The Political Voices of Women

This is beyond a MUST SEE. This is a MUST, MUST, MUST SEE.

See more from this young man here.

 Here is a guest post from community member Marcia G. Yerman, who also blogs at The Huffington Post.

[If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women, just join our community, and start posting.]

A “grassroots” letter that will be presented to Sarah Palin by MomsRising is currently on their site, available for signature. To date, 20,000 women’s names have been collected. The question is asked of Palin, “Where do you stand on issues that matter to me?” After extending heartfelt congratulations to the Governor on her path from “PTA to Vice Presidential candidate,” the organization gets down to brass tacks by specifically asking what she and the Republican Party would do for mothers and families.

MomsRising was founded in 2006. It grew out of a book project undertaken by Joan Blade and Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. Released on Mother’s Day of that year, The Motherhood Manifesto, “explored the struggles of the American family.” It later became a documentary film. Having reached a critical mass with their extensive research data, Blades and Rowe-Finkbeiner decided to mobilize the strength behind mothers’ voices and their concerns.

A non-partisan organization, which works at the state and national level, MomsRising tackles problems that don’t get adequate recognition. Statistics that the public should be aware of are underscored. For example, you may not hear on the campaign trail that 25% of families with children under six live in poverty, single mothers make 60 cents to a man’s dollar, or that 75% of American mothers are in the labor force.

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Will John McCain’s Health Care Plan Help or Hurt You?  With the economy spiraling out of control, it’s important that we can all be secure in the availability, and quality of our health care.  If you have a pre-existing condition, are receiving your health care through your employer, or are a woman…You may be in trouble with a McCain Health Care Plan.  Here is some of the latest information, let me know what you think in comments.

Journal Disputes McCain’s Health Care Claims

Senator John McCain’s top domestic policy adviser, former Congressional Budget Office director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, recently said in a conference call with reporters that Mr. McCain’s health care proposal would “put 25 to 30 million individuals out of the ranks of the uninsured, into the ranks of the insured.” In an article released Tuesday, a panel of prominent health economists concludes that Mr. Holtz-Eakin’s projection is off by, well, 25 to 30 million.

The article, published in the journal Health Affairs, argues that “initially there would be no real change in the number of people covered as a result of the McCain plan.” After a short-term reduction of 1 million in the number of people without coverage, the number of uninsured would increase by 5 million after five years, the authors predict. There are currently 45 million people without insurance, or 15 percent of the population, according to the Census Bureau.

On Obama’s Health Care Plan…

By comparison, Senator Barack Obama’s plan, which would provide heavy government subsidies for insurance for low-income workers, would reduce the number of uninsured by 18 million in 2009 and by 34 million in 2018, according to the Urban Institute/Brookings Institution report. That would still leave Mr. Obama well shy of his goal of achieving universal coverage.

[read full article at the caucus]

Think You Know John McCain?   His Health Care Plan Will Penalize Women…

Presidential candidate John McCain’s health care reform plan would have a devastating impact on women, according to a new analysis.

“Tens of millions of women would be at risk of losing their current insurance coverage even though they use health care services more frequently than men, suffer chronic illness more often than men, and require maternity care and other reproductive health services,” concludes a report by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

The aim of McCain’s health care plan is to break up the existing employer based health care coverage system and replace it with a market-oriented system funded in part by the government.

Employers that currently offer health care coverage would find fewer incentives to continue doing so under the McCain plan. Instead, individuals would be given a tax credit of $2,500 (families would receive $5,000) so that they could shop around on the open market for the best plan for them, whether that insurer is based in the same state or not. The catch, though, is that the private insurance market doesn’t treat women that well.

The study reports that if McCain’s plan is implemented, “more than 30 million women with employer-sponsored health insurance who suffer from a chronic condition could lose their coverage, find it harder to obtain coverage, or have to purchase supplemental insurance to cover their chronic condition.”

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 Here is a guest post by community member Deb Della Piana from Turn Left.

