Talk about a House Divided. Jill Biden is all for working for military families because she’s been an educator for 35 years. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is planning to follow in Obama’s footsteps by slashing military budgets, making it harder for military families to live comfortably.
Perhaps we should have been voting for Jill Biden. She seems to have her priorities in order, regardless of what her husband might have planned in the White House.
If there’s some kind of silver lining to seeing Joe Biden enter the White House, it’s Dr. Jill Biden’s plans for helping military families. Particularly, she wants to get involved with the way that military children can struggle as a result of countless deployments.
Often, it’s the military children that struggle because they don’t get a choice. They’re moved based on wherever the military member is moved to. The average permanent change of station (PCS) happens every three years. So, children in military families may be exposed to six moves or more from the time they’re in kindergarten until the time they graduate high school.
Jill Biden plans on using data from a recent Military Child Education Coalition Survey that discussed resources that are needed. Biden has plans to chart a bath that is better for not only students and parents but also schools.
The former second lady was active with military families during the Obama administration and she wants to continue with such things while being the first lady.
One alarming aspect of the survey identified that 41 percent of military parents and students do not feel as though schools are meeting the needs of the students. Dr. Biden says that she acknowledges that military kids are resilient, but they know about the importance of sacrifice. It’s why she says, “That’s why we have to make a choice… the choice to support them, to lift them up and give them what they need to thrive.”
All that Jill Biden has planned is not known yet. However, it’s common for a First Lady to identify a “cause” that they are going to commit to. Michelle Obama had focused on nutrition in schools while Melania Trump focused on bullying. With Biden committing to military families with an extra emphasis on children, it will show that she’s looking to make a difference.
Now, if only we could get Jill and Joe on the same page. Joe Biden has been very quiet about his plans for military defense budgets and the deployment of troops. Kamala Harris has said that she’s in favor of cutting defense budgets. The Obama administration certainly did – and military families suffered as a result of it. So, until Joe Biden confirms otherwise, military families need to be prepared to deal with the stress of budget cuts.
Budget cuts will affect military families in a number of ways. Military members may come home stressed more often because they’re forced to do more with less. Cost of living increases on an annual basis may be considerably less, too. Is this the way that Biden is planning on supporting the troops? That doesn’t seem to be very helpful.
So, essentially, what Jill Biden will be doing to support military families is to offset what her husband will be doing. She’ll make sure that the military children are getting the education that they need. However, as she is on the frontline listening to the concerns that so many families have, maybe she’ll be able to identify some of the real reasons why it’s important to have a strong military defense budget.
It wouldn’t be the first time a president succeeds because of having a woman whisper into his ear. We can only hope that Dr. Jill Biden can be the voice of reason as her husband steps into the role of president. He’s not the one we wanted but he’s the one we have – and she needs to help him protect military families.
