Cynthia McKinney Will Be Green Party Presidential Candidate

Cynthia McKinney will be Green Party Presidential Candidate

7/14/2008 – Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney was nominated by the Green Party to be its presidential candidate at the party’s convention in Chicago on Saturday. McKinney represented Dekalb County, Georgia’s 4th district, for six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat.

Journalist, activist and community organizer Rosa Clemente will be McKinney’s running mate. Clemente has remarked that “Cynthia McKinney is a hero to me and many others across this country and around the world for her courage in standing up to George Bush while the Democratic Party establishment caved.” McKinney is known for initiating legislation to impeach Bush during her last days in Congress.

Media Resources: rosaclemente.com; runcynthiarun.org; greensforgreens.org; Associated Press 12/8/06

Obama Reaches Out To Women With Economic Plan

Obama Reaches Out to Women with Economic Plan
July 11, 2008

Sen Barack Obama focused on women yesterday and unleashed his economic plan for women. In New York, he attended a breakfast for women with Sen. Hillary Clinton before speaking at a town hall meeting in Fairfax County, VA.

Obama’s economic plan for women includes increasing the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour by 2011, giving 8.4 million women a raise of up to $4,700 a year. He also proposes to increase retirement saving options for 45 million women by providing a new automatic workplace pension and a $500 matching tax credit for their savings.

Obama’s plan supports closing the gender wage gap. He voted in favor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007, which is currently stalled in the Senate following a Republican filibuster in April. If passed, this bill would correct the US Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire Rubber Co., Inc. that guted the ability of women workers to sue for wage discrimination..

“We won’t truly have an economy that puts the needs of the middle class first until we ensure that, when it comes to pay and benefits at work, women are treated as the equal partners that they are,” said Obama, according to the Washington Post.

The presumptive Republican nominee, Sen. John McCain, did not cast a vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, but said, according to the Associated Press, he “thinks the Supreme Court got it right,” and “this kind of legislation … opens up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems.”

Media Resources: Associated Press 7/11/2008; Washington Post 7/10/2008, Feminist Daily News Wire 4/24/2008; Report: The Impact of the Obama Economic Plan for America’s Working Women

Unable To ‘Express’ Any ‘Straight Talk,’ McCain Stumbles Over Viagra, Birth Control Question

The following news story was taken from here.

Unable to ‘Express’ Any ‘Straight Talk,’ McCain Stumbles Over Viagra, Birth Control Question

Thursday July 10, 2008
John McCain’s Straight Talk Express stalled yesterday when a reporter asked him about insurance companies that cover Viagra but not birth control. The Republican presidential candidate refused to give a straight answer. The exchange, which happened aboard McCain’s famously-named campaign bus, can be seen at MSNBC.com.

Also on that bus – according to the Associated Press – was Carly Fiorina, a McCain supporter and trusted female advisor, sitting just a few seats away:

The former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, discussing consumer-driven health insurance, mentioned something “I’ve been hearing a lot about from women: There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth-control medication. Those women would like a choice.”

Women voters have another choice, and it’s spelled O-B-A-M-A.
Time for McCain to go back to the books and learn the alternate meanings of the word ‘express.’ Because he’s not doing a very good job of expressing himself, or impressing those of us who believe that BC (birth control) is as important an issue as ED (erectile dysfunction). If he doesn’t follow up with any real straight talk on his position, as far as we’re concerned he and his bus are on the road to nowhere.

The Legacy Of Hillary’s Run So Far

The story below was taken from here.

The Legacy of Hillary’s Run So Far

6/4/2008 – As the Democratic Presidential primaries end, Senator Hillary Clinton’s (D-NY) historic presidential run has established a strong legacy for women in politics. Senator Obama (D-IL) obtained enough delegates following Tuesday’s primaries in South Dakota and Montana to clinch the Democratic nomination, but Senator Clinton may still go into the convention with hundreds of delegates and remains a major player in the Democratic Party and the Senate. She drew women to the polls in huge majorities.

Her run also exposed sexism and misogyny in the political media. By holding commentators like Chris Matthews and David Shuster accountable for their remarks, the Senator Clinton’s campaign, along with many feminist leaders, rallied women to take a stand against sexist coverage of the election.

The impact Senator Clinton’s run extends beyond politics, showing “more women and girls that anything is possible, and that they can shoot for whatever they like, including the presidency,” Toby Graff, a spokesperson for Lifetime Television, a women’s cable station that is co-sponsoring a project to increase female political participation told Women’s eNews.

“The true legacy of Senator Clinton’s run is the number of women she has inspired to run for office. She has cracked the marble ceiling of politics,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority.

Media Resources: Women’s eNews 6/4/08; Feminist Majority; Feminist Daily Newswire