Bush casts his policies as female-friendly

[RedEarth]

BANGOR, Maine -- President George W. Bush swept into Maine for an hour yesterday, visiting a state that hasn't voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988 but whose unusual voting system could make it more important this year.

Just hours after he appeared at the White House with Iyad Allawi, the Iraqi prime minister, Bush shed his dark suit, red tie and formal diction for rolled-up shirtsleeves and a folksy demeanor in front of 8,000 people standing on cracked asphalt between hangars at the Bangor airport.

On a day when challenger John Kerry once again attacked his actions in Iraq, Bush, sticking largely to his stump speech, took delight in mentioning Maine's 4.5 percent unemployment rate - 0.9 percent below the national average - in touting what he called economic progress. "This economy is strong, it's getting stronger and we're not going to turn back," Bush told the cheering crowd as it waved placards.

As polls have shown Bush running strongly with women, who in recent elections have leaned toward Democratic presidential candidates, Bush cast his policies as female-friendly. "A lot of women are hurting," Bush said, trying to rally support for tort reform that he said would help physicians, particularly obstetricians and gynecologists, "who are quitting" because of mounting legal costs.

The spin seemed likely to resonate in Maine, one of two states that has elected women to both its Senate seats; the other is California.



http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/ny-uscamp243982851sep24,0,2037590,print.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

[daa]

1. War's good business

invest your son!

[Zorra]

27. Yes. Every good mom wants her child to come home in a COFFIN.

And every good woman wants republican white males to tell them what they can and can't do with their body.

Bu$h policies are about as female friendly as the Salem witch trials.

[Ilsa]

2. Ladies, we are going to help you by not allowing you to sue

if your doctor has permanaently injured you.

We are also going to be the ones deciding whether you should continue a pregnancy so you won't have to be bothered with that pesky decision.

[trogdor]

15. Thank you!

Finally, someone agrees with me. We need to cast this as, "Bush wants to protect bad doctors by limiting your right to sue." John Edwards, who used to sue a lot of bad doctors, needs to hit this note LOUDLY.

[tom_paine]

3. Hitler casts his policies as Jew-friendly

There is somethign especially grotesque about these Bushevik Monsters doig all this pretending.

Some part of me just wishes they would just start the Final Phase of whatever they have planned already.

Unfortunately, if they wish to succeed like Caeser & Hitler (or better) they will have to proceed in slow stages as they did.

[truthisfreedom]

4. enjoy it, w! let her kiss you! go ahead! be straight for once in your

quitting, losing, frightened life!

[tigereye]

5. Christ how stupid does he think we are!

grrrrr. I need to find one of those fact sheets about his poor record on women's issues... to give to some of my son's teachers. My son tells me a few of his teachers may be thinking about voting for *.

[CBHagman]

23. Tell those teachers about the upcoming domestic budget cuts.

From what I've been reading, the Treasury's bleeding and we can expect deep cuts in domestic programs in the next year, including in -- why, look at this -- education.

We do spend literally billions of dollars on Iraq each month, as well as the lives of scores of people, but hey, a CEO will get his $300 million tax cut on dividends, so everything's peachy. That $300 million is what the U.S. would pay for three missile defense tests.

Tell those teachers about the cuts to literacy programs, Head Start, after-school programs, housing vouchers. Tell them that the administration refuses to implement a safety plan for rail cargo (including tankers of poisonous substances) because the corporations don't want to spend the money. Tell them that and ask them how safe they feel.

[CarolynEC]

6. "Shed his formal diction" ? Ah-hahahahahahaha!!! (eom)

[luaneryder]

10. LOL! What "formal' diction?

So, he thinks women must be talked down to in order for them to understand the complexities he is trying to convey. Good gawd, does this no tell women everywhere that he thinks of them as a man's toy and only good for spitting out babies as needed for campaign purposes? Any woman who votes for that idiot needs counseling.

