*The following guests join Kristin this week on 1480 AM WeAct Radio, which also can be heard via additional broadcast stations, as well as on iTunes – http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537:

• Angélique Roché, Campaign Director For Healthcare, MomsRising.org and Fitness Trainer (@angeliqueroche)

• Debbie Koenig, Author of “Parents Need to Eat Too” and her food blog, Words to Eat By, that has attracted more than one million visitors. (@debbieharry)

• Erin Kotecki Vest, Blogger contributing regularly to the Huffington Post, MOMocrats.com, and her own site  Queen of Spain Blog (@QueenOfSpain)

• Sharon Levin, Director Federal Reproductive Health Policy, National Women’s Law Center (@SLevinWashDC)

• Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (@Sebelius)

*You can also listen to this show, and all future shows, via podcast on iTunes at: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

That was a moment of celebration, but I’m not done with this work yet.  I’m keeping my sleeves rolled up because while I’m celebrating that women now comprise nearly 20 percent of the U.S. Senate and about 18 percent of the U.S. House, that still means that we have a long way to go toward equality.  We’re not even half way there yet.  So we’re going to keep working on it.  We’re going to talk about all of this today.  We’re going talk about who voted.  We’re going talk about the impact of the mom vote, of the women’s vote, and of the Latino vote, and more.  We’re going to hear from experts about how social media impacted the outcome of this election.  We’re going hear about why more women won this year and we’re also going to talk about what’s ahead for our nation and how the party went in Chicago.  I’m so glad you’re listening – let’s jump right in.

**You can hear the whole show now by clicking here to get the podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

Special guests include:

•   Sam Bennet, President and CEO of the Women’s Campaign Fund

•   Matt Barreto, Co-Founder of Latino Decisions and University of Washington Professor

•   David Schuster, Host of Take Action News on We Act Radio

•   Kimberley Ellis, Scholar, Artist & Activist

•   Eric Liu, Author, Former Clinton Policy Advisor and Speechwriter, as well as Founder of Guiding Lights 

***LISTEN to the entire “MomsRising with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner” radioshow here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

*******

“The Post-Election Lowdown” MomsRising Radio with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner Highlights:

Sam Bennet is the President and CEO of the Women’s Campaign Fund:

On women running for office: (At 5:45 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“…We had some unbelievable women running incredible races in the Senate.  It was just remarkable, but the truth of the matter is that whatever the heck you want to call it, the “War on Women” ended up working to these women’s advantage.  And because these women and their campaigns were really smart about it, they called it out for what it was.  They didn’t ignore it.  They called it sexist.  They used the “S” word. You‘ve got to deal with it head on.  As long as you deal with it head on, you win.”

“We all know however we had a record number of women running for Congress and a record number of women running for Senate and the results speak for that.  So that’s the other thing in this, it’s a numbers game. We’re ranked 95^th in the world not because American women don’t win when they run because they do.  It’s not that they don’t raise enough money, because they raise more money than the guys, our research shows now.  The trick is they’re not running.”

Dr. Matt Barreto is the Co-Founder of Latino Decisions and a Professor at the University of Washington

On immigration reform: (At  21:13 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“…And immigration reform for the Latino community has to be on the table.  I think that if it’s not, it’s going to create a huge rift between Latinos and the Democratic Party.   I think Republicans are finally starting to get that this is an opportunity for them; that they can address immigration reform, show that they’re compassionate and understanding, and perhaps that will help them with the Latino vote down the road.”

On the Asian American voters: (At 25:20 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Asian Americans eclipsed the three percent of the national electorate mark this year and they are the fastest growing in terms of percentages – faster growing than Latinos.  Asian Americans are the fastest growing segment of the electorate; that is they’re 3 percent now, they’ll be 4, 5, 6 percent in the future, and the projections are that within our lifetime, they’ll be up to 10 percent.  And that is going to be extremely relevant at the presidential level in key states like Virginia”

David Schuster is the host of Take Action News on We Act Radio

On how Twitter acts as an accuracy meter: (At 34:20 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“I think that the ability of Twitter to react so quickly and almost literally in real time is better for all of us because it means there’s a certain accuracy that has to be required of all of us, otherwise you get checked very quickly on Twitter and information spreads that much faster.”

Kimberley Ellis is an ward winning scholar, artist, activist who is also affectionately known as Dr. Goddess on Twitter and beyond. 

On the role social media played in the election : (At 42:35 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“We don’t have Koch Brother money.  But we do have heart and soul and opinion and we have clear addresses and Facebook profiles and websites. I think that what we did to ensure that the American public stayed educated and up to date was phenomenal and it literally transformed the energy and the universe.  I mean, this is how deep I’m taking it, is that this was not just an election.  This said, this is America; we are the Americans, all of us. We’re white, black, Asian, Latino. We are women.  We’re men.  We’re young.  We’re old.  This is the America that we want.  We don’t just want a, heterogeneous population controlling everything.  And I love what we did. We literally cast a vote for humanity on November 6^th.  That’s what we did.”

Eric Liu is an author, former Clinton policy advisor and speechwriter, as well as Founder of Guiding Lights

“Well my take is that we should remember one of the things that President Obama said in his speech Tuesday night, which was citizenship doesn’t end with the act of voting.  In many ways, it only begins with it.  As for all the ways in which Election Day is this Super Bowl/Olympicsstyle big festive moment, really what matters now is how all of us choose to and decide to show up in continuing the work on whatever the issue may be.  I think looking at this election, and again not just for Democrats and progressives like me, but across the whole political spectrum, there was an incredible level of engagement.  There was an incredible level of spending – yes, we’re all aware of that.  But just in terms of people hours and feet on the street and calls being made and social media, by those kinds of measures, there’s a lot to be hopeful about – that people feel like and sense that our system is open to and capable of engagement by lots and lots of everyday folks.”

Sophia: “Mommy, why would the BBC care about the U.S. election? It’s not their country.”

Me: “That’s such a good observation. It’s our election, but the whole world is watching.”

Sophia: “Why?”

Me: “The United States is the wealthiest, most powerful country in the world.  Did you know that?”

Sophia: (Tentatively) “I think so.”

Me: “So, decisions the President makes about how much money to spend, where to buy stuff, if they will start or end a war, how they will help other countries, if they let in immigrants from other countries, all affect people around the world very much.”  Then, as I thought more about it, the list, aimed at the 9 year-old’s understanding, got longer, and I added: “They make decisions about spending and organizing healthcare and education; building or repairing roads, tunnels, bridges, airports.  The building supplies can come from the U.S. or another country. The education and healthcare will help decide if companies want to have offices here or somewhere else. This will make a difference on how many jobs there will be, and how good the jobs will be.”  Then, before I got into the topic of appointing judges, we had arrived.

