Quote:"I did my part, but we need to have higher birth rates in this country," said the father of three.
During a news conference on Thursday, House Speaker Paul Ryan urged American women to have more babies, saying their lack of procreation was stunting economic growth.
“People — this is going to be the new economic challenge for America. People,” Ryan said, in response to a question about entitlement reform.
Alluding to the fact that he’s a father of three, Ryan added, “I did my part, but we need to have higher birth rates in this country. Meaning, baby boomers are retiring, and we have fewer people following them in the work force.”
“We have something like a 90 percent increase in the retirement population in America, but only a 19 percent increase in the working population in American,” the Speaker continued. “So what do we have to do? Be smarter, more efficient, more technology — still going to need more people. And when we have tens of millions of people right here in this country falling short of their potential — not working, not looking for a job, or not in school getting a skill to get a job — that’s a problem.”
While it is true that birth rates in the U.S. have been declining, that’s not necessarily bad news — for instance, birth rates for teenagers hit a record low last year. Ryan’s comments also overlook the possibility that people may not share his belief that economic growth is a goal to be pursued at any and all costs.
Furthermore, there’s an obvious solution to the problem that Ryan completely ignores — allowing more immigrants into the country to fill the jobs being vacated by retiring baby boomers. But instead of using his position as House Speaker to pursue immigration reform, Ryan has instead indicated he’s on board with Trump’s hardline anti-immigration positions, including the president’s insistence on spending billions of dollars on a border wall.
Ryan isn’t alone among male Wisconsin Republicans in believing that women should have more babies for the good of the economy. On the floor of the Wisconsin State Assembly last month, Wisconsin state Rep. Scott Allen ® argued on behalf of a bill that would prevent health insurance plans for state employees from covering most abortions, saying more births are needed to spur economic growth. [/url]
Wisconsin GOP lawmaker says women should be forced to give birth to grow the labor force Yes, he said this in 2017.
[url=https://thinkprogress.org/abortion-restrictions-labor-force-fd5a0d7689cb/]
“Labor force shortages are tied to population declines. Labor force shortages are a limiting factor in economic growth,” Allen said. “And limited economic growth poses a problem when government tries to pay for public services and infrastructure. In spite of this Mr. Speaker, ironically, the Democrats continue their effort to support the abortion industry.”
He did his part! He has three, count 'em THREE kids who will WORK for a living. Whoohoo!
I have two! I just should have tried harder. Sadly MY wife has to work.
I wonder what would happen if someone suggested things like mandatory time off after giving birth? Aid for childcare? Better, cheaper (free?) healthcare for everyone? I wonder if that would be a better way to encourage people to have more babies?
Anyway....
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
(12-15-2017, 12:16 PM)GMDino Wrote: Man, if only there were millions of hard working people who wanted to be here already! People who would pay taxes and have children!
He did his part! He has three, count 'em THREE kids who will WORK for a living. Whoohoo!
I have two! I just should have tried harder. Sadly MY wife has to work.
I wonder what would happen if someone suggested things like mandatory time off after giving birth? Aid for childcare? Better, cheaper (free?) healthcare for everyone? I wonder if that would be a better way to encourage people to have more babies?
Anyway....
Isn't this essentially the same argument we hear about needing immigrants due to our falling birth rates?
(12-15-2017, 12:19 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Isn't this essentially the same argument we hear about needing immigrants due to our falling birth rates?
That's the joke. Rather than imply that we need more immigrants, we need to get our women screwing more often. A very conservative position to take.
(12-15-2017, 12:19 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Isn't this essentially the same argument we hear about needing immigrants due to our falling birth rates?
I think so.
Kinda why I suggested maybe we have those "people" without having more babies.
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
(12-15-2017, 12:21 PM)treee Wrote: That's the joke. Rather than imply that we need more immigrants, we need to get our women screwing more often. A very conservative position to take.
Except it's not a joke. He's essentially making the same argument and proposing a different solution. Personally I think both arguments are stupid, as automation is going to eliminate the need for labor type jobs in the near future. Therefore, having a high working class population is going to be a huge detriment very soon.
(12-15-2017, 12:21 PM)bfine32 Wrote: We should "outsource" our population.
A very interesting way to put the "more immigration" argument. I'm sure some here will interpret this in a peculiar way.
(12-15-2017, 12:22 PM)GMDino Wrote: I think so.
Kinda why I suggested maybe we have those "people" without having more babies.
Except"those people" will also have babies. See above why that's a poor idea.
Millennials aren't having children because they can't afford them. That's my boat, and the same for many others. Goood thing the tax bill being kicked around will help that. Oh, wait, no, it will do the opposite.
(12-15-2017, 01:08 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote: Since when has that stopped most people from having kids?
