Oh goody. Another front in the war on women. Via Think Progress:
[T]he Frederick County, Maryland, Board of County Commissioners voted to end the county’s contribution to its Head Start program, cutting overall funding for the program by more than 50 percent. Two of the Republican officials justified their decision to cut Head Start — which provides early childhood education to the children of low-income parents — by saying that women should really be married and home with their kids, thus rendering the program unnecessary:
OMMISSIONER C. PAUL SMITH (R): I think its very significant that we did make this marriage week announcement today, because that is the best long-term way to help our children, as marriage is strengthened in our community. As many of you know, I had a lot of kids, and my wife stayed home, at significant sacrifice, during those early years, because she knew she had to be with those kids at that critical age. I know everybody isn’t able to survive doing that, but clearly, as we can strengthen marriage we can decrease the children that we have to reach.
COMMISSIONER KIRBY DELAUTER (R): My wife, college educated, could go out and get a very good job. She gave that up for 18 years so she could stay home with our kids, we had to give up a lot to do that. I agree again with Commissioner Smith, you know, the marriage thing is very important. I mean, education of your kids starts at home, okay? I never relied on anyone else to guarantee the education of my kids.
There are so many things wrong with this Republican "logic," it's hard to know where to begin. First, it ignores the many benefits of the Head Start program. It also ignores the reality that even women who would love nothing more than to be able to stay at home with their children can't afford to do so. Low-income families don't have the luxury of forgoing an income. And as for single mothers out there? Well, I guess they're to blame for not choosing to marry the right kind of big, strong man to provide for them.
If Republicans really wanted women to stay home with their children, they'd support family leave laws that help them to do just that. But they don't.
If Republicans really wanted women to stay home with their children, they'd support health care reform that allows women to obtain affordable health care for themselves and their children. But they don't.
If Republicans really wanted women to stay home with their children, they'd support funding for family planning so that women can choose to have families when they're in the financial position to be able to stay home with their children. But they don't.
The truth is that Republicans don't give a damn about children. If they did, they wouldn't be fighting so hard every day to strip families of the resources they need to provide for their children. Proof, yet again, that the self-proclaimed "pro-family" party is anything but.
