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Trump’s Daycare Proposal Is the Harriet Miers Nomination
In October 2005, a political earthquake struck when President George W. Bush nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers to fill Associate Justice Sandra Day-O’Connor’s seat on the Supreme Court. The reaction was swift and fierce. After a bruising reelection campaign — and years of water-carrying through the Iraq War — the conservative movement expected Bush to at nominate a justice who wasn’t the favorite of Harry Reid. But demonstrating considerable political deftness after an unforced error, Bush reconsidered his position and, ultimately, nominated Samuel Alito in Miers’s stead. Alito’s nomination, due to the immediate reaction of conservatives, remains one of the best legacies of the Bush years.
On September 13th, 2016 Donald Trump — with his daughter, Ivanka, in tow — proposed a passel of benefits to be paid at taxpayer expense for the benefit of pregnant women and people with children in daycare. Senator Bernie Sanders could hardly have proposed a more generous set of benefits.
So, how do conservatives, who correctly came down on Bush like a ton of bricks for the Miers nomination, react when Trump echoes the Left?
Need to see details re. how Trump proposes to pay for a new 6-wk maternity benefit. Savings bc those women won't go on disability?
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 13, 2016
https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/775878261905563648
Uh-huh. Remember, Hannity is the same guy who was hell-bent for leather (even pointing out that the hated Bill Kristol thought Miers should step aside) over the Miers nomination.
But before we accuse Ingraham and Hannity of shilling for Trump, let’s check their past statements on state-supported child care:
https://twitter.com/seanhannity/status/557729254314881026
That was them live-tweeting President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union. It’s bad enough to think we’ve fallen so far in 11 years, but 19 months?
In 2005, conservatives rapped Bush’s knuckles for his apostasy, prompting a serious course correction; in 2016 “conservatives” pat Trump on the head for assembling a coherent sentence.
When future anthropologists excavate the ruins of our civilization and try to put a date on when the Conservative Movement died, it certainly would be closer to September 13th, 2016 than October 2005. And with more of a whimper than a bang.
Published in General
“Orthodoxy means not thinking–not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”
― George Orwell, 1984
“Orthodoxy is a relaxation of the mind accompanied by a stiffening of the heart.”
― Edward Abbey
“What if orthodoxy is the greatest of all heresies?”
― Daniel Thompson
“The word ‘heresy’ not only means no longer being wrong; it practically means being clear-headed and courageous. The word ‘orthodoxy’ not only no longer means being right; it practically means being wrong.”
― G.K. Chesterton
In and of itself the proposal isn’t terrible. However, taken in the context of modern politics it has the distinct flavor of boiling the frog, creeping socialism.
Trumpism is tough-on-immigration, circa 2000 Bushism.
When my wife and I were first married, and she got pregnant, we sat down and had a discussion: would she work after the baby came? We decided that she would not, and that we would make it work on one income. That was over 20 years ago, and remains one of the best decisions we ever made. I get damn frustrated when I see these kinds of proposals. Where is my “tax break” for making the decision I made? If you decide to put your kids in day care, that is your decision. You live with it. You make it work. Same as my wife and I. Don’t ask me to subsidize your life decisions.
And to the point of the post, stop defending Trumps terrible proposals, and admit it: he’s nothing but a huckster.
He’s been running on a Sanders-lite platform all along. He’s always been about how Big Business ™ is screwing the working man. Even when he’s right (border security) he’s right for the wrong reasons (protectionism instead of rule of law.)
Great post and analogy, MajestyK. A lot of things bothered me about Bush though I voted for him twice. The Harriet Myers appointment bothered me, the Medicaid D thing bothered me, the spiraling debt bothered me, no child left behind thing bothered me, the refusal to issue a veto bothered me. But there were so many good conservative things that Bush did that I liked–including his commitment to fighting terrorism and responding to 911 (though not perfectly). I always believed that Bush, in his heart, was mostly a conservative and the other things were aberrations. The difference is this: I DON’T believe Trump is conservative in his heart or anywhere else. There is little to nothing to balance all the liberal (or anti-conservative) positions he has taken and statements he has made.
At what point will Trump supporters just say, “I’m not really a conservative and don’t give a damn about conservative principles. I’ll vote for
practically anyoneanyone with an R on his jersey.” I get incrementalism and the need for compromise, but this looks like unconditional surrender.What would Trump have to do or say to lose you vote? Give his soul to Satan in a nationally televised ceremony? Recite the Communist Manifesto by heart and then pledge his loyalty to it? Openly adopt, endorse and embrace Bernie Sanders’ agenda (see previous item)? We have already eliminated Trump shooting someone on Fifth Avenue in broad daylight.
Maybe so. But don’t wait on Ingraham or Hannity to do it. They traded in their conservative credentials for Trump acolyte spittle bibs many months ago.
That’s what I’ve wondered, too. Is there a line he can cross without being congratulated? If Donald Trump reverses himself and endorses an “assault weapons” ban, will that cost him a lot of supporters? I’m sure that at least some who have previously been stridently pro-2nd Amendment would declare that Trump loves America and just wants to take a bite out of crime.
