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A few days ago, I posted on my blog, New Wave Grrrl, about the gaps surrounding Sarah Palin’s purported policy priority of addressing the needs of children with disabilities. I questioned the McCain-Palin ticket’s ability to put our money where their mouths have been on the subject of more funding for people with special needs. On October 24th, Palin gave a speech in my home state of Pennsylvania, on just what she and John McCain planned to do in order to better serve children with disabilities.

Although Palin’s speech was heartfelt, and I believe she truly cares about disability issues as a parent and as an aunt of children with developmental disabilities, her speech and the so-called McCain-Palin plan for children with special needs (which comes less than two weeks shy of Election Day) still falls flat, and still lacks any real promise of change in the quality of life for individuals with disabilities.

One glaring reason for this is the complete lack of policies that support people with disabilities beyond childhood. People who live with physical, developmental, cognitive, and multiple disabilities need various levels of care and support services throughout their entire lifetimes, in order to achieve a better quality of life and live fully within their communities. This includes not just vocational services for people with disabilities who can and want to work, but actual Medicaid dollars to fund the programs that provide for independent living in the community and not in State institutions, regardless of the severity of one’s disability.

Palin did mention teens in her speech, within the context of education and transition to adulthood planning, but again, the McCain-Palin approach is fragmented and does not address the current and critical health and human service needs of young people with disabilities. A recent study published earlier this year in the Journal of School Health showed that adolescents in special education programs are more likely to contract Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) than their typically developed peers. In adddition, we know that young people with disabilities are more likely to be victims of sexual abuse and assault. Better sexuality education and health services are needed to address these serious issues, and under a McCain-Palin Administration which would continue to fund harmfully inaccurate Abstinence-Only Education programs in schools, it is unlikely that these issues would ever see the light of day.

Palin also mentioned how lucky she and her family are to have such a strong network of social supports, and acknowledged that others who are surrounded by less family or have fewer resources are less fortunate. Wow! But neither Senator McCain nor Governor Palin have track records of supporting family-friendly work policies that would make it easier for families to put together the kind of support networks that Palin referenced in her speech. Their actions of not supporting family leave, benefits for same-sex partners, or pay parity for men and women strongly suggest that they recognize their privelege of having access to services and family supports, but will do nothing concrete to create the same access for others. How is this a populist message?

Last, although it is not funny, I almost have to chuckle to myself when I hear Palin talk about IDEA and fully funding this law, which gives children with disabilities the right to a free and appropriate education that best meets their needs. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was originally passed with the provision of the federal government eventually funding 40% of the cost for states in order to provide education to children with disabilities. This act also includes a provision for Early Intervention, a voluntary program that provides therapeutic and educational services to infants and toddlers with disabilities. IDEA has never been funded fully, which has thrown the special education and Early Interventions systems within many states into decades of problems while not being able to serve enough children with disabilities. This story includes Palin’s state of Alaska, which has little infrastructure and one of the worst track records of serving children with special needs in-state.

Moreover, not only has John McCain routinely voted against more funding for IDEA during his tenure in the Senate, but he has also vowed to freeze all federal spending indefinitely if he becomes President. This could likely be disasterous for vital federal programs that serve people of all ages with disabilities, including veterans, not to mention for states which count on federal dollars to make their budgets whole and to provide the most basic of services to the most vulnerable people in our society.

The recent McCain-Palin proposal to address the needs of people with disabilities is not only too little too late, but it is derived from a complete lack of policy knowledge and understanding that has haunted their entire campaign.

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Many people, like myself, feel that the way in which a society supports its most vulnerable or disenfranchised citizens is a critical indicator of how healthy that society is, and where it is headed in the future.

The issue of disability policy and the improvements that are necessary to elevate the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities in this country has rarely made it into the mainstream discourse during this election. Unfortunately, this is not surprising as individuals with disabilities are typically excluded from the larger social and political environments, both by actual physical barriers and by traditional social practices in our society which make them invisible.

