Dear Mr. President: Your Policies Are Damaging Women the Most
As we reflect on what the past year has meant for our families, it’s clear that President Obama’s policies are hitting women especially hard.
Since the president took office on January 20, about one million women have lost their jobs and today the unemployment rate among women is at the highest level in over 25 years. But perhaps most concerning of all, the president’s economic policies have severely harmed the small business community, which has traditionally been the part of our economy that propels us out of recession and is increasingly being used by women as a means of career advancement and financial independence.
According to the U.S. Census, women are starting new businesses at twice the rate of men and today 23 million Americans are employed by women-owned businesses. Unfortunately, President Obama and the Democrats in Congress are creating an uncertain economic environment in which small businesses lack the confidence to hire new workers. The Democrats’ $787 billion stimulus bill has raised investor fears that America will be unable to meet its debt obligations. Meanwhile, the president’s threats to enact a cap-and-trade law and impose a government takeover of America’s health care system have heightened anxiety among our entrepreneurial class — a class increasingly made up of women.
The health care reform bill, in particular, has created fear among women of all political persuasions. After all, women are responsible for most health care decisions and spend two out of every three health care dollars. The overwhelming majority of health care workers are women, including 95 percent of home health care workers, 90 percent of nurses, and the majority of first year medical students. In November, women around the country reacted fiercely when the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that women ages 40 to 49 should not be routinely screened with a mammogram for breast cancer. It seemed the federal government was telling young women to just roll the dice when it came to this deadly disease.
The truth is that mammography screening for women aged 40 and above is one of the major health care advances of the past 40 years. With the onset of mammography screening, the death rate from advanced breast cancer has decreased by 30 percent since 1990. That’s why the American Cancer Society and Susan G. Komen for the Cure have made it clear they will not change their guidelines urging women to be screened starting at age 40.
Good grief.
“World ends, women hit hardest.”
Give me a break.
This is rubbish on so many levels. First, it’s not true. By all accounts, unemployment has hit men much harder than it has women. And even if it were true, it would be poetic justice, since women voted heavily for Obama.
Second, by implication, if Obama’s policies hit men harder, then, well, that wouldn’t be so bad, but as it is, it’s hitting women. Oh no! Hey, here’s a thought: consider how the policies are affecting Americans.
Last, can we please stop trying to out-victim each other? It’s really getting offensive when each victim group tries to establish its victim bona fides. Man up, girls, and leave the identity group politics to the leftists.
I can live with”Women Hardest Hit” if it stops Obama’s Healthcare Destruction Bill. One of the [many] things I find obscene about this legislation is the mendacious fiction that it is a “Reform.”
While I agree that fundamental changes need to be made in the way government works, the notion that it needs to be done to “help women” is a notion that I find repugnant. This is exactly the type of soft brained idea that caused the banking problems to start with. Every time the government decides who the winners should be everyone winds up loosing. Case in point the idea that the nation needs more people with no or bad credit to qualify for mortgages and thereby home ownership. while the goal my be laudable the unintended consequences have been a disaster as they always are. High time the Gov stopped the targeted approach and let everyone have an equal shot.
At present the lack of credit can most probably be attributed to artificially low interest rates and the high probability of coming inflation. Why loan the money out when you will more than likely loose money on the deal.
Agreed, if this stops this health care bill, I’m all for it.
But the fact of the matter is that Obama does not care at all about women or men or children, in short, everyone who will be affected if this travesty passes.
I can live with “Women Hardest Hit” if it will help stop Obama’s Health Destruction Bill. It is an interesting tactic to expose the hypocrisy of Democrat’s routine victimology trope. Just hope in the playback, the frequencies don’t cancel out.
While it is true, it is also a bit naive to think the Democrats are at all concerned about high male unemployment, especially in blue collar, non union jobs. In typical thug fashion, they mean to grab this group’s gonads and squeeze until their hearts and minds follow and all resistance ceases.
So, maybe it’s a good idea to step aside with a gallant bow and let the ladies take a charge at this monstrous beast.
And I’d bet not one of these genius “congresswomyn” understands why people are so angry with the nitwit Republican Party.
This is why no man with any testosterone at all will ever vote for a feminist candidate. Feminists will NOT represent all of the people, just their favored half. They only care about pitting women against men.