[LisaLynne]

12. Right on.

I'm trying to for a coherent thought about this, but it's just so obvious that what else can be said? They think women need to be talked down to, that we all need to be protected and know it, ... ugh. It's infuriating! Crazy!!

[smirkymonkey]

7. PUKE!

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

Anybody who believes that is a MORAN!

[goforit]

21. Double PUKE!!!!

:puke:

[Iceburg]

8. We ain't bitin' that "bush al lure"

[FloridaPat]

9. The repubs hate women's rights. They do everything they can

to get rid of them. They're trying to get rid of abortion and contreception pills or anything that stop someone from getting pregnant. Then there's the job issue - all the high paying jobs are going overseas. The republs want women barefoot and pregnant. Is there something in the water in this country that makes these people respectable? I don't get it.

I did hear that because * is so strong on the "fight" against terrorism, the ladies are feeling more secure under him. I wonder how secure these same ladies will feel when their children are dragged off to Iraq in an army uniform to die for oil.

What is with the people in this country?

[CornField]

11. W = Weak on Women

George W. Bush: Weak on Women

George W. Bush's campaign website claims that "W" stands for Women. When Bush took office in 2001 he dissolved the White House Women's Office, created by President Bill Clinton, which worked towards positive changes for women and girls around the world. Since the closing of the Office, President Bush continues to rapidly weaken women’s rights. President Bush is...(1)

Weak on Workplace Equality
Ignored the Pay Gap

The Bush Administration ended The Equal Pay Initiative and removed fact sheets about equal pay for women workers from federal government web sites. The average woman in America today earns just 77 cents for every dollar earned by the average man. African American women earn only 66 cents on the dollar and Hispanic women earn only 54 cents. His FY 2002 budget slashed funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which enforces federal laws against discrimination and upholds equal pay. (2)

Refused to Raise the Minimum Wage

Nearly 7 million working women would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. George Bush opposed increasing the federal minimum wage to $6.65 and supported measures which would allow states to opt out of any increase.(3)

Disregarded Job Discrimination

The Department of Justice abandoned prosecution of pending sexual discrimination lawsuits without notifying the plaintiffs or offering a reason.(4)

Weak On Support for Women and their Families

Cut Children Served by Child Care and Development Block Grant

The Child Care and Development Block Grant is used to improve the quality of childcare and assist low and moderate income families who can’t afford childcare. The Bush Administration’s proposed fiscal year 2005 budget will eliminate child care assistance for 365,000 children by 2009. (5)

Failed to Support Proven Child Assistance Programs

Although Head Start and after school programs have a proven track record the Bush Administration‘s budget includes minimal increases for Head Start and tried to cut the funding for 500,000 children in after-school programs in the fiscal year 2004 budget.(6)

Starved Important Programs to Cut Taxes for the Wealthy

The Bush Administration’s tax cuts for the wealthy came with deep budget cuts to services that women rely on such as: child care and services for domestic violence victims. (7)

Weak On Our Financial Security

The Administration’s plans to privatize Social Security would hit older women especially hard, because money would be siphoned out of the system reducing the benefits and replacing it with private investments that are risky and unlikely to make up the difference. In addition, the Administration is proposing elimination of a modest Savers Credit that gives an additional tax credit to low- and moderate- income individuals and families who contribute to a retirement account.(8)


Weak On Our Healthcare

Women and their families are losing access to health insurance -- in 2002, 43.6 million Americans were uninsured -- and health care costs continue to skyrocket. The latest Bush budget freezes funding for the Maternal and Child Health Block grant, cutting access to vital services such as screenings for newborns and parental care.(9)


Weak On Violence Against Women
President Bush slashed the Violence Against Women Program in his FY 2004 budget, reducing funding for emergency shelters, crisis hotlines and other desperately needed services to protect women from violence. In its FY 2005 budget, the Bush Administration proposes to cut $3 million from grants to states to improve stalker databases, encourage arrests, reduce violent crimes against women on campus, and enhance protections for older and disabled women from domestic violence and sexual assault. Bush asked Independent Women's Forum (IWF) President Nancy Pfotenhauer to join the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women. Pfotenhauer's organization claims that "the battered women's movement has outlived its useful beginnings," despite studies showing that one in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.(10)

