Donald Trump proposes six weeks of maternity leave paid through the unemployment fund.  Unemployment programs have much waste, with people riding out the full one year or more and then finding a job only when unemployment payments end.  End the payments by six weeks, and that will fund maternity leave.

Maternity leave is a conservative idea because it strengthens families and helps children during the first six weeks of life.  It is consistent with a pro-life position of opposing abortion and providing school vouchers and tax breaks for families.

Our tax code has numerous pro-family provisions such as deductions for children: adoption, college expenses, home mortgage and interest, health insurance premiums, and medical costs, among others.  All these tax deductions and credits reflect a public policy to strengthen families.

The tax code forces us to pay, and the government decides which of our expenses receives a tax benefit.

It is preferable to have the private economy do it voluntarily, because most companies offer more than six weeks, and private industry will be more efficient.  But that do does not mean it is completely paid for by private industry.  A business can deduct the cost of the maternity leave from its gross income to arrive at taxable income.  Thus, because the maternity cost is deductible, that means the cost is shared by all who pay taxes.  This is not the government’s money.  It is the taxpayers’ money shuffled through the tax code.

We now allow parents all the tax breaks I mentioned, so maternity leave is consistent with the tax breaks for families as stated herein.

We also favor vouchers to educate the child, which is not different in principle from maternity leave.

It is also smart politics, because it will help Trump win.  Voters want the government to do something to help working Americans. 

Maternity leave is a good idea regardless who proposes it.  Trump’s proposal will help working Americans raise their families, which is consistent with the Republican ideas to strengthen families and continue the protection of children consistent with opposing abortion.

Trump has to win to do anything about the border, immigration, national security, free trade, and the Supreme Court, and to keep the Clintons out of the White House. 

Maternity leave is a sound conservative pro-family, pro-child policy consistent with conservative goals.