As Sophia slid open the minivan door, she got in the last word: “I hope whoever’s President won’t start new wars.”  She scampered into school, and I was left to utter to myself, “Me too…”

To learn more on talking about the election with children, see “11 Ways to Get Your Kids Excited About the Election” from Redbook.com.

How do you talk about the election with kids, or explain why the world cares so much about the U.S. election?

“17 million have turned 18 since the last election and they have to get registered in order to vote. So we’ve really focused on voter registration, making it easy, bringing it to you on your cell phones and your Facebook page and online.  And we actually had our one-millionth voter of the campaign last Monday and it just felt really good.  There are about a million new people all around this country who will be able to vote because of the work that we did. We registered a million voters! Now we have to turn them out…”

“Now there are reports in North Carolina and Indiana of robo calls and other calls that are telling people they’re great voters and they can vote by phone.  And of course that is nothing but a lie and a scam and it’s widespread and getting a lot of traction throughout the country… There is no such thing in the United States as voting by phone.”

“The fact that we have existed as one of the wealthiest nations in the world for so long and still have 50 million people without any health care coverage at all, is kind of a national disgrace… Now that the Affordable Care Act is law, we feel like American women and men have made a major step forward… What we are saying is that it really isn’t for the boss to decide what services a woman uses or gets to use.  It’s really up to each individual employee to decide whether or not they want to use it.”

“Well I’m really concerned about workers’ rights, particularly the rights of low-wage workers in the midst of this jobs crisis.  It’s been clear that most of the jobs that have been created in this period have been low-wage jobs and jobs mostly dominated by women and many by mothers.  And so for our constituents it is really important that those jobs are actually good quality jobs with real pathways to economic security and opportunity.”

“Just think about all of the generations of organizers and activists who came before us who really put their lives on the line for democratic rights in this country, and generation after generation they’ve been able to strengthen democracy by expanding voting rights and the many movements for change that have made that possible. When I think about that and I think about our fight for democracy today, and all of the working people and all of the people out there — students, young people who are fighting to make this country a better place, the importance of getting out there and voting is all about that. It’s about how we come together as a country and particularly on this one particular day to exercise our democratic right to vote, to really show how much we care about making the country a better place for our families, for future generations, and for the future of the world, given the important role that this country plays in the rest of the world.  And so I just think it’s a part of our responsibility to each other and to future generations that we get out there on Tuesday and really make it happen.”

On this show, we’re going talk about that debate with experts.  We’re going to talk about that debate with policy advocates.  We’re going to talk about the whole campaign cycle and the campaign trail.  We’re going to hear what’s going on, what’s being said, and not said, about human rights, both inside the United States and around the world.  And we’re going to talk about foreign policy, domestic policy, voter suppression; and we’re going to cap it all off with an exciting conversation about how to use political pumpkin carving as a stress relief.  We’ve got some great stencils.  We’ve got some great political games that you can play with kids or with your peers.  And we’re going to talk with craft makers about how to do it.  So not only are we going to cover foreign policy, we’re also going to cover pumpkin policy.

**You can hear the whole show now by clicking here to get the podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

Special guests include:

• Gayle Tzemach, Author of the best-selling book The Dressmaker of Khair Khana. Journalist and fellow at the Counsel on Foreign Relations
• Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorofChange
• Mark Levine, Former congressional attorney, Talk-Show Host on the We Act Radio network and a Senior fellow at the Truman National Security Project
• Michelle Ringuette, Chief of Campaigns & programs at Amnesty International
• Ruth Martin, Campaign Director at  MomsRising
• Sarah Francis, Campaign Director at MomsRising

***LISTEN to the entire “MomsRising with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner” radio show here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

*******

“Bayonets, Big Birds & Binders” MomsRising Radio with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner Highlights:

Gayle Tzemach is the author of the best-selling book The Dressmaker of Khair Khana.  She’s a journalist and a fellow at the Counsel on Foreign Relations:

On war and the election: (At 2:45 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“…The era of big military interventions is over.  Even Governor Romney, who has been less effusive about the President’s push to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014, in terms of their deadline and its announcement, really did not differentiate himself from the President on Afghanistan.  He did not want to say that he was for more troops remaining in Iraq and really said that in the case of Syria, you would not see a lot of military troops, or military intervention, if there were a President Romney.  So, I think what you see is an exhausted country really facing their first post-September 11^thelection which does not have a foreign policy at its center.”

Rashad Robinson is the executive director of ColorofChange 

On the bayonets and ships comment: (At 15:15 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“I think my favorite moment in this last debate was the pushback around bayonets and ships… Not so much because of a joke factor but because I think we do need to have a lot of conversation in this country about our priorities and in particular, the overwhelming amount of our budget that still goes to the military, still goes to fighting wars around the world while we leave issues on the table here, such as public education, such as improving our inner city communities, such as dealing with a lot of the crisis we have with the overcrowded prison population.  There’s so much work that can be done here at home and we often times focus so much energy on our military.”

On the importance of exercising your right to vote: (At 18:12 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“I like to think of voting as sort of an exercise analogy.  Voting is sort of like the stretching of civic participation.  It is not going to help you lose that last five pounds but it will hurt if you don’t do it.  And so we have to stretch right, but we also have to do the other work of running the race of lifting the weights and all the other things that are going to make our democracy work.”

On winning the effort against Clear Channel to remove voter suppression billboards: (At 20:08 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“What they were trying to deal with was creating a sense of fear and unease as people were going to the voting booths and if you could sort of shave off enough percentages of black and brown voters, you can potentially then elect more conservative members to state legislatures, city councils, and even the presidency, because these billboards were in fact put up in swing states.  What made these billboards so egregious was that they were put up by an anonymous donor and so when our organization and others mobilized to push back, and hold Clear Channel accountable, we didn’t have the funder to hold accountable because Clear Channel basically gave these funders cover…”

Mark Levine is a former congressional attorney and is currently a talk-show host on the We Act Radio network and he’s also a senior fellow at the Truman National Security Project

On pay equality (At 33:50 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Romney doesn’t know whether or not women should be paid the same as men for the same work, and because he didn’t want to say that to the woman asking in the Town Hall Meeting, because she would have been shocked and then might have been booed and frankly, he’s trying to pretend with his magic Etch-A-Sketch to be a moderate that he’s not and is talking all over the map, he decided, “Well I’m not going talk about pay equity because I don’t support it.  Instead I’m going to talk about all these women I hired…”

“When he hired those women, he recognized that since women want to be home at 5 o’clock to take care of the kids and make dinner for their husbands, he had to have a flexible work program.  And I’m thinking to myself, well first of all, you should have a flexible work program for all parents, men or women, ‘cause there are lots of stay at home dads and there are lots of dads who work and take care of their kids, and yes make dinner.  So number one, it should be available for everyone.  But number two, what is this idea that women and not men need to take care of the kids.  Women and not men need to make dinner.  Every parent recognizes the difficulties between work and home life and the way that he was putting it on women just reminded me, this is a guy that lives in the 1950s.”

