The Lie That the GOP/Conservatives Support Family Values

America's last place ranking in maternity leave

One hears constant blather from self-labeled "family values" organizations and, of course, the Republicans about how strongly they support family values.  The claim, like just about everything else the utter, is a lie.  There definition of family values means vilifying gays and single mothers and doing all in their power to eliminate social programs that might actually help support families so that greed driven bigots can keep their money to themselves much like the wealthy condemned by Christ in the Gospels.  Perhaps equally shocking is the fact that 163 other countries have forms of paid maternity leave to support motherhood while the USA has no such program.  The "pro-live" fetus worshipers talk constantly about valuing life, but once children are born, these hypocrites don't give a damn about these newborn and young children.  A column in the Washington Post looks at the disconnect between the rhetoric and the reality.  Here are highlights:

Politicians talk about family values but do almost nothing to help families. They talk about parental responsibility but do almost nothing to help parents. They talk about self-sufficiency but do precious little to make self-sufficiency a reality for those who must struggle hardest to achieve it.

For all these reasons, it was exciting last week to see Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut introduce the FAMILY Act, the acronym standing for their Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act. The bill would provide partial income for up to 12 weeks of leave for new parents and for other family demands, such as care for a sick family member, including a domestic partner.

How far behind the rest of the world is our country on this quintessential family values matter? The Post’s Amy Joyce cited a Harvard University study in 2004 noting that of 168 countries it examined, 163 had some form of paid maternity leave. We weren’t one of the 163. Joyce observed that “the U.S. is on par with places like Papua New Guinea and Swaziland when it comes to paid family leave.”

Premiums would range from about $72 to $227 a year, depending on a person’s income. The maximum benefit is capped at $4,000 a month. They expect the average monthly benefit to be less than half that.

There is nothing revolutionary about this proposal. It builds on the existing (and highly popular) Family and Medical Leave Act, which requires unpaid leave and was enacted two decades ago. It is modest in comparison with leave policies in other well-off countries.

Yet in light of Congress’s dismal record since the Republican takeover of the House in 2010, it would be revolutionary to see any law passed that empowered individuals and families to ease their everyday difficulties.

At a time when the political news is dominated by a debate between do-little conservatism and do-nothing conservatism — which is to say, between a right-tilting Republican establishment and the radical tea party — Gillibrand’s package includes building blocks for a broader counter-vision inspired by the idea of an Empowering Government.  

[S]urely a country that honors the devotion of family members to each other should want to make it at least a little easier for them to do their jobs.