Convention Bingo - Make Your Voice Heard!
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GoogleAfter watching the convention acceptance speeches, tell us how the candidates scored on your MomsRising Candidate Bingo card! (Don't have a Bingo card yet? Get yours by clicking here.) What scores did you get? Let's hear how the candidates did on family-friendly issues. We'll be sharing scores with the media and candidates as well. HOW TO SHARE YOUR CANDIDATE BINGO SCORES NOW: If you're on the homepage, then just click the "Add New Comment" button below. If you're on the blog page, just scroll down to the end of this blog--through all of the comments/blog text--to the "Post a Comment" section. Don't forget to click "Post Comment" at the end. (And, if you're also interested in potentially sharing your thoughts with the media after you post them, then click here).
Bingo Tally Comparison - The Prez Candidates in their Nomination Acceptance Speeches:
On September 4th, 2008 Kristin said:
I listened to Sen. McCain’s Republican Convention acceptance speech tonight with my MomsRising Bingo sheet in hand and a pencil at the ready. I got 4 points on my MomsRising Bingo Card for Sen. McCain: 2 for mentioning healthcare, and then another 2 for mentioning education (even though it wasn’t early learning). He also talked about a child tax exemption, and about his own family and mother. Unemployment and new jobs were covered, as was working for “something bigger than you,” and volunteering. No bingo for Sen. McCain.
By comparison, last week during his Democratic Convention acceptance speech, Sen. Obama touched on every MomsRising Bingo issue, and got the bonus point issues as well. I counted at least 15 MomsRising Bingo points during his speech. Sen. Obama touched on the need for healthcare coverage, fair pay, paid family leave after the birth of a new child, paid sick days, early education support, and the importance of making sure toys are safe and non-toxic. He also touched on the importance of families and having a healthy economy. Sen. Obama got a bingo.
Next stop MomsRising Bingo for the debates!
McCains Health Care tax Credit Not All Encompassing
I am 28 years old, middle class, married, employed mother of two with no health insurance for my husband and self. Our children are covered through the state Medicare plans. I was very surprised last night while the V.P.s were discussing the McCain plan and Palin mentioned that Joe six pack could cross state borders to get health care of his choice that Biden did not mention that McCains plans for the $5000 healthcare tax credit would also mean that not only would the "health care of your choice" not only not be available in your area but that your insurance would then not be accepted in your state meaning every time you needed to see the dr you'd have to go to another state. Living in South Dakota and being considered rural area living in the black hills we see that alot you have to travel sometimes a great distance to go to a dr your insurance will cover and just like internet services and utilities here you only have 3 options other wise if you want something else it is just not available in this state making McCains Health Care plan useless to me and my family cause it simply isn't cost effective to have the Health tax credit and the insurance credit if it means we have to travel farther than we can afford to fill our gas tank to go especially when your or your child sick or its in the dead of winter.
So I am in full support of Obama/Biden in universal health care because for our area in South Dakota it will bring more availability of affordable services.
Oh and Sarah honey PLEASE don't compare yourself to me as a parent or as a mom, that makes me feel ill. I HIGHLY doubt that you are "just like me" I seriously doubt you understand the plight of "mainstreet" you are not middle america and dont understand our plight as middle class.
Thank You
Sincerely,
Jenni Peterson
Spearfish, SD.
Abortion
So, I don't know anyone who would want their child to suffer undue stress or hardship.
For that reason I can not understand Palins' stance on abortion.
If my daughter was raped and became pregnant, under Palins dream administration, she would be FORCED to have the baby.
Rape causes so many emotional, physical, and psychological problems, why would any parent want to add to the stress and emotional turmoil of that situation by adding a baby to the mix?
Not to mention her views on incest resulting in pregnancy.
If some poor girl is being raped by her father and becomes pregnant, what is she supposed to do?
I get sick to my stomach when people refer to the person as a feminist. I can not in good conciseness think of her as being pro-woman when she wants to take away those rights to that extreme.
abortion - response
First of all, the morning after pill is a far less traumatic way to help a woman who's been raped and wants to ensure no pregnancy will result.
