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Let me say what we're all thinking: If you make having kids affordable, more people will have kids. If you make having kids safer, more people will have kids. These are the things these idiots don't want to acknowledge.
I'm sorry but is this logic in my right wing politics? Get the fuck out of here.
What I always find crazy is the cost of pre-natal, delivery and post-partum healthcare in the US. Barely any politician talks about it and no parents seem to talk about it until slapped in the face with the hospital bill. Even with insurance it's on average a US$2800 downpayment...
If the US wants more babies, I think fixing this is a good start. Hilariously, a budgeting post on the cost in Canada says it's CA$10-15k but that is the total expected amount to raise a child all the way to 18 years old, which is in stark contrast to the US one looking 3 months ahead at best.
Oh, let's do more.
JD Vance's solution to depression? "Maybe smile more"
JD Vance's solution to cancer? "Maybe eat better"
JD Vance's solution to poverty? "Maybe get another job"
JD Vance's solution to homelessness? "Maybe move in with your parents"
JD Vance’s solution to teen pregnancy? “Maybe try a pull-out.”
“Maybe try fucking a couch”
That was the joke.
Ah. Missed the subtle double-entendre.
I will admit, it took me a second to get the joke.
JD Vance's solution to school shootings? They're just a fact of life. Harden your schools and add armed guards and sniper nests.
"Grandma and grandpa want to help, but we can't retire. Welcome to Walmart! I love you!"
Or they're to busy taking 105 vacations a year, after they helped the corporations pull up the ladder behind them
"Maybe Grandma and Grandma still work," said author Jacie Floyd on the social media platform X. "Maybe Grandma and Grandpa have health issues. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa live 1,000 miles away. Maybe Grandma and Grandpa don't want to. The [Republican Party] shouldn’t be planning Grandma and Grandpa's retirement for them."
Actually, the Republican party are actively trying to keep Grandma and Grandpa from retiring by pushing the retirement age up towards the average American life expectancy while Republican health care policies are pushing that average further and further down. Sorry, JD, Grandma and Grandpa are being worked to death and can't really help out.
One of my grandmothers never wanted to help because she died before I was born.
If your grandparents died in a war I guess you can go double fuck yourself as well thanks republicans.
What is it with old people these days? Just lazing about and sipping lattes, probably.
And avocado toast!
Well maybe she wanted to but just couldn't??
My dad and my stepmom would love to do more for our 2 year old, but my dad still works, my step-mom has a lot of health issues that they have to maintain appointments for, and they also have like 6 other grandchildren from my stepbrothers. My wife and I live an hour away and do very well financially, so they not only don't have the time, but could not realistically care for him that often.
My mom is well meaning, but my step-dad is a moron and they own like 4 vehicles and only 1 works. They are not poor, just dumb when it comes to cars. My mom is also a narcissist and it does not occur to her that if she asked to help more that she could. We've talked to her about it, and she just doesn't attempt to do anything.
My grandparents, now in their 80s, love every minute with the little guy, but they don't have the energy they used to.
Contrast that with out daycare: the facility is run by two sisters and their retired father helps out to keep busy. They hire teachers at a living wage and absolutely love the kids that attend. Our little guy has not yet had his 2nd birthday and he knows almost all of his letters, he can count to 14, he knows his shapes, and he has a great vocabulary already. He has a best friend, he is very social with the other kids and they all share very well. The older kids are all very well spoken, polite, and respectful to each other. We are so lucky we found such a great place.
Grandma and grandpa simply could not provide him with that. He is in a place where he is safe and loved at all times, and the cost to put him there should be tax deductible. We burn through the child care tax deduction by February.
And anyone who thinks Trump/Vance is the right choice for families is a fucking moron. It's ridiculous
So no grand parents can't help save me 2-3k a month in babysitting fees for 2 kids. Thanks capitalism.
All my grandparents all died by the time I was 15…
Maybe he thinks everybody is like one of my high school classmates who bragged of being a grandfather at the ripe old age of 40…
What 40 year old grandfather isn't working though?
The trailer-park methheads who have meth'ed their way right onto disability.
You know, the type of person you want your kids around for 8 hours a day, right?
Hahaha so proud to do the painful thing of having sex with opposite gender and your kids did the same! Such a trial.
Have you considered being a foster parent and get paid to have a live in babysitter?
I have not. Seems like another wild card. Maybe I'll get lucky and have good child that just needs a stable life to get get them through to adulthood. Maybe I'll get a very disturbed child that murders my kids in a tantrum. I'm a very strong belief to be careful of who you invite into your home.