Although it seemed that we might actually be treated to a serious debate on disability policy issues when Sarah Palin’s name was added to the Republican ticket and she announced that she has a child who was born with Down Syndrome earlier this year, no such rich or meaningful public discussion has resulted. Palin has vowed to make special needs children a priority in a McCain/Palin Whitehouse, however it is not clear how Sarah Palin, or John McCain, would accomplish this. In addition, given the track records of both Palin as Governor and McCain as Senator, it does not appear that the disability policy issues that will be crucial in the 21st Century, such as greater independence, de-institutionalization, community supports, and funding for special education will be represented by this ticket should they win the 2008 Presidential Election.

For example, McCain has repeatedly been unsupportive of fully funding special education for children with disabilities across the nation, and he does not support legislation to help move more people out of state institutions and into communities. Sarah Palin, as noted in a New York Times article in September, has not so far been an advocate of children with special needs in her state, which has one of the highest rates of out-of-state placements of children with disabilities based on Alaska’s inability to provide them with adequate services.

On the other side of the spectrum, Barack Obama released his plan to empower people with disabilities earlier this year, and it is a comprehensive plan that addresses many of the issues facing people, both adults and children, with physical, developmental, and cognitive disabilities, including health care, education, independent living, employment, and a host of other issues. In addition, Barack Obama supports the movement towards requiring that insurance plans cover mental and behavioral health services, which would positively impact people who are dually diagnosed with both disabilities and mental illness.

On November 4th, many who care about the rights and quality of life for people with disabilities will decide, in addition to other factors and issues, which candidate can best serve to support this population and honor their rights and abilities to live full, happy, and productive lives in American society. Hopefully, you will be one of them! Find out more information on where these candidates stand by visiting the links below:

Senator Barack Obama/ Senator Joe Biden:
Website: www.barackobama.com
Plan: Obama-Biden Plan to Empower Americans with Disabilities

Senator John McCain/ Governor Sarah Palin:
Website: www.johnmccain.com
*Plan: Please note that although McCain does address some disability issues for veterans, he does not have a policy plan for people with disabilities.

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“The Time Warner Summit: Politics 2008,” held at the Time Warner headquarters in New York City and co-sponsored with CNN, was a corporate branded event with big name heavy-hitters taking on questions about media, news, and the election. After attending both days of the conference, it reinforced my belief that digital media was the future for pushing out women’s stories, concerns, and dialogues.

There were many prominent women featured. Campbell Brown, CNN Anchor, moderated the opening keynote roundtable comprised of four men. Candy Crowley, senior political correspondent at CNN, spoke during the Media Power vs. Political Power session. One of the most dynamic speakers over the two days was Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent for CNN. Her persona and delivery style popped during the discussion with colleagues that included Wolf Blitzer and Fareed Zakaria and former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke.

Whether you consider women and minorities successfully enmeshed in the total media picture
or their specificity overlooked, depends upon your point of view. But the conference was a definitive contrast to presentation I recently attended at St. John’s University, which totally focused on the intersectionality of race and gender with the election story. There, a majority of the speakers were law professors presenting academic work.

The Time Warner symposium included one panel entitled Women and the 2008 Election: Playing Politics with Gender–Media, Candidates and the Majority Vote. Led by Lisa Witter, Fenton Communications COO and co-founder of SheSource — a “brain trust” of female experts — six women explored women as swing voters and the cultural phenomenon of Sarah Palin’s candidacy. In reference to Michelle Obama, they also discussed whether you could be an outspoken black woman without being described as “angry” by media pundits.

As Witter pointed out while speaking to a full room of women — “Wish there were more you!” she joked to the sprinkling of men — 59 percent of primary voters were women. At the end of the discussion, Carol Jenkins, Women’s Media Center president, posed questions going forward for the media. She called for continued examination of “who is calling the shots, who is making the decisions, and who is missing from the picture.”

With the understanding that women do not getting their narratives adequately told — if told at all — the need for a fresh playing field is palpable. In the new media, women have an opportunity to create their own communities and their own brands. Whether on the left or right of the political spectrum, a mommy blogger or a political blogger, women are flooding the Internet. This was borne out by a BlogHer/Compass Partners survey found 36.2 million women were actively participating in blogs. Of women online, 53 percent were reading blogs, 37 percent were posting comments, and 28 percent were writing or updating blogs.

