May 2, 2008
Apparently I Just Need More “Training”
I’m pissed off. No, I’m furious. I’m extremely angry at John McCain. I wanted to tackle this topic last week but I was seething after reading this:
Republican Sen. John McCain, campaigning through poverty-stricken cities and towns, said Wednesday he opposes a Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits.
Senate Republicans killed the bill on a 56-42 vote Wednesday night. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had delayed the vote to give McCain’s Democratic rivals, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, time to return to Washington to support the measure, which would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination.
McCain skipped the vote to campaign in New Orleans.
Yes. You read that correctly. John McCain skipped this important vote because he was campaigning.
I have been sputtering about this for days. It’s just another piece of evidence that proves that Republicans do not care about women like they say they do. I’ve always wondered why women my age are mostly Democrats and I think I figured it out. The Democrats actually give a damn about the rights of women. And while I may disagree with abortion as a “reproductive right” I do understand why so many women vote Left.
The GOP is out of touch with reality. They are perfectly content on believing that a woman’s “place” is in the home. Never mind that many women choose to be home with their children. So says McCain, “They [women] need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else, and it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.”
This remark just doesn’t make sense to me. I can’t see the correlation between women finding it difficult to leave their families to go to work and pay inequality.
When I worked outside the home I struggled with “mom guilt”. It was hard to take my son to daycare each day, without feeling as though someone else was raising my child. But my family needed my income to make ends meet, and I actually liked working. It wasn’t the worst thing I could be doing. But just because I found it difficult to be a mother and an employee, does that mean I shouldn’t be upset that my male co-workers, with the same qualifications, and the same job training, received a higher salary than I did?
And what about the women who are college graduates, educated women with pertinent job training? Do they need more training and education to get paid equally? If a woman does the same work as a man, and has the same qualifications, education and work experience as that man, why is she paid less? Does that seem fair? Because the man has a penis he automatically gets a salary increase? Is he paid based on testosterone? Does producing estrogen automatically knock a woman’s wage down?
It’s true, more women are the heads of their households. More women control the purse strings. More women are in charge of family decisions. More women have greater influence in matters of business. It’s also safe to say that women are better able to influence other women on how to vote in this coming election. But the one area where women are jipped is in salaries. We are still treated as second class citizens.
Why are we treated so unfairly? Is it because we tend to be more nurturing? Because we are partners, wives and mothers? Because we have vaginas? That’s it, isn’t it? Men are afraid of the power of the va-jay-jay so to punish us, we get paid less money so they can still feel in control. On top. Like they have more authority.
I’ve got a vagina that says these men better use their salary boosts to buy protection for their man parts, you know, just in case millions of angry women can’t fight the urge to kick them in the balls.
From Comedy Central’s Indecision 2008:
It’s men like John McCain that make it impossible for women to escape these stereotypes. (I’ve found another reason to be glad I didn’t vote for McCain in the Wisconsin primary.)
**Cross-posted at Mommybloggers.
March 12, 2008
Voila, A New American Dream
Eight years ago, if you had asked me why I love politics, I would have replied with many wonderful reasons.
I would have told you that if you never vote, you have no right to complain about the state of our country’s government. I would have said that we are responsible for changing the things we dislike about government. I would have encouraged you to vote and help others get out and vote. I may have even talked about the American Dream, and the dreams my great-grandparents brought with them on their way to Ellis Island from the war-torn country of Poland.
Ask me the same question today and the answer would be completely different. As time has gone by, I’ve loved politics less and less. I’ve become cynical about our government, the politicians who claim to serve “We the people”, and the motives of the Democrat and Republican parties. I don’t know if I believe in “the American Dream” anymore.
As a lifelong Republican, I have looked at this country through a different lens than most others, and over the years I’ve become disheartened with every broken promise, every scandal, every downright lie that has been told to the American people. I can’t entirely blame George W. Bush, for he has Congress and advisers pushing and pulling him in various directions, but I do believe that his priorities have been mixed up.
When the United States first entered this war in Iraq, I was upset. My reasons were selfish. I didn’t want my brother and sister, members of the National Guard, to be sent to the Middle East. I didn’t want them, or anyone else, to risk their lives for what I believed was an impossible cause.
Yet, I was angry that terrorists claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people on September 11th. As a Catholic, it pains me to confess that I believed that Osama bin Laden needed to punished, killed even.
And so, I looked away. We sent thousands of troops overseas, far away from their families, and I convinced myself that we were on the right path, that soon this war would be over. It was so naive to think that way.
As I watched the news, day after day, seeing reports of more innocent military men and women dying in a useless war, I became sad. I felt remorse. I felt ashamed. Even though I was so honored by and proud of our troops, the ones who have acted selflessly for this country, I was sickened for even thinking we were doing the right thing.
I watched as this war went from being “The Avenging of 9/11″ to “The Obsessive Hunt for Saddam Hussein”, and no longer about ending terrorism. I began to wonder what the hell our troops were doing there in the first place. I felt lied to; by President Bush and every member of Congress that voted in favor of sending our troops to Iraq.
Inevitably, my brother Nathan was deployed to Kuwait for 17 months. Even though he wasn’t on the front lines, I worried about his safety every single day. When he finally returned home, he was no longer my little brother.
He was a man. He grew up. He became hardened by the things he experienced.
He was a man who served for… I don’t know what. Our country? Our government? Me? You? Iraqi freedom? Honestly, what are the troops fighting for?
When my son grows up, will he ever be in a war? I pray to God the answer is no. But how do I know? There’s no way to answer that question.
As a mother, I look at my son and I think about the world he has to grow up in. A world filled with tragedy, violence, poverty. A world of uncertainty. What does the future hold for my children? Will my son have his own American Dream?
With the 2008 Election progressing every day, I’ve been immersed in the issues of foreign policy, the War, the economy, health care, immigration, abortion, education, poverty, the environment, maternal rights, domestic violence, and more. My list is endless. And each time I think about it, I think of the future and what problems my children will inherit.
Will troops still be stationed in Iraq twenty, thirty, or fifty years from now? John McCain admits this is a possibility, almost a certainty. He’s prepared for 100 years in the Middle East.
Will women finally be paid fairly and equally for doing the same jobs as men? Hillary Clinton assures us she will fight for this important issue.
Will our country find hope and inspiration, and trust in the government again? Barack Obama pledges to bring Americans together for the greater good.
Will Americans finally receive the health care benefits they so desperately need? Will all human life be respected and protected, even the unborn? Can Democrats and Republicans work together to make the government work for everyone?
In spite of all the unanswered questions and uncertainties, I believe it’s imperative that we work together. We must stay abreast of political issues, and come together to turn this country around. This is the most important issue.
Together, we can make America the great country that it once was, a country we are proud to live and work in. This is my new American Dream, and it’s the reason I’ve fallen in love with politics again. What is your American Dream?
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Dana Tuszke, traditional conservative Republican, spends her mornings catering to a 3-year-old and her evenings navigating through political headlines. She recently crossed party lines in the Wisconsin Primary when she voted for Barack Obama, and the anticipation as to which candidate will be the Democratic presidential nominee is killing her. She writes about life and motherhood at The Dana Files, and dishes politics from The Right at BlogHer.
