Strollerderby : public

Bipartisan Group Says McCain Would Be Bad for Kids' Health

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:30:00 GMT

First Focus, a bipartisan children’s advocacy group, has released a statement warning voters that John McCain’s health care plan would result in millions of American children going without health insurance.

McCain’s proposal centers around a flat tax credit, which would be given to every family, regardless of size or income, to be used to buy health insurance. (The money for these credits would be raised, at least in part, by cutting Medicaid and Medicare.)

First Focus has warned that the tax credit is well below the amount of money required for the average family’s health care needs. Plus, since McCain wouldn't require insurance companies to cover children with pre-existing conditions, it's likely that many of these kids would be denied coverage.

Obama’s plan guarantees that every child will be covered, either privately or publicly, regardless of preexisting conditions.

For a comprehensive primer on Obama and McCain’s health care proposals, check out Kim Mance’s essay.

Photo: New York Times

Your Kids Don’t Want to Vacation With You

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Oh man, I thought when I saw the title to this article—“My Interminable Flight with a Crying Child”—yet another uptight non-parent complaining about the indignities of being subjected to strangers’ children in public places. But it turns out that Chuck Cohen has some decent points—and he’s a parent himself.

I still maintain that I have little sympathy for Cohen’s complete intolerance for crying children on his plane (“Why should kids under the age of 2 fly free on airplanes? And if they do, shouldn’t we institute a decibel charge?”), since I happen to be of the school that believes going out in public means encountering small humans—and sometimes, they’re going to cry.

But Cohen may be on to something when he argues that toddlers cry on airplanes (and in the theatre) for a reason: they don’t want to go to London, or sit still in a dark theatre for two hours. They’d much rather play on the swing set in the backyard.

Still, Cohen’s insistence that kids—and the vacationing public—will be happier if they are left at home may be logical, but it’s not necessarily practical. Are parents supposed to give up vacationing all together until their children develop a sophisticated interest in London theatre and Yosemite falls? And what about the plane flights that are to Grandma and Grandpa's house?

Photo: Mom's Buzz

When The Loud Neighbors Are Your Kids

The Best of FameCrawler: Pi-Day Edition

Whit Honea — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:27:00 GMT

Strollerderby : public

Bipartisan Group Says McCain Would Be Bad for Kids' Health

Your Kids Don’t Want to Vacation With You

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