Barack Obama on Families & Children Democratic incumbent President; IL Senator (2004-2008)

Families aren't looking for handouts, but for a fair shot

Because families still need our help. Millions of hardworking Americans aren't asking for a handout, but asking that we look for more ways to help families get ahead.

Middle-class economics is the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. We don't just want everyone to share in America's success--we want everyone to contribute to our success.

Childcare is an economic priority; not a side-issue

In today's economy, when having both parents in the workforce is an economic necessity for many families, we need affordable, high-quality childcare more than ever. It's not a nice-to-have--it's a must-have. It's time we stop treating childcare as a side issue, or a women's issue, and treat it like the national economic priority that it is for all of us. And that's why my plan will make quality childcare more available, and more affordable, for every middle-class and low-income family with young children in America--by creating more slots and a new tax cut of up to $3,000 per child, per year.

Everything else is unfulfilled if we fail at family

Let's Move partnership: reduce childhood obesity

The point is, there are millions of Americans outside Washington who are tired of stale political arguments, and are moving this country forward.

Pass the Violence Against Women Act

Family's unconditional love more important than money

But when Barack started telling me about his family--that's when I knew I had found a kindred spirit, someone whose values and upbringing were so much like mine.

You see, Barack and I were both raised by families who didn't have much in the way of money or material possessions but who had given us something far more valuable--their unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go places they had never imagined for themselves.

OpEd: Says families are off-limits; but attacks opponents'

Moreover, if Obama didn't approve of attacks on his opponents' families, that would have been a first for him. In his Senate primary race from Illinois in 2004, Obama was down in the polls, about to lose to Blair Hull, a multi-millionaire securities trader. But then the Chicago Tribune dropped the fact that Hull's ex-wife had sought an order of protection against him during their 1998 divorce proceedings--referring to records that were under seal. There were strong suggestions that the Obama campaign had tipped off the Chicago Tribune. Hull's campaign collapsed. Obama sailed to the front of the pack and won the primary.

Luckily for Obama, his opponent in the general election had also been divorced! [Obama similarly attached Jack Ryan].

Help families with paid sick days and better family leave

Parents provide guidance by turning off TV & video games

Zero-to-Five plan: childcare for working parents

Admit that too many fathers are missing from too many homes

But if we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing--missing from too many lives and too many homes They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.

You and I know how true this is in the African-American community. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it.

I know what it means to have an absent father

Still, I know the toll that being a single parent took on my mother--how she struggled at times to the pay bills; to give us the things that other kids had; to play all the roles that both parents are supposed to play. And I know the toll it took on me. So I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle--that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls; that if I could give them anything, I would give them that rock--that foundation--on which to build their lives. And that would be the greatest gift I could offer.

Reward fathers who pay child support with larger EITC

We should take all of these steps to build a strong foundation for our children. But we should also know that even if we do; even if Washington does its part too, we will still face difficult challenges in our lives.

Teach both abstinence and contraception to teens

A: Keep in mind, on that same day, I said children are miracles. What I was saying was that my daughters are 9 & 6. And so if, at the age of 12 or 13, they made what I would consider to be a mistake, in having unprotected sex, and ended up getting pregnant. And so all I meant was we want to prevent teen pregnancies. And what we don’t want to do is to be blind to the possibility that kids will screw up, just like, surprisingly enough, we as adults screw up sometimes. We want to make sure that, even as we are teaching responsible sexuality and we are teaching abstinence to children, that we are also making sure that they’ve got enough understanding about contraception that they don’t end up having much more severe problems because of a dumb mistake.

Expand flex-work & Family and Medical Leave Act

• Expand the Family and Medical Leave Act:The FMLA covers only certain workers in businesses with 50 or more employees. Obama will expand it to cover businesses with 25 or more employees. He will also include allowing workers to take leave for elder care needs; and to expand FMLA to cover leave for employees to address domestic violence.
• Encourage States to Adopt Paid Leave:As president, Obama will initiate a strategy to encourage all 50 states to adopt paid-leave systems. Obama will provide a $1.5 billion fund to assist states with start-up costs.
• Expand Flexible Work Arrangements: Obama will create a program to inform businesses about the benefits of flexible work schedules; help businesses create flexible work opportunities; and increase federal incentives for telecommuting. Obama will also make the federal government a model employer in terms of adopting flexible work schedules and permitting employees to request flexible arrangements.

