In a National Review op-ed, Sen. Mike Lee says congressional Republicans should block Democratic efforts to expand federal control over child-care programs in communities all across the country.
Writes Lee:
Of course, child care is, and has always been, a conservative priority. That’s why we promote public policies that strengthen and support parents, families, neighborhoods, civic and charitable institutions, religious organizations, and free markets as well as a targeted, responsive, locally administered safety net to help the neediest in our communities.
But that’s not what progressives mean when they say “universal child care.” For the Left, “universal” means “run by bureaucrats and funded by taxpayers.” And “child care” is a catch-all category that includes day-care arrangements for infants and toddlers, and preschool (also called pre-kindergarten, or pre-K) programs that are traditionally reserved for four-year-olds.
In other words, what is billed as the next great ambition of the Democratic party is, at its core, little more than a federal mandate to lower the eligibility age for the public education system from five to zero.