I contacted Elisa Camahort Page, COO and co-founder of BlogHer, to find out what effect the election has
had on the site. She told me that “an explosion of women were injecting themselves into the political conversation.” Previously on their blog directory, there were under 300 entries devoted to politics/news. There are now 3,000. Camahort Page said that the most active conversations were political, and the top ten search terms included the four names of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. BlogHer created a voter manifesto targeting the topics of health care, the economy, Iraq, and the environment. Michelle Obama was a BlogHer contributor. Like the more than 20,000 who signed a MomsRising letter to Sarah Palin–asking for her policy positions, women and “stay-at-home moms” feel the personal empowerment of being able to engage. “It’s a new world,” Camahort Page concluded.

Certain buzzwords and phrases were cited during the Time Warner conference with regularity, such as “democracy with a small d,” and “grassroots groundswell.” 2008 was dubbed the year of the “first Internet election.” As Jim VandeHei, co-founder of Politico pointed out, “Now, anybody can drive a story.” The founder of the Personal Democracy Forum, Andrew Rasiej, explained that while previous generations people would talk about things “over the back fence or around the water cooler,” individuals are now “moving the message” via the web.

At the panel on The Digital Election: The Activist System and the Political Blogosphere, the relationship between activists and bloggers was parsed. With the social media movement allowing groups of people to “coalesce” around a niche interest or concern to inform and mobilize, the future trend — in respect to flexibility and adaptability — is “granular.” As the shift to more mobile usage continues, activity will be even more intense. The days of a monopolized source of information are over.

Forty years after the advent of the second wave of feminism, a new set of tools are available to women. If embraced and set in motion, it could play an important role in irrevocably altering the glass ceiling that picked up 18 million cracks during the primary season.

Originally posted at The Women’s Media Center website

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Majority of Americans Don’t Want a Bailout and Are Willing to Suffer the Consequences!

Estimates reveal that the proposed $700 billion bailout plan will cost $2,333 for each person in America. For my family that means $13,998. Hec, I’ve got my own debt to pay down.

As it turns out, I’m not alone. Many Americans (about 1/3) are not inclined to support this bailout. Another third will consider voting for the bill only if it’s done right—and I fully understand.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and President Bush assert that if we don’t approve the bailout, and I paraphrase, “all hell will break loose.” And if it does? …

What I and most Americans want to know is whether this plan will serve as a temporary bandaid that just postpones the inevitable, or will it incorporate systemic policy changes that will help prevent a similar crisis in the future?

No New Crisis
Truthfully, many of us in America are pretty fed up and are willing to just let the whole thing burn. Most of us have already been burned. Middle and working class American families have been in a crisis for a while. Between rising gas, food and energy prices, depreciating housing values, layoffs and few raises to offset the cost of living increases, ordinary Americans have been looking for our own bailout plan, and it just doesn’t exist.

Now, the treasury and the President wants each American to dig a little deeper into our own bleak pockets and cough up $2,333 per person to rescue Wall Street—effectively increasing our record high national debt by almost an additional trillion dollars.

Treasury Secretary, I’m sorry to inform you, but we cannot afford a bailout of this magnitude. We simply don’t have it. There has to be another way. Keep thinking…

Debtor Nation
Increasing our current $10 trillion debt by another $700 billion just cannot be sound financial policy. Is it fair that a few folks on Wall Street could so detrimentally impact the masses? No. Should someone be held accountable? Sure, but the bottom line is, if we Americans are willing to take our chances and decide we aren’t willing to bailout Wall Street, then let it be our decision—you know, “we the people?…”

But what if Wall Street crumbles? Well, we’ll just have to take it and make some good ol’ American apple crumble. Americans know how to bounce back. We always do. If our paper house burns down. Little-by-little, we’ll just build it back up again. That’s old-school. That’s the American way. There simply are no short fixes and get-right-quick schemes when it comes to finances.

Sorry, King Paulson.

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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.

The website has excerpts from Ann Crittenden’s book The Price of Motherhood.  Included is the quote, “…having a baby is the worse financial decision a woman can make.”

On social security Crittenden writes,”[Women] earn a zero for every year they spend caring for family members. This means that motherhood is the single biggest risk factor for poverty in old age.”