Weak On Opportunities

Opposed Affirmative Action

The Bush Administration filed a brief opposing the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy. Affirmative Action programs have dramatically increased opportunities for women and people of color.(11)

Undermined Title IX

Since its implementation in 1972, Title IX dramatically increased athletic opportunities for women and girls by outlawing gender discrimination. In June, 2002, the Department of Education formed a commission which then offered a series of recommendations to weaken regulations of Title IX. If the Bush Administration had had their way, 30 years of progress for women's athletics would have been dealt a potentially fatal blow.(12)

Weak On Reproductive Rights

In 2003, in an editorial titled "The War Against Women" the New York Times said of Bush, "The lengthening string of anti-choice executive orders, regulations, legal briefs, legislative maneuvers, and key appointments emanating from his administration suggests that undermining the reproductive freedom essential to women's health, privacy and equality is a major preoccupation of his administration - second only, perhaps, to the war on terrorism."(13)

Underfunded UNFPA

George Bush withheld $34 million in funds to the United Nations Population Fund in 2002. This came at the expense of women around the world who rely on UNFPA for services that reduce unintended pregnancies, abortions, and maternal deaths; promote safe pregnancy and delivery; and assist families with disease prevention, nutrition, and emergency aid. According to the UNFPA, the U.S.’s $34 million contribution would have been enough to prevent up to 800,000 induced abortions.(14)

Reinstated Global Gag Rule

On his first day in office, Bush reinstated the Global Gag Rule, eliminating U.S. funding to international family planning organizations that offer abortion counseling or services with their own private funds. Especially hurt are smaller towns and villages with fewer choices for care.(15)

Appointed Destructive Officials

President Bush appointed W. David Hager to the Food and Drug Administration's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Hager has a history of refusing to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women and has recommended scripture reading as a treatment for premenstrual syndrome. In the past, Hager worked with the Christian Medical Association on a petition asking the FDA to override the ruling that approved RU-486, and he has written that it is "'dangerous' to compartmentalize life into 'categories of Christian truth and secular truth'."(16)

Nominated Right-Wing Judges

The Bush Administration is attempting to pack the federal bench with right wing ideologues. Not a single President Bush Federal Appeals Court nominee is on record supporting Roe v. Wade. One of Bush's nominees, Alabama Attorney General William Pryor said in 1997 that Roe v. Wade was "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history."(17)

Changed the Definition of Life

Bush's Department of Health and Human Services redefined fetuses as children under the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The rule explicitly includes the period from conception to birth as part of childhood.(18)

Compared Abortion to Terrorism

Bush declared January 20, 2002, just two days before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, "National Sanctity of Human Life Day" The proclamation stated: "On September 11, we saw clearly that evil exists in this world, and that it does not value life ... Now we are engaged in a fight against evil and tyranny to preserve and protect life."(19)



Source 1: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 2: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p60-221.pdf; “Women’s pay lags men’s in law, sales, journalism,” Reuters, 12/9/03 (reporting the results of a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Female Executives); General Accounting Office Report to Congressional Requesters, Women’s Earnings: Work Patterns Partially Explain Differences Between Men’s and Women’s Earnings, at 64, Oct. 2003, available at http://www.house.gov/dingell/documents/pdfs/womens_report03.pdf; General Accounting Office Testimony before the Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management, and Intergovernmental Relations, House of Representatives, Women in Management: Analysis of Selected Data from the Current Population Survey, at 18-19, Oct. 2001, available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02648t.pdf; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.nwlc.org/details.cfm?id=1845§ion=newsroom; U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2003 Annual Social and Economic Supplement, Table PINC-or. Work Experience in 2002 – People 15 Years Old and Over by Total Money Earnings in 2002, Age Race, Hispanic Origin, and Sex, See: http://ferret.bls.census.gov/macro/032003/perinc/new05_114.htm, http://ferret.bls.census.gov/macro/032003/perinc/new05_057.htm, http://ferret.bls.census.gov/macro/032003/perinc/new05_117.htm.>

