While the politicians are busy playing the blame game, our economy is continuing to deteriorate. Without a doubt, there are plenty of fingers to be pointed, but we are where we are and it is time to move forward.
In tough economic times women get disproportionately hit by job cuts. There is a mentality in our country that women are last in and first out when troubles arise. In a New York Magazine article titled: “Only the Men Survive,” the plight of women on Wall Street was summarized …

There is a simple reason why we have no power.
Women voters account for 52% of the votes cast in our country, yet we are largely divided by our party affiliation and by choice.
The issue of reproductive rights slices our power in half. Two polls were released in May 2007 asking Americans, “With respect to the abortion issue, would you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life?” A CNN poll found 45% said pro-choice and 50% said pro-life. Within the following week, a Gallup poll found 49% responding pro-choice, and 45% …

Former President Bill Clinton was interviewed on The View on September 22,
2008. Bill makes reference to The New Agenda co-founder Dr. Lynette Long
and her article The X Factor.
Pres. Clinton says he agrees with Lynette: “We vote for some people because
we identify with them on race or gender.” Pres. Clinton further adds: “You
can’t tell someone else that the ground on which they make their voting
decision is irrational.”

Well, I say AMEN Pres. Clinton. Thanks for signing on with a core belief of
The New Agenda: That we must promote women to the …

Marilyn Fitterman sent us the following via email:
Oh My What Am I To Do?
These are truly difficult times in the history of our nation, especially for a curmudgeon such as I. As a certified curmudgeon it is expected that I find the misery in a situation and spread that around. So, here I go. What am I to do about this presidential election?
On one side we have an old man whose IQ is probably his shoe size. However, some think the fact that he was tortured for five years qualifies …

New/old twists in the Sarah Palin media narrative.
The writers on Slate’s XX Factor blog imagine Sarah Palin exploited as a sexy maneater by her own people, they question whether charging the McCain camp with sexism for “handling” Sarah Palin is not itself sexist, and they consider that perhaps Sarah Palin frightens men, and so the McCain camp keeps her locked up.
Hanna Rosin finds the Washington Times photo of Sarah Palin, shot from behind Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, “amazing” and wonders whether conservatives are promoting the idea of Palin as a …

This Doesn’t Make Me Want to Vote writes Nayeli Rodriguez on Slate’s XX Factor.

“These ads for Declare Yourself, which feature a gagged and sobbing Jessica Alba, Christina Aguilera, and Andre 3000 among others, are particularly frightening to look at. By the ads’ logic, if I don’t vote I’m essentially submitting myself to a brutal vigilante silencing technique, like having my mouth stapled or bolted shut.”
E.J. Graff agrees: Is This the Message: Kick Me, Beat Me, Tie Me Up!?
“Ewww, Nayeli, I agree with you entirely: Those ads are creepy. Worse than …

From the email alert sent to The New Agenda members on Monday:

MSNBC has asked The New Agenda co-founder Amy Siskind to appear on David Gregory’s “Race for the White House” program for a discussion of NOW’s endorsement of an all male ticket.
Amy said no. Not without the requested meeting with NBC’s Zucker and the public apology from Matthews for on-air sexism. Amy also let Gregory’s representative know that, “until such time as Mr. Zucker and Mr. Matthews follow through on our requests, we would certainly be hypocritical to …

A U.N. study released last Thursday examines the ways in which women are demanding accountability on gender equality and women’s rights.
Accountability from a women’s rights perspective exists when all women are able to get explanations from those in power for actions that affect them, and can set in motion corrective actions when those responsible fail to promote their rights.
Since 1995, the proportion of women in public office worldwide has increased by seven percent. Much of the increase, we’re told, was the result of women realizing that power was the real …

A U.N. study released Thursday examines the intersection between the percentage of women in government and legislative action on issues affecting women. I’ll go over the interesting bits of the study tomorrow, but for now, have a look at the numbers.
Women in political office in America:

74 of 435 members of the House of Representative (17%)
16 of 100 Senators (16%)
8 out of 50 Governors (16%)

This puts the US at 68th among nations worldwide for percentage of women in government. Tajikistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Uganda all rank ahead of the US. Rwanda …

Amy Siskind, co-founder of The New Agenda On September 10 our own Amy Siskind was the guest on Tommy Christopher’s Unusable Signal on BlogTalkRadio.
Amy talked with co-hosts Tommy Christopher and Tom Fitzsimmons about the founding of The New Agenda and explained the group’s non-partisan mission and goals.
We’ve excerpted a few snippets from the hour-long interview to share here:

Amy on the founding of The New Agenda (47 seconds)

Amy on The New Agenda as a non-partisan “big tent” (56 seconds)
Amy on The New Agenda as a watchdog for …