November 24, 2008: Sleeping Majority No More! The New Agenda Calls for Record-Setting Number of Women in Cabinet
For Immediate Release
Contact: Amy Siskind
Email: NewAgendaPress@yahoo.com
Date: 11.24.08
Sleeping Majority No More! Appalled at Lack of Women
The New Agenda Calls for Record-Setting Number of Women in Cabinet
The New Agenda – a new nonpartisan group for women’s rights – is calling on President-elect Barack Obama to make history by appointing the most women ever in a Presidential cabinet. “It is the only appropriate response for a man touting ‘change’ and working to lead our nation out of an unprecedented economic crisis,” said New Agenda co-founder Amy Siskind.
“At The New Agenda we know our country needs talented women in leadership positions and we need them now. Senator Hillary Clinton would be a tremendous asset to our nation if she serves as Secretary of State, but she is not the only woman ready and able to serve,” Siskind said.
There is a dearth of names of women being considered for top jobs which could mean that women would take a step backward with the Obama Administration. Presidents Bush and Clinton had the best track records, but still fell short of 52 percent – the proportion of women in our nation’s population.
The United States also lags far behind much of the world when it comes to women holding positions of power. The U.S. ranks 56th behind countries like Slovakia, Estonia and Latvia according to the World Economic Forum. For the first time in history a European country has a government with more women in the cabinet than men. The new Spanish cabinet has nine women alongside eight men, including the country’s first woman defense minister
Additionally, President-elect Obama’s selection of Larry Summers to direct the National Economic Council sends a bad signal. Currently there are no women mentioned as possible members of the team that will be entrusted with restoring our economic security. And Summers selection is controversial. Not only did he infamously state that women don’t perform as well at advanced levels in the math and sciences because they lack the intrinsic aptitude; but he has a well established track record of being divisive and unable to work well with others. “The New Agenda intends to make sure every Senator voting on Summers’ confirmation is aware that he is wholly unacceptable by exposing his clear record of demeaning both women and men while serving in past leadership roles,” Siskind said.
A Summers appointment combined with the grave mistreatment endured by Senator Hillary Clinton and Governor Sarah Palin at the hands of the media and political pundits has served as a wake-up call. “Let me be clear, women are no longer the sleeping majority,” Siskind warned
Since our nation’s founding, 33 women have served in cabinet level positions, leaving an indelible mark on our nation’s social and economic policies. The first was Frances Perkins appointed by FDR as Secretary of Labor in 1933, where she played a key role writing New Deal legislation, including minimum-wage laws. She also chaired the President’s Committee on Economic Security, which was responsible for creating the Social Security Act of 1935. In his 60 Minutes interview, President-elect Obama said he is studying how FDR was able to govern successfully in challenging times. “President-elect Obama, there are other Frances Perkins in our midst and we need to tap them,” Siskind said.
The New Agenda recommendations include:
• Former head of EPA and New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman
• Founder of eBay Meg Whitman
• Former Hewlett- Packard CEO Carly Fiorina
• Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill
• Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
• Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius
• Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano
• Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm
• The first woman 4-star General Ann Dunwoody
• Wisconsin Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton
• FDIC head Sheila Blair
• 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
“The history making need not end on election day,” Siskind said. “The Obama team could lift the spirits of millions of women and men by elevating women of distinction in more than 50 percent of his cabinet positions. President-elect Obama has an opportunity to demonstrate early his commitment to change and to leadership smart and strong enough to regain our global and economic eminence. That is change we can all believe in.”