Parents should control what’s coming over the airwaves

Restore dream of making children’s lives better than parents

A: One of the reasons that I’m running for president is that the American dream has always meant that if you worked hard if you invested in your children then their lives could be better than yours. And that dream that so many generations fought for feels like it’s slipping away, not just for African Americans increasingly but for all Americans. And so what do we need to do? We have to have a tax system that’s fair. I will take away tax breaks from company’s that are shipping jobs overseas and put tax breaks in the pockets of hardworking Americans who deserve it. We’ve got to invest in education. If we can invest and understand that this is a crisis that doesn’t just effect black and brown people but all of America I’m confident that we can make a big difference.

All kids should learn about sexual abuse

EDWARDS: Yes, we have taught our children when they were young how to look for the signs of wrong touching, any kind of what would be sexual abuse, inappropriate touching. And we have taught our children as they got older, all that they needed to know to be properly educated.

Q: [to Obama]: Mitt Romney has accused you this week of saying that 5-year-old children should be getting sex education. Was he right?

OBAMA: Ironically, this was actually a proposal that he himself said he supported when he was running for governor of Massachusetts. Apparently, he forgot. And it makes the exact point that John made. I want my daughters, aged 6 & 9, to know if somebody is doing something wrong to them, encroaching on their privacy, that they should come talk to me or my wife. And we’ve had that conversation, and I think it’s important that every child does, to make sure that they’re not subject to the sexual predators.

FactCheck: ‘Sex Ed for Kindergarten’ means ‘age-appropriate’

For several days now, Obama has been dealing with a flap over comments he made to a Planned Parenthood gathering last week. He said that he had once been attacked for advocating “teaching sex education to kindergarteners” as a state senator. And he added, “It’s the right thing to do...to provide age-appropriate sex education, science-based sex education in schools.”

Although video of that statement shows Obama stressed the term “age-appropriate,” a news headline read, “Sex Ed for Kindergarteners ‘Right Thing to Do,’ Says Obama.” Romney seized on the headline and slammed Obama, saying, “Obama is wrong if he thinks science-based sex education has any place in kindergarten.”

The Obama campaign later pointed to a 2004 story in which Obama said he “does not support teaching explicit sex education to children in kindergarten.”

Listening to evangelicals bridges major political fault line

The evangelists’ success points to a hunger for the product they are selling, a hunger that goes beyond any particular issue or cause. They need an assurance that somebody out there cares about them, is listening to them.

Sponsored bill banning high lead levels in children's toys.

OFFICIAL CONGRESSIONAL SUMMARY: A bill to direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to classify certain children's products containing lead to be banned hazardous substances.

SPONSOR'S INTRODUCTORY REMARKS: Sen. OBAMA: The unfortunate reality for many children--particularly in low-income and minority households--is the continued presence of high blood lead levels. Lead is a highly toxic substance that can produce a range of health problems in young children, including IQ deficiencies, hyperactivity, and damage to the kidneys, brain and bone marrow.

We know that lead poisoning is completely preventable. As the Nation has increased efforts to reduce environmental lead exposure, the number of children with high blood levels has steadily dropped. Restricting lead in gasoline and paint represent two major accomplishments in this regard. But much work remains to be done.

Disturbingly, lead is present in a number of toys and other frequently used objects by young children. About half of tested lunch boxes have unsafe levels of lead. In 2004, there were 3 recalls of nearly 150 million pieces of toy jewelry because of toxic levels of lead. And the Consumer Product Safety Commission has dragged its feet in aggressively addressing the problem of lead in toys.

It's a national disgrace that toys that could pose a serious and significant danger to children are readily available in our department stores and markets. The Lead Free Toys Act of 2005 will help us keep our children safe and healthy, and contribute to national efforts to reduce lead exposure.

LEGISLATIVE OUTCOME:Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; never came to a vote.

Call for a White House Conference on Children and Youth.

The White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 Act - Directs the President to call a White House Conference on Children and Youth in 2010 to: (1) encourage improvements in each state and local child welfare system; and (2) develop recommendations for actions to implement express policy regarding federal, state, and local programs. The Congress finds the following:

1. In 2005 there were over 3,000,000 reports of child abuse and neglect, and only 60% of the children from the substantiated reports received follow-up services and 20% were placed in foster care as a result of an investigation.
2. Almost 500,000 children and youth were in foster care at the end of 2004 and nearly 800,000 spent at least some time in foster care throughout the year.
3. There is an over-representation of certain populations, including Native Americans and African-Americans, in the child welfare system.
4. The State courts make key decisions in the lives of children involved in the child welfare system, including decisions of whether children have been victims of child abuse, whether parental rights should be terminated, and whether children should be reunified with their families, adopted, or placed in other settings.