Michelle Ringuette is the Chief of Campaigns & Programs at Amnesty International

On universal human rights and the justice system (At 45:05 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“…Amnesty just recently released a report about the long-term solitary confinement that’s been happening in California prisons and when you start hearing these stories of individuals who for a non-violent action or indiscretion in prison, suddenly ending up spending 20 years in solitary confinement,  you can only imagine that there’s absolutely limited hope for that point that anyone can be adjudicated and can somehow be rehabilitated. There has to be focused attention on whether or not we ourselves are upholding the rights of all people.”

“There’s a real issue around the school-to-prison pipeline that we’ve been seeing around the country where from a very early age, young people, particularly young black boys, are being sort of picked up as truant or they’re being suspended out of school and then they’re put into the system”

Sarah Francis, Campaign Director at MomsRising

On creating monster beanbags to relieve some election time stress (At 49:44 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“So, I have been making beanbags for my kid forever since he was born because there is nothing like tossing around a beanbag. I think that just draws their attention permanently.  It’s safe.  It’s easy.  You can do them in different shapes. So what we created this election and Halloween season is a great, easy-to-make craft that you can do with your kids and then also get out some of the election stress. ”

Ruth Martin, Campaign Director MomsRising

On simple pumpkin carving: (At 54:24 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“I love to carve pumpkins.  This has been a big stress reliever for me for many, many years… Okay well, here’s the secret.  It’s not a secret and I’m going to be completely honest with you — carving pumpkins is ridiculously easy but when you do these kind of fun designs that are a little outside the pumpkin box, people think you’re amazing and you get all this credit, which is nice.  It’s a nice pat on the back.”

Of course it’s about more than just binders per se, that is at issue here — and on this show we’re going to talk about what was said for real during the second presidential town hall debate.  What policies are the candidates standing for and what policies are the candidates avoiding?

**You can hear the whole show now by clicking here to get the podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

Special guests include:

• Avis Jones-DeWeever , Executive Director of the National Counsel of Negro Women (@sistahscholar)
• Joel Silberman, Founder and President, Media Talent 2.0 Inc (@JoelSilberman)
• Celinda Lake, Pollster and Political Strategist for the Democratic Party (@celindalake)
• Claire Moshenberg, MomsRising Associate Campaign Director (@cmoshenb)
• Lisa Maatz, Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, American Association for University Women (@lisamaatz)

***LISTEN to the entire “MomsRising with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner” radio show here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

*******

“Women, Binders, Dinner, oh my! The Presidential Town Hall Debate Analyzed ”

MomsRising Radio with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner Highlights:

Avis Jones DeWeever is the Executive Director of the National Counsel of Negro Women:

On ensuring high voter turnout on Election Day and recognizing voter suppression tactics (At 10:10 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“We understand how important the right to vote is because we’re not that far away from having to fight for a great deal, and so we value it tremendously…We need to make sure that people are organized around the nation to make sure that voting happens, that voters are not bamboozled by a lot of the misinformation that’s out there. [Voter ID] is really an issue that’s meant to suppress the black vote and the vote of young people. Though we are winning victories in the court system as it relates to all of these voter ID laws, we’ve seen a backup strategy that’s been increasing and that’s been just out and out lies and intimidation.  We’ve  seen billboards popping up all over, places like Ohio, very key states, that look very ominous and say that voter fraud is a felony and you can be fined $10,000, three and a half years in jail, and interestingly, they just seem to be popping up in black neighborhoods.” 

“I don’t think that’s a coincidence.  And you know, we’re seeing black radio stations putting out those same sort of messages. When you see those types of shenanigans going on, like particular organizations that are being developed right now meant to recruit one million poll watchers who are going to be stationed disproportionately at black and brown precincts specifically for the intention of intimidating voters, we know that we have a lot to fight against.  So what we’re doing is we’re educating the public, letting them know that they do have this right; letting them know that first and foremost, not only vote but vote now,  and vote early if at all possible.  And don’t be intimidated — if you’re in a situation and you’re being questioned, we’re letting people know that they can call 1-866-OUR-VOTE, speak to an attorney live on the phone, and they can let them know what they need to do in order to exercise their right to vote.”

Joel Silberman is the Founder and President, Media Talent 2.0 Inc:

On what body language can tell us (At 16:13 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“The most interesting thing for me was that clearly Romney was prepared for the president to come out of the gate stronger.  So Romney’s strategy was very corporate.  He was attacking as if he were the CEO with hostile takeover stockholders in front of him; and in those situations, he can dominate because that’s what he does for a living.   But being president is a little different and I think the debate gave us an opportunity to see one man, President Obama, who looked like the president, and another man, who looked like a mean boss of a company.   Everybody has had that mean boss come at them and just think that by the force of their words and the force of all that energy, they could be right whether they were or they weren’t.   President Obama merely looked at him and said, “That’s not true” and he crumbled.  And it was interesting to watch the way he crumbled.  He crumbled by trying to attack more…”

“All of a sudden there was a stiffness to it and [Romney] was not agile on his feet.  The president looked relaxed.  It was kind of like looking at an athlete and someone who was a rank amateur.  The athlete always looks fluid.  The athlete always looks genuinely relaxed.  The amateur always is going to fake that and there’s always going to be too much energy.  Mr. Romney had too much energy and none of it was positive.”

Celinda Lake is a top Pollster and Political Strategist for the Democratic Party

On what information the undecided voter needs to choose (At 28:30: on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Really both candidates have to answer the question “What are you specifically going to do next year that’s different from what’s being done now that will help my family because my family’s not in good shape?”  The second thing they want to know is who really gets my life more and that’s where you see a lot of the contest in that debate with President Obama talking about being the son of a single mom, talking about women he had met on the campaign trail, talking about his grandmother, his own daughters, et cetera, and that’s where Mitt Romney got into trouble talking about binders of women and also talking about all women getting off work at 5 o’clock.”

On equal pay and what to expect in November (At 35:34 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Absolutely equal pay is a strong issue and nobody can understand why Mitt Romney will not support tough enforcement of equal pay laws.  The other thing that’s very, very strong is funding for Planned Parenthood.  Planned Parenthood’s favorability nationwide right now is 69 percent.  That is more favorable than either presidential candidate by a substantial margin…”

“Eleven million unmarried women turned out to vote in 2008 and didn’t turn out in 2010.  We desperately need them back in 2012 and they’re not that engaged right now.  They haven’t seen anything that they thought would make a difference in their lives.  And 6.6 million younger women voted in 2008, didn’t show up in 2010.  We need them back as well as their younger male counterparts.”

