The unprecedented ($700 billion+) government bailout of the U.S. financial markets has forced many American voters to ask themselves a tough question: What really is role of government in the American economy? In response, the American people have been sending their government some mixed messages.
Nearly 70 percent of Americans opposed the bailout on the grounds that it would have no effect on the crisis and/or would lead to more expensive bailouts. Doesn’t this send a strong message to the federal government about what their role should be in a financial crisis?
Not really. In a survey conducted by the Kauffman Foundation on the days leading up to the bailout, 59 percent of registered, likely voters supported increased government regulation in the financial markets.
But only 14 percent of respondents had confidence in Congress to guide the economy, compared with 56 percent who would rather have a successful small business owner guide the economy.
To summarize, Americans want financial markets regulated – but not bailed out – by a group of individuals they admittedly do not have confidence in to guide the economy.
If that’s not confusing enough, 49.8 percent of American voters post-bailout are supporting Barack Obama (compared with 43 percent for McCain) – the candidate who is, admittedly, advocating for government-funded solutions to health care, energy, and economic concerns.
Even before American taxpayers footed the bill for a 700 billion dollar bailout, Barack Obama proposed funding those added expenses by raising taxes on families and small businesses making more than $250,000 a year (not just the wealthy individuals whose salaries exceeded that).
Fifty percent of Kauffman survey respondents thought that the biggest threat to their personal economic security was a tax increase. Seventy percent think the health of the American economy depends on the success of entrepreneurs.
It seems like Americans want to have it both ways, but I want to know what you think: Can we have a more heavily regulated financial market, if we don’t trust government to guide the economy? How does government “assist” without “bailing out”? Can candidates propose increases in spending at a time like this without doing further damage to the economy?
October 14th, 2008
With the election less than 60 days away, there is a tremendous hype surrounding all things political. The media is providing non-stop coverage of the candidates, the candidates are making continuous appeals via TV, telephone and internet ads, and even businesses are capitalizing on the craze by targeting consumers with everything from “Yes We Can” Cola to Sarah Palin wigs. In short, the focus of the media, the candidates, and the retailers is on likely American voters.
In honor of Constitution Day (that’s today), I wanted to take moment to direct the focus to a different demographic: American children. Today’s American child is tomorrow’s American voter so we should be instilling in our children now what it means to be an American citizen.
Lynn Cheney, America’s Second Lady and author of five best-selling children’s books, has just published her sixth book called, We the People: The Story of Our Constitution. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mrs. Cheney explains that she wrote this book after the National Endowment for the Humanities found that most 17-year olds don’t know what’s in the U.S. Constitution. In fact, when given a passage written by Karl Marx, over half of the students thought it was taken from the Constitution.
My Constitution Day question to all of you is: Do you think your children are learning everything they need to know about the U.S. Constitution and our American government? Do they understand what it means to be an American citizen? If not, how can we do a better job of educating them?
September 17th, 2008
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin made history once again when John McCain announced Friday afternoon that he had chosen Governor Palin as his running mate, making her the first Republican female vice presidential candidate in history. Two years ago, Palin, a mother of five and former mayor, was elected as the first female governor of Alaska on a reform agenda to end the corruption of the Republican Party in Alaska.
Shortly before McCain’s announcement, Governor Palin’s fan page on facebook had just under 3,000 fans. As I write this, her fan page now has 30,506 members (growing at a rate of about 10 fans per minute).
Editorial boards for newspapers across the country have a spectrum of opinions on McCain’s pick ranging from calling her “perfect” to questioning her “lack of experience”. However, they all seem to agree that it’s a bold move. As the Chicago Tribune put it: this changes the game.
Now it’s your turn: What do you think? Was Palin the right pick for McCain? Do you think this “changes the game”? Voice in and let us know what you think.
Posted by April Green
August 31st, 2008
With the election less than three months away, Republican candidates running for the Illinois House of Representatives have announced an Agenda for Action to reform Illinois state government. Candidates from across the state have been promoting this new agenda in a series of town hall meetings over the past month.