@spin He thought of that one. He is going to pay people who need maternity leave AND those who stay at home. I’m not really sure how unemployment insurance pays for that last bit, but that’s part of the policy to be “fair” to stay-at-home moms.
Also, I was single when my son was born. I could not stay at home. I relied on family to help me with childcare, which they did, though there were lots of government programs around if I’d wanted to look to government. (I didn’t.)
When I met and married my husband later, we eventually got to the place where we had more options. I stayed at home for several years, and my kid would tell you that it was the best thing for him.
Stay-at-home moms are not lifted up enough in our society. They often don’t drive the best cars, but they do great work.
Trump’s brilliant daycare proposal is nothing at all like the Harriet Miers nomination.
The Miers nomination was real.
The daycare proposal is just campaigning. Trump is merely triangulating. This is what candidates always do, and as usual, Trump is doing it better. He ran hard-right during the primaries, and is now moving to the center during the general, to pick up swing voters.
Politics ain’t beanbag. Trump is a master. His supporters know that this daycare thing is a throw-away, and isn’t important anyway. If we need to support a minor program in order to win the votes necessary for Trump to save the country from the invasion of illegals and reverse the disastrous loss of American working class jobs to hellholes like Mexico and China, then let’s do it.
The alternative is Hillary Clinton. Let me repeat — HILLARY CLINTON.
And you’re whining about a little daycare program like it’s the end of the Republic. Hillary Clinton is the end of the Republic.
The plane is going down. If you can’t understand this and support Trump, then you will be personally responsible for the end of the Republic. You are going to OWN IT. And, as DocJay explained yesterday, you will forfeit your right to whine about it.
We’re keeping a list of names of turncloaks like you. Win or lose, there are going to be serious consequences after the election.
How do you rate my Hannity impersonation?
DEFCON1, welcome to Ricochet.
They can keep it. I don’t want their blood money.
Big smile!
As much as a policy proposal in a normal Presidential campaign is somehow supposed to represent what a candidate plans on enacting when in office, in the case of Trump I would look at a campaign policy proposal as more of a chess(ok..maybe checkers) move to out maneuver Hillary as she coughs/seizures/passes out onto her next move.
And much like Mongo, we are only pawns in game of life.
With Harriet Miers that there might not be any Obamacare though…
I see the Trump phenomenon more and more like the Obama phenomenon of 2008. Cult-like blind obedience to a single leader, disregard of the actual issues, turning a blind eye to the candidates past behaviour, appeal to raw emotion rather than intellect, lack of honesty by the candidate, lack of specificity on the issues by the candidate….. There is actually one disturbing difference. Obama rarely flip flopped on the issues!
I would understand if Hannity or Ingraham made their case that Trump will be better than Hillary only if they were honest about the actual issues. Instead, they seem like cult Zombies in the World of Politics.
When you hitch your wagon so securely to a runaway horse you just have to hope it takes you to the right destination – no sense scaring the passengers and having them demand a refund, right?
If you think you are describing the Rabble Alliance, then you need to start over. You are very wide of the mark.
Wouldn’t know; I don’t follow/listen to either Hannity or Ingraham.
Support Trump. He is the only way to stop H.R. Clinton.
What is the “Rabble Alliance?”
@Stevenseward, Welcome to Ricochet. I see you have only been a member for less than a month. If you have not been lurking for the past six months, then perhaps you could be forgiven for not knowing the many arguments the Rabble Alliance have put forward for support of Trump.
But, the primary motivating force is still emotion. Embrace the fear of Hillary. If she wins, then the management team of the Obama Administration can be kept in place with no need for Senate Advice and Consent approval, and, now with eight years of experience, they can lead their minions to new heights of weaponizing agencies, crushing individual liberties, colluding, covering up, and indoctrinating schoolkids from sea to shining sea, all while having their faults, failures and intransigencies hidden by the complicit Leftist mass media.
I also didn’t know what this was. Thanks, MJBubba!
Ok, if that is a serious question, then you are very new.
Have you honestly not seen multiple cogent reasons to vote for Trump?
The Rabble Alliance is a name that applies to all of us who had Trump as our seventeenth choice in the GOP primaries, but find ourselves backing Trump. Some are motivated more by some reasons than by others, and there are several lines of reasoning involved. All of the reasoning leads to the conclusion that an H.R. Clinton Administration would do greater lasting damage to the U.S.A. than would a D.J. Trump Administration.
I believe it was Ricochet member @TKC1101 who coined the term.
Thank you Noah Webster!
If that is your reasoning to vote for Trump, I can respect that. It seems though, that there is a HYUUUGE (pardon the pun) contingent of his supporters who are either Democrat converts or first-time voters who don’t seem to pay any attention at all to the actual issues, or even to what Trump says or does. They can often be identified by not having a clue as to what is going on. Trump himself proudly proclaimed that his followers would still continue to support him even if he shot someone on 5th Avenue. This is not an admirable claim!
Yes, and that is all the Leftist mass media want for you to think about Trump. They want you to think of Hillary as reasonable and determined, and all her scandals are old news and anyhow she was always completely exonerated. Their version is a pack of lies.
Stick around at Ricochet.