[If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women, just join our community, and start posting.]

Although the story I’m about to tell you is personal and happened to me and my family, it’s not just my story. It still happens everywhere, everyday. It’s a story of what it’s truly like to be gay in America. I don’t speak much about this these days, but I’m telling it to you today because I fear the country we face under John McCain and Sarah Palin. Under their virulently right-wing rule, this type of disenfranchisement and gutter treatment could spread exponentially throughout this nation.

I once worked for what I believed was one of the best Fortune 500 companies, a company that I had been loyal to since joining them in 1974 and I expected some type of loyalty in return. I was naïve back then. What I have learned is that companies expect loyalty, but they absolutely do not return it at the same level. No company name will be given, but let’s just say that with the advent of some new management came some discrimination. In this case, it was based on my sexual orientation (which, by the way, had not been an issue prior to management change). In 1997, after several ugly encounters between myself and my boss, I was roundly fired.

The circumstances are not important. The fact is that I signed an agreement not to sue (I was stupid, in retrospect) in exchange for a severance package. At the time, I had a small child under a year and a very sick partner, who had contracted pre-eclampsia during the final twenty weeks of the pregnancy and was saddled with a diagnosis of perinatal cardiomyopathy post-pregnancy. I saw no other way to survive and keep them both healthy and safe. One decision I had made, however, was that I would never again give my all to a corporation.

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Here is a post from our newest community member Anita S. Lane.  You can read more from Anita at her blog Unconventional Politics.

[If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women, just join our community, and start posting.]

I’m a firm believer that we as women can “have it all”—just not at the same time. I’ve said it often to women I know. But now I’m wondering if the emergence of Governor Sarah Palin onto the national scene has debunked that theory.

Whether you like her or not, Governor Sarah Palin is a bold example of one woman who has shown courage and fortitude. She is one woman—unlike most—who thought she could hold elected office, maintain her marriage and raise her growing family at the same time. Remarkably, she has managed to do just that.

I’ve heard the reports of Governor Palin—back at work three days after delivering her fifth baby with him nestled under her desk—or how she would campaign door-to-door with her young children in tow. This may seem inappropriate to some, but it definitely shows her determination and commitment to her role as public servant.

I know Sarah Palin is not the first political mom in the spotlight. Hillary Clinton has also inspired millions as a mom and First Lady. But Hillary Clinton wasn’t the one in the Governor’s seat in Arkansas (or the Oval Office in D.C.). Hillary waited until after Chelsea was an adult to run for elected office.

As a mother of four young children, I know that the emotional, financial and logistical challenges of managing multiple personalities, sibling conflict, meal preparation, homework, scheduling, and travel are huge. So, how Governor Palin manages her life is beyond me.

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Here is a post from our newest community member Anita S. Lane.  You can read more from Anita at her blog Unconventional Politics.

[If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women, just join our community, and start posting.]

Is it possible to be a good, well-meaning individual and say something stupid? Of course it is.

I was recently talking with a relative whose brother in-law was a soldier who had been killed in Iraq. In the course of the conversation I made the remark, “So, does that make it any easier to decide who you’re going to vote for?”

My relative kindly informed me that it’s really not wise to mix the death of a beloved soldier with politics. Point well-taken. I guess that was kind of stupid. But I was uninformed and insensitive.

Yesterday, Senator Joe Biden found himself in a similar position. While out on the campaign trail, he mixed a very delicate real-life situation with a hot-button political issue. . He stated that “If you care about it [issues surrounding children with disabilities] why don’t you support stem-cell research?”

Yes, Senator Biden’s remark was stupid. Or to put it in a more politically correct form—his remark was uninformed and insensitive. The reality is that the type of individual who would knowingly carry to term a baby with a disorder or birth defect is exactly the type of individual who values human life in any form, and may not be inclined to support using human embryos for scientific research.

