The New Agenda sent out the following press release urging Obama to choose women for the two open cabinet positions
February 13, 2009
by The New Agenda
|For Immediate Release
February 12, 2009
Contact: Amy Siskind
(484) 844-2996
NewAgendaPress@yahoo.com
President Obama: Three Times a Charm
The New Agenda, a non-partisan national women’s rights group, is calling on President Obama to fill recently vacated seats with qualified women. Both the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Health and Human Services positions are now open.
The New Agenda co-founder Amy Siskind said: “A fraternity of leadership has led our country into an economic crisis of epic proportions. We call on President Obama to pick from the thousands of qualified women to take these two important cabinet positions and deliver on his promise of change.”
With Senator Judd Gregg withdrawing his name for consideration, President Obama will for a third time be appointing someone to fill the Secretary of Commerce seat.
Co-founder Amy Siskind said: “President Obama, three times is the charm. As the President selects his 23rd and 24th cabinet pick, we encourage him to remember the constituency that overwhelmingly voted him into office – the women of this country. Thus far, President Obama has only selected 5 women for cabinet, while the number of men he’s selected is up to 17. With two cabinet positions now open, he has the opportunity to partially rectify this unfortunate imbalance.”
To reinforce the message that there is a rich pool of qualified women, The New Agenda released the following list of exemplary candidates for Cabinet positions.
• President of the University of Miami and former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala
• U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut
• Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill
• Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
• Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius
• Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm
• President of the National Business Group on Health Helen Darling
• Former eBay CEO, Meg Whitman
• Former Hewlett- Packard CEO Carly Fiorina
• Former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Comm. Chair Brooksley E. Born
• Former President, Morgan Stanley, Zoe Cruz
• Princeton University economics professor Cecilia Elena Rouse
• Former Citigroup, Inc. Executive Sallie Krawcheck
• Former Healthcare Finance Director Nancy Ann Min DeParle
So sorry this is off topic but if anyone is trying to figure out what is in the latest Stimulus bill – just found a fantastic site:
http://www.propublica.org/
They have obviously been up all night analyzing the information and have complied 2 tables – one for spending another for tax cuts and a third of the differences between House/Senate/Conference versions.
Please spread the word!
Amy, Sheryl – where would you prefer timely information to be posted/
Any self respecting woman would refuse the position of Sec. of Commerce just as Judd Gregg did. The US cencus belongs in the hands of the state dept. not in the hands of Obama and Pelosi.
Obama cannot be trusted with the cencus. This is a ACORN style way of stealing the 2012 election. I’ll respect any woman who says NODEAL to any appointment by Barak Obama. He is already in free fall!
I ditto Juliette’s remarks! In as much as I want to see more women in positions – this is such a political hot potato – I don’t want to see a woman getting pushed under the bus.
It is a point of grave concern that Judd Gregg “backed out” of this position, after he realized what Obama intends to do with it.
I hope we don’t see some prominent woman taken down by, once again, getting behind this unethical and anti-democratic administration.
Not sure what the answer is….
Goal number 2 – Increasing the Number of Women in High-Level Appointments. This is an important and valid goal.
Let’s keep Goal Number 2 high on the radar screen. It’s important that TNA and others point out again and again, and keep the pressure up, for more gender parity in Cabinet and high-level appointments.
Let’s see what Obama does.
Dear TNA, if you send out more press releases like the one above, please include Marcia Angell, MD on your list of exemplary candidates for HHS Secretary!
I strongly recommend Marcia Angell, MD for HHS Secretary. She is a physician, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, now Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Angell is highly respected and has worked hard for ethics and scientific integrity her entire career. She writes frequently in professional journals and the popular media on a wide range of topics, particularly medical ethics, health policy, the nature of medical evidence, the interface of medicine and the law, and care at the end of life
Marcia is a supporter of women’s issues. Her book, Science on Trial: The Clash of Medical Evidence and the Law in the Breast Implant Case (1996) received critical acclaim. . In 1997, Time magazine named Marcia Angell one of the 25 most influential Americans.
Marcia is not afraid to speak out, and has criticized our current healthcare system and the pharmaceutical industry. She wrote the book: The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It. A few of her articles include:
• Industry-sponsored clinical research: a broken system. JAMA 2008.
• Excess in the pharmaceutical industry. CMAJ 2004
• Editorial policies on financial disclosure.(Comment)Nat Neurosci 2003
• America’s other drug problem: how the drug industry distorts medicine and politics. New Repub 2002
• Medicine: the endangered patient-centered ethic. Hastings Cent Rep 1987
Marcia Angell, MD is eminently qualified, “clean” politically, and would bring ethics and integrity to the office of HHS Secretary.
I don’t support moving Bair out of FDIC where she is doing a great job, but this is a project of hers that we can push:
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has been promoting a “streamlined” mortgage refinancing proposal based on its experience in handling the portfolio of failed Pasadena-based mortgage giant IndyMac Bank last summer.
latimes.com/business/la-fi-foreclose14-2009feb14,0,2861720.story
The ongoing listing of great women for positions of leadership more than reinforces the truth of equality, IT GIVES US LANDMARKS TO MAKE THIS JOURNEY DOABLE, DESIRABLE, AND INEVADABLE. The truth is out there!
One follow-up: We are gaining a voice by speaking out. Here’s an example from an article in The Nation about selection of the next HHS Secretary. It doesn’t mention TNA, but does note similar comments from NOW.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs.....l=nofollow
By the way, we should continue to support a woman for the HHS Secretary position. From what I’ve read, Governor Kathleen Sebelius looks very good. She stood up against the insurance companies and drug companies that have made the healthcare mess we are now experiencing.
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