I love this guy, he is such a moron. Like maybe in some americana fetishist fever dream that might work. But I bet half his base doesn't have family with enough free time to provide free childcare. At least not enough to justify not spending on daycare subsidies and other childcare assistance.
"Let them eat cake," said man who hopes to be one cheeseburger-induced heart attack away from the presidency.
Grandpa and grandma raised me, i am still dealing with that trauma. I do not need them passing it on to my children too.
I feel your pain.
This is peak conservative problem solving. They rave about about “the elite democrats” when in fact they’re the elite; they have enough money to where childcare is a non-issue. So when thinking about the problem the idea that parents can’t afford the same care is a foreign concept. Thus, their problem solving is limited to knee-jerk comments like “shrug… maybe grandparents could do it?”
My wife and I have 2 grandparents between us, they live in different states, and both are still working with bleak retirement plans.
My parents are the reason it's irresponsible to suggest that I should have a child.
We need a t-shirt that says this.
Need abbreviation
"My parents are the reason I shouldn't have children"
As a grandparent maybe JD wants to fuck right off?
What, you don't want to work for free until you die? How unamerican!
The ironic thing is my wife is currently watching one grandkid this weekend as our son and his wife are heading to Atlanta to watch the Falcons and the Steelers play on Sunday.
What if you do not trust grandma to be your children's primary caregiver? This is part of the reason I chose to not have kids. I knew I could not afford childcare. My mother would happily do it for free, but she is batshit crazy and unpredictable. I would not want her to have unsupervised access to my hypothetical children for 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week.
While my parents aren't bad, they're just products of their environment that doesn't teach or encourage critical thinking and being honest to one's self. They are also bad with communication. They don't have an iota of self-reflection or even if they do, they do not even attempt to change. But even if they change, it's too late. My parents said and taught me a lot of things when I was growing up, which in hindsight doesn't make sense and negatively affected my formative years.
My parents said they'll be happy to take care of any of my future children; but I gave a disgusted no face and I reckon my parents did not even get the hint.
In the Republican brain we’re all white, own our own home, live in a nuclear family with grandma and grandpa living down the street.
And that's because Republicans have a skewed version of our every day life since most were privileged little shits
I don't understand why you don't just put the kids in the helicopter and fly them up to Grandpa's condo?
They do, but unfortunately, they're radicalized nutjobs, so they aren't much of an option now...
Conservatives: "The solution is simple. Bootstraps. Now quit yer bitchin' and get back to work!"
I AGREE! The LAST thing I want when I leave my Children ALONE with a Stranger is for that Stranger to be Qualified to handle Kids!
Okay. Good.
JD is an imbecile, BUT I don’t think he’s entirely off base here. Grandparents (and other extended family members) have historically been very involved in the raising of young children. “It takes a village” after all. In my experience we’ve lost much of that familial help and it would be a huge benefit to get some of it back.
However, I don’t think Grandma/Grandpa are the ONLY solution to the childcare crisis and that’s where I disagree with JD/republicans.
D is an imbecile, BUT I don’t think he’s entirely off of base here. Grandparents (and other extended family members) have historically been very involved in the raising of young children.
First, my children are not my parents', siblings', or friends' responsibility. Just like their kids aren't mine.
Second, in an age where people are continuing to work even beyond retirement (either by choice or need), these people all likely have work and family responsibilities of their own. And even if they don't, what if they simply just don't want the burden of taking your child for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week? I know plenty of grandparents who like the idea of the kids coming by on the weekend where they can load them up with sugar and send them home, and who's opinion is that of "Hey, I raised my kids. My job is done. It's your turn now.", and do not want the day-to-day responsibilites of child care.
What about those who have no family? Maybe their parents have died. Or maybe they're too old to keep up with the day to day responsibilites? Or your family are simply not the type of people you want your children to be around? What if they live too far away to make childcare a viable option?
Are they also supposed to be responsible for feeding and transporting your child around (to and from school, for example) for free?
Your position just defends the GOP take on the matter that poor people should just rely on these resources as if they're available to everybody without issues, and that family members are all well-adjusted members of society who will gladly essentially take on the full time job of child care worker for free because they have no responsibilities of their own. Look at it this way. If these people have parents, siblings, and friends available to them and they're not using them for child care, there's probably a reason for that. Because I can guaran-fucking-tee you they looked into it.
He's not wrong, but that's why it's laughable. It's so fucking obvious that it literally does not need to be said.
"Oh gee, why didn't I think to ask for a favor from people close to me?"