Second of all, how do you know that that's Gov. Palin's "dream administration" whatever that means? What initiatives has she taken to make her personal beliefs public policy? Last time I checked, despite 30 years of conservative administrations, women have the right to choose - in all cases.
Thirdly, is it safe to assume that you are 100% in favor of a woman's right to choose at all stages of her pregnancy, which is the belief (one he has voted on) of her opponent?
I do not agree with either candidate's view. Is it not equally inhumane (or I suggest more so) to deprive a baby capable of surviving an abortion the right to live, as it is to deny a rape victim the choice to not be pregnant?
Response to Anonymous re: abortion
I assume when you say "Is it not equally inhumane (or I suggest more so) to deprive a baby capable of surviving an abortion the right to live, as it is to deny a rape victim the choice to not be pregnant?" that you are referring to the misinformation about Barack Obama's vote in the Illinois State Senate. I would encourage you to read the facts, not just the smear campaign:
http://fightthesmears.com/articles/15/wildaccusations.
Let's remember that as women we are all in this together. We need to be sure we have all the information to make good decisions. What I am finding is that there is a lot of misinformation about Obama out there. The more I learn, the more I know; the more I know, the more I am certain about who I want to vote for--and WHY.
Thanks.
There are a lot of other issues out there other than abortion; we need to choose our candidate based on who we think is best overall for our families and for us as women.
Abortion
what about that woman or couple who has done everything humanly possible to have their own biological child but can't and would give ANYTHING to have a baby, including a baby who was conceived by rape. Doesn't that child deserve to live, doesn't that family who would give anything to have a child count?
Abortion/Adoption
Have you seen the number of children out there that are up for adoption? Some never get adopted because they're not cute enough, to old or have to many ailments. I truely believe in a woman's right to choose. I feel if a woman wants to carry to term and then give up the child she should have that option just like if a woman decides she doesn't want to carry a child she should have that option.
To the person that mentioned the morning after pill, that's considered a form of abortion according to Sarah Palin and would not be an option just reference the Katie Couric interview. Palin believes that life starts at conception and that girls that have been raped should be counseled to choose life, are you kiddin' me really? Even if that person is twelve? Thirteen? The emotional and physical changes that child would endure not to mention the psychological issues.
I couldn't bring myself to force a twelve or thirteen year old to have a baby.
I don't think I could ever have an abortion, but I would never tell someone else tehy couldn't and I would like to have the option to choose.
Abortion
While I have to sympathize with those looking to adopt, I don't think its fair to force a person to relive a rape for the 40 weeks it takes to have a child.
With regards to those willing to do ANYTHING to have a baby...I have to first say I sympathize with them. But I also know that there are a number of families who say they would do ANYTHING for a baby but wouldn't consider a Black or Bi-racial child for adoption. There are a number of perfectly healthy children who go directly to the foster care system and graduate from the system as adults never having a family of their own and all due to ethnicity.
Of course they count! But...
that doesn't mean that the victim who was raped should be FORCED by LEGISLATION to carry to term and birth a child that she doesn't want and was forced to conceive, AGAINST HER WILL. Don't you think that if you outlaw a woman's right to choose what happens to her body, that women will do what they choose anyway?
I know that if I conceived a child by rape or by forced incest and I desperately did not want to carry that baby to term, but my country's legislation denied me the right to a safe and healthy abortion, then I would simply take matters into my own hands and force a miscarriage.
Forcing legislation onto women's bodies is not the way to support the life of a fetus. Legislation should not even be involved.
I wonder if these women are part of........
the 18 million cracks Palin wants to champion?
The article was from ABC News..
Evangelicals and social conservatives have embraced McCain’s vice presidential pick for what they call her “pro-family,” “pro-woman” values. But in Alaska, critics say Gov. Sarah Palin has not addressed the rampant sexual abuse, rape, domestic violence and murder that make her state one of the most dangerous places in the country for women and children.