To date, to my knowledge there has been no scientific breakthrough using embryonic stem cells—not to say that there won’t be in the future. However there have been significant breakthroughs using adult stem cells. Most Americans support stem cell research—it’s only over embryonic stem cell research that we’re having this huge, overblown debate.

So, when Senator Biden stands up and says, “If you care about it [children with disabilities], why don’t you support stem cell research?” he is speaking from an insensitive, uninformed position— a position I don’t think Obama himself would have asserted.

As a mother of a developmentally disabled child, I was offended by Biden’s comment and the insensitive tone in which he made it. I love my child. In fact, I love my child just the way he is and would never, ever trade him in for a “normal” child—even if I could. However, if stem cell research is able to correct the chromosomal condition that causes Down syndrome for future children, fine.

But Biden needs to be sensitized and informed—just as I was— to know that it’s just not wise to mix one’s intense and passionate love for their child (who happens to be disabled) with the current hot-button political issue of the day. Not only is his argument flawed, but the two just don’t mix.

Also see a related post by Anita - Passing Up on Down Syndrome

Here is a guest post from community member Kimber Caldwell, from The Politics of Joy.

 [If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women, just join our community, and start posting.]

Not too many days ago, Cynthia and I were discussing Sarah Palin’s right to choose HOW she gave birth to Trigg.

#1… She chose to complete a pregnancy that was probably considered high risk, considering her age, the discovery of Down’s Syndrome in the baby and the fact that this was at least her 5th pregnancy. I have 5 children, but have had 6 pregnancies, one that ended in a miscarriage at 12 weeks. I don’t know many women who haven’t miscarried who have this number of children. It is not unusual.

#2… She chose to travel, despite how far along she was. When her water broke in Texas, she made the choice to fly home and then subsequently drive 50 miles to her chosen hospital or birthing center. Now, I’m not sure about you, but I remember the times when my water broke… As Cynthia pointed out, she would have had to have SEVERAL changes of clothes and a box of chux pads. Not to mention that labor usually intensifies after the water breaks, so I am sure she had the complete attention of the flight crew. But this was HER choice.

At first, I was a little appalled about some of her choices. But then I recalled the choices I made in my pregnancies.

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[cross-posted at BlogHer Health and Wellness]

A new report is out about insurance and health care, and it’s not good. If you think the cost of health care is high now, just wait…It’s going to get even higher. Who would have thought that you could have insurance, and still not be able to afford healthcare? How is that possible? Only in America.

A few weeks ago I posted about the rising cost of prescription drugs, now it’s copays and premiums that will be increasing. Even people who have insurance and prescription drug plans, still can’t afford their medications. I thought insurance was suppose to “insure” we have quality and affordable health care? Not so much.

The United States spends more of its income on health care than any nation on earth, nearly $6,000 per person per year, more than 15 percent of our total income. In contrast, the countries of the European Monetary Union spend about $2,500 per person per year, less than 10 percent of their income.

The United States is very rich and we spend the most in the world on health care. We have a right to expect more for our money than a life expectancy outcome that places us thirtieth in the world, behind Singapore, Chile, and Costa Rica as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and every Western European nation.

Our health care system certainly delivers innovations in pharmaceutical and other technologies. It leads the world in Nobel Prizes for medicine and physiology. But it does not deliver medical care equitably to all Americans. Those who can pay have access to the best health care in the world. Those with good insurance plans—a decreasing fraction of the population—get good, life-extending health care. The rest must make do. And the result is that enough people fall through the cracks to place us at the bottom of the rich country life expectancy tables.

Here is some of what other women bloggers are saying about the rising cost of health care.

From Green LA Girl…

Our health care system’s so fucked up that people are getting married — and considering divorce! — simply due to health insurance issues. In the NY Times: “For today’s couples, “in sickness and in health” may seem less a lover’s troth than an actuarial contract. They marry for better or worse, for richer or poorer, for co-pays and deductibles.”

