Comments on: Why Women Should Vote For Obama and Biden

By: lola

lola — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:16:46 +0000

Congrats on your article. I commend every and anyone that can see past the negative Right Wing Agenda and race who supports Obama! This movement is not about Obama, or McCain its about this country and its citizens!! While right wingers talk about morality and the right to life, what about the victims of war on both sides, do they have the right to life?? Or the impoverished victims of Katrina? Should they live? The trillions, I repeat trillions of dollars being spent on this war for oil, not WMDs could have better educated all of our children, built the proper levees in New Orleans, provided health insurance, provided health education for the proper birth control to minimize and almost eliminate the need for wholesale abortions, as well as educate and retrain our workforce, and still maintain a healthy US economy. The Republican Administration has almost ruined this country and alienated our allies to boot! Now let’s add McCain and Palin to finish the job, while we spiral in to a depression. The right can hide behind whatever, abortion, she’s a woman, etc, etc, I know what it is. It comes down to race. They don’t want to admit it outright. However, when they get in their safe enviroment, they articulate it very well. They do not have a problem with showing it.The blogs on the right use words to insight violence against him! The hatred through our country has run too deep. It is time for our county to begin the healing from 9/11 instead of this cancerous ulcer we have nursed from the tragedy. This anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, aniti-everything ulcer we have allowed to infect our politics, our plurality and take away our civil liberties is killing us ladies and gentlemen!! Sarah Palin invokes Obama’s middle name, Hussein in her speeches, why, to invoke hatred and fear. That is the reason we are in this war. This war that is costing America more money than we will ever be able to count. While the powers to be tell us anything to get us to agree to the hijacking of America as we have come to love it. We can not and should not let our country continue down the path of no return.

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:20:07 +0000

There are hidden costs to not funding sick pay and health care. I work in the ghetto teaching 4th grade. When my students are sick, they come to school. Why? Because their parents don’t get sick pay. This leaves us all vulnerable. Many times it’s the teacher who gets sick and is then out. $$ my school district pays for a sub. Our school looses money too from the other children who get sick. In addition, those who go to clinics loose up to two days of school. One day waiting for an appointment and the following day when they get the appointment. Many students just go to the emergency room because it’s easier. All of that is tax payer funded. The price for a doctor visit would be much less than that of an ER visit. All I am saying is that while we may see the taxes we would pay for programs that support women and children as new money out. We are actually already paying for it through the back door of neglect.

By: ck

ck — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:38:06 +0000

But you have to ask yourself, what real experience does Obama have either?

By: Deb@Bird On A Wire

Deb@Bird On A Wire — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:18:54 +0000

I have been a victim of Rape, and therefore the issue is close to my heart, however, adoption is still the only viable choice. A pregnant 10 year old would certainly be an anomaly, but should God forbid it happen, I would think that the health of the mother would be prime concern. I cannot and will not speak to speculation. I’m not a hater, but I can tell you, from both sides of the fence, while the choice to carry a child of Rape or incest isn’t the thing I wished for, the life sustained and joy that life brought and brings (to the adoptive parents/family)is a blessing.
Dale, I agree with you on factcheck.org. I simply want people to look at all sides of an issue and not blindly accept what they see/hear/ and take it for gospel.
As to the items you mention again Andi, this is government taking a far too large role in the private enterprise system. Come on now, I live and work in the real world. As an insured worker of a major corporation, I’ve always lost wages for sick time over and above or for personal time over and above. Yes taking care of one’s family, that’s important. Being able to do that is important. Being able to manage/balance family/work is a task that some have issues with. Maybe I’m missing something with all the beleaguered women it seems suddenly. I have a difficult time with statements such as “giving women equal footing”. We do not live in the good old days when mamma wore pearls to cook dinner. The whine is what I’m hearing, and that’s not at all appealing to anyone.

