Keep It Simple, Stupid

There is a rumor that a group aligned with JD Vance in the White House is looking to expand a Bill Clinton program that currently provides an annual $9,000 child-care subsidy to certain low-income parents. The original intent of the program was to help get welfare recipients, many of whom are single mothers, back into the workforce. The Vance crew allegedly wants to let stay-at-home moms claim the money as well.

Matthew Hennessey, in Free Expression, opposes this. As a small-government conservative, Hennessey writes that he opposes the handout.

I want to live as freely as possible from state interference in my life. If my family takes a fat check from Uncle Sam every year to help raise our children, we open ourselves up to all sorts of unwelcome meddling. We all know how this works. Let’s not pretend we don’t.

Hennessey has a better idea. Uncle Sam should cut taxes. Instead of taking $9,000 out of my paycheck and recycling it to MH in the form of a child-care subsidy, let him keep that money. That way he can spend according to my preferences.

Not only would that be more efficient, but it would also allow the government to use the tax money it does collect to pay for the safety net used by families that are truly struggling.

Mr. Hennessey writes that the problem with common-good conservatism isn’t the “good” or the “conservatism,” it’s the “common.” Matthew Hennessey knows what’s best for him and his family. Not Uncle Sam. Not some philosophy professor. Certainly not JD Vance. Hennessey is no more interested in the right-wing version of the welfare state than he is  in the left-wing version of it.

Raise your kids. Keep government small and at arm’s length. Be grateful you don’t need the safety net.

Keep it simple