Claire Moshenberg is an Associate Campaign Director for MomsRising

On creating a binder costume for Halloween: (At 41:12 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Well I’m hearing that the top adult costume this Halloween is going to be dressing up as a binder, which I totally love after this last debate.  And there’s some really great non-toxic ways to put this costume together.  You can start with big cardboard.  Go to your local grocery store.  Go to your recycling bin.  Find some big pieces of cardboard and that recycled material can become the body of the costume.  Decorate it and you have a perfect binder costume which is going to get so many laughs for Halloween.”

Lisa Maatz is the Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, American Association for University Women

On Katherine Fenton’s debate question that sparked the ‘binders full of women’ answer: (At 52:59 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“I think it’s because he [Romney] hasn’t spoken about women all that much in his campaign… And the thing he talks about is “binders full of women”, and I think we all know he meant binders full of resumes of qualified candidates for senior positions in his state administration. But the way that he said it, coupled with his demeanor, the fact that he dodged the question, and  as I said before, the fact that women haven’t been brought up on his side of the aisle all that much, was really interesting.  The other thing I’ll tell you is that I was very disheartened to see the young woman who asked that question kind of be targeted on Twitter.  I think she took down her Twitter account.  You know, she was called a feminazi.  Some people tried to call her a lady parts tool which I think is hilarious — as if somehow everything that women care about and vote for has to do with our lady parts.  But I think equal pay is an economic justice issue and that’s the way she framed it.”

Fired up? Join MomsRising today! 

*LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

Let’s face it:  The mainstream media plays a powerful role in shaping our collective understanding of issues across the nation.  It also plays a powerful role in shaping the understanding that leaders and candidates have about what’s going on in our homes throughout the country.  Yet too often the mainstream media focus is on fluff, celebrity gossip, and the objectification of women’s bodies, while our Main Street realities are ignored.  And to make matters worse, there are too few women in the media overall.  In fact, according to one study, only 24 percent of the people interviewed, heard, seen, or read about in the mainstream broadcast and print news outlets are female.  Having women’s voices in the media makes a difference.  Interestingly, news stories by female reporters are almost twice as likely to challenge gender stereotypes than stories by male reporters.

Women’s voices are missing and they’re missing at a critical time, a time when the U.S. Census just reported that there has been no forward movement at all in closing the gender gap between women and men; that it remains stuck at 77 cents to a man’s dollar, with moms and women of color experiencing increased wage hits on top of that.

We’re joined on this show by authors, experts, economists, and hard-hitting analysts as we ask a key, critical question.  If the media portrayed women’s real issues instead of focusing coverage on fluff and on objectifying women’s bodies, then would that impact what the candidates say–and even impact what policies move forward in Congress?  Would we, for example, have better educated leaders and fewer candidates doing things like say, dismissing 47 percent of our population, many of whom are women, working parents, seniors, and veterans?

**You can hear all about it by clicking here to get the podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

Special guests include:

• Tamara Draut,  Vice President of Policy and Research for Demos
• Jessica Valenti,  Author and Blogger
• Elaine Maag, Research Associate for The Urban Institute
• Melissa Silverstein, Editor of Women and Hollywood and the Artistic Director of the Athena Film Festival.
• Tifany Dufu, President of the White House Project

***LISTEN to the “MomsRising with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner” radio show here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

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Media Coverage of Women’s Issues, Presidential Candidates & The Infamous 47 Percent Comment: MomsRising Radio With Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner Highlights:

Tamara Draut is the Vice President of Policy and Research for Demos

On the 47% comment: (At 5:00 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“The 47 percent is accurate in terms of the number of households that don’t pay federal income taxes. The overwhelming majority of people who are working are paying some type of federal tax. For workers that don’t pay any federal income taxes, we should actually celebrate because one of the reasons why is after they file for the earned income tax credit, the child tax credit, they often end up not owing, or paying any federal income tax… And these are the types of “let’s help people make ends meet” policies that have been championed by both Republicans and Democrats. The idea that there’s half of the American population that isn’t paying any type of federal tax is simply false…”

“Let’s keep in mind that the taxes that everybody pays, whether they pay federal income tax or not, are often some of the more regressive taxes, like the sales tax and the payroll tax.  So it’s really misleading and it’s part of a new sort of strategy where it seems like we’re trying to divide the country into makers and takers but, Mitt Romney turned that strategy on its head. Usually we define the makers as the people who get up and go work for a living and the fat cats as the people in the top one percent who are taking too much of their share.  Romney has completely turned that idea on its head and it’s really confounding.”

Jessica Valenti is a Blogger and feminist writer, known for having founded the feminist blog Feministing in 2004.

On how she responded to a big media outlet that asked her to talk about losing her baby weight: (At 20:25 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“I pitched a story to a big news organization, a major news organization, about the Mom-in-Chief conversation and the various ways that motherhood has been coming into the national debate through the conventions. So the pitch was for a pretty political story, and I got an email back saying, “Can you please write a story about how you lost your baby weight?” which I found so outrageous and so awful.  You know, just as a general rule but also because I actually did lose all my baby weight in one day because my daughter was born almost three months premature.  So on top of just being offensive to all women, it was particularly offensive to me as well.”

“I responded in a blog post and in a video.  I didn’t name them because as I said on the video, “You know, we all have to eat.  You don’t want to burn any bridges with big media organizations.”  But I just put a video out there and it got a lot of attention and I’m really glad that it did because I want people to realize that when you’re a female writer and you put pitches out, this is often what comes back to you.  I’m hardly the first person to get an ask like this. I think it’s important that people understand that when you’re a serious writer and you’re putting serious pitches out there, often what comes back are these kind of nonsense stories that really make the world a worse place for women.”

Elaine Maag is a Research Associate for The Urban Institute

On her reaction to the 47% comment: (At 31:00 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“I was definitely surprised.  He gets that number from the Tax Policy Center, which says that 47 percent of people in any given year aren’t paying federal income taxes.  But I don’t think Romney understands who those 47 percent are; and those 47 percent are basically people who are either old and have income that we don’t tax, like Social Security, or they are often single parents with children or young families with children, and low incomes.  So to write off such a large chunk of the population seemed like a poor political strategy at best.”

On how the earned income credit works: (At 32:22 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“The way the earned income tax credit works is for every dollar you earn, you get either a 34 cent or 40 cent, or even 45 cent bonus from the federal government through the tax system; and that bonus depends on how many children you have.  So let’s say you’re a single mom of two children.  When you start working, your wages will be augmented by 40 cents on the dollar.  You’re gonna continue to get this earned income tax credit matching every dollar you earn with 40 extra cents until you hit a threshold that’s legislated, and in 2012, you can earn up to $13,000 and you’ll get this bonus.  That will give you a tax credit worth $5,200, which is a lot of money for a low-income family.”