With a present membership of 160,000, MomsRising has the muscle to request Palin to clarify her positions. They want to know where she stands on “healthcare, fair pay, paid family and medical leave, early learning, paid sick days, and flex-work options.

I interviewed Joan Blades by telephone to get her reaction to Palin — who actively references her role as a mother. “We haven’t heard her agenda yet,” Blades told me. “The focus needsnot to be on [her] personal family issues, but what she would do as Vice President.”

Blades spoke passionately about the “40,000 children in kindergarten who are home alone after school,” and “the heart-wrenching” e-mail correspondence that she receives. Manywrite her to discuss the conflicting choices they are forced to face, often between “feeding their children or taking care of them.” Blades emphasized, “We’ve got to get to the issues, so that all women have the supports that they need.  We need to make it possible for people to choose work.”

For Blades the question is, “Where are they [Republicans] leading?” She is concerned with “substance, not just form.” In December of 2007, MomsRising was part of a consortium that reached out to all the candidates running in the primaries, with a survey soliciting their positions on “family friendly policy.” Every Democratic contender responded. There was no follow-up from the Republicans.

With Palin not yet weighing in on specifics, if McCain’s past record sets the tone for his potential administration, the future is dismal. In late spring, McCain (although not present for the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act vote) suggested that the legislation wasn’t necessary because women needed more “education and training.” Blades qualified that point of view as “just outrageous.”

Perhaps that is one of the reasons MomsRising has mobilized MomsVote’08. Their set task is to ensure that the country’s 80 million mothers are registered, vote, and get involved. Using the slogan “Use your outside voice!” (a tag line any mother would love), they have aligned with ninety other organizations on this endeavor.

Motherhood has always been used to invoke visceral reactions to a wide range of agendas. With Palin presenting herself as a “pit-bull” on the case, MomsRising is making it their job to find out what she supports, and if she is all bark and no bite.

MomsRising can be found at http://www.momsrising.org

Also See:

Women Respond To Palin – Part 1

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One of the many blatant hypocrisies that has stood out for me during this election is the fact that Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin supporters, who are so quick to cry sexism, remain silent when seemingly sexist connotations are assigned to Michelle Obama.

Most recently, Bill O’Reilly stated, “Now, I have a lot of people who call me on the radio and say she looks angry. And I have to say there’s some validity to that. She looks like an angry woman.” I wouldn’t be surprised that if such a description was attributed to Clinton or Palin, supporters would assert that there’s a double standard that women who are smart, serious and professional are considered “angry.” Not to mention that such a statement seems completely untrue. At most appearances, Michelle is either smiling or serious – and certainly does not come off as an “angry woman.” What’s more, the Fox News’ characterization of Michelle Obama as “Obama Baby Mama” in June was also met with radio silence from the feminist community. But why?

Could it be that the intersection of race and gender just gets too hairy and so the battle is best left alone? The “Obama Baby Mama” comment is soaked in both sexist and racist connotations and perhaps many supporters of Clinton and Palin would rather avoid a subject where racism plays a role. It is clear that some republicans are trying to associate Michelle with pejorative images that are specific to African-American females. They would like to perpetuate the image of the “angry black woman” to instill hatred and fear in small-minded people – much like Ronald Reagan tried to do with the image of the “welfare queen” during his presidential campaign.

Or are we dealing with that aged-old taboo question from the Suffragist Movement that Women’s Rights has always been an exclusively white middle class woman phenomenon and black women are rarely invited to the dinner table? Such a question reemerged during the primary election, when Geraldine Ferraro asserted that; “Gender is the most restricting force in American life.” It is a zero-sum game to try to quantify sexism, racism or any other “ism” for that matter, but many women of color shuttered when they heard this comment. It brought back the fears that women of color and black women in particular have always been on the sidelines when it comes to fighting for equal rights for women and that they are virtually ignored when sexist comments are hurled their way.

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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.

