THEY JUST DON'T GET IT
Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress has released his list of committee chairMEN for the 113th congress:
Agriculture – Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK)
Appropriations – Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY)
Armed Services – Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA)
Budget – Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
Education and the Workforce – Rep. John Kline (R-MN)
Energy and Commerce – Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI)
Financial Services – Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)
Foreign Affairs – Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA)
Homeland Security – Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX)
Intelligence – Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI)
Judiciary – Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
Natural Resources – Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)
Oversight and Government Reform – Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)
Rules – Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)
Science, Space, and Technology – Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)
Small Business – Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)
Transportation and Infrastructure – Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA)
Veterans’ Affairs – Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL)
Ways and Means – Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI)
Even though they lost seats in both the House and the Senate and their candidate lost the presidential election, the party controlled by the Old White Guys still doesn't get it. House Speaker John Boehner released the list of the chairMEN of important house committees and, well, it's clear that they represent the electorate of the past.
Social media is now full of posts, comments and tweets that share the image above and the first thought that comes to most minds "they just don't get it!"
But this might actually be a good thing. As we hear the speaker wavering on which crucial programs to cut and who will maintain tax cuts, it appears he is forgetting why his party lost so many seats, significantly decreasing the gains the Republican's made in 2010.
The more he and his house majority moves away from the middle and to their right, the more we all talk about it.
WE HAVE TO ENCOURAGE WOMEN TO RUN FOR OFFICE
Around the country there are discussions taking place about why women don't run for office at the rate of men. I have been involved in these discussions locally during meetings of three different committees this month, one a bipartisan commission. These discussions are going on in every state and in national groups.
Just from my perspective in this little corner of the country, the conversation is expanding. We all want to see more women run for office. Even here in the "blue" Commonwealth of Massachusetts, out of 10 congressmen, only ONE is a congresswoman. From all the discussions I've seen, read about or been involved in, it seems that we have to start by asking women to run for office, then commit to support them when they are willing to take the leap.
There will be more women running in 2014.
The 2012 project, run out of the The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers, was one of several initiatives that worked on getting women to run for public office this past election. The project's goal was to increase the number of women serving in the US Congress and State Legislatures. Let's hope they start the "2014 Project" right away.
When the Speaker of the House shows his ignorance to the changing demographics of the electorate by giving leadership roles only to white men, it becomes obvious that despite the gains this year, women remain under-represented. That means we will see more discussions by white men about how and what we can do with our bodies, what programs are important to families, what we need for health care and so on.
Perhaps Boehner and company think we aren't paying attention.
We are. Writers here on the Daily Kos are paying attention. MSNBC in it's entirety is paying attention. News and opinion blogs are paying attention. Newspapers are paying attention.
According to the 2012 Project:
Women make up 51% of the population and 56% of all voters. Yet Congress is only 17% female. Barely edging out Turkmenistan
The U.S. ranks 79th in the world, behind 95 other countries, for percentage of women in office.
We need to change that.
REMEMBER SANDRA FLUKE?
Let's not forget that it was Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, who did not allow any women, including Sandra Fluke to testify at the committee's hearing titled "Lines Crossed: Separation of Church and State. Has the Obama Administration Trampled on Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Conscience?"
Boehner reappointed Issa to chair that same committee, again.
Let them keep making these mistakes and let them continue ignore women and minorities.
Wonder how this will work for them in 2014?
Rachael Maddow invited her audience to clip and share a short video on the details of this story and most of the images being used in blogs and on Twitter and Facebook seem to be clipped from either her report or her website:
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