“And then you’re going to continue to receive that $5,200 until you have earnings that are up to about $17,000.  So now instead of taking $17,000 home, you’re gonna take $22,000 home and people see that in their tax returns and they are encouraged to work.  The credit then starts to phase out as your income raises; and by the time you hit about $42,000, you won’t be receiving an earned income tax credit anymore.  And that’s important because what the credit does is it pulls you into the labor market.  When your job is low paying, you receive the subsidy.  As you gain experience and move to better jobs, you will no longer be eligible for the credit but you’ll be making more money and you’re going to start to actually pay income taxes back and on net over your lifetime, you’re going to pay more in income tax than you received in tax credits these early years of employment.”

“The earned income tax credit makes sense because people have more money.   They have more disposable income and the research is very clear that low-income families spend the money that comes in.  They spend it on food, housing, transportation — these basic needs.  If you give the same $5,000 to a very wealthy person, chances are they’re going to save it, which is not going to necessarily boost the economy right now, but low-income families will be spending that money because they need to.”

Melissa Silverstein is the editor of Women and Hollywood and the Artistic Director of the Athena Film Festival.

On how the media and Hollywood, reflect what our culture thinks about women and how that reflection permeates all of us:  (At 44:57: on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“As you said in the introduction,  women work 25 hours a day and never stop, so not valuing women’s work is what goes on in all of our culture.  But what I think we need to do in order to look beyond the negativity is really think about your media diet.  I go to the gym — I’ll read US Magazine when I’m there, but I think people really need to understand what it means when you inhale these magazines, these tabloid shows, on a constant basis.  That means that everything you’re seeing in a sound bite, it’s all focused on the top tier celebrities.  It’s usually all focused on romance, on fashion, on dating, on nothing of substance.  And then, occasionally you’ll see a story on Entertainment Weekly about how blah blah blah showed up at an Obama fundraiser, but it never has any meat to it.  So it’s these little nuggets that you get, and our job as humans who care about issues is to dig a little bit deeper and to educate ourselves and that takes work. That’s why you have to find places that can give you information that can get you through the day without feeling like you want to just never open a magazine or watch TV again.

Tiffany Dufu is the President of the White House Project

On the White House Project:  (At 50:15 on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“The White House Project ignites leadership of women in politics and business.  The reason why we’re focused on trying to get more women into positions of leadership is because there’s enough research now and we all know that it’s common sense when you have diversity in leadership, you’re able to produce better outcomes and more innovative solutions that are going to help all of us.  We see women’s leadership as a means to a larger end, which are solutions that are going to really impact all of us and we’ve been working very hard across this country in all sectors of our society.  Women are only in about 16 or 17 percent of the highest leadership roles and positions, so we have a lot of work to do and this is why we’re so focused on it…”

“It’s incredibly important that we understand the role of women’s images.What we see really impacts our consciousness and our culture.  We like to quote Marian Wright Edelman around here.  She says, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”  And we know that especially in our culture. Though we’re in 2012, people still fundamentally believe that women’s primary role is of wife and mother in the private sphere and not necessarily the public sphere.  But it’s very important that in the media, on television, in magazines, in movies, that people are seeing images of strong, authentic women leaders so they can actually get their brains around it and really understand that those women can be normal — that they’re average — that they’re a part of our culture.”

Fired up? Join MomsRising today! 

*LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

This omission is about way more than what candidate said what word.  This omission is about how our culture and our nation values the work of women and values the future contributions of children and families.  Let’s face it times have changed.  We have a modern workforce comprised of 50% women for the first time in history.  Women are projected to create more than half of the nearly ten million expected new small business jobs by 2018,  and in our consumer economy, women are making three-quarters of the purchasing decisions.

If that isn’t an economic power that deserves attention during national debates, I don’t know what is.  So we’re going to talk about that today.  We’re going to talk about where women are in our economy and in our national conversation.  We’re going to talk about the debate — about who said what, what was true and what wasn’t true. We’re going to discuss what role social media plays and how we perceive what candidates say.  And we’re going to talk about what was missing and what should have been said.  As a special treat, we also have a media guru and coach coming on to tell us how the candidates should have been sitting.

**You can hear the whole show now by clicking here to get the podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

Special guests include:

Joel Silberman, Founder and President, Media Talent 2.0 Inc

Dr. Kimberly Ellis, Affectionately known as “Dr. Goddess,” a Scholar of American and Africana Studies, an Artist, Activist and Entrepreneur

Dana Singiser, Vice President for Public Policy and Government Relations.

Leslie Kantor, Nationally recognized leader in the fields of public health, sexuality education and non-profit organizational development.

Maria Teresa Kumar, Founding Executive Director of Voto Latino

***LISTEN to the entire “MomsRising with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner” radio show here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

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 The First Presidential Debate Revealed

               MomsRising Radio with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner Highlights:

Joel Silberman is the Founder and President of Media Talent 2.0 Inc

On what body language tells us about candidates during a debate (At 5:22 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“The most important part of demeanor is to show up with your heart, because heart wins.  And when you talk about debating, there is a difference between debating in the store and debating on television.  On television, it’s optics.  And that’s what’s so interesting.  People who listened to this debate on the radio, had a different context for this debate than those who watched it.  On radio, this seemed much more measured and not so distant between the two candidates.  But on television, there was a big difference and that’s optics.  So for television, you’ve got to hold yourself up at all times.  When you look at your opponent, you look right at them and be present with them and then after you’ve done that, if you look away to take notes, do it.  Don’t just slink away.  Do it — change your focus, but keep your heart present…”

“On TV we hear 80 percent with our eyes and 20 percent with our ears.  That’s not my figure.  That’s a study that was done at NYU about what people retain.  They retain what they see when they’re watching television, much more so than what they hear.  That’s why this was so dramatic seeming because the optics are what make television what it is.  And the physical is extraordinarily important…”

Dr. Kimberly Ellis is affectionately known as “Dr. Goddess,” she is a Scholar of American and Africana Studies, an Artist, Activist and Entrepreneur

On the way social media influences how politicians present themselves and talk about the issues that they stand for (At 22:02 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Even dealing with television, candidates know that they have to speak in sound bites.  And you know, Twitter is nothing but 140-character sound bites, right? We know that you’re not going to be able to get away with all of the lies and manipulation and obfuscation that you know others have gotten away with in the past.  I mean you will be fact-checked so quickly.  I think even with Mitt Romney, the fact-checking happened so quickly, especially on Twitter, “That’s not true,”  “Oh, you didn’t mention that,” or “Oh once again he’s flip flopping.”   It was amazing to watch.  I think even with regard to President Obama, he had some zingers like saying “Oh you almost took my five seconds to make my point” to Jim Lehrer.  I thought that was brilliant.  One, that he did that and second, there were a few zingers that he was able to get in and people caught them, transcribed them, and next thing you know, those went viral. I do think that candidates have to be hyper aware of not just how they perform in sound bite mode but they need to think of themselves in social media mode and that’s a whole other level.”

