BLOG Post #44.5: Comparing Kamala Harris and Donald Trump: Key Issues for New Parents

With the election underway, here’s a detailed comparison of Kamala Harris's and Donald Trump's positions on issues impacting new parents. This overview also includes their stances on healthcare, paid family leave, tax benefits, and reproductive healthcare—highlighting the candidates’ distinct visions for supporting families and their approaches to funding these initiatives.

Kamala Harris

• Paid Family Leave

  • Supports federal paid family and medical leave policies.

  • Advocates for legislation to ensure parents can take paid time to bond with newborns without financial hardship.

• Healthcare Access

  • Advocates for expanding the Affordable Care Act to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for families, including prenatal and infant care.

  • Emphasizes cost reduction for medical services to ensure coverage for parents and children alike.

• Childcare and Early Education

  • Promotes affordable, high-quality childcare and early education.

  • Helped allocate funds through the American Rescue Plan to reduce childcare costs and make early education more accessible.

• Tax Benefits

  • Supports making the expanded Child Tax Credit permanent, aiming to provide consistent financial support for families with young children.

• Workplace Rights

  • Advocates for stronger workplace protections, including parental leave, job security, and flexible work options to support work-life balance for parents.

• Public Health and Safety

  • Focuses on enhancing public health infrastructure, ensuring vaccine availability, and preparing for emergencies to protect families and young children.

• Reproductive Healthcare

  • Strongly supports access to abortion and reproductive healthcare, advocating for a woman’s right to choose, particularly in cases of health risks to the mother or severe fetal abnormalities.

  • Has been vocal about codifying abortion rights federally, aiming to prevent restrictive state laws from limiting access to essential healthcare.

Funding Approach for Government Programs

• Increasing Taxes on High-Income Individuals and Corporations

  • Proposes tax adjustments targeting the wealthiest Americans and large corporations to fund social programs. This includes potentially reversing some tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

• Strengthening IRS Enforcement

  • Supports enhanced IRS enforcement to close the tax gap, especially among high earners and corporations. This is expected to generate hundreds of billions in additional revenue over the next decade.

• Targeted Spending Reductions and Reallocations

  • Advocates reallocating existing resources, particularly in defense, to fund social programs, aiming to reduce reliance on national debt.

Donald Trump

• Paid Family Leave

  • Supported parental leave for federal employees in 2020, but his current platform lacks a specific focus on expanding paid leave nationally.

• Healthcare Access

  • Previously sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which could limit healthcare access for families relying on ACA provisions for prenatal and pediatric care.

  • Current healthcare agenda focuses on reducing prescription costs, with less emphasis on expanding overall coverage.

• Childcare and Early Education

  • Proposed childcare tax credits during past administration but has not prioritized expanding childcare subsidies in recent policies.

• Tax Benefits

  • Supported the 2017 Child Tax Credit expansion but has not proposed recent updates or specific family-focused tax benefits.

  • Current tax proposals emphasize broad cuts without family-specific credits.

• Workplace Rights

  • Limited focus on expanding parental leave or flexible workplace policies in the current agenda.

  • While his administration provided paid leave for federal employees, there’s no emphasis on extending similar rights in the private sector.

• Public Health and Safety

  • Emphasizes deregulation and healthcare cost reduction without a focus on expanding public health resources or emergency infrastructure.

  • Recent agenda centers on reducing government involvement rather than enhancing vaccine access or public health resources.

• Reproductive Healthcare

  • Generally restrictive stance on abortion, aligning with pro-life advocacy and supporting significant limits on abortion access.

  • Historically supported exceptions where the mother’s life is at risk but has been less clear about cases of fetal abnormalities. His administration’s judicial appointments have shaped the current landscape, allowing for restrictive state-level abortion policies.

Funding Approach for Government Programs

• Economic Growth through Tax Cuts and Deregulation

  • Emphasizes tax cuts, like those in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, to stimulate economic growth. The “trickle-down” approach posits that lower taxes will drive private sector investment and create jobs, indirectly boosting revenue through a larger tax base.

• Reducing Government Spending in Specific Areas

  • Proposes spending reductions in healthcare subsidies and environmental regulations. Project 2025 aims to create a leaner government with less spending on regulatory agencies and social programs.

• Public-Private Partnerships

  • Advocates for public-private partnerships to fund large projects, especially in infrastructure, to limit federal expenditures.

Reasons a New Parent Might NOT Vote for Kamala Harris

1. Increased Tax Burden on Businesses and Higher Earners
   Some new parents worry that Harris’s support for raising taxes on corporations and high-income households might eventually impact the broader economy. They may feel that higher business taxes could result in costs being passed down to consumers, potentially increasing prices on goods and services that new parents rely on.

2. Reproductive Healthcare Policy
   New parents who hold strong pro-life beliefs or have concerns about broad abortion access policies might feel uncomfortable with Harris's support for codifying federal abortion rights. They may see her stance as too permissive or misaligned with their values on parental responsibility and family planning.

3. Shifted Priorities in Government Spending
   Harris’s stance on reallocating defense and other federal spending towards social programs could be a concern for new parents who prioritize national security or have family members in the defense industry. They may worry that reduced funding in certain sectors could impact jobs or safety-related programs they value.

Reasons a New Parent Might NOT Vote for Donald Trump

1. Limited Focus on Paid Family Leave and Childcare Support
   New parents looking for robust family support policies may feel that Trump’s platform doesn’t sufficiently prioritize expanding paid family leave or making childcare affordable. With paid family leave not available universally, some parents may be concerned about a lack of strong federal support for balancing work and family life.

2. Health Coverage Concerns
   Trump’s stance on the Affordable Care Act, along with his focus on reducing healthcare regulations, may worry parents who rely on ACA benefits for maternal and infant care. Parents concerned about losing comprehensive, affordable health insurance options may feel that his policies don’t provide enough security in this area.

3. Restrictive Reproductive Healthcare Policies
   Some parents may feel that Trump’s restrictive stance on abortion could limit healthcare options for mothers facing high-risk pregnancies. While he supports exceptions for maternal health, his position may raise concerns for parents who believe healthcare choices should be more flexible, especially in complex situations.

For many new parents, voting decisions reflect their priorities on healthcare, financial stability, and personal beliefs about family life. Each candidate's policies carry potential trade-offs that can resonate differently based on individual circumstances and values.

In summary, Harris’s platform emphasizes direct family support and access to reproductive healthcare, supported through tax adjustments and strategic reallocations, while Trump’s approach centers on economic growth and reduced government spending, with a more restrictive stance on reproductive healthcare. This breakdown helps new parents understand the candidates’ approaches to family and financial support as they weigh their values in today’s election.

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