By Sen. Tommy Tuberville
Our great country was founded on the idea that freedom leads to prosperity — the American dream. This country gives you the opportunity to live the life you dream because with hard work, anything is possible. And for centuries, the American dream has been rooted in the idea of family. A soldier returning home from battle might dream of getting married and starting a family. A hardworking married couple might dream of saving enough to buy a home for their children. When individuals are asked, “What is the most important source of meaning to your life?” time and time again the answer is “family.” But as Democrats continue to push their vision of a cradle-to-grave entitlement society where the government is now a part of your family, the American dream shrinks. And as the American dream shrinks, the American family feels the pressure.
Threats to the American family are knocking on the front doors of homes across the nation as the Left becomes focused on telling the American people what they want, rather than listening to what they need. Parents need safe neighborhoods to raise children, gainful employment to support their families, and an education system that provides sons and daughters with the opportunity for success. What they are getting is another page out of the Democrats’ same, tired playbook with more mandates, excessive regulations, increased subsidies, and higher taxes.
The most recent instance of this is Democrats’ trillion-dollar tax-and-spend spree, a socialist wish list that sets the stage for a Washington takeover of child care and education by shifting power from parents to bureaucrats.
Take their federal child-care program, which is structured to care less about the child and more about helping certain families — the ones with the structure that Democrats deem as favorable. For example, a single mother earning below a certain threshold would receive free child care, no matter how much the father earns. But if the two parents were married, earning the same percentage level, they’d have to pay thousands for the same child care. This radical policy disincentivizes marriage and makes child care more expensive for the average American household right in the middle of record inflation.
Even worse, their plan gives government bureaucrats greater control over the first five years of a child’s life, sidelining parents’ role in early-childhood curricula and standards. Strong families are the foundation of strong communities, and we should be promoting policies that support American families, not policies that push parents apart.
Not only is the American family under fire with the growth of government welfare programs, but once–bipartisan initiatives — such as the Child Tax Credit — have been reworked and weaponized to fit Democrats’ anti-family agenda. The Child Tax Credit was originally created to give working moms and dads a hand up, taking a weight off the parents’ backs and providing a pathway to be employed and also raise a family. Now, Democrats have swapped what was a hand up for a handout by gutting work requirements and creating a “direct deposit” style monthly allowance.
To offset new costs, the benefits for single filers have increased while those for low-income married couples have decreased. A single individual making around $20,000 per year would receive more benefits than a couple filing jointly with a combined salary of $30,000 per year. This is called the marriage penalty, and true to its name, it stacks the deck against the low-income families the Child Tax Credit was designed to help. Additionally, up to 1.5 million jobs could be lost because of the false choice presented by Democrats as parents opt to stay home rather than return to the workforce. Cheering on working parents shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but when it is, our nation suffers.
The brazen push to insert government into the American family structure is not just confined to the four walls of the home, but it also continues to make headlines in schools across the nation. I have seen it firsthand after nearly 40 years in education, witnessing the shift from what is right to what is “woke.” Meanwhile, America is ranked 30th in the world in math, eighth in reading, and eleventh in science. We should be focusing on the skills that will allow our children to contribute to society and make a better life for themselves, such as STEM education. If done right, education is the key to success, but all roads start and end with the American family.
From the dining room to the classroom, the dark cloud of Big Brother government continues to grow as a result of the Biden administration’s cradle-to-grave policies. It is our responsibility to safeguard the institutions that have guided our nation for the past 245 years, and the American family is at the center of it all.
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News.
