Americans are exhausted by our politicians who don’t offer solutions

Abby McCloskey, The Dallas Morning News, February 2, 2020

“How to best describe the state of our politics heading into the 2020 election? We could focus on the energized extremes, the heated division, impeachment, Twitter and the prime-time splash. How the very mention of President Donald Trump or take-your-pick of the Democrat candidates risks unleashing a diatribe instead of anything resembling a conversation.

But what if instead we talked about what’s missing? All that’s quiet, overlooked, not flashing across the headlines. What if we focused on the vast majority of people who increasingly find themselves unrepresented and exhausted, wishing our political adolescence would grow up to political adulting, and discouraged that it’s unlikely.

What if we focused on the big problems that are not being solved (or even discussed) because they require compromises, reforms that take longer than a soundbite to explain, and broad and durable coalitions to rally behind solutions.”

Trump is unpopular in Texas. The state won’t sit quietly.

Abby McCloskey, The Washington Post, December 31, 2019

“The Senate isn’t the only place where Donald Trump’s presidency hangs in the balance.

In Texas, the nation’s biggest, most important red state, Trump’s disapproval rating has consistently lagged behind many of the 30 states he carried in 2016. This potentially puts the state — a must-win for the president if there ever was one — in play for 2020.

To think Trump’s unpopularity in Texas is because of Twitter, or Ukraine, or the media, or a smear job by the left is to underestimate the problem. The reality is that Trump’s signature policies are out of step with what most Texans want.”

Impeachment will only send us further down the road of division

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, December 16, 2019

“We are a nation divided. President Donald Trump is likely to be impeached by the House before Christmas on a party-line vote. The Senate is likely to exonerate him on a close to party-line vote in early 2020. Thus the impeachment proceedings can best be thought of as road signs for the road we are already on, instead of a change in direction.

In fact, it’s hard to imagine what would change the country’s direction. Polarization in America began its epic climb up long before Trump ever rode his golden escalator down. The distrust, the energized factions, the exhausted middle, it is all much deeper, embedded in racial division, and changing culture, and loneliness, and social media, and so many other thorny factors that political scientists have struggled to unravel.”

The Strong Case For Paid Parental Leave

Abby McCloskey, Angela Rachidi, Real Clear Politics, December 10, 2019

““This is Not The Way We Teach This,” read the New York Times headline in response to a new National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper that reported results from a study of California’s paid family and medical leave policy. Contrary to past research that suggested positive work and wage effects of California’s policy, this new study found that it decreased new mothers’ employment and earnings a decade out.”

The Rising Threat of Political Disengagement

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, November 19, 2019

“. . . . A new poll came out this week, confirming what many of us have felt privately, but turns out we have company. That even when you tune in, most people find it impossible to figure out what’s actually going on.  

And this is not just about impeachment. It’s about politics more broadly.   The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts poll found that the 47% of Americans report it’s somewhat or very difficult to know if the information about politics they have encountered is true. This holds irrespective of where one falls on the political spectrum, and irrespective of where the information comes from.  Majorities distrust information about politics from social media, government officials, or business. . . . “

Democrats’ Race to Extremes Thwarts Progress on Important Issues

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, October 29, 2019

“A rule of thumb in the 2020 presidential cycle is to take the most progressive proposal you can think of, and then double it.  As a result, important issues are hidden beneath unserious plans.

For example, the once-too-liberal public option on the Affordable Care Act exchanges has morphed into a plan to obliterate private insurance all together. Enhanced background checks on gun purchases have morphed into mandatory buybacks. Abortion has gone from “safe, legal, and rare” to abortion on demand up until birth. 

And there’s more. . . . “

An Economy Where All Can Flourish

Abby McCloskey, The Bush Center, Catalyst Fall 2019

“The current debate between Trumpian capitalism and AOC socialism is unhelpful, if for no other reason than that the words are used as political bludgeons to shut down opponents instead of fostering real discussion. Capitalism and socialism also sound elite and distant, conjuring up different definitions and understandings, obfuscating what we are actually talking about when it comes to individuals’ daily lives.

Instead of centering the debate about economic policy on these politically-charged and often disembodied words, we should take the debate to its foundational level: What kind of society do we want to be?”

Please, All We Want Is Straight Talk

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, October 20, 2019

“More of this straight-talk please. The caliber of the debate and the ability of Americans to understand what they are signing up for will be better for it. Please be honest about the benefits and the costs of your plans. No games. We are talking about what happens to our healthcare. And to our take-home pay. This is highly personal, so no punches.”

How Congress Could Gain Courage

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, October 3, 2019

“Courage in today's politics will be found in those who demonstrate a measuredness, a humility, a goodness, a servant leadership, and a bravery in the midst of - and especially because of - the toxic political climate. It's not courageous to threaten a "civil war like fracture" if impeachment goes through. It's courageous to hold this grand experiment of a country together, to start the ripple effect of virtue.”

How Did Our Politics Get This Broken?