Source 3:

Source 4: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 5: http://www.house.gove/budgets_democrats http://www.house.gov/budget_democrats; CBPP, 2/5/04, http://www.cbpp.org; Children’s Defense Fund, 2/6/04, Fiscal Year 2005 Budget Analysis, http://www.childrensdefense.org heep://www.childrensdefense.org [Sources: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Budget in Brief FY 2005 (2004); cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 6: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/child/ppl-168.html; Estimates from the Afterschool Alliance, Feb. 2004 (on file with the National Women’s Law Center); cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 7: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> : http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> : http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/browse.html; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/browse.html; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf [Sources: See, e.g., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, “Strengthening Families Through Healthy Marriage,” 2003, available at http://www.loga.org/familiesmarriage.htm; NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, “Why NOW Legal Defense Opposes Federal Marriage Promotion in TANF Reauthorization,” 2003, available at http://www.nowldef.org/html/issues/wel/MarriageBackgrounder.pdf; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/browse.html; Sharmila Lawrence, Resarch Forum on Children, Families, and the New Federalism, Domestic Violence and Welfare Policy: Research Findings that Can Inform Policies on Marriage and Child Well-Being, Dec. 2002. See also National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence, Homelessness, and the Need for Housing, Feb. 2003; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 8: Source: “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf]

Source 9: http://www.census.gov, Health Affairs, Jan/Feb. 2004> http://democraticleader.house.gov/FS/HealthCare.htm>

Source 10: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/browse.html; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/browse.html; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf [Sources: See, e.g., Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, “Strengthening Families Through Healthy Marriage,” 2003, available at http://www.loga.org/familiesmarriage.htm; NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, “Why NOW Legal Defense Opposes Federal Marriage Promotion in TANF Reauthorization,” 2003, available at http://www.nowldef.org/html/issues/wel/MarriageBackgrounder.pdf; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf> http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy05/browse.html; Sharmila Lawrence, Resarch Forum on Children, Families, and the New Federalism, Domestic Violence and Welfare Policy: Research Findings that Can Inform Policies on Marriage and Child Well-Being, Dec. 2002. See also National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Domestic Violence, Homelessness, and the Need for Housing, Feb. 2003; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 11: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 12: http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/athletics/charter.html; Julie Foudy & Donna de Varona, Minority Views on the Report of the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, at iii, Feb. 2003; id. at 18-20, available at http://www.nwlc.org; U.S. Dept. of Educ., Office for Civil Rights, Further Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Guidance, July 11, 2003, available at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/title9guidanceFinal.html; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 13:

Source 14: http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=146&Language=1; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 15: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/01/20010123-5.html; Memorandum of President George W. Bush for the Secretary of State, Aug. 29, 2003, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/08/20030829-3.html; The Global Gag Rule Impact Project, Access Denied: U.S. Restrictions on International Family Planning, Sept. 2003, available at http://64.224.182.238/globalgagrule/pdfs/executive_summary/GGR_exec_summary.pdf; The Global Gag Rule Impact Project, Access Denied: The Global Gag Rule and Contraceptive Supplies, available at http://64.224.182.238/globalgagrule/pdfs/issue_factsheets/GGR_fact_contraceptive.pdf; “Swaziland records world’s highest HIV/AIDS prevalence, U.N. Envoy says,” Kaiser Network Daily HIV/AIDS Report, March 22, 2004, available at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=22788; cited in “Slip-Sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard-Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,” National Women’s Law Center, http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 16: Union of Concerned Scientists, http://www.ucsusa.org

Source 17: http://www.naral.org/facts/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=5954>

Source 18: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf>

Source 19:

[LisaLynne]

13. You are a beautiful person, Cornfield.

Thanks for posting that. :)

[CarolynEC]

16. Wow! Can you make this into its own thread?

I'll definitely nominate it for the homepage!