The agenda has seven objectives ranging from returning fiscal responsibility to state government to protecting children from online predators, but here are some specific proposals from the agenda that I think Illinois taxpayers will appreciate the most:
- Creating REAL balanced budgets. The way the State currently operates, any expenses that the State can’t pay for out of the current year’s budget can be transferred to the next year to create the appearance of a balanced budget. This just pawns the responsibility for reducing the budget deficit onto future generations. The Agenda for Action includes measures to ban the transfer of unpaid obligations from one fiscal year to the next and require that proposed budgets be available for public scrutiny before legislators vote on them.
- Cracking down on “Pay to Play” politics in Illinois. The Agenda for Action calls for enacting the Nation’s toughest Anti-Corruption Laws by banning government officials from soliciting contributions from contractors conducting business with the State and increasing public disclosure requirements for consultants and advisors to State boards and commissions.
- Making Higher Education More Affordable. Education is key to ensuring Illinois children can compete in a global economy. The Agenda for Action seeks to reduce tuition rates and increase financial aid opportunities at state universities. It also calls for placing a greater priority on accepting qualified in-state students for admission.
What I like about the Agenda for Action is that this isn’t Republicans complaining about what’s wrong in Springfield — instead they are offering some real, constructive solutions to the problems facing our State.
As the Daily Herald reflected in an editorial following one of the town hall meetings:
“Illinois House Republicans are saying the right things on what the state must do to honor its commitments to the public to be ethically and fiscally responsible in managing tax dollars and providing services.”
But in order for them to do the right things – voters need to elect them in November. Here are some local women candidates who participated in the town halls to show their support for the Agenda for Action: Peggy Brothman of Hoffman Estates, Anita Forte-Scott of Schaumburg, Kay Hatcher of Yorkville, Rep. Rosemary Mulligan of Des Plaines, Christine Prochno of Elk Grove Village, and Darlene Senger of Naperville.
If you agree with what’s on the agenda and you live in district of one of these candidates, I encourage you to contact them to see how you can support their campaign efforts. And, as always, please voice in and let us know what you think of the Agenda for Action.
Posted by April Green
August 25th, 2008
State Representatives Rosemary Mulligan and Ruth Munson are proposing legislation to inject some accountability into the State grant process and ensure that our tax dollars are well spent. According to the Chicago Tribune:
“The legislation follows a July 20 Tribune investigation that exposed how the state squandered taxpayer money on after-school grants, nearly half of which rewarded campaign workers and donors of West Side state Sen. Rickey Hendon.”
As a result of the findings, a package of reforms are being introduced by a group of Republican legislators to stop the abuse of the state grant system and spend tax dollars more responsibly. The Tribune reports:
“One of the new bills, sponsored by Rep Rosemary Mulligan (R- Des Plaines) requires that any state agency awarding these grants spell out what is required, confirm that the recipients are qualified and monitor the expenditures and performance.
Another bill, sponsored by Rep. Ruth Munson (R-Elgin) would require grant recipients to disclose if they donated to or did political work for the state lawmaker sponsoring their grant.”
It’s refreshing see these women taking the lead to introduce some common sense reforms – especially at a time when our state could use a serious dose of fiscal responsibility.
It’s a small step, but definitely one in the right direction.
Posted by April Green
August 4th, 2008
In recent weeks, presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have ramped up efforts to target America’s largest voting demographic: women.
At a townhall meeting in Fairfax, Virgina, Senator Obama introduced his “Plan for Economic Security for America’s Working Women.”
Highlights of Senator Obama’s plan include:
- Increasing federal minimum wage from $7.25 (the amount it will be when the new the President takes office in 2009) to $9.50 by 2011.
- Expanding tax credits to benefit low-income and single mothers including the childcare and earned income tax credits.
- Reducing the cost of health care per family up to a projected $2500, through the implementation of his universal healthcare proposal.