On how would you tell someone new to Twitter to dive in (At 22:58 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Well first of all, women are dominating social media  – and they’re doing a vigilant, excellent job. Twitter is disproportionately female.  It is also disproportionately Black and Latino.  And you know, for any new user, I would say first and foremost, make sure that your name is brief — try to keep it at 10 characters or less if you can.  And do not come on with an egg.  You have to put up a picture and you have to just be personable.  I think that what I’ve experienced in my life on Twitter and social media and then going to live events is that when you are your authentic self, you’re experiencing social media, and as you go out in the public, it will be increased exponentially.  I have met so many wonderful people and have had so many wonderful experiences from simply coming online and even with a brand like Dr. Goddess, I’m still my authentic self, even as Dr. Goddess. I can laugh and joke even at my brand but as people experience Dr. Goddess, they know they’re dealing with a scholar, and artist, and activist; somebody who loves to travel and a techie — who’s created a number of different hats.  I suggest that you’ve got to get in.  You have to get on board or you will be left behind.  And then when you do get on board, simply be yourself.  You can be as private as you want to be.  You do not have to tell all your family details.  I know some women are really concerned about that.”

Dana Singiser is the Vice President for Public Policy and Government Relations.

On how we view birth control in our modern political climate (At 29:21 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Well I think that’s a really good question and it’s particularly a head scratcher in a year where the economy is so at the top of minds. We know that on average, a woman spends about $600 a year on on contraception, which really is a pocketbook issue. That’s money that can be spent on groceries, on education, and on other expenses that a family’s trying to meet in our day to day lives.  So I think the sort of expanded playing field to birth control is particularly a head scratcher for us here… Of course that’s sort of the ultimate economic insult for women is an assumption that we should not be able to control the timing and spacing of our children and control our economic and educational lives as a result of having unplanned pregnancies.

The other really interesting aspect to the fiscal argument that you’re making is the cost to the federal government.  And we know that for every dollar spent for family planning in a Title X program, the federal government saved nearly $4.00 in Medicaid dollars.  So you know, this fiscal conservative, or so-called fiscal conservative in the race, Mitt Romney, seems to have missed that fact I think it’s worth repeating — for every dollar spent in Title X Family Planning Program, the federal government saves $4.00 in Medicaid.”

Leslie Kantor is a nationally recognized leader in the fields of public health, sexuality education and non-profit organizational development.

On what is the proper age to talk about birth control (At 38:26 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Ideally talking about topics related to sex and sexuality is something that parents are doing with their children from very young ages.  The truth is that there are opportunities to address issues like the differences and similarities between boys and girls and what’s a good friendship and a bad friendship.  All of those issues are things that ideally people start talking about when children are very, very little and then they continue the conversation.  So one that’s important to keep in mind is that old idea of the talk is something that we need to actually get rid of forever because it can’t just be one conversation.  When it comes to a topic like birth control, that is a topic that is going to become more relevant as people become teenagers and get older and may actually be getting involved in sexual relationships, which happens with somewhat older teens.”

“There are more and more studies that show that when parents talk to their teens about issues related to sex, those teens wait longer to have sex.  In other words, they abstain longer until they’re older and they are also more likely to use birth control and condoms when they have sex.  We also have hundreds and hundreds of studies that show the same thing in terms of sex education; that when sex education is good quality, when it talks about again, both delaying and using birth control, the young people who get comprehensive sex education wait longer and are more likely to use safe sex methods.  So in fact, more information is very protective for teenagers.”

Maria Teresa Kumar is the Founding Executive Director of Voto Latino

On why is it important, critical even, for candidates to speak to the Latino community directly: (At 51:48 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Well first of all, Latino issues are American issues so as I mentioned before, Latinos care about the economy, they care about job creation, they care about education; and they care about the welfare of  their homes and obviously immigration. Those are top issues among the American public so it’s not that different.  What’s powerful about the impact of the Latino vote is that they are geographically dispersed in places that they weren’t necessarily in 2008 where their vote definitely mattered but now because of the census, we actually have a different congressional district that can weigh in much stronger than they could before, and all of a sudden you have states such as North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Indiana; even Ohio, where there’s been an explosion of the Latino community and that’s resulted in the electoral power in those states.  That’s where it’s becoming interesting, why the Latino vote now is definitely a swing vote, because again they weren’t counted necessarily in 2008 but because of re-districting, and the Electoral College, the way it works, there’s been increased weight in these states.”

On the work that you’re doing with Voto Latino to help bring out those votes (At 53:03 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“So one of the biggest events was one that we created in partnership with League of Women Voters, and ATIA – Pacific Islanders. We created the very first National Voter Registration Day on September 25^, where, just like Earth Day is a day to celebrate the earth, National Voter Registration Day celebrates civic participation and we along with 1,200 other organizations collectively registered a quarter of a million people on that day… The number one thing is that the way that we power our politics is through people-powered politics and empowerment and that is, I would say, one of our greatest achievements.  So far, within our organization, we’ve registered close to 81,000 registered voters in the key battleground states.”

Fired up? Join MomsRising today! 

*LISTEN TO THE SHOW HERE: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

Let’s face it, women comprise more than half the electorate but all too often the top priority issues of women are absolutely, positively missing from the center stage.  A recent YWCA poll found that nearly 70 percent of women are concerned about unaffordable medical expenses for themselves or their family.  That same high percentage was concerned about making sure that health care insurance is affordable and that Social Security will be there when they retire.  This is what women want the candidates to be talking about.  Women also want the candidates to be talking about the fact that women are facing serious economic hardships, as well as facing racial, ethnic and gender discrimination on a daily basis, and they want the candidates to be talking about the fact that equal pay for equal work is still a priority.

On this show, we’re also going to take a look at the hardships because, as we all know, it’s not just about what’s happening in the polls.  It’s about what’s happening in our living rooms, and this poll found that 21 percent reported that they are falling behind on their rent or mortgage payments due to economic insecurity and that 33 percent have had to postpone needed medical care simply because they didn’t have enough funds.  All candidates should be talking about the fact that we still need access to affordable health care; that we still need access to affordable child care; that childcare costs more than college in many states right now; and that everybody gets sick but not everyone has the funds or the time off to get better.

These are the policies that all candidates need to be talking about on the campaign trail. On this show we talk about what’s really going on with women across the nation and about how we can build a stronger national economy through working on the policy priorities that impact us all.

**You can hear the whole show now by clicking here to get the podcast: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

Special guests include:

• Stephanie Coontz, Academic and author of seven books, most recently the author of A Strange Stirring.
• Kellyanne Conway, President/CEO of the Polling Company/WomenTrend.
• Amy Allina, Founder of Raising Women’s Voices for Healthcare
• Jeff Hayes, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research
• Marilyn Watkins, Policy Director at the Economic Opportunities Institute
• Ashley Boyd, MomsRising Campaign Director

***LISTEN to the entire “MomsRising with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner” radio show here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537

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“Want Women’s Votes!? Candidates Must Speak to our Issues!” MomsRising Radio with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner Highlights:

Stephanie Coontz is an academic and author of seven books, most recently the author of A Strange Stirring.