Doesn't stop all, but it's stopping a lot of people. Historically it hasn't been as much of a factor, but it has been with my generation. On average, we're either waiting longer to have children or not having them at all.
90% increase in retirement, but 19% increase in workers... because those companies aren't hiring the same positions back. The company I'm leaving, when someone retires everyone else ends up with a new job description.
Plus, I know that's not meant to be real numbers there, but I don't know if he's factoring in that many of those retirees have to turn around and re-enter the workforce to make ends meet.
(12-15-2017, 12:57 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Millennials aren't having children because they can't afford them. That's my boat, and the same for many others. Goood thing the tax bill being kicked around will help that. Oh, wait, no, it will do the opposite.
I also kicked the having kids can down the proverbial road until I felt more secure in life. Sadly, that coincided with the 2016 election making me feel rather cruel to bring children into this world.
(12-15-2017, 12:57 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: Millennials aren't having children because they can't afford them. That's my boat, and the same for many others. Goood thing the tax bill being kicked around will help that. Oh, wait, no, it will do the opposite.
We went the opposite way.
I always firgured we would never be able to "afford" kids so when it happened it happened.
Married in 96 and first child in 98.
Four years and a multitude of reasons why later we had the second.
Sadly due to some health issues my wife has with pregnancy we could not have another.
But I fully understand those who wait until a good time and I don't mean to degrade that choice at all...just telling our story.
We STILL can't afford the two kids we have!
Your anger and ego will always reveal your true self.
(12-15-2017, 01:34 PM)GMDino Wrote: We went the opposite way.
I always firgured we would never be able to "afford" kids so when it happened it happened.
Married in 96 and first child in 98.
Four years and a multitude of reasons why later we had the second.
Sadly due to some health issues my wife has with pregnancy we could not have another.
But I fully understand those who wait until a good time and I don't mean to degrade that choice at all...just telling our story.
We STILL can't afford the two kids we have!
But you're also of a different generation. Your story still rings true for people, moreso for Gen Xers than Millennials, but some of us as well. My generation gets a lot of fun poked at it, but it ain't all avocado toast and smartphones. There are a lot of societal and economic reasons that have prevented us from having as much financial stability as previous generations.
(12-15-2017, 01:53 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: But you're also of a different generation. Your story still rings true for people, moreso for Gen Xers than Millennials, but some of us as well. My generation gets a lot of fun poked at it, but it ain't all avocado toast and smartphones. There are a lot of societal and economic reasons that have prevented us from having as much financial stability as previous generations.
Ehh the whole ragging on the younger generation is pretty played out and typical. Plus, it's completely illogical. Oh, you millennials are all lazy morons and this country is ruined.
#1 who raised all these lazy kids?
#2 aren't we all crap compared to the WWII generation?
#3 if newer generations keep getting worse why are they being pressured to get married and have a bunch of kids?
(12-15-2017, 12:16 PM)GMDino Wrote: I wonder what would happen if someone suggested things like mandatory time off after giving birth? Aid for childcare? Better, cheaper (free?) healthcare for everyone? I wonder if that would be a better way to encourage people to have more babies?
Anyway....
Nah, we have all that and our women still don't have more babies anyway.
So no one's gonna talk about this gem from the article:
Quote:Ryan’s comments also overlook the possibility that people may not share his belief that economic growth is a goal to be pursued at any and all costs.
(12-15-2017, 04:41 PM)PhilHos Wrote: So no one's gonna talk about this gem from the article:
?
I dunno. He seems to punch holes in his own argument with:
Quote:“We have something like a 90 percent increase in the retirement population in America, but only a 19 percent increase in the working population in American,” the Speaker continued. “So what do we have to do? Be smarter, more efficient, more technology — still going to need more people. And when we have tens of millions of people right here in this country falling short of their potential — not working, not looking for a job, or not in school getting a skill to get a job — that’s a problem.”
Nothing to do with income inequality, wage increases, encouraging businesses to hire more folks or pay them a wage that gets them in the labor pool. Nope, just have more babies so that 20-25 years from now we increase the likelihood of having enough people in need of a job they're willing to work for whatever someone is willing to pay them.
The problem isn't that we don't have enough people willing to work, or enough jobs. We don't have enough businesses willing to pay a living wage. Making more babies doesn't really help that.
Lower birth rates are also a common outcome of an industrialized country. You don’t need kids to work the family farm/business and there’s lots of other things/activities to fill your life with.
I don’t have any kids, but I don’t want to have kids because I don’t like kids.
Sadly MY wife has to work. ![[Image: giphy.gif]](https://media0.giphy.com/media/1kwsTjL8BNqlszNtnCE/giphy.gif)
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