Obama Proposes "Mom Tax" at G20

President Obama unveiled plans for a new tariff on parents who choose to stay at home to raise their children in lieu of joining the workplace this morning in London, as he fended questions from the press beside prime minister Gordon Brown for a pre-G20 conference.

The proposed legislation, which has been dubbed the "Mom tax" by members of the press, was announced today during the press conference.

The announced "Mom tax", following so closely on the heels of the dramatic increase in the existing tobacco tax (from approximately .39 a carton to a whopping $1.01), met with conflicting reactions, as critics claimed it would, "penalize those with traditional family values by requiring them to pay, on average, an increase of 3% of their total net income in higher taxes each year." Others touted the plan, citing the ability of parents to claim children as dependents on their income taxes as, "an unfair policy which discriminates against single workers," and asserted that the new tax would serve to, "level the playing field."

The President, defending the proposed legislation, had this to say, "Look, there is no question that this measure may cause the American people to reconsider some of the choices they have made when it comes to crucial areas in their lives such as childcare and employment. And that is a good thing. All of us must be willing to make sacrifices in these times of economic instability. I'm not excluding myself and my family--my wife, Michelle, for example, has made the decision, and I support her fully in this, to pick up the pitchfork once more, and expand her landscaping efforts beyond the White House vegetable garden. She will be taking on the post of head gardener, and I look forward to seeing her around the grounds wearing the familiar white coveralls, weeding, planting seeds and the like in the course of her new duties. I am optimistic that other stay-at-home mothers will follow her lead and re-enter the workplace to become valuable contributors to our society's workplace. But there is no mandate for them to do so; in fact, if they do not, if they choose to stay home, then the proposed legislation will generate renewed funds in the form of several million dollars to further stimulate the nation's economy. This is really a win-win situation for all of us."

Asked whether stay-at-home Moms were not already "valuable contributors to society," the President declined to comment.

A Great New Place for Moms to Meet!

I'm very excited today, because a great new Mom forum has opened up on the internet, and I already feel like I am part of it: BabyCenter Community.

The brand new BabyCenter Community is very close to my heart, as I had a chance to meet Tina Sharkey, Chairman and Global President of BabyCenter, at the Johnson & Johnson Camp Baby meet-up for Moms in April up in New Brunswick, New Jersey

If you are not familiar with BabyCenter, well, I'm surprised, because it is the internet's largest resource for new and expectant parents. The new BabyCenter social network, available in public beta at http://community.babycenter.com, enables new and existing members the opportunity to share and connect with each other.

Here's what Tina Sharkey had to say about BabyCenter Community:

"Moms come to BabyCenter seeking trusted, personalized information, but they stay for the connections they make with other parents. Social networking has changed the face of communication, and BabyCenter wants to bring together these parents in a place where they can easily share experiences, milestones, information and the joys and journey of parenthood.”

Here's how BabyCenter’s new community will help parents form new friendships. On the site, you can:

• Create public and private groups around any topic,
• Share photos and video among friends by uploading to Profiles and Journals,
• Distribute a personal blog feed from other blogging platforms into a BabyCenter® Journal,
• Pass Notes to other members, post Shout-Outs, comment on Journals,
• Match with people who share common interests, locations, childrens’ ages and more
• Publish “kid-isms,” the hilarious things kids say, and
  
• Tag photos and profile to help others find you.

If the layout seems similar to that of "Maya's Mom" to you, you are very perceptive, because that's the model BabyCenter, who bought Maya's Mom last fall, used to create their new social community.

I love the format of Maya's Mom--that's the first Mom network I joined when I started blogging as a Mom-- and I think that Baby Center's new social community will be a fantastic networking opportunity for new parents, especially new SAHM's!

Check it out!

Open Letter to the View

Dear Panelists of the View;

As a mother who promotes tolerance and respect for the beliefs of all people to her children, I am nonetheless stunned by Sherri Shepherd's remarks on your show about evolution and whether the world is round. If Sherri chooses not to believe in evolution, that is certainly her right (though I would be interested in knowing how she rationalizes scientific evidence to the contrary, like fossil records and carbon dating, and hope that issue comes up on another episode of the View).

But when Sherri went on to say that she did not even know whether the earth is round, and then tried to excuse her ignorance by suggesting that she was too busy being a mother to take the time to educate herself, that was just going too far. Sherri made a point of acting as if it was not important for her, as an educated adult, let alone a parent, to be aware of even this most basic fact. When pressed, she said that if her child ever asked her, she and her son would have to go to the library to look up whether the earth was round or flat.

This is plainly ridiculous. Any person who has reached adulthood without learning the world is not flat should certainly not be serving as a spokesperson for other women on national television. And any woman who suggests that she did not learn something she should have learned as a child because she was too busy being a Mom just makes all women who choose to stay home full-time and take care of their children look like morons. Furthermore, defending her own ignorance about the world's geography just makes Americans, once again, look like uneducated, over-privileged egocentrics to the rest of the world.

Sherri needs to take some night courses and brush up on her facts before she sits in a panel on national television and attempts to take part in any informed discussion. Simply because a person is not controversial, as Rosie was, does not mean, or at least it certainly should not mean, that she is representative of the smart, savvy women who are also devoted mothers that really live in this country.

Sincerely,

Viv Bruss, Editor
Cool Moms Rule! http://coolmomsrule.blogspot.com

First SAHM's Carnival

Check out Cool Moms Rule and the other fine bloggers at the First SAHMs Carnival for Stay-at-Home-Moms over here:
1st SAHM Carnival

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Cool Moms Rule editor, viv




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