The modern American woman is the most pampered, over-privileged, spoiled class of people in human history and yet the confrontational grasping, scheming and bitching never ends.
Another special interest trying to garner some benefit at the expense of everyone else.
But please, keep on going! You’re not gonna like the inevitable backlash, but me, I cannot wait.
I thought I was out there on this issue, but I see I’m more mainstream than I’d thought.
Maybe we guys need a gender version of Tea Parties. “Scotch Parties,” anyone? Our message: women don’t have it so bad, and men don’t have it so good, so stop yer bitchin’!
I would point out to those who quickly jump on the Congresswomen that the primary method Obama & his cronies have utilized to take power is to attract women to their side. Are “Women Hit Hardest”? Possibly, possibly not. But it’s clear they, like men, have a severe beef with this administration. Rather than attacking these Congresswomen in pompous manner, it behooves us to welcome our allies. SteveinTX and Occam’s Beard, if you go around slugging your friends, you won’t wind up with many.
I have only seen two instances of the explicit form
of the sentiment seeping from the comments here:
“The woman tempted me, and I spent.”
In the Hard Times to come, this may be the consensus,
among men, and women will not dare to disagree with
their protector/breadwinner, assuming he asks.
Perhaps things will not go that far;
‘One family, one job’ may be the rule.
But abortion remains legal so no matter what else happens, most women will still support him or whoever the Democrats nominate. I often get hit with this outlook. I recently pointed out to a colleague that during six years of GOP dominance of Congress and ownership of the WH, nothing changed wrt abortion rights. She was actually surprised to realize this. I keep saying that abortion is the club that Democrats use to keep women voters in line.
While I agree that claiming women are being hit especially hard in the “Man-cession” is rather nauseating, the rest of the letter is quite valid and legitimate. To my mind, especially the part about the mammogram guidelines. Aside from the first couple of paragraphs, this letter is a view of the woman’s perspective, designed not to persuade those already skeptical of ObamaCare, but to persuade the Feminists! and New-Age-Sensitive-Guys! who proclaim to care about the well-being and advancement of women, and are completely in love with Obama!Care. I do now know how successful this letter would be but, in that sense, it is at least a worthy effort.
I agree with Andy Rigrod. I did not notice that the congresswomen were asking for anything for women, that there were not at the same time asking for men. My take on their presentation was that Obamanomics is truly hurting small businesses, and in doing so is also hurting the whole country. If they chose to deal with it only from the standpoint of women in business, that does not automatically mean they are turning their back on the men. I hope they succeed in getting their point across, because they have the right take on what is happening in out country at this time.
Andy, I beg to differ. In essence, your argument boils down to fighting identity politics with more identity politics. I submit that identity politics is precisely what got us into our present situation.
The solution to the gullibility of so many women is not to pander to it, but to educate them out of accepting vapid feel-good platitudes and into a more adult perspective – not to generate competing platitudes.
James, if they’d framed it as defending small business, I’d be 100% behind them, but their tack flunks the exchange of variables test: a group of men bleating about how Obama’s policies hurt men wouldn’t get the time of day. Neither should this. Involuntary imputation of status cuts two ways.
“World ends tonight, but first, the third part in our new series on hair balls! Did you ever wake up in the night to hear your cat going ‘hack-hack-hack’?”
So, if women’s special privileges are revoked then they are the ones who are suffering? I think not! When have men enjoyed special privileges of any type?
Let’s face it, this whole legislative effort sucks. Women had their perks and men didn’t have it too bad. The status quo was better.
Charlie
They let women in the GOP?
The article is 100% correct. Obama hates entrepreneurs and ‘bottom-line’ type of thinking. He obviously feels entitled to rip into everybody’s pocket, a worthless character, never really worked a day in his life and took total advantage of feudal government sponsored ‘affirmative action’.
“Since the president took office on January 20, about one million women have lost their jobs….”
Outrageous! And he inherited such a robust economic situation, too.
I believe I can look elsewhere and find that women’s entrepreneurship is at an all-time-low, possibly because of the reasons stated above, and possibly because of the availability of government employment for them.
Weird letter, in any case, but.