On her New York Times article “The Myth of the Male Decline” (At 2:54 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“There’s been this whole series of books with titles like The End of Men and The Rise of Women, The Richer Sex, How the Majority of New Female Breadwinners are Changing Society.  Some are celebratory; they think it’s great.  Some are very worried; they say that feminism and women’s progress has ‘turned men into boys’ and you hear phrases like matriarchy, but the point is that these are tremendous exaggerations of what’s going on and they’re not helpful.  They’re not helpful to women who want further progress and who understand that there are still areas of discrimination and they in fact encourage a backlash against women with the idea that there’s in some way, women’s ascent has been driving men down. So what I tried to do in this article is point out first of all that although women have had a remarkable revolution in their options since back in 1963, when the Feminine Mystique was published and women had to work full time, year round with a college degree to earn less than the average male high school graduate, when there was still discriminatory laws and huge attitudes that were head and master laws gave men the final say. There’s been a revolution, this is true, but it is not completed and it does not revolve a reversal.”

On what we can do to build a stronger nation where everyone thrives – (At 11:57 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“One thing we have to do is get rid of this idea that the American way, and the successes of the American past, have been by people pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps.  That is a physical impossibility.  People need some help and they need steps built for them to ascend. There’s been this tremendous problem in America where we have increasingly insisted that government does not have a role to play in, not only providing social safety nets, but in providing a social ladder that will allow people to move up.  The other thing we have to do is we have to think about continuing discrimination against women.   There are so many ways that that goes on and we have to fight against the new offenses against women’s reproductive rights.  And finally, and I know that this is something that you pay a lot of attention to you in your work — we all have to pay attention to the fact that today half the work force is women – 70 percent of American kids are raised in families where every adult in the family works.  We have to stop expecting women to be the ones who shoulder that by quitting work or cutting back work.  We need to help men and women find a better balance in their access to a good work life, a lasting work life, and also to a good and lasting family life.”

Kellyanne Conway is the President and CEO of the Polling Company/WomenTrend.   

On presidential candidates addressing the issues that women care about (At 20:28 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Women are still very concerned about healthcare.  One in three women we talked to said that they have personally encountered a struggle in the last couple of years, whether it’s falling behind on their rent or mortgage, receiving free food from a pantry, having their wages or benefits reduced, losing a job, or having someone in their household lose a job.  And even if these women were not the exact victims of these struggles, they of course have compassion and want to help those women in their lives who have struggled. The lack of a personal struggle doesn’t mean lack of compassion for those struggles.

So healthcare remains a big concern, both personally and at the policy level.  You know in Washington, they like to talk about healthcare as a major policy issue and with Supreme Court implications.  But for most women, healthcare is personal –it’s not political…In fact, 68 percent of the women surveyed said a major illness or medical expense would be a big obstacle for them. They admitted that if there was a $1,000 medical bill that they needed to pay, they’d have a real hard time doing so…You know women are interested in negotiation and compromise and getting things done.  The don’t necessarily see that coming out of Washington and some of their state capitals now, but they are hopeful that more women in politics would make a difference.  They believe that – they particularly believe that congressional action should focus on economic issues, particularly expand assistance for small businesses, pass comprehensive immigration reform, and extend the middle class tax cuts that the president and the Republican Congress extended in 2010.. I think as usual, women are proving to be the game changers and decision makers in this election.”

Amy Allina is the Founder of Raising Women’s Voices for Healthcare

 On what aspects of healthcare are especially important to women: (At 26:34 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“I think one of the things that we’ve seen women respond very positively to is the new policy that went into effect August 1, saying that if we have health insurance with a new health insurance plan, we can get preventive healthcare without having to pay a co-pay.  That feels really important to most women.  These are preventive health services that they know they should be getting, like cancer screenings, mammograms, screening for cervical cancer, and yet for some women, the barrier of the co-pay is stopping them from getting care that they know will help them stay healthy and able to support their families and able to live long, happy lives; and they worry about not being able to get it.  But they sometimes have to make choices between paying the co-pay and doing other things in their lives that they need to.  So a new policy like getting preventive care without any economic barriers is incredibly valuable to women and we’ve seen them respond in a very positive way to that new policy.”

On the organization, Raising Women’s Voices for Healthcare: (At 36:47 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“It’s an organization that has focused on trying to make sure that women’s priorities and concerns are a part of the debate in healthcare reform.  So we want to make sure that as healthcare reform goes forward, both implementing the Affordable Care Act and any other changes to the healthcare system, we focus on what women need as the healthcare decision makers for the family, what we need to stay healthy and what we need to guarantee the well-being of our families.  The Affordable Care Act was a really important step forward on all of those fronts and we just want to make sure that as implementation goes forward, the promise of that law is delivered on for women.”

Jeff Hayes is the Senior Researcher at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research

On women’s concern for the future of Social Security (At 42:02 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“People are right to be concerned. Not because it’s not going to be there but because the other aspects of retirement security that we’ve been told that we should depend on, the idea of pensions and the idea of savings, the other legs of the retirement funding stool, they’ve become so much weaker. Social Security is actually the relatively strong one but the fact is that its benefits are really, really modest and they might not allow them to maintain their standard of living in retirement with the drop in housing equity, with the drop in savings, interest rates and the end of defined benefit pension plans. It’s just that Social Security has become much more important and the benefits haven’t really increased to keep up with what people’s needs will be in retirement.

Marilyn Watkins is the Policy Director at the Economic Opportunities Institute

On how candidates are addressing Social Security: (At 49:14 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Social Security is of course a retirement program.  It’s a universal one that all Americans who work and everyone who’s in a family, who has had someone who worked, can count on when they retire.  About two-thirds of the people who get Social Security today are in fact retirees.  One in four American households actually get income from Social Security.  So it’s not just retirees.  Younger workers and their families also are covered by Social Security insurance benefits. If you become disabled during your working years, you can get Social Security. Almost 20 percent of Social Security recipients are in fact disabled workers and their family members, their children and the spouse if the spouse isn’t working.  And over 12 percent of Social Security recipients are actually survivors of deceased workers. Social Security is also our largest child anti-poverty program because children of deceased workers will also get Social Security benefits.  So it’s a really important program, not just for seniors; but also for all working people today and their families giving them that kind of assurance of some income should some terrible thing happen and they’re no longer able to work and provide for themselves and their family.”