From MOMocrats…

• Under McCain’s Plan, Health Insurance Benefits Would be Taxed For The First Time, Resulting In A $3.6 Trillion Tax Increase On Working Families. McCain’s health care plan would eliminate the payroll deduction on health care benefits, which would have the effect of raising taxes on working families by $3.6 trillion. [New York Times, 5/1/08]
• The Health Care Tax Credit McCain Offers Would Cover Less Than Half The Cost Of An Average Health Care Plan. The McCain health plan would give families a $5,000 tax credit to purchase health insurance. However, in 2007, the average family health insurance plan cost $12,000 – more than double the value of McCain’s health care tax credit. [“Employer Health Benefits 2007 Annual Survey,” Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/11/07; “‘Call To Action’ On Health Care Reform,” John McCain 2008 press release, 4/29/08; Wall Street Journal, 10/11/07]

From Just Random’s presidential wish list…

Universal Health Care (or at least affordable health care) – Why is the United States the only modernized country with out some form of universal health care? I know an argument could be made for the U.S. having the best health care, but why can’t we have both, come on some one smarter than me make it happen. Every child in this country should have access to health care.

From Christian Liberal’s Weblog…

Whatever the case, it’s surprising that so many self-professed Christians, and especially the evangelical type, are so eager to maul, mangle and manipulate those words, those lessons, so that it comes out as “every man for himself”, which of course is the exact opposite of the meaning and spirit of those teachings.

They’ll use phrases like “self-determination” or “market forces”, but it’s really just code words for “you’re on your own” and “don’t expect any help from me.” Likewise, they will use negative words to describe the concept. It’s been found that a majority of Americans favors universal healthcare, but if you change the language to “socialized medicine” the approval rating drops below 50%. And the greed-oriented apologists are quite expert at word-smithing.

The point is, any good-hearted Christian would not begrudge the care given to a needy neighbor.

Are you having trouble affording health care? Are you hoping if Obama is elected, things might get a little better? Are you worried, that if McCain is elected, things will get worse? Let me know what you think in comments.

Truly, what I love best about conservatives is their highly developed ability to speak out of both sides of their mouths. It’s an impressive talent.

Case in point: Gov. Palin’s pregnant 17 year old daughter. If Joe Biden’s daughter or Hillary Clinton’s daughter suddenly presented an unmarried pregnancy, I know that we would never hear the end of how evil and valueless these adult women are. The nerve of them, fornicating outside the sacred bonds of marriage! Yet another symbol of how Democrats and liberals bring Sodom and Gomorrah right here to our beloved United States, God bless it. Only people with no values would let their children stray into active sexuality. Clearly, they are not fit to lead the good people of this nation! In fact, it is likely God’s wrath for the behavior of these harridans, these wanton sluts that sent Gustav to punish Americans for tolerating this slatternly behavior.

Instead, since it is their sweet evangelical governor/vice presidential candidate whose teen daughter indulged in extramarital sex, we get lectured for not minding our own business. After all, this is a family matter! Who cares if Gov. Palin supports abstinence for the rest of our children until they are married?!?! How dare anyone say anything about it!?!? Plus, as an alternate delegate told the New York Times, “Now she’s a typical American family.”

Boggles the mind. That said, I do feel bad for the kid. It’s got to be pretty awful to have a nation discussing your unintended pregnancy.

Cross-posted at CUSS & Other Rants

 Here is a guest post by community member Deb Della Piana from Turn Left.

[If you would like to be a guest blogger on The Political Voices of Women, just join our community, and start posting.]

Like many others, I consider 17-year-old Bristol Palin’s pregnancy a personal family issue. I can see absolutely no reason to drag a child through the mud of a political campaign. However, there is a story here about whether or not abstinence-only sex education works. In Bristol’s case, it did not. It also has not worked for the children of several other people I know. While the abstinence-only approach is advocated by tunnel-visioned President Bush and the nation’s Christian conservatives, the failure to present a comprehensive sex-education approach to America’s youth is doing them a disservice. There was no need for Bristol to have to grow up sooner than her parents had ever planned, as Sarah Palin put it today.

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