This is a Man-cession with 7 of 10 jobs lost have been held by men.
Here, you want a real kick in the paints? 14 phantom Zip Codes receiving fed ‘stimulus’ money… Yet some Americans want these clowns to run 1/6th of our economy with Obama Nationalist Government Health Care?
Yes the Republicans suck almost as much as the Democrats. But take note: Our economy was doing just fine until Democrats took control of Congress in 06. Just saying…….
Dear majority of American women: you voted for this.
GOPsaver, it’s true that Republicans suck something awful. But really, I don’t think I can say they suck almost as much as Democrats. Not because they’re good as a whole, or even decent. But because the Democrats are so far gone.
This article is a threat to the entire “progressive” establishment. The truth is so called “progressive” policies do hurt women in the end.
The misogynist comments by a bunch of twits responding to this article/idea is a real disappointment! Gee…REAL men blaming women for the fiasco in DC. Listen up boys……I’m a woman, single, over 60 with a mortgage and all the other bills you have; I work 2 jobs to pay them and absolutely NO ONE helps me do that! I’m a conservative and a member of the NRA…so don’t go blaming/dissing women for this crap. My income is down to 1/4 of what it was a year ago and I see plenty of young mothers working and struggling to support their children with no help from the absentee fathers. I’ve raised 3 sons and a daughter, basically alone.
As for: “The modern American woman is the most pampered, over-privileged, spoiled class of people in human history and yet the confrontational grasping, scheming and bitching never ends” bull$hit..God help any woman within miles of this insecure, pseudo-macho, Napoleonic, no opposable thumbs knuckledragger…be afraid, be very afraid.
I spent the last 14 months sleeping out doors with a sleeping bag. I also had 10 months of Homeless Shelter’s in between. I just achieved housing Dec. 1st. I am starting my own business, and not waiting for a man to help me including the Government ..
I have also spent the last 2 years listing to men whine that they needed help in doing their work by remote computer access .. men are pathetic .. weak … happy hypocrites one and all … and I did not vote in the last 3 Presidential elections .. blame yourself for all of that gentlemen ..
Well when the First Lady gives speeches to women that they should stay out of business and go into teaching and social work, instead of going for what they want, and that First Lady is not some conservative bible thumper but a “liberal”, then we cannot deny we have entered Bizarro world.
There is no argument that, considering the figures quoted here and mere observation that women are roughly half the population, that these policies will hit women hard. Woman entrepreneurs, for example will be victimized just the same as any other business owner. If they are the sole earner in a family, they will take the same garnishment of wages as male earners. If they are managers of households, they will have to deal with all the new red tape and figure out how to make ends meet as taxes and fines increase, or as their spouses lose jobs. If they are in two income households, they will face even greater stresses as they try to increase income to offset the very real coming tax burden. In other words, because of their integral role in our society, they will have an equal share in the pain. And, since the healthcare bill is of dubious constitutionality, they will lose some of our precious rights just a fast as men.
The powerful argument here is that Democrats and so-called progressives, who presume to own the woman’s rights movement, really just use it as window dressing. For years the drumbeat has been that Republicans are the barefoot and pregnant crowd and are therefore morally reprehensible (In addition to all the other things for which they are reprehensible). The myth that Democrats do more for women is exactly that, a myth. It is even more interesting that because of the Democrats’ treatment of both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin during the last election cycle, the feminist movement appears to have fallen deeper in love with the party.
Rahm and David, Keith and Rachel helped create the new Little Rascals and the He-Man-Woman-Haters-Club. Yet Democrats still are viewed as the only place a woman can go to protect her civil rights, at least if you watch any of the big networks or read a majority of the editorial pages around the country. If you believe that the government will treat a sick woman or a child, or god forbid, a man, with the same compassion, conscience, competency, and efficiency as a private doctor or a family member, then this is the bill for you. For those of us that have read both the house and senate versions of the healthcare bill, we know that these policies will generally mean one thing: equality in the form of equal misery.
Best,
Lazy Jack
For more on the conscience of government, see:
http://thanksforthelaughs.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/on-free-healthcare-and-the-absence-of-conscience/
The elitists are at it again. Keep people bickering at each other over race, gender, etc; and the ball stays in their court. Male or female isn’t the point, we’re ALL being hurt by this nightmare legislation. We are ALL being punished by the excesses of government spending, lobbyists, and entitlement. We should not be fighting among ourselves, it’s exactly what the gov wants to maintain control.
