We can only assume the Trump campaign hoped last night’s child care plan rollout would be a promising turning point for Donald Trump. Instead, Trump rolled out a “’Mad Men’-era” proposal that would leave out men and adoptive families, hurt working mothers and benefit the rich.
The reviews are in, and they’re not good:
MSNBC: Donald Trump’s child-care ‘plan’ is hard to take seriously
The proposal would exclude many families who need help the most; the Trump campaign’s numbers don’t come close to adding up; and for much of the country, the size of the candidate’s recommended tax credit would fall far short.
In Trump’s proposal, it’s women who take care of the children, because in Donald Trump’s world, it has always been women who took care of his children. He’s had five kids by three wives, yet bragged that he doesn’t change diapers and that his entire parental responsibility comes down to writing checks.
NPR: Trump Campaign Sketches Out Family Care Plans; Questions Linger Over Funding
That could come at a whopping cost. There are some 124 million households in the U.S., about 43 percent of which with children. That’s more than 50 million households. If all of those families put in $1,000 per year, it would cost the government $25 billion annually. Even if half of all families contributed to it, that’s still a big price tag, and the Trump campaign outlines no way to pay for it. Not to mention that that kind of benefit doesn’t help the families who can’t afford to put that much in per year.
New York Times: Donald Trump Unveils Plan for Families in Bid for Women’s Votes
But in selling his case, Mr. Trump stretched the truth, saying that his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, has no such plan of her own and ‘never will.’ Mrs. Clinton issued her plan more than a year ago, and it guarantees up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for a newborn or a sick relative, financed by an increase in taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Politico: Trump’s appeal to female voters doesn’t add up
It’s the latest in a string of Trump’s high-cost promises to voters that have been vague, or misleading, on how he plans to fund them. Mexico says it won’t give a dime for Trump’s border wall, but Trump says it will pay for all of it. Trump also says he’ll triple the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, preserve entitlements, grow the military and make child care tax-deductible, all while sweeping in large-scale tax cuts.
Think Progress: Trump’s new family-friendly policies would make matters worse
But only offering maternity leave would mean that new fathers and potentially all adoptive parents would be completely left out. Anyone whose parents became sick wouldn’t be able to access paid time off to care for them. And anyone who went through a major illness would only be guaranteed unpaid time off.
U.S News & World Report Opinion: Trump’s Child Care Plan Doesn’t Work
Low-wage workers fare even worse under Trump’s plan. Since these families will not benefit from Trump’s tax deduction, Trump has proposed a rebate worth up to $1,200 per family. But this is not nearly enough to make child care affordable for these families. Even assuming that a family with two parents working at minimum wage gets the full $1,200, they would still need to spend 55 percent of their income to place an infant and preschooler in child care centers. The same family would still need to spend 27 percent of their income if they only need child care for the infant.
That Trump’s childcare/paid leave plan is aimed only at women tells you a lot https://t.co/gWELOIjoxp
— Bryce Covert (@brycecovert) September 14, 2016
Trump’s a salesman. He says whatever he thinks a buyer wants. In primary, a Muslim ban. Now child care. But after sale, Trump never delivers
— stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) September 14, 2016
Trump says Hillary Clinton “has no child care plan.” That is patently untrue. She introduced one in June 2015.
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) September 14, 2016
]]>Trump childcare plan boils down to this: More money for people who can afford nannies. https://t.co/MKUZSfYaMZ
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) September 14, 2016
“Tonight, Trump laid out a half-baked ‘maternity leave’ plan that would only help the children of the rich and actually lower wages for working mothers. Let’s be clear: this is not a real paid leave plan. It’s just a political stunt designed to cover up Trump’s history of disrespecting women in the workplace.Trump has insulted, ridiculed and disparaged women for decades and even lied about providing paid leave for his own employees. The Trump campaign is hoping that one fact-free, condescending speech will erase their candidate’s decades-long contempt for working women and their families. Unfortunately for Trump, mass amnesia is not a viable electoral strategy.”