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, September 27, 2019

“What most people can feel in the air — that we have never been more politically divided — is confirmed by the empirical evidence and will be on full display in the coming weeks. What began as a small climb up the rock of polarization has turned into a sheer and gigantic cliff, and we have never been so high off the ground. The people to look for are those who offer a rope for gently lowering back down, not those who beckon us to come higher still.”

WEBINAR VIDEO: The Center For Public Justice

An Introduction to Paid Leave, The Center for Public Justice, September 13, 2019

The life-changing conversation Dems avoided at the debates

Abby McCloskey, Aparna Mathur, Vicki Shabo, CNN Opinion, August 2, 2019

“We are three policy experts who have advised lawmakers across the ideological spectrum, and we disagree on many things -- including the exact mix of policy details for a national paid leave plan. For example, we have different views on financing and on whether a federal paid leave policy should extend coverage only to new parents or also to workers who need leave for personal medical and family caregiving purposes. But we fundamentally and passionately agree that policymakers must take meaningful action to meet the needs of American workers, particularly the most vulnerable, and the 2020 campaign is a good place to test ideas.”

EXCLUSIVE: Howard Schultz retains Republican adviser, Abby McCloskey

FOX Business, April 16, 2019

“FOX Business has confirmed Abby McCloskey, a veteran GOP policy adviser, has been serving as a paid consultant by Schultz’s 2020 presidential exploratory committee. In an email to FOX Business, McCloskey confirmed she has “provided policy education and counsel” to Schultz but declined further comment. An official from the Schultz committee also confirmed McCloskey has been “advising Mr. Schultz for a while” but refused to clarify how long the two have been working together.'“

Have Democrats Forgotten About Paid Leave?

Abby McCloskey and Aparna Mathur, AEIdeas, July 2, 2019

“Why is this important bipartisan issue missing from so many candidates’ platforms? Biden, the clear front-runner and who boasts a relatively policy heavy website, has no obvious mention of paid leave on his official campaign site, nor was it mentioned in the debates.  Nor did Warren, who in spite of her plans for nearly everything else, does not have a single word on her website dedicated to paid leave.”

The Birth Of A Compromise On Paid Parental Leave

Abby McCloskey, Aparna Mathur, Angela Rachidi, Real Clear Policy, March 5, 2019

“Major social policy achievements in this country have never been easy. Yet, history shows that when both sides express a willingness to compromise, great policies can emerge. Our elected officials are now facing one such historic opportunity. It is time for them to pass legislation that creates a national paid parental leave program.”

Health Savings Accounts: Encouraging to see another Republican idea to improve paid parental leave access

Abby McCloskey & Aparna Mathur, AEIdeas, April 17, 2019

“As we have written before, there is a competition of ideas brewing among Republicans on ways that families could pay for time taken off during parental leave. For millions of families around the country this is good news and a major change from where the debate was just a few years ago. The latest proposal is from Congressman Andy Biggs, who has introduced the Freedom for Families Act bill would allow families to use money in their Health Savings Account to meet expenses incurred during the birth or adoption of a child, or for a family illness. . . .”

Universal Child Care Is the Wrong Approach

Abby McCloskey & Aparna Mathur, National Review, February 22 2019

“We welcome a conversation on this important issue. But a universal program is likely to create more problems than it solves. A system that better targets the most vulnerable, reforms existing programs, and addresses the quality of care, at a reasonable cost, is more likely to benefit American parents and children.”

How The Left Embraced Elitism

David Brooks, The New York Times, February 11, 2019

“ For example, in the lead essay of the conservative journal National Affairs, Abby M. McCloskey notes that the family you are born into and the neighborhood you live in have a much stronger influence on your socioeconomic outcome than any other factors. Her essay is an outstanding compendium of proposals designed to strengthen family and neighborhood.

Pell grants could be used to pay for vocational and apprenticeship training and not just for college. The federal government could support a voluntary national service program by paying people, once in their lifetime, to work for a year at a local nonprofit. The tax code could be tweaked so that people with no income tax liability could receive a cash credit for making charitable donations.

These proposals are activist but humble. It’s not the federal government centrally deciding how to remake your community. It’s giving communities and people the resources to take responsibility and assume power for themselves. . . . “

The President And Women In White Have Paid Leave In Common

Abby McCloskey, National Review Online, February 11, 2019

“The Democrat women in white didn’t clap for rising wages or faster economic growth. They didn’t clap for a protecting a baby who could otherwise survive outside of the womb. They were hesitant to clap even for rescuing women from sex-trafficking rings. But they along with Speaker Pelosi joined Republicans in clapping heartily for paid family leave.”

The immigration fight is moving from Washington spectacle to long-term damage

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, January 13, 2019

“The shutdown has shown in clear terms that the circus isn't just confined to entertainment; it has real impacts on real people. In the immediate term, there are hundreds of thousands of people who will go without paychecks. National parks have been vandalized. Food has gone uninspected. In the long run, we can expect further erosion of trust in our institutions and worrying growth of executive power. “