After a C-section, I chose to homebirth my second child. She was a PERFECT VBAC. When I found myself pregnant with child #3 in a state that was hostile to homebirthing, I chose to fly home at around 8 months to finish my pregnancy and deliver at home. With child #4 and #5, again, I chose to homebirth. My water broke almost 2.5 weeks early with #5, but I chose to follow through on my initial decision. The supposed safe period after the water breaking is 48 hours… (that is in a stable environment and flying on a plane is NOT a stable environment!) Although we were right up to 44 hours, I continued to make the decision that I would birth this baby at home… and I did and all ended well.

Now, I do not say any of this to encourage homebirth as an option. It was our decision and we were comfortable with it and it worked well for us. I made a lot of choices that my friends and family were not always comfortable with. Just as some of Sarah’s choices may not have been the wisest, they were HER choices to make!

For me, pro-choice is not about making abortion easier or more prevalent. There has been a steady decline in abortions, which I think is fabulous. But the extremism of pro-life is that you do not have any right to make decisions. I would NOT want to make the decision of whether to keep a baby that was conceived by rape. But I also do not want a court to tell me what I have to do! And I would not go through a pregnancy (such as an ectopic pregnancy) where the best thing I could hope for is to lose my reproductive organs and the pregnancy, and the worst being I would DIE and leave my husband a widower and my 5 living children motherless!

I want to send you to Huffington. Lynn Paltrow has written an amazing “Open Letter to Governor Sarah … and I could not agree with her more heartily!! (HT: Cynthia)

Pundit Mom On Fox Talking About Oprah/Palin Controversy…

Way to go Joanne!

This is the thing…Blogging about politics is very stressful.   And, we all know what stress can do to our health.

Do you blog about politics?  Is politics making you stressed?  Is your blood pressure running a bit high?  Are you getting more headaches than usual?  Are you losing sleep because you’re blogging to all hours of the night?  Does the release of poll numbers give you heart palpitations?  Do you ever get the urge to lock yourself in a dark room and not come out until after the election?  If you have answered yes to any of these questions, you may be suffering from Political Blogger Stress Syndrome (or PBSS).

There is no medicine or treatment for PBSS [Although, give the pharmaceutical companies some time, I'm sure they will come up with something...expensive], and many sufferers don’t even realize they have it.  So.  What can we do to combat the symptoms of PBSS?

I think the only hope for sufferers of this insidious condition, is a good survival guide.  Trouble is, I looked, and there doesn’t seem to be one of those.

Bummer.

Now what are we going to do?

If there is any chance of surviving this political season, and combatting the symptoms of PBSS, we need a survival guide, and we need one NOW.  That’s why I need your help…Together, we can write our own Political Blogger Survival Guide.  What do you think?  Can you help?  How about, I get us started?

Here we go…

1.  I’ve already talked about how the movie “Mamma Mia” can help reduce stress.   For maximum effectiveness, go to the new sing-a-long version.

2.  Watch something other than the 24 hour news stations for at least an hour or so each day.   I know a lot of people that love Project Runway.  And, how can you not love Dancing with the Stars?

3.  Tear yourself away from your computer, and go for a drive.  Pop your favorite CD in, and start singing at the top of your lungs.

4.  Turn the t.v. off and have some quite time.  Maybe try yoga.

5.  Take some time to read a book.  Recently, I had an opportunity to participate in a conference call, with the author of Enlightenment for Idiots.  If I can practice what I preach long enough, I would love to read this book.

6.   Get enough sleep.  I am the perfect example of how not to get enough sleep.  It’s after 3am, and I am still up writing this post, with CNN on.  So, for optimal stress relief, get enough sleep…Do as I say, not as I do.

7.  When possible…Go to the beach, close your eyes, and listen to the waves hit the shore for a few minutes.

8.  My mom said, walking in the rain helped her?

OK.  That’s eight.  And eight is clearly not enough for a survival guide.  So, I really need your help here.

Seriously, I need this survival guide more than anyone else.  Let’s put it this way…I should be the poster child for PBSS (I’ve got it bad).

I know you really want to help, and here is how you can.  Let me know in comments, any suggestions you have for reducing stress, and combating the effects of PBSS.  Maybe, if all goes well, I’ll make it to November without needing to be fitted for a straight-jacket.

Contributing Editor Catherine Morgan
at Catherine-Morgan.com, The Political Voices of Women, Care2 Election

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