Alaska leads the nation in reported forcible rapes per capita, according to the FBI, with a rate two and a half times the national average - a ranking it has held for many years. Children are no safer: Public safety experts believe that the prevalence of rape and sexual assault of minors in Alaska makes the state’s record one of the worst in the U.S. And while solid statistics on domestic violence are hard to come by, most - including Gov. Palin - agree it is an “epidemic.”
It gets better…
Some members of Palin’s administration were focused on the issue of sexual violence. Officials in the Department of Public Safety were devising an ambitious, multi-million-dollar initiative to seriously tackle sex crimes in the state…
Palin would surely want to take on this heinous issue considering her compassionate, christian background, right?
Wrong…
…but Palin’s office put the plan on hold in July.
And for very good reason was this plan to protect the women and children of Alaska delayed…
Days later, Palin fired its chief proponent, Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, after he declined to dismiss a state trooper Palin accused of threatening her own family members. Palin has said she fired Monegan because she wanted to move his department in a “new direction,” and he was not being “a team player on budgeting issues.” The dismissal is now at the center of a hotly-contested investigation by the state legislature.
Seriously, what kind of sick cuss would put the lives of the women and kids of Alask at further risk because she wanted to execute a vendetta against a civil servant! Hell, McCain and sassy Sally are out there telling you how they will keep you safe from terrorists, the boogeymen in the banks and they can’t even protect Alaska without ballsing that up.
Which party platform is better for most families?
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Or some people have brains and energy but no street smarts. Or not enough people skills. Or natural self-discipline. These are all things that one can learn to compensate for with a caring family or good education. But many people don't have the support to overcome their human faults and succeed in life.
And some people have the genes for brains and energy but get hit with bad luck, like lead poisoning (even legal levels of lead will damage IQ and emotional control) or drug addiction as an infant, or abuse/neglect as a child. Bad luck exists. Situations can happen which end up being stronger than the individual, do you accept that? Nor am I about kicking people who are down because of their mistakes, even stupid willful mistakes. Sometimes the natural consequences of a mistake yield an unreasonable amount of suffering. Nobody is saying that we're going to banish inequality, but failing to lend a hand when a little could help a lot is everybody's loss.
Relying on the individual for charity and self-help is nice when it happens, but I feel that a developed country should make the effort to establish a baseline below which nobody is allowed to fall. So the worst, nastiest, screwup in the country should not end up in the street dying of something easily treatable, and certainly his kids should be given the chance to start out with at least their health, safety, and a decent education.
So what is your point about socialist healthcare-- people in the U.S. don't die waiting for transplants or cancer treatment? Don't uninsured people in the U.S. die for even sadder reasons, like untreated pneumonia or diabetes or other diseases for which there are relatively inexpensive, effective treatments? And don't people in the U.S. don't pay twice what the French do for worse results (higher mortality, including infant mortality)? How would a national healthcare system inherently make the costs of healthcare greater?
I don't expect a U.S. national healthcare system to be the best care in the world, any more than our public school system provides the best education. But I think it's realistic to see us providing a decent baseline of health for everybody, with private hospitals to provide the intensive and experimental therapies. You could still spend your life savings on Kennedy's doctor if you like... and under the Dems, your life savings will not decrease unless your income is over $603,403.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/09/ST2008060900950.html
You say, that Dems and Reps are responsible for a situation where "wasteful spending and greed is the American way. Actually wasteful spending, greed, and corruption is the socialist way." I disagree-- these are actually the human way, as are efficiency, kindness, and honesty. A well set-up government encourages one type of behavior, discourages the other. Look at human governments across the world and throughout history, especially the United States before the 20th century. Do you say that greed and corruption were nonexistent in the absence of welfare? Were the robber barons kind and efficient? Would you prefer to return to the days of true, third-world type misery that our poor and unfortunate experienced in the absence of social services?
Finally, do you seriously think that Palin's being a woman is going to change the entire Republican platform? We just did the issues bingo for the national conventions and Obama hit most of the issues that are on the Momsrising list-- McCain and Palin hit none except for Palin's mention of special needs children (and remember she cut funding for special education in Alaska as governor.) It takes more than a candidate being a woman or even a mother to make me want to vote for her.
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