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Featured Articles: Introducing #PlatformPitches
#PlatformPitches is the name we’ve given to our new series of articles, offering suggestions to the Republican ticket. There are now three articles in the series:
Introducing #PlatformPitches: Our Suggestions for the Republican Ticket
#PlatformPitches: Time For A New COPS Program
#PlatformPitches: You Want Price Controls? I’ll Show You Price Controls
NEW: #PlatformPitches: More Paid Vacation Time
A New Baby Bonus Proposal
In a recent article for American Compass, EPPC’s excellent family policy scholar Patrick T. Brown (you should read his newsletter) proposes an innovative and straightforward approach to supporting new parents: a $2,000-per-parent “baby bonus.” This policy suggestion comes at a time when both parties are discussing ways to expand support for families, particularly through modifications to the Child Tax Credit (CTC).
Brown argues that while the CTC is valuable, it falls short in providing immediate assistance to new parents facing the sudden expenses and potential income loss associated with childbirth. The proposed baby bonus would address this gap by offering a $4,000 check to married couples (or $2,000 to single parents) upon receiving their newborn’s Social Security card, typically about two weeks after birth.
This proposal has several compelling advantages:
Immediacy: Unlike tax credits, the bonus provides financial support when parents need it most.
Simplicity: The existing administrative infrastructure makes implementation straightforward.
Universality: As a universal benefit, it avoids complex eligibility requirements.
Cost-effectiveness: At an estimated $11.7 billion annually, it’s what’s considered cheap these days.
Brown’s suggestion aligns with conservative pro-family values while offering a pragmatic solution to the financial challenges of new parenthood. It would send a clear message that America values and invests in families.
In an era of declining birth rates and increasing financial pressures on young families, a baby bonus represents a concrete step towards creating a more family-friendly society. It acknowledges the importance of supporting parents during a critical and often financially stressful time.
What’s more, it’s a simple approach. To implement a CTC while assuaging legitimate concerns about creating welfare and discouraging work would inevitably make the tax code more compled. Meanwhile, a baby bonus is easy to understand and implement.
As discussions about family policy continue, this is a cheaper, simpler and more politically attractive alternative to CTC expansion that merits serious consideration.
Policy News You Need This Morning
#Debt – Given the worsening deficit outlook, more and more people are talking about the debt. Now the Manhattan Institute’s Brian Riedl has come out with a 30 year plan to stabilize the U.S. national debt at 100% of GDP. Riedl tries to mix measures to anger left and right: raising the Social Security eligibility age to 69, adjusting benefits for higher-income retirees, reforming Medicare into a premium support model, capping discretionary spending growth, and implementing various tax increases, particularly on high earners. Riedl argues his proposal is less drastic than alternatives like eliminating entire government programs or doubling middle-class taxes.
#Lobbying – A new election cycle means a new crop of electeds and their staffs going to K Street. Puck’s Abby Livingston has an interesting article on the particular challenges this year. Apparently, there is a perceived decline in the quality of potential lobbying recruits. The piece notes that changes in ethics rules, political dynamics, and lobbying tactics have altered the landscape, making traditional methods less effective and many outgoing lawmakers less appealing to K Street firms.
#TheEconomy – A lot of people are sharing this op-ed by Ben Harris, former chief economist at the U.S. Treasury Department in the Biden Administration, now at Brookings.. He argues that the lack of affordable housing is at the root of much of the economic pressure Americans are experiencing. Harris points out that a quarter of all homeowners and half of all renters are “house poor,” spending at least 30% of their income on housing. This high cost of housing leaves less money for other essentials and investments, impacting overall economic well-being. He goes on to argue in favor of Harris’s housing plan.
#Reg – Fred Ashton, Director of Competition at American Action Forum, has a good overview on the FTC’s new bugbear, “surveillance pricing,” a “pricing strategy in which sellers incorporate customer data to charge different customers different prices.” The FTC has been investigating this practice, presumably as a prelude to action. However, argues Ashton, “Absent evidence of collusion or firms illegally obtaining input data, the FTC should abstain from enforcement actions or creating rules that would curtail a firm’s ability to determine pricing strategies.”
#Housing – Speaking of. Friend of PolicySphere Matt Stoller is the leading monopoly expert in America, which he’s great at. But he tends to see monopolies everywhere lurking behind every problem. AIER’s Jason Sorens has a good argument against his recent contention that housing prices are driven by concentration among builders.
#Energy #Permitting – R Street’s excellent energy analyst Josiah Neeley with a report with a self-explanatory title: “We have the data: NIMBYism is renewable energy’s archnemesis.”
#Macroeconomics – AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis interviews the great economist Glenn Hubbard on “the US economy, China, and trade.” Self-recommending. This link is not at all an excuse to re-post this old parody video from back when Hubbard was seen as a leading candidate for Fed Chair.
#Labor – AIER’s Charles Baird with an interesting overview of polling data on Americans’ views, not only of labor unions in general (positive) but of labor unions’ specific policy positions (negative).
Chart of the Day
Via AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis: “Fed hikes are having a much smaller negative impact than normal on business investment decisions because of the strong appetite among firms to invest in AI.” – Torsten Sløk, Apollo Chief Economist
Meme of the Day
