Here’s The 1981 Biden Op-Ed That Gillibrand Brought Up In The Debate

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JULY 31: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) (L) listens while former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the Democratic Presidential Debate at the Fox Theatre July 31, 2... DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JULY 31: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) (L) listens while former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the Democratic Presidential Debate at the Fox Theatre July 31, 2019 in Detroit, Michigan. 20 Democratic presidential candidates were split into two groups of 10 to take part in the debate sponsored by CNN held over two nights at Detroit’s Fox Theatre. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on Wednesday night used one of former Vice President Joe Biden’s decades-old op-eds against him, reading aloud Biden’s lamentation that expanded tax credits for child care would subsidize “the deterioration of the family.”

She was referring to a 1981 op-ed in which Biden argued for helping low-income families and single parents with the cost of child care, but also for cutting off that support for higher income families. In his example, skewed a bit by four decades of inflation, Biden was concerned with expanding the child tax credit to “a couple making $30,000, $40,00, $50,000 or more a year.”

A tax credit for those families’ child care, Biden said, would let them “evade full responsibility for their children.”

The full op-ed, in which Biden describes day care centers and nursing homes “blossoming across the American landscape” as “monuments to our growing unwillingness to accept personal responsibility for those to whom we owe the most,” was helpfully posted on Twitter by the Gillibrand campaign’s communications director at the exact moment the senator brought it up in the debate.

It was a seeming coup for the candidate’s opposition research department, though it’s not clear whether they dug it up or HuffPost did when the website reported on the op-ed last week.

Biden responded to Gillibrand Wednesday as he did in the op-ed, that he wasn’t opposed to the tax credit, but rather to its availability to higher-income families. HuffPost noted that, adjusted for inflation, Biden opposed expanding the tax credit to couples who would be making around $88,000 in today’s dollars.

Pointing to Gillibrand’s past praise for his positions on gender equality, the former vice president remarked: “I don’t know what happened except you’re now running for President.”

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Notable Replies

  1. I’m really not sure what point she thought she was making. That he was fighting for child care for families that couldn’t afford it, but wanted to make sure the money was not spent on those who could afford it? Yeah, sounds horrible. Good grief.

  2. This was a cheap shot by Gillibrand
    Biden’s record on women is solid.

    He was right to retort
    “Only thing different is you are running for President!”

    As a woman I have no issue with Biden. In terms of families.

    He is a traditional male BUT he allows all women, even his spouses to DO HER!

    I like that. I can see being traditional as his spouse & catering while at same time having MY individuality to pursue MY goals.

    That is the mark of a SECURE man,

    I repeat, cheapshot.
    Made Gillebrand look petty in my book.

  3. I don’t hold this one against Joe. Times change. Situations change. The op-ed is nearly 40 years old.

  4. Who the hell cares? She is not going to get the nomination. She is just digging crap up from decades ago and hoping it will hurt Biden even if it does not help her.

  5. Yep!
    She made no points.

    In fact, blew back in her face.

    Go sit down & stfu Gillebrand.

    Joe has consistently been an advocate for ALL women choose to do.

    In or outside the home.

    I applauded when he said “both my wives worked”

    Yesss!

    Biden won that exchange.

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