Mastodawn

"What Rodriguez won't tell you is how the universal childcare program is paid for. New Mexico's universal childcare is NOT funded through a tax increase — not a penny. It draws from the Land Grant Permanent Fund, a $33 billion endowment built on revenues from oil, gas, and mineral extraction on publicly held lands.

"The fund pays out a percentage of its total value annually to early childhood programs — and because the principal is large enough, it continuously replenishes itself through investment returns. In other words, New Mexico is funding childcare the way old-money families fund their children's futures: through a permanent trust.

"The difference is that this trust belongs to every New Mexican. When Republicans claim the program is fiscally reckless, they are describing a fund that is larger than the state's entire annual budget. So I guess the GOP motto is “trust funds for kids of me, but not for kids of thee.”"

#universalChildcare #NewMexico #us_politics

Third Foundation May 1

"The universal childcare program in New Mexico has also improved conditions for childcare workers themselves — the poverty rate among childcare providers dropped from 27.4 percent in 2020 to 16 percent in 2024. New Mexico’s childcare workforce, historically among the lowest-paid in the state, is finally seeing wages rise. Rodriguez’s lawsuit, if successful, would unwind the regulatory framework that makes those wage gains possible.

"On May Day, when we talk about whose side New Mexico’s politicians are on, the answer is usually obscured by talking points and donor lists. In this case, Rodriguez has removed all ambiguity. He went to court to prove just what a monumental piece of shit he is. The filing is 137 pages long. The target is a program to help children and families, that has lifted already 120,000 New Mexicans out of poverty."

#universalChildcare #NewMexico #us_politics
https://alisav.substack.com/p/may-day-dispatch-duke-rodriguezs

MAY DAY DISPATCH: Duke Rodriguez's War on New Mexico Children

On International Workers Day, New Mexico's GOP gubernatorial frontrunner is in court trying to take childcare away from 120,000 families.

The Pugilist with Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

king toot uncommon

🏴Apr 7

Had a wild conversation with a local PDX mom about Multnomah County's Preschool for All that made me wonder if politics really isn't completely over.

Background: A handful of us were hanging out in a place where people would generally shoot the shit and also a place that attracts that "comfortable middle income" part of the so-called working class.

We had just had a chat with a friend who is a little hard up, and who is up for a raise at work. She expressed that she was hoping the raise was "this much" but not "that much" because she's pregnant and can't afford to lose OHP (Oregon Medicare). We'll call this person Emma.

The other person (we'll call her Liz) went on a mini-rant about Preschool for All (despite planning to be using the service soon), claiming that the large number of new providers in Northeast was a sign that the administrators didn't care about poor people.

She went on to express that liberal sort of concern that there is no means testing in the program. I pointed out that means testing is the reason Emma doesn't want a raise and that that is bad for an economy, and she conceded that at least.

A moment later, she half-lamented, "I guess they're going to get what they want, which is a higher birth rate."
Me: 🤔
Liz: "Yeah, my husband and I are now thinking we could afford another kid if we're in Preschool for All."
Me: <nervous laughter because why are you upset about this>

I don't know who Liz thinks pushed Preschool for All to the ballot box and ran the canvassing for it. Maybe this is just a case of "Friends don't let friends read the Oregonian."

This is just one data point, but it seems absolutely counter to the argument that you get socialism to be popular by enacting socialism at the ballot box. That said, PfA is a good in itself so I'm glad it is in force even if it isn't going to bring the Rev. Thoughts? Too much emphasis on one person's experience? Indicative of an unsolved issue in popular ideology?

#pdx #socialism #PreschoolForAll #UniversalChildcare