Obama giveaway of the week: More parental leave

Some of us saw this coming a mile away. It was obvious when President Obama proclaimed that the Republican takeover of Congress made him feel "liberated" and that he could now be "the president he always wanted to be." What is that, exactly, you ask? Easy. That's the president who constantly makes proposals to give away free stuff at the expense of corporations and/or taxpayers, and forces Congress to either cave in and approve it or be the bad guys and say no.

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Last week it was free community college. This week, it's more paid time off:

Renewing a push for paid leave for workers, President Barack Obama on Thursday will call on Congress, states and cities to pass measures to allow millions of workers to earn up to a week of paid sick time a year, the White House said. He'll also ask Congress for more than $2 billion in new spending to encourage states to create paid family and medical leave programs. In addition, Obama will take steps to provide federal employees with up to six weeks of paid sick leave to care for a new child. And he'll propose that Congress pass legislation to give federal workers an additional six weeks of paid parental leave. Details on how Obama would raise the $2 billion to help states will be released in the president's budget proposal next month, senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said Wednesday. Obama wants Congress to pass legislation that has been sponsored since 2005 by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., to allow workers to earn up to seven days, or 56 hours, of paid sick leave to care for themselves or a sick family member, obtain preventive care or deal with domestic violence. Under the Healthy Families Act, workers would earn an hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours they work. Employers that already provide paid sick time would not have to change their policies as long as the time earned can be used for the same purposes.

The AP writes this story as if some people not having a certain amount of paid time off is a problem the government must solve. It's no such thing. Employers and employees have to come to arrangements that work for both parties. Some employers believe that providing more paid time off is best for their organizations. Others think it's better to put more emphasis on productivity. Employees need to decide which priority is right for them. This is hard for liberals to understand, but some people might prefer to work for a company that emphasizes productivity and healthier margins because it holds the promise for better long-term stability and compensation. At any rate, it's not for government to tip the scale one way or the other. This is just the latest attempt by Obama to put congressional Republicans on the spot by proposing a generous giveaway that puts an unreasonable burden on corporations and taxpayers, and forces Congress to be the responsible party that says no. Expect more of this. This is the kind of president Obama always wanted to be. All talk and no action. You'll note that he didn't propose these things when Democrats controlled Congress, because then Congress might have actually had to pass it and they would have been responsible for making the policies work. But now that Republicans are in charge, pedal to the metal. Propose every giveaway under the sun. Why not? If they say no, you can accuse them of hating workers and students. If they say yes, then they have to figure out how to pay for it. Yep. This is the kind of president Obama wants to be. And more than 50 percent of you failed to see that, twice, despite the fact that you were warned.