty Bought a bit of butter but, she said, this butters bitter" plan!

In fact, a lot of people will be bitter if it passes - and with the help of 13 House Republicans- the less-than-infrastructure INFRASTRUCTURE Bill passed. The bill passed by a vote of 228 to 206 with six progressive Democrats (The Squad) joining the majority of Republican members in voting against the measure.

Visionaries or Sellouts?

The Republicans who voted in favor of the bill were: Don Bacon of Nebraska, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, John Katko of New York, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Nicole Malliotakis of New York, David McKinley of West Virginia, Tom Reed of New York, Chris Smith of New Jersey, Fred Upton of Michigan, Jeff van Drew of New Jersey and Don Young of Alaska.

Up next, the centerpiece of the Biden Build Back Better Agenda. Part of the multi-trillion-dollar plan is Washington Senator Patty Murray's Child Care Proposal.  Whether you a fan of the Senator or not, here's what you should know about how she presents her plan.

First off, we are reminded that the Senator used to teach pre-school so she is supposed to know "how to solve our child care crisis and she's spearheaded the efforts to ensure that historic policies were included in the Build Back Better Act"

The Biden Answer To MAGA

President Joe Biden says, "there are nearly 2 million women in America not working today simply because they can’t afford childcare. A typical family spends about $11,000 a year on childcare. In some states, it’s $14,500 a year per child. We’re going to make sure nearly all families earning less than $300,000 a year will pay no more than 7 percent of their income for childcare. And for a family making $100,000 a year, that will save them more than $5,000 on childcare."

Less than $300,000 is the bar?  If you are going to do it, how about a lower bar and more money per recipient?  But no worries, remember, somehow this is a part of a several trillion dollar plan that is going to cost nothing, zip, zero, nada, nothing!  You better pay attention David Copperfield, this could beat any trick you've ever performed!

The Senator Says...?

The Build Back Better child care and universal pre-K policies were modeled off of Senator Murray’s Child Care for Working Families Act, and they say it will dramatically lower child care costs for the vast majority of working families in America while increasing the number of child care providers nationwide, raise child care workers’ wages, and establish universal pre-k for every family.

And all at a cost of - nothing?

Senator Murray says,  “Our child care crisis is one of the reasons I ran for office in the first place. To this day, when I talk to workers, parents, and business owners, the first thing they tell me is finding and affording child care is keeping people from getting back to work—especially coming out of the pandemic. That’s why we’re dramatically lowering families’ child care costs, helping parents get back to work, and making child care more available by finally paying child care workers the higher wages they deserve. For too long, our country has told working parents ‘you’re on your own’ when it comes to child care instead of ‘we’ve got your back.’ Finally, that’s about to change,”

The Senator's press release claims that families across the country would save an average of $5,000-$6,500 a year in child care costs and millions will pay nothing at all. For example, when fully implemented, no family of four in Washington state making less than $254,000 would spend more than 7% of their income on child care, resulting in big savings for Washington families. A family of four making $151,000 in Washington state would save $164 per week on child care. Many families earning lower incomes would pay nothing at all. A family of four in Washington earning less than $76,000 would receive free child care.

HOW IT WOULD WORK

The child care and universal pre-k policies in Build Back Better will address this crisis by:

·       establishing universal pre-k so every family has access to pre-kindergarten for children ages 3 and 4;

·       providing subsidies to the vast majority of working families in the United States—so that no eligible working family has to pay more than 7% of their income on child care. Specifically,

o   working families earning up to 250% of the median income in their state (SMI), or about $300,000 a year nationally, would be eligible for child care assistance once the program is fully phased in,

o   those earning less than 75% of the SMI wouldn’t pay anything at all,

o   families would pay for child care based on an income-based sliding scale, ensuring no eligible family pays more than 7 percent of income on child care;

·       significantly expanding the number and improving the quality of child care providers across the country, which would benefit every single family who needs child care; and

·       supporting higher wages for child care workers—most of whom are women and workers of color.

Couple of questions ...Murray was elected 28 years ago...What has she been doing? If this is the answer, why hasn't it passed before now?  AND, if THIS is the main reason she ran back in 1993, will she be able to call it quits if it passes, with a brush off of her hands, saying, "looks like my work here is done"?   Wouldn't that be nice?