Rep. Tom Loertscher's Keep-'Em-Barefoot-And -Pregnant wing of the Idaho Republican Party hit a nerve at Huckleberries Online this week. Loertscher? He's one of the two members of the House Health and Welfare Committee who voted in the 6-5 majority against tightening day-care regs because he believes a woman's place is in the home. Quoth Iona's Loertscher: "What can we do to keep mom at home?" (Disclaimer: I also believe that children benefit greatly when a parent remains at home with them. But I support well-regulated day cares for families who choose to work for a variety of reasons such as economics, divorce, self-fulfillment. Now, back to your regular programming.) Several HBOers answered Loertscher's question by pointing out that we live in the 21st century, not the 1950s. Loertscher would do well to peruse the BrodH20 blog, where colleague Taryn Brodwater tells of the horrors of relying on unregulated, cheap day care before finding her current good one. Taryn recalls arriving early from work one day to find that one unlicensed operator had locked the older children in her basement and propped the younger ones in high chairs in front of the TV for hours. On another occasion, with another operator, she was asked to watch more than 20 kids while the business owner searched for a missing child who was discovered drinking out of the toilet. You can find a link to her blog and the rest of her story in HBO's North Idaho Blogroll. Taryn wasn't the only HBOer hostile to the inaction of Loertscher and other H&W Neanderthals:

•Katrina/Notes on a Napkin: "Even though I am able and happy to stay home with my kids, that is not the reality for many families, and this attempt to 'punish' working moms by making day cares untenable is only hurting the children the legislators are claiming to care about."

•A Token D: As a single mom "I would love to stay at home, but then who would support me in the style to which I'm accustomed – you know, eating regularly, living in a home, all that stuff."

•Rockets Brain: "Gee, don't we license barbers, nurses, doctors and dogs? Do our children deserve less?"

•Wondering: "Women are … doctors, dentists, lawyers, police and firemen. We are CEOs of large corporations. We are ministers and rabbis. We teach your children and nurse your relatives. We are engineers and astronauts. We fight for our country. We nourish our families and we deserve the right to have safe child care for our children."

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