:)

[CornField]

17. Sure, I'll put it in GD (nt)

[CarolynEC]

18. Excellent! I just nominated it!

This should be required reading for ALL women... AND for men who care about the well-being of women.

Thanks! :)

Edited to add: Here's the link to the separate thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2408073

[RubyDuby in GA]

14. What a load of crap

And any woman who even remotely considers the option of voting for this Moran deserves what she gets. It's just a shame that the rest of us sane women would have to suffer for their complete stupidity.

And yes, poor Dubya, it's a shame that he can't get his tort reform that would help more ob-gyn's practice their "love" with women. What an unbelievable dumbass.

[jpgray]

19. He also casts his policy as blue collar working-class friendly

It don't make it so.

[noamnety]

20. Examples of Bush supporting women

Appointments by Bush:

Judge, Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Jeffrey Sutton, has argued that unnecessarily keeping people with disabilities in institutions was not a form of discrimination. Argued that Medicaid beneficiaries cannot sue to enforce their rights. Persuaded the Supreme Court to rule against a nurse with breast cancer on the ground that the Americans With Disabilities Act does not apply to state employers.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas
J. Leon Holmes. Holmes has said that concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami. In an article he co-authored with his wife, he said a wife has an obligation "to subordinate herself to her husband" and "to place herself under the authority of the man."

Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit
D. Brooks Smith. At his hearing, senators questioned a speech he gave as a sitting judge in which he strongly criticized Congress's passage of the Violence Against Women Act.

U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit
David W. McKeague (failed nominee), Denied DOJ access to a state prison after receiving numerous reports of abuse of women prisoners by guards, including systemic rape. Ruled against a parent whose 10 year old child was placed in foster care sharing a bedroom with a sixteen-year old with a history of sexually deviant behavior and assaults, who repeatedly sexually assaulted him. Claimed the state was not liable for failing to properly provide the child with the protective services to which he was entitled under state law.

Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit
Terrence William Boyle. Dismissed a case in which people eligible for handicapped parking privileges sued their state on the grounds that the state was charging excessive fees for parking in violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Found that state prisons were not covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") and dismissed a suit by an inmate claiming an ADA violation. Held that North Carolina officials could not be held liable for violating the Due Process clause of the U.S. Constitution. Refused to accept a settlement, agreed to by both parties, of a civil rights claim brought by the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) against the North Carolina Department of Corrections for discriminating against women.

Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit
William H. Pryor, Jr. (recess appointment). Under Pryor's leadership, Alabama was the only state to challenge the constitutionality of a provision of the Violence Against Women Act (United States v. Morrison). Pryor also argued that the Supreme Court should cut back on the protections of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Clean Water Act. Defended the actions of the prison officials who chained prisoners to hitching posts and denied access to water and the bathroom.

[aquart]

22. Ignore us for four years then win on a photo op?

Like hell.

[rocktivity]

24. Listen up, ladies

A vote for Bush two thousand four
Drafts your kids into his war.

:headbang:
rocknation

[kurtyboy]

25. Newsday=dumbasses

<snip>
The spin seemed likely to resonate in Maine, one of two states that has elected women to both its Senate seats; the other is California.

Excuse me, but out here in Washington state, Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell both seem to be women as well....

Nice editing, Newsday.

Edit: Bush is trailing here by about 8 or 9 points. Senator Murray leads challenger (and dickwad) George Nethercutt by double-digits.

[rocktivity]

26. PUFF PIECE ALERT!!!

BORG JOURNALISM--RESISTANCE TO BUSH IS FUTILE!

We've gone from Operation Kill Shot (an attempt to demoralize Kerry supporters with phony poll numbers) to Operation Femme Meme--suggesting that Kerry isn't man enough to protect American from white women-starved terrorists. Here's an Associated Press story in a similiar vein.