Donald Trump: “I think that putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing.” “I think that putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing. If you’re in business for yourself, I really think it’s a bad idea. I think that was the single greatest cause of what happened to my marriage with Ivana.” [ABC News, 1994]
Donald Trump on working women: “I have days when I think it’s great, and then I have days where if I come home…and dinner’s not ready, I go through the roof, okay?” “I think I’m probably mixed. I have days when I think it’s great, and then I have days where if I come home — you know, I don’t want to sound too much like a chauvinist, but when I come home and dinner’s not ready, I go through the roof, okay?” [ABC’s Primetime Live, 3/10/94]
Donald Trump: Pregnancy is “certainly an inconvenience for a business.” TRUMP: “Well, you know, pregnancy is never–it’s a wonderful thing for the woman, it’s a wonderful thing for the husband, it’s certainly an inconvenience for a business. And whether people want to say that or not, the fact is it is an inconvenience for a person that is running a business.” [NBC’s Dateline, 10/3/04]
Donald Trump said a lawyer who requested a medical break to pump breast milk for her infant daughter was “disgusting.” “Donald J. Trump seemed irritated. He had been grilled for two hours in a lawsuit over a failed Florida real estate project, and he told the lawyer that her questions were ‘very stupid.’ When the lawyer, Elizabeth Beck, asked for a medical break, Mr. Trump and his lawyers objected, demanding that the deposition continue. Ms. Beck said it was urgent — she needed to pump breast milk for her 3-month-old daughter, and she took the pump out to make her point. Mr. Trump erupted. ‘You’re disgusting,’ he told Ms. Beck, in a remark that is not disputed by either side. He then walked out of the room, ending the testimony for the day.” [New York Times, 7/28/15]
Donald Trump: If Ivanka was sexually harassed, “I would like to think she would find another career or find another company.” “What if someone had treated Ivanka in the way Ailes allegedly behaved? His reply was startling, even by Trumpian standards. ‘I would like to think she would find another career or find another company if that was the case,’ he said.” [USA Today, 8/1/16]
Donald Trump on workplace sexual harassment: “You can go through the process. You can also change. You can do both. Uh, you can do one, the other, or both.” TRUMP: “You can go through the process [if faced with workplace sexual harassment]. You can also change. You can do both. Uh, you can do one, the other, or both. And I think it depends on the individual. You understand what I mean by that, right?” RUCKER: “Yeah.” TRUMP: “One, the other or both.” RUCKER: “And is there one that’s preferable, in your mind?” TRUMP: “I think it’s gotta be up to the individual. I think it depends on the individual. It also depends on what’s available. There may be a better alternative, then there may not. If there’s not a better alternative, then you stay. But it could be there’s a better alternative where you’re taken care of better. But some people don’t like staying in an atmosphere that was so hostile. You understand that?” [The Washington Post, 8/2/16]
Donald Trump said it was “very sad” that some women were “complaining” about being sexually harassed by Roger Ailes. TODD: “Finally, Roger Ailes? Is he helping you? Is he advising you?” TRUMP: “Well, I don’t want to comment but he’s been a friend of mine for a long time and I can tell you that some of the women that are complaining, I know how much he’s helped them and even recently and when they write books that are fairly recently released and they say wonderful things about him and, now all of a sudden, they are saying these horrible things about him, it’s very sad because he’s a very good person.” [NBC’s Meet The Press, 7/24/16]
Wayne Barrett’s Trump: The Deals and the Downfall: Donald Trump tried to get “Playboy to do a spread called ‘The Girls of Trump,’ wooing his most shapely staffers… into posing for the magazine.” “He even tried to get Playboy to do a spread called ‘The Girls of Trump,’ wooing his most shapely staffers, including a former beauty queen secretary, into posing for the magazine with a sliding scale of offers on everything from full nude to breast to ‘wet-lip’ shots. It was all part of the rakish ethos of phony glamour that he consciously fostered, even to the extent of concealing from public view a very efficient secretary with a pimplish facial condition.” [Trump: The Deals and the Downfall, 1992]
Associated Press: Donald Trump claimed he offered on-site childcare for his employees, but the programs were for patrons of Trump’s hotels and golf club, “not for Trump’s employees.” “The billionaire real estate mogul, who previously voiced his opposition to government-funded universal pre-K programs, said in Newton, Iowa, in November 2015 that he had visited many companies that offered workers on-site child-care centers — and added that he offered such programs himself. […] But the two programs Trump cited — ‘Trump Kids’ and ‘Trumpeteers’ — are programs catering to patrons of Trump’s hotels and golf club. They are not for Trump’s employees, according to staff at Trump’s hotels and clubs across the country.” [Associated Press, 8/11/16]
Associated Press: There was “no evidence” that Donald Trump provided on-site childcare service for his employees. “When Donald Trump vowed this week to make child care more accessible and affordable, it was just the second time during his White House campaign that he’s talked about an issue that affects millions of working Americans with young children. The first came months ago in Iowa, when the eventual Republican nominee touted his own record as a business owner during a candidate Q&A, telling voters he provided on-site child-care service for his employees. There is no evidence, however, that any such programs exist.” [Associated Press, 8/11/16]
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