By: Dare

Dare — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:36:04 +0000

Yet again, another great article Andi! I’m glad you’re sticking with posting politics during this crucial time.
Deb-
Your examples are disturbingly lacking. Where yes, choice should be made BEFORE conception, some women (and little girls) don’t have that choice, ie. rape. Palin is against abortion even in the cases of incest and rape. Can you honestly say that if your young daughter was molested by a family member and it’s result was pregnancy you’d want her to have the baby and give it up for adoption? what if that daughter was 10 years old? It happens!!!! You can’t be all or nothing in the case of abortion. I’m republican and pro-life and I realize that. Palin does not.
Another thing to consider, Bush has us over $400 billion in debt. Taxes are going to go up. It doesn’t matter who gets elected and what programs they fund! The difference, Obama will be cutting from programs that aren’t working and from major spenders like IRAQ and McCain/Palin have no interest in “putting a time table” on Iraq. The war budget alone could probably fund the majority of Obama’s programs.
We should all consider looking at both sides more closely, there are misleading reports everywhere. http://www.factcheck.org

By: Andi

Andi — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:22:35 +0000

Deb— Regarding those pay equity numbers… The source you reference refers to numbers from a “news organization,” CNS News, that has a conservative political agenda; it is hardly objective.
Furthermore, these numbers don’t really make any sense. An average is irrelevant. It doesn’t tell you what type of jobs people have. You have to be able to compare apples to apples.
Here is what the Obama website says about Pay Equity:
“Fighting for Pay Equity:
Despite decades of progress, women still make only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. A recent study estimates it will take another 47 years for women to close the wage gap with men at Fortune 500 corporate offices. Barack Obama believes the government needs to take steps to better enforce the Equal Pay Act, fight job discrimination, and improve child care options and family medical leave to give women equal footing in the workplace.
Expanding Paid Medical Leave: Today, three-out-of-four low-wage workers have no paid sick leave. It is fundamentally unfair that a single mom playing by the rules can get fired or lose wages because her child gets sick. Barack Obama supports efforts to guarantee workers seven days of paid sick leave per year, a moderate proposal that should not impose too onerous a burden on employers.”
Can anyone find anything similar on the McCain website?

By: Deb@BirdOnAWire

Deb@BirdOnAWire — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:42:45 +0000

Andy…here are the #’s from a story on http://facethestate.com/articles/obamas-lip-service-gender-pay-equity
The average pay for the 33 men on Obama’s staff was $59,207, while the average pay for the 31 women was $48,729.91.
In contrast..
Of McCain’s non-intern employees, 30 were women and 16 were men. After excluding interns, the average pay for the 30 women on McCain’s staff was $59,104.51. The 16 non-intern males in McCain’s office, by comparison, were paid an average of $56,628.83.”
Where’s the pay equity? I’m just sayin…you gotta look at everything..Don’t just take what you’re hearing at face value

By: DoulaMomma

DoulaMomma — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:28:11 +0000

Thank you for your cogent, measured post on this topic. I could not agree more.
If you are interested in lending you voice to a growing chorus of other women – women of all ages and places – consider checking out http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:23:30 +0000

Deb wrote: “To equal pay for equal work, check the pay rates for Obama’s female staff against McCains. You’ll find Obama’s staff comes up short.”
But this is totally flawed logic and belies a lack of understanding of pay equity. The correct test is whether female Obama staffers are paid equally compared with male Obama staffers. If they are, then there is no pay equity issue. You are comparing SAME GENDER across different employers. By analogy, there is nothing wrong with McDonald’s paying women less than Burger King pays women. There IS something wrong with McDonald’s paying women less than they pay men in the same position.

By: Deb@BirdOnAWire

Deb@BirdOnAWire — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:05:00 +0000

At this juncture there is NOTHING that makes me want to vote for either side. As to a woman’s right to choose. Choice is what you have prior to pregnancy, use birth control. Whether a child lives or dies is NOT a choice that we as women should or do have. Only the good Lord can make a baby, HE is the one who decides whether that child lives or dies. Adoption is the choice we can make after pregnancy.
To equal pay for equal work, check the pay rates for Obama’s female staff against McCains. You’ll find Obama’s staff comes up short. McCains non vote on pay equity indicates to me that he thought the issue too litigious. I think lawyers get enough of my hard earned money already.
You mention several different “funding” projects. How much more money do you want to give your government and how much further into your home and bedroom do you want them. It takes money to fund projects. Think about where that money will come from. Taxes? You betcha.
There’s a lot to consider in this election. I’m glad you’ve made your choice politically. I would hope that you’ve seriously looked at both sides, done the due diligence and not simply gone with the populist.
The comparison of Palin to Obama is nothing short of near sighted. She’s not the opposition, she’s a VP selection of the opposition. Its time to focus clearly on the issues and leave the critiques, and glib slams out of the race.