Top Political Issues for Homemakers

I guess I'd put the need for universal access to affordable health care in the top 5 of ten spots. After that they would be getting out of Iraq so my boys don't get drafted, making serious efforts at addressing climate change and environmental pollution, making excellent education available and affordable to all up through college, improving US relations with the rest of the world so we aren't hated by nearly everyone, and making sure all jobs in this country pay a living wage and allow parents to provide for their families while still allowing lots of family time.

Let's see - I agree with all of the above -

Health care is a priority
A living wage is very important - though the older I get I realize that creating good jobs and supporting entrepeneurs is a better way to do this than welfare
Improving our relations with other countries to avoid war
Ending the cycle of poverty, crime, drugs, and violence in our cities
Andrea

http://blackcatchronicles1.blogspot.com/

I agree with all the above posts but would say universal health care coverage for all. I for one, would love to see HMO's eliminated from the picture, and seeing the phamacutical (SP??) companies have less "pull" in regards to health in general. My second would be environmental issues: finding ways to become less dependent on oil and other fossil fuels. Third, getting out of Iraq-this is a given. Fourth, changing our "free trade" law or whatever brainy law it was that suddenly led to our country's goods coming from China. Fifth would be finding a way to stop relying so much on other countries for food and goods in general, and re-learning how to take care of OURSELVES. Maybe that would mean more incentives and aid to the small family farms so that consumers were able to purchase more food locally in the area in which they live. Sixth would be reforming education so that every child had the best of anything out there-not just suburban schools, and to "do away" with all the crazy standardized testing our kids are now faced with. (What happened to "education?")Seventh would be raising wages so that any working family could afford to make ends meet; and that women and/or men have plenty of sick/personal leave so that if they or their kids are sick, they won't lose their jobs if they need to stay home and take care of them. Eighth would be to set us up with the same system Canada has (per a friend of mine a few years ago-if this still applies). She told me that women can take up to 6 months maternity leave WITH partial pay after they have a baby, and that men ALSO have the option to take as many as 3 months, if their wife is the primary bread winner. I don't know if this is still true, but that's what she told me. Ninth and tenth you can add to the above-I can't think of anything else.

Illegal Immigration
Agriculture
Education
finish up winning the war (let the boys come home after completing a successful mission and guard these borders!)

Not in that order, but those are what issues I'm interested in.

Both as a Homemaker and as a Registered Nurse, I feel that the following issues are most important:

*Universal health care
*Extension of Family Medical Leave Act to lengthen the amount of time that people can take to care for family members wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan. (This was part of the SCHIP bill that was vetoed this week
*Exit strategy for Iraq, ASAP
*Peaceful resolution to the tensions with Iran
*Parental leave programs comparable with the rest of the world. In Canada, parental leave is actually 1 year at partial pay and can be split as desired between each parent
*Over the long term, improvements to the infrastructure of this country, such that we can be less car-dependent

I put health care way at the top of the list.
Though close second would be environmental stewardship -- making people aware that going green can be great for the economy!!

In no particular order:
Affordable housing
Transportation (in other words, making it possible for poor people to be able to get to grocery stores and -- even better -- jobs!)
Minimizing gov't subsidies for corporations, especially corporations whose labor or environmental practices harm communities more than they help them

As a homemaker, my hope is that these things would create more family-friendly communities. Living in an urban area, we live right up close to massive income variance. I am not in favor of the gov't redistributing wealth, but I am in favor of development that does not effectively imprison poor people in dangerous neighborhoods with no jobs and no grocery stores. Of course it is bad for poor people, but from a selfish perspective, blight spreads, drugs and crime spread, and as a middle class (rather than rich) family we don't have the money to keep moving and moving and moving to wealthier and wealthier neighborhoods to avoid it.

I am also in favor of public policies that don't effectively allow corporate interest to take over governance, either through buying influence with lobbying or through a twisted notion of what a free market really is. There is nothing wrong with big business when it stays in the private sector, but I don't want a behind-the-scenes corporate cabal creating policies that allow wasted resources, unsafe consumer products, and environmental devastation. That's not democracy!

OK, I'm straying from the question so I'll stop.

Shaun
www.redseahomeschool.wordpress.com

I, too, put health care at the top of my list, but more along the lines of preventative health care, increasing the knowledge of how maintenance is better than waiting for disaster. I applaud the idea of making healthier food more available to the general public, perhaps even increasing tax to pay for it (like a junk food tax).

Transportation plans for cities would be great, or finding a way to bring better jobs / stores to neighborhoods. I've seen some great city plans for revitalizing high crime areas with better housing, parks, and stores, in hopes that it'll drive crime down (and have watched as it has in one part of Indiana! Great!) I hope these plans continue to be implemented.

