Tuesday, March 4, 2008

New Jersey Family Leave

Hat's off to the NJ Senate which narrowly passed a family leave plan - allowing folks to take a paid leave to care for a newborn or a sick relative. They join two other states, California and Washington.

It is expected that the Assembly will aprove it later this month.

Once again, our Repubs come through with their nonsense: "We have the heart for it, but not the wallet."

Baloney, if he had the heart for it, he'd have the wallet, too. Money always follows our values, and the Repubs always have money to support lavish life-styles, further the interests of big biz, and generally support the private interests of the wealthy as they slowly pillage the national treasury, destroy the middle class and reduce this nation to third-world status.

An earlier version of the New Jersey paid family-leave bill appeared close to passage in the Republican-led Legislature in 2001, but business advocates derailed the plan by arguing that companies would suffer hardships and exorbitant expenses through hiring temporary workers.

Billions for bullets, but hardly a dime for children. Self-righteous talk about family values, but legislation and policy poisonous to families. Go figure!

Come on Repubs, tell the truth: You don't have the heart for any of this. Do ya' even have a heart?

Compassion, justice, kindness - these are profitable! In the long run, a nation that cares for its people will be a prosperous nation, a healthy nation, a nation devoted to doing well because it feels well, physically and emotionally.

The civilized nations of the world provide all kinds of support for families because they practice what we preach - families count, and families need the larger supportive network of government.

Like Dr. McCoy used to say of 20th Century medicine: Butchers. There will be a time, I pray, when we'll look back on the Reagan-Bush gang as "Butchers!"