Is it mysogynist to say that breast cancer strikes 8% of women, while Prostate cancer strikes 25% of men, yet all the fuss is about breast cancer, and until the 90s it was considered “pornographic” to advertise for prostate cancer screening.
BS, ladies. Grow up.
I think the point of this letter isn’t that they care more for women than for men, but that Obama so smugly thinks that he’s helping the underdog- in this case, women in small business- but he’s in reality hurting them (as is the case with most of his policies.).
All humans should be valued equally, but it is a bit more annoying when those typically weaker are hurt by legislation intended to help them. I’m a women who deplores the feminist agenda, but I’m also a small business owner and I agree with the main point of this letter- that Obama is hurting those he claims to help. Whether this is from stupidity or maliciousness remains to be seen, but the effects are the same either way.
#26 why were you homeless? Why did you spend 14 months sleeping outdoors? I lived in a youth hostel for 3 months when I moved abroad until I got a job and could afford an apartment, which I shared with 2 other people. 5 years ago I relocated back to Canada and had only 2 suitcases to my name, no home and not much money. I immediately rented a room in a house and slept on a mattress on the floor until I got a job and could rent an apartment. If you think I had money, guess again. Sleeping outdoors and living in a homeless shelter is a choice. there are always, always alternative options.
Lighten up and get some perspective;
view “Oklahoma Crude”. :>
The important thing to note here is that SOMEONE in Congress is objecting. At least the GentleWomen like Blackburn and Bachmann have the grit to say something. Whether the statistics are true or not, I’ll leave to the Six Sigma Blackbelts. We can get down on our knees and accept whatever scraps the Emperor and his annoited ‘Royals’ toss our way, or we can stand us and be Americans. I’ve made my decision…have you?
Obama and the Democrats have made it clear they wish to Accomplish two things. The 1st. is Trickle up poverty over the JFK plan being Supply Side Economics and 2nd. Never let a good crisis go to waist. Democrats have set the bar high with hopes of controlling 60% of our total economy though Health Care and Energy (Cap & Tax). Will these thieves settle for ONLY 48% of our economy with Nationalist Government Health Care alone before they are willing to allow the private sector to fix the economy? Can the Private Sector fix our economy with ONLY 52 cents on each American Dollar in the control of the people?
Looking at the Alumni in our Government from Harvard. I have to ask if the Economics Department there can really suck this bad or do they Teach Tyrant 101 instead of econ. 101 at that institution?
I leave you with this.
The American Republic will fall when the politicians learn they can bribe people with their own money. –Alexis de Tocqueville
Henry Morgenthau
Treasury Secretary under FDR, after 2 terms of FDR’s “New Deal”. . “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work … After eight years of this Administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started … And an enormous debt to boot!”
“The only problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money.” M Thatcher
“The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.” Joseph Stalin
Hitler wanted to Control Banks,Private Biz, Private Property Rights,Guns, Education,Health Care and Build Cars too that is hope and change? Will Brown Shirts Follow? AmeriCorps would be a Great place to watch followed by the Unions such as SEIU and Groups like ACORN.
Hey women of America,
Start supporting Sarah Palin, and actual woman, and a great leader.
Nuff said.
The only thing that Obama, his thugs from Detroit and Democrates want to do is RAPE this country, and when he’s finished will he then turn the country over to his Muslem brothers?
“Feminists will NOT represent all of the people, just their favored half. They only care about pitting women against men.”
And women against women.
“Women-owned small businesses are the fastest growing segment of the economy, an engine of job creation and prosperity.”
Yet the focus is on getting women into corporate boardrooms and government hierarchy, as if these are the only leadership positions available and that, by sheer virtue of their gender, they can eliminate, and will be immune to, corruption and overarching greed (http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/where-are-the-women-in-business/). Yet there does need to be a reentry mechanism for women who choose to “drop out” and develop our most precious resource: children.
So much for trickle down elitism…
kyartist – What I’m “blaming women for” is not the mess in Washington, but the unending rain of “men bad, women good” for at least the last forty years.