Another upside to moving better stores closer to people would be less reliance on vehicles. I would like to see more man-powered vehicles (or walkers) on the road, and maybe have more driver etiquette taught to those with a license (too many people with no clue that bikes are SUPPOSED to share the road, as they yell out their car windows, "Get on the side walk!" Grrrr.) Sorry, tangent.

Better support for the entrepreneur, of course from the business point of view this means holding the base wage constant for a few more years as more business get going to create more jobs.

Increasing free-trade. Better relationships with other countries to decrease tariffs so we can export as well as import.

USPS Shipping...geez! Last time I sent a package for the cheapest rate, it got lost, and then I was told I should have paid for tracking. If they can't handle shipping as a basic service without tracking, then why offer it? So they can lose it? Sorry, big pet peeve, and I am losing patience with gov't run mail.

Holding local parents accountable for education, not punishing schools when a "teacher" fails. Teachers are working so hard, but have no parental support, there has to be a way to hold the parents accountable for what their children do (or don't do) rather than punish a whole school.

I'm also anti-abortion, but I just don't see how that can be solved politically anymore (I used to). It'll have to come from the ground up, not top down.

OK, there's my list.

Speaking as a homemaker I would have on my list the following:
#1 Universal Health Care
#2 Out of Iraq, and better relations with the rest of the world. I do so hope that we can stop offending other countries with our policies...ALSO a peaceful solution to our tensions with IRAN! I don't like the war beat that is drumming lately! At the same time strengthen our military WITHOUT a DRAFT! for defensive purposes only, after stretching it so thin during our time in Iraq. (remember pearl harbor?) Also more funding for health services for the war wounded. (both physical and emotional injuries)
#3 Education...support of our schools should not be in the form of punishing schools for poor test results. It should be in the form of true support of our teachers who get bogged down in implementing benchmark standards and testing. Schools need better funding for programs that really work, ask the teachers what works they are the ones on the front lines. Test scores don't show the whole picture. ALSO MORE SUPPORT FOR HOMESCHOOLING PARENTS! My kids are in college, but if I had more support within my community, I would have home schooled them.
#4 Environment...we must take care of our planet before we lose was has been graciously given to us by our creator
#5 The war on drugs must step up, we are losing the battle.
#6 Energy Research-the dependency on foreign oil is going to put this country in big trouble. Something has to be done and done fast to ease our dependency on foreign oil
#6 Violence & Crime...More funding for law enforcement and control of crime both in the inner cities and more frequently now in our suburbs.
That's it for now anyway...These are on the top of my list anyway...

My list would be similar to the other items. I would add assistance with the mortgage foreclosure crisis that has played out in so many areas of the country,getting rid of all those bad loans so people don't lose their homes. Also, payday lending places can charge 300% interest thus repeating the cycle of debt for those that must use the service. They should have a capped rate or similar to regular loan rates and credit card rates. There's more but I am being asked for breakfast from DD!

Heidi

My concerns:
#1 Environment

#2 living locally - by that, I mean things like having a local food supply, not having my food shipped from the other side of the country (ex: strawberries shipped to Virginia from California- to stores half an hour from a large strawberry-growing area. ???)

#3 Transportation - related to #2. Transportation is structured around cars too much. If I don't want to use one I seem to be up a creek. And those autos do a lot to the environment!

The others I would have to think more on, but these three have been the most on my mind of late.

In order:

1) Health care - many options but among them why do insurance companies get to make such a profit? LOL. Support for homebirth and birth centers, which would tag one of the largest money makers for the industry, and be cheaper for most parents. Access to appropriate healthcare would go a long ways towards lowering rates of unplanned children, and improve the health of everyone. The US's stats on this are a disgrace.

2) Support local food and small farms- I belong to a CSA. It makes me feel good to support a local farm and to NOT contribute to trucking things cross country (and from other countries). Along with this I get my coffee - green and roast myself, from a small company that works directly with farms in other countries.

3)Environment - real support for green initiatives, recycling, re-use, and such will make the world a better place. Both public and private enterprise could be doing a lot more. Its annoying that the car companies put a lot of money into defeating public transport initiatives.

4)Work - make more jobs family friendly. In some countries they make a shorter work week, and hire more people. This has two benefits - more folks employed, and more time with families. I heartily agree with those that would increase family leave provisions for both men and women. I have seen stats that show that breastfeeding for 6 months could reduce child deaths by at least 9000 a year. That would help on a number of things, including cost of healthcare.

5) Education - our system is broken. Our students aren't learning - and are far behind their counterparts in similar countries. We could be doing much better. TO me this would include better childcare, as when I was on welfare the main thing that made it almost impossible to get off was lack of childcare subsidies. Hard to get a real job without it.

6) We need to stop putting out so much money on wars.Its time to get out, and support our troops and their families in getting their lives back together.

I honestly believe that if we did 1,2 and 6 some of the other stuff would fall into place a little more easily.