It’s very simple. There are all sorts of long term rationalizations tossed around, like future tax revenue or making more disadvantaged people who are more likely to vote Republican.
It’s a whole lot simpler than all that though.
It’s a distraction.
Think about it this way - do they seem like they give the slightest shit about the long-term? Minimum, this would take a decade before it does much for them.
But by fighting over this issue, which will have a profoundly terrible effect on a lot of people, we don’t talk much about how inequality skyrocketed during COVID. We don’t talk about ranked choice voting, we don’t talk about UBI, we don’t talk about the fact the Internet is being locked down or talk about how we could reform the system to be better.
They fight over issues like this, and they’re free to do whatever they want economically. And sure, it’s a popular idea for the rich - a pregnancy through delivery costs like 12-20k, it makes you less able to change jobs or move, it makes you consume stuff you would never have needed otherwise, and a population decline is going to make all of your profit projections fall in the long term. I’m sure it brings in donations
At it’s core, it’s because it’s making careers for a certain type of politician and a blank check on every other issue for sitting congressmen