:puffpiece:
rocknation

[MaineDem]

28. 52% of Maine women are voting for Kerry

According to the latest ARG poll.

George and his "women-friendly" policies can kiss this Maine woman's ass!!!

[trueblew]

29. Just like how people are buying prescriptions from Canada...

...if Bush wins, women will have to go to Canada to have an abortion.
And more of this...

America Here's My Boy

There’s a million mothers knocking at the nations door,
A million mothers, yes and there’ll be millions more,
And while within each mother heart they pray,
Just hark what one brave mother has to say.

There’s a million mothers waiting by the fireside bright,
A million mothers, waiting for the call tonight.
And while within each heart there’ll be a tear,
She’ll watch her boy go marching with a cheer.

America, I raised a boy for you.
America, You’ll find him staunch and true,
Place a gun upon his shoulder,
He is ready to die or do.
America, he is my only one; My hope, my pride and joy,
But if I had another, he would march beside his brother;
America, here’s my boy.

[Disturbed]

30. Ignorance is not bliss.

Education in writing may be helpful. Most of us are ignorant about something because no one can know everything. Instead of slamming the ignorant try to help them.

Educate the ignorant.

Sometimes arguments are not productive. If people can read provide them with short info. on topics. If they can't read, read for them and encourage them to go to free reading classed.

This is a good example of brief education.

George W. Bush: Weak on Women

George W. Bush's campaign website claims that "W" stands for Women. When Bush took office in 2001 he dissolved the White House Women's Office, created by President Bill Clinton, which worked towards positive changes for women and girls around the world. Since the closing of the Office, President Bush continues to rapidly weaken women’s rights. President Bush is...(1)

Weak on Workplace Equality
Ignored the Pay Gap

The Bush Administration ended The Equal Pay Initiative and removed fact sheets about equal pay for women workers from federal government web sites. The average woman in America today earns just 77 cents for every dollar earned by the average man. African American women earn only 66 cents on the dollar and Hispanic women earn only 54 cents. His FY 2002 budget slashed funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which enforces federal laws against discrimination and upholds equal pay. (2)

Refused to Raise the Minimum Wage

Nearly 7 million working women would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage. George Bush opposed increasing the federal minimum wage to $6.65 and supported measures which would allow states to opt out of any increase.(3)

Disregarded Job Discrimination

The Department of Justice abandoned prosecution of pending sexual discrimination lawsuits without notifying the plaintiffs or offering a reason.(4)

Weak On Support for Women and their Families

Cut Children Served by Child Care and Development Block Grant

The Child Care and Development Block Grant is used to improve the quality of childcare and assist low and moderate income families who can’t afford childcare. The Bush Administration’s proposed fiscal year 2005 budget will eliminate child care assistance for 365,000 children by 2009. (5)

Failed to Support Proven Child Assistance Programs

Although Head Start and after school programs have a proven track record the Bush Administration‘s budget includes minimal increases for Head Start and tried to cut the funding for 500,000 children in after-school programs in the fiscal year 2004 budget.(6)

Starved Important Programs to Cut Taxes for the Wealthy

The Bush Administration’s tax cuts for the wealthy came with deep budget cuts to services that women rely on such as: child care and services for domestic violence victims. (7)

Weak On Our Financial Security

The Administration’s plans to privatize Social Security would hit older women especially hard, because money would be siphoned out of the system reducing the benefits and replacing it with private investments that are risky and unlikely to make up the difference. In addition, the Administration is proposing elimination of a modest Savers Credit that gives an additional tax credit to low- and moderate- income individuals and families who contribute to a retirement account.(8)


Weak On Our Healthcare

Women and their families are losing access to health insurance -- in 2002, 43.6 million Americans were uninsured -- and health care costs continue to skyrocket. The latest Bush budget freezes funding for the Maternal and Child Health Block grant, cutting access to vital services such as screenings for newborns and parental care.(9)