Meanwhile, John McCain offered some straight talk to women in Wisconsin on how his economic agenda – he offers the same plan for all Americans – beats Senator Obama’s in terms of its real impact on American women and their families.
Highlights of Senator McCain’s plan include:
- Reducing taxes that disproportionately burden working families, including eliminating of the Alternative Minimum Tax and doubling the personal tax exemption for each dependent from $3,500 to $7,000.
- Protecting American industry and jobs by the reduction of the federal Corporate Tax Rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. With the second-highest corporate-tax rate in the industrialized world, America loses business and high-quality jobs to countries with lower tax rates.
- Providing a direct refundable tax credit of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to offset the cost of health insurance, in addition to measures aimed at reducing not just the cost of insurance, but also the cost of healthcare delivery.
The two Senators could not be more different in their approaches. Senator Obama’s policies target the 8.5 million women working at minimum wage and single mothers with direct aid. By contrast, Senator McCain’s focus is on the creation of: an economic environment friendly to future and existing women business owners (around 10 million American women), higher paying jobs for women, and a tax code that rewards the economic progress of both single and dual-parent households.
When “Front Lines,” a Wall Street Journal blog for women addressed this issue, one reader commented:
“[Obama’s] plan seems to be geared toward women who expect to make minimum wage while McCain’s plan caters to women with small businesses who employ those who make minimum wage. It sounds like McCain thinks more highly of women.”
While I don’t think that one candidate thinks more highly of women than the other, I do think she made an interesting point.
My question is: Do you agree with her? Is a proposal that benefits women business owners and working families, really the best Women’s Economic Agenda? Why or why not?
Posted by April Green
July 29th, 2008
Last year, the Independent Women’s Forum, a non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C., issued a call to action to elected officials to “help alleviate the unease in the current healthcare system and prevent a further increase in the number of Americans without health insurance.” Though some time has passed since the report was issued, both unease with health care costs and the number of uninsured (over 47 million Americans) have continued to increase. With health care being a top concern for many voters in the upcoming election, these proposed solutions remain relevant and deserve serious consideration.
The Independent Women’s Forum calls for the following 5 reforms:
• Reform the tax treatment of health insurance: Today’s tax code provides unlimited tax breaks for those who obtain coverage from the workplace but does not extend any comparable tax benefit to those who purchase coverage on their own. The way to solve this problem is through a refundable tax credit to individuals who purchase coverage on their own.
• Expand coverage options: Individuals should have the freedom to decide the state and regulatory structure under which they purchase their health coverage.
• Improve consumer-directed models: Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and other affordable alternative health insurance products should be available.
• Allow for greater employee-employer flexibility: Employers would have the option of moving from a defined-benefit system, where the employer sponsors a health plan, to a defined-contribution system, where the employer chooses to contribute to a worker’s own health plan.
• Reform healthcare entitlement programs: There is no doubt that current entitlement programs threaten to bankrupt our country. Policymakers can start by beginning to transform these entitlements, in this case, Medicare and Medicaid, from defined-benefit to defined-contribution programs along the lines found in the employer based pension system.
You can view the entire report here .
My questions for all of you are: Do you agree with these reforms? Will they address the problems of healthcare cost and coverage? What other reforms would you suggest?
Posted by April Green
June 30th, 2008
As I’m sure many of you have seen on the news, towns in Illinois and throughout the Midwest have been hit or are preparing to be hit by devastating flood waters. According to the Chicago Tribune , the American Red Cross Domestic Relief Fund has nearly been exhausted due to flooding and tornadoes in surrounding states and the Quincy Herald-Whig reports that volunteers are needed in communities across the Mississippi River to help with filling and distributing sandbags to stop the anticipated 30-foot flood waters that are expected to hit Friday.
How to Volunteer before Friday (June 20th):
If you are able to volunteer with the sandbagging efforts, Quincy, Illinois (located in State Representative Jil Tracy’s district) is looking for volunteers. Quincy and the surrounding areas are preparing to be hit on Friday. Volunteers are still needed today and tomorrow to contribute to the effort. To volunteer with the Quincy sandbagging operation please contact: 217-242-3703 or 217-242-3739.
