The Political Voices of Women

This is an interesting question. Are you better off than you were eight years ago? Do you know anyone who is? Just wondering. Let me know in comments.

NOW’s President Kim Gandy on Colbert Report.  It is very funny.

Just in case you missed it. Here is the skit with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin, on Saturday Night Live…

Also see last weeks SNL Palin Clip

Here is a guest post from 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.]

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.

Here is a guest post from Penny Ronning at The NonSilent Majority.

(If you would like to be a guest blogger on this site, please join our community)

U.S. Marshall escorting James Meredith to class at Ole Miss in 1962

I will be watching tonight’s debate knowing just how historical this event truly is.

Oh and gee, glad to know John McCain has decided to show.

Yes, the economy is in the toilet. It has been for sometime, Senator McCain.

But

Tonight’s debate and the INCREDIBLE significance of where the debate is taking place has been YEARS in the making and has come at a very high price for many Americans.

The acknowledgment of their sacrifices and their challenges should not be postponed one minute longer.

Segregation was and is horrendous. Why should any American have to fight, be humiliated or denied their right to receive an education based upon race [gender, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation]?

This is a terrible, terrible, unbelievably horrendous mark in American history.

I applaud those that stood up to an unfair system and created a path for either themselves and/or others to change the status quo.

Tonight is significant and I shall be watching.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/sep/14/new-era-takes-root…

This widget is from VoteGopher…

•An interactive tool that provides users with issues-based coverage of the election in one
location
• Pick among 25 issues central to the election and explore side-by-side comparisons of the candidates
• Watch video breakdowns created by the VoteGopher team
• Begin our MyBallot feature and find your candidate

With all the McCain hoopla over the last two days, you may have missed the Sarah Palin interview…I know I did.  But, this is the woman that could literally be a heartbeat away from the presidency.  You need to see this.  Much of this interview is quite unbelievable.   You can watch the first two clips and see the full Palin interview, or see additional clips of her answers to specific questions.  And, just because we can all use a good laugh…If nothing else, check out the last video clip, it’s really funny.   Don’t forget to let me know what you think in comments.

See Full Palin Interview With Couric - Day One…

See Full Palin Interview With Couric - Day Two…

Read more »

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.]

New York City – On Sunday, September 21, Women for Obama held a press conference on the steps of City Hall. Arriving early, after navigating the security point guarding the government edifice (referred to by one official as “the house of the people”), I had a chance to interview some of those who had been invited to attend.

In contrast to the narrative that has been promulgated about disgruntled Hillary supporters, the women I conversed with had moved on without trauma. Martha Baker, a consultant on work/family issues, was sporting a button that announced, Hillary Supports Obama, So Do I. “He’s our candidate,” she told me. One of the forces behind the Women For Parity website, which began as “Hillary Voices,” she referenced viewing “the campaigns through a women’s issues prism.”

Carol Greenman, a retired medical administrator and Hillary turned Obama advocate said, “I’m scared to death of another Republican administration.” For her, the major questions were the future of the Supreme Court, and how life would be for her five grandchildren in a country that could be shaped by McCain-Palin ideology.

Grandmothers, ranging in age from 62 – 77, were out in force. Worried about the path that faces the younger generation, members of Grandmothers Against the War and the Granny Peace Brigade were quite vocal about their apprehensions.

Diane Dreyfus, a retired architect and activist (Code Pink) since 2001, was wearing a “We Will Not Be Silent” shirt with Arabic, Hebrew, and English writing. Asked about Sarah Palin she shuddered, “She’s frightening. If she can gut a moose in five seconds, imagine what she can do to health and welfare.”

Actress Kathleen Turner, a featured spokesperson, related to me her commitment to the Obama candidacy. She pronounced her mission as, “Whatever I can do.” Chair of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Board of Advocates, Turner has testified before Congress on Title X (family planning program), and on the Equity of Prescription Insurance Contraception Coverage Act.

Behind those charged with addressing press and supporters, was a phalanx of women with a set of diverse signs…Nurses for Obama, Latinos for Obama, Put Children First, and Don’t Vote Race – Don’t Vote Gender – Vote Intelligence.

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 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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Does it seem like the handling of “troopergate” makes Palin appear more guilty or innocent?  Here is Rachel Maddow on The Sarah Palin Record and Troopergate, let me know what you think in comments.