Did you ever wonder why there are “plenty of young mothers working and struggling to support their children with no help from the absentee fathers”? Eh? It’s 100% the fault of those demonic men, isn’t it?
- Nevermind the female obsession with money and status and the endless vapid narcissism combined with the lack of basic manners in treating the men of the household like defective kitchen appliances.
- Nevermind the absence of female loyalty to their male partners. (There’s always somebody better out there, right?)
- Nevermind the insanely malicious mentality American women and American culture have towards men in general.
Most men are not willing to get married anymore for the same reason that they’re no longer going to college – they don’t want to participate in institutions that DESPISE THEM.
So, yes, when I see another load of pampered white women grinding on about poor women and their alleged male abusers, I’m inclined to think: “The modern American woman is the most pampered, over-privileged, spoiled class of people in human history and yet the confrontational grasping, scheming and bitching never ends.”
The gig is up. I’ve had it and so have a lot of other men.
I don’t like this kind of identity politics. It makes women look weak. It’s only valid if men are favored somehow on purpose over women, which I don’t see happening here.
You are right about small businesses, though. Credit has got to start flowing or a lot more businesses are going to wither and die. As a subcontractor in construction, I can see literally 100′s of projects designed and ready to go out for bid in my state (NM) that are on hold due to lack of financing. Once the dam breaks, though, which it will one day, there will be demand for materials, etc., like we’ve never seen before and inflation will be horrendous, and that’s not good either. Somebody has GOT to get some money flowing to start getting these projects built in a steady flow or it’s going to get a lot worse out there for a lot of businesses.
Or, if you don’t like the oldies,
how about some comments on
“Its Complicated”.
30. Well in defense of the feminists, breast cancer still kills people in this country, whereas prostate cancer deaths have been virtually eradicated. Of course, this is in stark contrast to countries with socialized medicine, who, due to less frequent testing and longer wait times for treatments, impose on prostate cancer patients a very real risk of dying from it.
The women who wrote this are not feminists, and I do think that they have made some good points, especially over the breast cancer screening situation.
I am Australian, and ever since my stay in the USA back in 1984/85 my biggest beef in Australia has always been that women under 50 over here do not get free breast cancer screening, despite the fact that there has been an increase in the number of younger women being diagnosed with the condition. My mother-in-law was one of those women who was well under the age of 50 when she passed away from breast cancer. Some women have been under 30. It had always been my belief that the Americans had it right because you had screening for that vital age group.
The message relating to this one change is a very real message that needs to be conveyed to the vast majority of the population (in both countries). To have this change when breast screening at the younger age has saved lives is a real travesty as far as I am concerned. No woman should be denied this type of screening, especially where there is a history of breast cancer in the family.
I do not disagree with the notion that men have been hit harder than women during the present recession, which is not getting any better, for the simple reason that the jobs most affected are the ones where it is normal to have male employees. In fact I think that there is too much emphasis on the role of women in the workforce which is destructive to the traditional roles.
As a woman I have always believed that there is a need to put more emphasis upon the cancers that kill men, and that there needs to be better screening for those cancers. I believe it is a two-way street. Screening is always better than expensive treatments in my view, and it would have been far better if funds were being made available for such screening programs rather than wasting money on something like the Obambicare disaster that is before Congress.
In my country we have what is called Medicare – this is paid out of a 1.5% levy on top of our income taxes (a tax by another name). This system is not free, and right now a visit to the doctor costs more than $60. Where I live in Australia the doctors do not provide bulk billing for their patients. The amount one gets back from Medicare is way out of proportion to the fee charged. This is what happens with a scheduled fee. Over time the cost of the doctors visits and the scripts have become prohibitive. However, programs such as breast screening are provided out of a different budget bucket. To be eligible for free screening you have to be over 50. The same is true for the Dexxa scan that detects osteoporosis. You have to meet certain criteria or Medicare will not fund any of the cost. The system really sucks because the govt determines how much can be refunded and what can be refunded via private health funds. It really and truly sucks big time.
These women are correct in pointing out those Obama policies that are hurting women the most. Since the Obot is in fact a misogynist that is not surprising.
Thank goodness some bloggers can still write. Thank you for this article!