An Economy Where All Can Flourish

Abby McCloskey, The Bush Center, Catalyst Fall 2019

“The current debate between Trumpian capitalism and AOC socialism is unhelpful, if for no other reason than that the words are used as political bludgeons to shut down opponents instead of fostering real discussion. Capitalism and socialism also sound elite and distant, conjuring up different definitions and understandings, obfuscating what we are actually talking about when it comes to individuals’ daily lives.

Instead of centering the debate about economic policy on these politically-charged and often disembodied words, we should take the debate to its foundational level: What kind of society do we want to be?”

Please, All We Want Is Straight Talk

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, October 20, 2019

“More of this straight-talk please. The caliber of the debate and the ability of Americans to understand what they are signing up for will be better for it. Please be honest about the benefits and the costs of your plans. No games. We are talking about what happens to our healthcare. And to our take-home pay. This is highly personal, so no punches.”

How Congress Could Gain Courage

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, October 3, 2019

“Courage in today's politics will be found in those who demonstrate a measuredness, a humility, a goodness, a servant leadership, and a bravery in the midst of - and especially because of - the toxic political climate. It's not courageous to threaten a "civil war like fracture" if impeachment goes through. It's courageous to hold this grand experiment of a country together, to start the ripple effect of virtue.”

How Did Our Politics Get This Broken?

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, September 27, 2019

“What most people can feel in the air — that we have never been more politically divided — is confirmed by the empirical evidence and will be on full display in the coming weeks. What began as a small climb up the rock of polarization has turned into a sheer and gigantic cliff, and we have never been so high off the ground. The people to look for are those who offer a rope for gently lowering back down, not those who beckon us to come higher still.”

The life-changing conversation Dems avoided at the debates

Abby McCloskey, Aparna Mathur, Vicki Shabo, CNN Opinion, August 2, 2019

“We are three policy experts who have advised lawmakers across the ideological spectrum, and we disagree on many things -- including the exact mix of policy details for a national paid leave plan. For example, we have different views on financing and on whether a federal paid leave policy should extend coverage only to new parents or also to workers who need leave for personal medical and family caregiving purposes. But we fundamentally and passionately agree that policymakers must take meaningful action to meet the needs of American workers, particularly the most vulnerable, and the 2020 campaign is a good place to test ideas.”

EXCLUSIVE: Howard Schultz retains Republican adviser, Abby McCloskey

FOX Business, April 16, 2019

“FOX Business has confirmed Abby McCloskey, a veteran GOP policy adviser, has been serving as a paid consultant by Schultz’s 2020 presidential exploratory committee. In an email to FOX Business, McCloskey confirmed she has “provided policy education and counsel” to Schultz but declined further comment. An official from the Schultz committee also confirmed McCloskey has been “advising Mr. Schultz for a while” but refused to clarify how long the two have been working together.'“

Have Democrats Forgotten About Paid Leave?

Abby McCloskey and Aparna Mathur, AEIdeas, July 2, 2019

“Why is this important bipartisan issue missing from so many candidates’ platforms? Biden, the clear front-runner and who boasts a relatively policy heavy website, has no obvious mention of paid leave on his official campaign site, nor was it mentioned in the debates.  Nor did Warren, who in spite of her plans for nearly everything else, does not have a single word on her website dedicated to paid leave.”

The Birth Of A Compromise On Paid Parental Leave

Abby McCloskey, Aparna Mathur, Angela Rachidi, Real Clear Policy, March 5, 2019

“Major social policy achievements in this country have never been easy. Yet, history shows that when both sides express a willingness to compromise, great policies can emerge. Our elected officials are now facing one such historic opportunity. It is time for them to pass legislation that creates a national paid parental leave program.”


Health Savings Accounts: Encouraging to see another Republican idea to improve paid parental leave access

Abby McCloskey & Aparna Mathur, AEIdeas, April 17, 2019

“As we have written before, there is a competition of ideas brewing among Republicans on ways that families could pay for time taken off during parental leave. For millions of families around the country this is good news and a major change from where the debate was just a few years ago. The latest proposal is from Congressman Andy Biggs, who has introduced the Freedom for Families Act bill would allow families to use money in their Health Savings Account to meet expenses incurred during the birth or adoption of a child, or for a family illness. . . .”

Universal Child Care Is the Wrong Approach

Abby McCloskey & Aparna Mathur, National Review, February 22 2019

“We welcome a conversation on this important issue. But a universal program is likely to create more problems than it solves. A system that better targets the most vulnerable, reforms existing programs, and addresses the quality of care, at a reasonable cost, is more likely to benefit American parents and children.”

How The Left Embraced Elitism

David Brooks, The New York Times, February 11, 2019

“ For example, in the lead essay of the conservative journal National Affairs, Abby M. McCloskey notes that the family you are born into and the neighborhood you live in have a much stronger influence on your socioeconomic outcome than any other factors. Her essay is an outstanding compendium of proposals designed to strengthen family and neighborhood.


