To their credit, the Daily Herald editorial board freely admits the hyperbolic nature of their piece today on paid family leave. But this is just silly:
There's a bubbling economic divide that threatens to erupt one of these days, and if it does, we dare say it won't be prompted so much by the gulf between rich and poor. Rather, it will be sparked by the growing distance between the public and private sectors. There are countless examples of the rising entitlement of government employees.
Yes, why worry about the extreme levels of income inequality -- spurred by regressive tax cuts and the gutting of our collective safety net -- which haven't been this bad since before the first World War? Let's focus our ire at those blasted public employees that are draining the economy!
What sparked the Herald's anger towards those government-suckling workers? The U.S. House's passage last week (largely along party lines) of the Democrat-sponsored Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (H.R. 5781), which would give federal workers up to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or a newly adopted child:
In almost any area, public employee benefits are out of synch with those in the private sector - whether it's sick time that gets paid even if the government employee doesn't get sick, vacation time, educational cost reimbursements, pensions or what have you.
It's important to remember that, when it comes to paid family leave, it's the United States government that is out of synch with the rest of the world. According to a study from Harvard University last year, we are one of only four nations worldwide whose government doesn't require employers to provide paid maternity leave. The other three? Lesotho, Papua New Guinea, and Swaziland. We also fall two weeks short of the International Labor Organization's minimum standard of at least 14 weeks general leave.
And the benefits of paid family leave are undeniable, especially for women who on average make 77 cents to a man's dollar. Kathy G, guest blogging at TAPPED, makes the exhaustive economic case here. The Center for American Progress explains as well:
Giving workers financial security by allowing them to take paid leave for their own serious health problems, or when illness strikes a family member, not only strengthens children and families but improves worker morale and productivity.
Times are tough, but this is important and necessary legislation. Kudos to the Democrats for pushing it.
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