How to Donate to a Relief Fund:
Help support those in Illinois and across the Midwest who are in need of emergency relief by making a donation to the American Red Cross Domestic Relief Fund online .
- OR -
Make a contribution to a fund created specifically for towns in the Wabash River Valley along the Indiana border. Contributions should be mailed to:
Wabash Valley Flood Relief Fund
c/o Farmers & Merchants Bank of Hutsonville
PO Box 277
Hutsonville, IL 62433
Please consider making a modest donation of your time or resources to one of these important efforts and stay tuned for other opportunities on how to help out!
Posted by April Green
June 18th, 2008
Over the past several years, the Women’s Campaign Federation has been conducting an ongoing research project examining the financial contributions of women to political candidates and committees (or lack there of). They recently published the latest version of the study called, “Vote with Your Purse: Harnessing the Power of Women’s Political Giving for the 2008 Elections and Beyond.” What they found offers some revealing insights on the political donations of women, including:
• Though women make up over half of registered and active voters, women account for less than 30 percent of political contributions.
• Women are leaders in charitable giving but don’t associate political contributions with the social change of charitable contributions.
• Values that motivate women to give are: impact, inspiration, information, inclusion and interaction.
In the past year, articles in the New York Times and More Magazine have addressed the same issue. It seems that, though women are more likely to register to vote, vote, and volunteer on a campaign than a man – they are less likely to give money to a candidate or political committee.
My question to all of you is: Why is this? Why don’t more women make financial contributions to political candidates and committees and what would get them to change their minds?
Posted by April Green
June 16th, 2008
Every year, thousands of pieces of legislation come before the Illinois General Assembly. It is no easy task to sift through all the bills and determine which might impact your family. That’s why I have identified three bills from this legislative session that every Illinois mom should know about: SB 2091, SB 1900 and HB 2769.
All three bills await a final vote before they can be sent to the governor for his signature. Hopefully, legislators will have the opportunity to cast their votes for these pieces of legislation when they return to Springfield for the fall veto session.
#1. Protecting Children from Teacher Misconduct
According to an investigation conducted by the Small Newspaper Group last January, Illinois is ranked 49th in suspending and revoking teacher’s certificates for misconduct. DCFS has received 3,871 credible complaints on this issue but not one resulted in a suspension or revocation of a teaching certificate.
Senate Bill 2091 strengthens the state’s procedures for suspending and revoking teaching certificates when an educator has grossly failed to perform their duties or has committed a crime that places students in jeopardy. The State Teacher Certification Board will become the final decision-maker on suspensions and revocations of teaching certificates. The bill also requires the State’s Attorney to notify the State Superintendent of Schools if there is reasonable cause to believe an educator has committed an act of abuse or neglect.
#2. Insurance Coverage for Children with Autism
Senate Bill 1900, would require Illinois health insurance companies to provide coverage for autism spectrum disorder. Currently, insurance providers are not required to provide the important coverage. This legislation requires insurers to provide extended autism coverage for children up to age 21, with a maximum of $36,000 per year. Insurance coverage would include the following care: psychiatric, psychological, therapeutic, pharmacy, and other treatments and programs related to autism.
The bill does not limit the amount of visits to an autism care provider. Insurers would also be required to consider autism the same as any other physical illness, charging the same co-payments or deductibles.
#3. Sex Offender Registration Reform
House Bill 2769 makes changes under the Sex Offender Registration Act to be in compliance with the Federal Adam Walsh Act. It enhances the current registration system by providing a 3-tiered registration system that would require sex offenders (defined as sexually dangerous persons, sexually violent persons, or sexual predators) convicted of certain enumerated crimes to register for life. Other less serious crimes could result in a 15-year or 10-year, registration period.
Post your opinions on these bills or contact your state legislator and let them know what you think. Find your legislator.
June 9th, 2008
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