Pell grants could be used to pay for vocational and apprenticeship training and not just for college. The federal government could support a voluntary national service program by paying people, once in their lifetime, to work for a year at a local nonprofit. The tax code could be tweaked so that people with no income tax liability could receive a cash credit for making charitable donations.

These proposals are activist but humble. It’s not the federal government centrally deciding how to remake your community. It’s giving communities and people the resources to take responsibility and assume power for themselves. . . . “

The President And Women In White Have Paid Leave In Common

Abby McCloskey, National Review Online, February 11, 2019

“The Democrat women in white didn’t clap for rising wages or faster economic growth. They didn’t clap for a protecting a baby who could otherwise survive outside of the womb. They were hesitant to clap even for rescuing women from sex-trafficking rings. But they along with Speaker Pelosi joined Republicans in clapping heartily for paid family leave.”

The immigration fight is moving from Washington spectacle to long-term damage

Abby McCloskey, Dallas Morning News, January 13, 2019

“The shutdown has shown in clear terms that the circus isn't just confined to entertainment; it has real impacts on real people. In the immediate term, there are hundreds of thousands of people who will go without paychecks. National parks have been vandalized. Food has gone uninspected. In the long run, we can expect further erosion of trust in our institutions and worrying growth of executive power. “

Beyond Growth

Abby McCloskey, National Affairs, Winter 2019

“The efforts of the Trump administration and congressional Republicans to boost economic growth by reducing taxes and easing regulatory burdens have met with meaningful success over the past two years. But they have also shown that growth alone — however beneficial, however necessary — is unlikely to address some of the biggest challenges that the American economy faces in the 21st century. As Republicans tout the growing economy and low unemployment rate, their rhetoric has become disconnected from the experiences of too many Americans. In the coming years, conservatives would do well to reach beyond a growth-only agenda and work to build an economy that is dynamic, inclusive, and sustainable.”

Both sides won, both sides feel emboldened. That's not good.

Abby McCloskey, The Dallas Morning News, November 7, 2018

“You can almost hear the collective sigh of relief that it's over. The campaign yard signs soon to be replaced by holiday decorations. There's so much not to like about politics these days — the toxicity, the divisiveness.

For those into politics, there was victory for everyone in the 2018 midterms, a candle of hope for the political future depending on which side you fall.

Democrats are surely happy to have taken the House, ushering in the return of Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrat leadership to key committees. For liberals, Tuesday was a resounding referendum on President Donald Trump's excesses from the body of Congress that most closely represents how the majority of Americans feel. Finally, a check on the wayward president.

Republicans are surely happy to have kept the Senate, holding off Democrats in some of the highest-profile races in the country, including Texas, with Democrat Beto O'Rourke losing to Republican Ted Cruz. For Republicans, their dominance in the Senate is an endorsement of Trump, whose family actively campaigned for so many of these senators; a wide-open runway to continue the conservative remaking of the judiciary and to protect the president from the liberal assault. "Tremendous success tonight. Thank you all," tweeted the president.

Both sides are emboldened. And yet zooming out, little has actually changed. The status quo of congressional inaction is likely to continue. . . . “ 

How Does Your Faith Impact Your Views On Economic Policy?

Abby McCloskey, Southern Methodist University, The O’Neil Center for Global Markets And Freedom, October 25, 2018

“I want to start by thanking the O’Neil Center for pulling together this conference. It’s a privilege to be part of. It is so refreshing that in the middle of tribalism and partisanship across the country to go back to the basics of faith, flourishing, and public policy.

I’ll divide my remarks into three parts: 1) The first is my faith foundation and how it informs my views about economic policy, 2) The second is our current economic reality, 3) And the third is a set of policies that I believe would be helpful going forward. . . ” 

A New Economic Agenda For Conservatives

Abby McCloskey, Gen Next, September 25, 2018

Tonight, I want to propose a new economic agenda for conservatives.  There are three big points I want to discuss:

1.     The Trump Administration has been good for growth. It’s not just what they’ve inherited; it’s what they have done.

2.     Economic growth is insufficient to address some of the major economic challenges we face in the 21st century economy: the crisis of work, the crisis of community, and the crisis of entitlement spending.

3.     We need to move beyond a growth only agenda. The country needs policies that get to the heart of some of these big challenges that address them from a uniquely conservative perspective. We need an economy that’s not just growing, but that’s inclusive and sustainable as well.  We will talk about what some of those policies might be.

So let’s get started:

Medical Care Leave: A Way Forward

Abby McCloskey, The 2018 AEI-Brookings Conference and Report Release, September 7, 2018

*Video: https://youtu.be/AqE_LL6yZDs

Agenda

1:45 PM
Panel I: Medical care leave: Evidence on what we know and recommendations

Panelists:
Harry Holzer, Georgetown University
Abby McCloskey, McCloskey Policy LLC
Christopher Ruhm, University of Virginia

Moderator:
Aparna Mathur, AEI

AEI-Brookings Paid Leave Conference 2018