Weak On Violence Against Women
President Bush slashed the Violence Against Women Program in his FY 2004 budget, reducing funding for emergency shelters, crisis hotlines and other desperately needed services to protect women from violence. In its FY 2005 budget, the Bush Administration proposes to cut $3 million from grants to states to improve stalker databases, encourage arrests, reduce violent crimes against women on campus, and enhance protections for older and disabled women from domestic violence and sexual assault. Bush asked Independent Women's Forum (IWF) President Nancy Pfotenhauer to join the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women. Pfotenhauer's organization claims that "the battered women's movement has outlived its useful beginnings," despite studies showing that one in five women will be a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.(10)

Weak On Opportunities

Opposed Affirmative Action

The Bush Administration filed a brief opposing the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy. Affirmative Action programs have dramatically increased opportunities for women and people of color.(11)

Undermined Title IX

Since its implementation in 1972, Title IX dramatically increased athletic opportunities for women and girls by outlawing gender discrimination. In June, 2002, the Department of Education formed a commission which then offered a series of recommendations to weaken regulations of Title IX. If the Bush Administration had had their way, 30 years of progress for women's athletics would have been dealt a potentially fatal blow.(12)

Weak On Reproductive Rights

In 2003, in an editorial titled "The War Against Women" the New York Times said of Bush, "The lengthening string of anti-choice executive orders, regulations, legal briefs, legislative maneuvers, and key appointments emanating from his administration suggests that undermining the reproductive freedom essential to women's health, privacy and equality is a major preoccupation of his administration - second only, perhaps, to the war on terrorism."(13)

Underfunded UNFPA

George Bush withheld $34 million in funds to the United Nations Population Fund in 2002. This came at the expense of women around the world who rely on UNFPA for services that reduce unintended pregnancies, abortions, and maternal deaths; promote safe pregnancy and delivery; and assist families with disease prevention, nutrition, and emergency aid. According to the UNFPA, the U.S.’s $34 million contribution would have been enough to prevent up to 800,000 induced abortions.(14)

Reinstated Global Gag Rule

On his first day in office, Bush reinstated the Global Gag Rule, eliminating U.S. funding to international family planning organizations that offer abortion counseling or services with their own private funds. Especially hurt are smaller towns and villages with fewer choices for care.(15)

Appointed Destructive Officials

President Bush appointed W. David Hager to the Food and Drug Administration's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Hager has a history of refusing to prescribe contraceptives to unmarried women and has recommended scripture reading as a treatment for premenstrual syndrome. In the past, Hager worked with the Christian Medical Association on a petition asking the FDA to override the ruling that approved RU-486, and he has written that it is "'dangerous' to compartmentalize life into 'categories of Christian truth and secular truth'."(16)

Nominated Right-Wing Judges

The Bush Administration is attempting to pack the federal bench with right wing ideologues. Not a single President Bush Federal Appeals Court nominee is on record supporting Roe v. Wade. One of Bush's nominees, Alabama Attorney General William Pryor said in 1997 that Roe v. Wade was "the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history."(17)

Changed the Definition of Life

Bush's Department of Health and Human Services redefined fetuses as children under the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The rule explicitly includes the period from conception to birth as part of childhood.(18)

Compared Abortion to Terrorism

Bush declared January 20, 2002, just two days before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, "National Sanctity of Human Life Day" The proclamation stated: "On September 11, we saw clearly that evil exists in this world, and that it does not value life ... Now we are engaged in a fight against evil and tyranny to preserve and protect life."(19)

Source 1: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/AdminRecordOnWomen2004.pdf

[MaineDem]

31. Thank you so much for this link!

This is excellent information. Thanks!

[Thor_MN]

32. "Yup, my pol-cees are very female friendly"

"You all needn't worry your silly lettle heads over them. Jes' trust me to do all the thinkin'."

[UTUSN]

33. Question: What Woman Would Find Shrub/anyRepuke as "Female Friendly"? n/t