Ashley Boyd is a Campaign Director for MomsRising

On what the MomsRising membership across the nation is feeling about voting on November 6th  (At 56:05 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“People are very motivated to vote.  What we’re hearing when we send out reminders to vote is that people are saying they’re going to share it with friends.  They’re asking for details about the voter registration deadlines and definitely wanting to make sure that they’re registered. We’ve gotten a lot of feedback that people know about some of the voter suppression attempts and they’re really concentrated and focused on what they need to do to get registered and to be able to vote on Election Day.  So I think this year it seems like members are focused on both voting, getting registered, but then really making sure that they can seal the deal and actually cast their ballot on Election Day.”

On how our listeners can get involved through MomsRising and through MomsRising’s Moms Vote program (At: 56:58 on iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/moms-rising-radio/id533519537)

“Well the first most important thing to do is for them to register to vote themselves and they can go to our Moms Vote page, which ismomsrising.org/momsvote.  And on that page, we have a portal for you to be able to register to vote in any state, which is a great tool.  There’s also a great tool for people like me who are registered or think I’m registered, but want to double, triple check for the reasons I talked about earlier.  So there’s a site called canivote.org and that lets you go to your state and your county registration rolls and check to see whether you’re registered.  And I found it super helpful and affirming to know that I was indeed registered.”

Fired up? Join MomsRising today! 

Before we get into the tips, let’s meet the experts:

• Dr. Janey Thornton, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services.
• Sam Kass, Assistant White House Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Healthy Food Initiatives
• Jessica Donze Black  with the Kids Safe and Healthful Foods Project at the Pew Health Group.
• Alison Crockett, blogs as MsDivaBlue and is also a well- known musician.
• Cynthia Liu, with K-12 News Network and popular blogger.

1. Get Kids in the Kitchen

When host Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner asked Dr. Janey Thornton for good tricks to get kids to eat healthy food, she shared this easy tip: ”Make it fun! Make it kid friendly. It can be really healthy and be fun for kids at the same time. My children used to love to help me in the kitchen. If they prepare it, they’re more likely to consume it.”

Sam Kass agrees. “It’s critical to get our kids involved,” says Kass. “Kids are curious and open minded and if you engage them in the process, be it having them help you plant a garden or even go to the grocery store and let them pick out a couple vegetables, or having them get in the kitchen and cook, then kids start taking ownership and they start taking pride in what they’re producing, and their likelihood of actually eating it is dramatically increased.”

2. Set an Example 

Dr. Thornton shared that they’ve found that student leaders help encourage kids to try new healthy foods. If the kid at the front of the line takes a food, it’s more likely that the kids behind them will follow their example.

So, how do you translate that lesson into your home? Take Alison Crockett’s advice and set an example for your kids by incorporating more healthy foods into your own diet. “If you don’t eat it, why do you expect your kids to eat it?” asks Crockett.

3. Make Fruits and Veggies Delicious

“Our goal is to not only offer healthy foods, but to get the children to consume those healthy foods,” says Dr. Thornton, discussing the new USDA school food guidelines. She says parents may see a food in their cafeteria that they think is unhealthy, only to find out that it’s a very healthy food being presented in a kid-friendly way, like a pizza. Try this at home by turning kid-friendly standards into healthy treats through including whole wheat, fruits, or vegetables.

The experts agreed that one of the most important ways to get your kids to eat healthy is to show them that fruits and vegetables are delicious. Cynthia Liu saw first hand that kids will fill up on veggies if you turn them into an appealing snack. At her son’s cultural school, Cynthia noticed that the snacks were frequently junk food.

“I noticed kids snacking on you know, Oreos and all kinds of sugary snacks in between little breaks when they had class and I thought, “Well what if one day I bring in some vegetables and some dip.”  You can just buy those pre-made crudite packaged things at your supermarket.  It doesn’t have to be pricey.  It doesn’t have to be organic…as long as it’s a vegetable that crunches, you’re probably in pretty good shape.” Her experiment ended up being a huge success. “I brought it in and lo and behold, these children that had been sucking down bright blue beverages and sugary cookies went crazy for the carrots, the celery, the dip,” says Cynthia.

Keep flavor and preparation in mind for both raw and cooked vegetables. “Don’t cook vegetables within an inch of their lives. That’s unappetizing, and unpleasant to look at,” says Alison Crockett.

Not sure how to cook greens and make them delicious? Try this easy recipe from Assistant White House Chef Sam Kass: Try cooking greens with a little bit of lemon juice, a little bit of chili, a touch of honey, and maybe some sauteed garlic. You can use this on anything green, from chard to kale to green beans. (I’ve tried it and it’s a huge crowd-pleaser.)

4. Small Steps Can Create Big Results

“I would say start small,” says Sam Kass.  “You know, don’t try to overhaul everything. Go to choosemyplate.gov. There you’ll find really simple tips and it’s little things like choose water over sugary drinks or fill half your plates with fruits and vegetables, or choose low-fat dairy.” 

When it comes to picky eaters, you might have to do those small steps many, many times. “I have a finicky eater,” says host Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, “and my pediatrician told me  that sometimes you have to introduce foods 30 times before they’ll actually for real eat them. On some of the foods, I’m on number 300 or maybe 3,000.”

“None of us are perfect,” says Alison Crockett, “and our kids aren’t going to eat everything. But if we keep serving it, eventually they will eat the way that we would like for them to eat.”

5. Get Involved with School Foods

“…[Parents] recognize that when the children are at school, they’re making their choices independently and so to the extent that all of the choices they have available to them are healthy choices, that really reinforces what we’re trying to do as parents and ultimately parents are happy to see that,” says Jessica Black Donze. “I think parents have a tremendous voice in their school and the vast majority of school nutrition directors are really working hard to get all of this implemented, but it’s not always easy.  They’re operating on really small budgets and in some cases, with limited equipment and materials available to them.  So to the extent they have the support of parents and the community and that they’re working collaboratively to troubleshoot some of the hurdles and help serve the healthiest but also most delicious food possible; that’s going to be a positive.”

“There is no voice more important than the parent voice, and both in schools without a question, but for everything,” says Sam Kass.  ”We’re seeing businesses step up and fundamentally change the way that they’re doing their business because they’re hearing from parents.  We’re seeing grocery stores changing what they’re offering, trying to reduce the price of healthy options.  We’re seeing restaurants, like Darden restaurants, completely overhauling their kids’ menu making a fruit or vegetable the default option, and reducing calories and sodium by 20 percent over 10 years.  Why?  Because they know that parents are calling for this stuff.”

Get involved in your school and learn more about what foods your kids are encountering during the school day. “…I think [parents] need to start out by talking to people in that cafeteria, and then if they see no result there, go to the director in the district,” says Dr. Thornton. “[The new USDA guidelines are] a great opportunity for parents to get involved, talk to their nutrition director and say, “Gosh what are we serving?  What’s on the menu?  How might we be able to creatively offer some different opportunities to kids and expose children to some different things?”says Jessica Donze Black.