`virginia Woolf' More Than Just Misery

Agnes Gorski 
January 27, 1998 
Agnes Gorski, Formerly Of Espy Street, Hanover Section Of Nanticoke, Died 
Tuesday At The Birchwood Nursing Home, Middle Road, Nanticoke.

Thursday, January 29, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





It doesn't take a village or a government, when parents budget &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The State of the Union address is an irresistible launch pad for Big &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Presidential Proposals, and this year was no exception. Bill Clinton ran up
the flagpole an idea he would love to see us all salute by the time he leaves
officeThe Big Proposal is a $22 billion (with a B) federal program subsidizing
day care for those with combined incomes up to $60,000. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The cost, quality, and availability of day care is a very hot issue. Any
parent who has experienced the anxiety of trying to find and pay for it is
likely to welcome an offer of help. This includes some folks with pretty high
incomes. Clinton's newest focused federal giveaway will thus prove popular
with suburban female voters commonly belittled by the media as "soccer moms." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Conservatives who don't support it will be accused on the evening news of
being mean-spirited and insensitive, the sort of wealthy old cigar-chomping
Scrooges who hate dogs, children, and working women. The federal day care
proposal is an easy program to sell and a tough one to attack. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But it's wrong. Massively, frighteningly, maddeningly wrong. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Did I mention that I didn't like it? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Any program that gives federal money to any family making 60 grand is
socialism, pure and simple. We are not a socialist country. Socialism failed.
Remember? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When the government takes money from your pocket and puts it into mine,
there's nothing else to call it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 I'm exempting disasters, natural and medical, that may befall an otherwise
prosperous family. Relief from calamity is a legitimate role for government. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This is different. Clinton has proposed to take money from all working
Americans, whether or not they have children who need day care, and give that
money to people who do. Many who benefit from this generosity need day-care
help simply because of economic choices: a heavy mortgage, nice cars, an
enjoyable lifestyle. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It's an American tradition to strive for the good life. Often, however,
getting there demands that both Mom and Dad work. For those without kids, the
choice is simpler- but when little Michael and Ashley must do without Mom and
Dad all week, the dilemma looms large. Is more stuff and financial security
worth the missing Mommy? Is the nice vacation together each summer worth the
hours apart each day? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Of course, some Dads are the "second income" in the household, but more
commonly it is Mom who is heading to work each day to fund the extras. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It's wrong for anyone outside to make this choice for parents, but it's
even more wrong to force us all to subsidize any family's lifestyle with our
taxes. If that family is making $1,200 a week, that's exactly what a federal
day-care program does. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The cash flow is ironic and bizarre: Mom works and earns money. She pays
out 40 or 45 percent in federal, state, local, and FICA tax. The rate is high
because it's combined with Dad's income. For work, she needs a car, fuel,
clothes, lunch. She pays sales tax on them. More tax is collected on the
profits from those products, and the wages of the employees who made and sold
them. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This whole deal works out great for the government. There's only one
problem: Mom is losing her patience. The one hurdle she's having a harder and
harder time jumping is the cost and quality of care for her little ones. As
dedicated as professional care givers may be, they aren't Mom, and they aren't
cheap. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So in swoops kindly Uncle Bill, handing Mom back a cupful of child-care
money from the ocean of taxes she and everyone else have paid. If nothing
else, it may keep her on the employment treadmill- working, paying taxes and,
by the way, voting Democratic. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 I've got a better way. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Cut taxes. A lot. cut them so much that many Moms and Dads, with some
financial planning and bit less consuming, can become one-income families if
they choose. Many will, with great relief, and many will not, but more will
have a real choice. With more of their own money to spend, the second income
may be unneeded, and child-care can be handled successfully the way it's been
since I was a kid and long before: by parents. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Let families determine which one. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The real heroes are the couples who have already decided to stop keeping up
with the Joneses so that one parent can be at home with the children. They
prove it can be done, even with the current heavy tax burden. their commitment
deserves at

It Doesn't Take A Village Or A Government, When Parents Budget 
The State Of The Union Address Is An Irresistible Launch Pad For Big 
Presidential Proposals, And This Year Was No Exception. Bill Clinton Ran Up 
The Flagpole An Idea He Would Love To See Us All Salute By The Time He Leaves 
Office.

It Doesn't Take A Village Or A Government, When Parents Budget The State Of The Union Address Is An Irresistible Launch Pad For Big Presidential Proposals, And This Year Was No Exception. Bill Clinton Ran Up The Flagpole An Idea He Would Love To See Us All Salute By The Time He Leaves Office.