A Daughter's Approval

Gotta love this moment. It just makes you feel good to have a little girl's approval at such an important event.



Obama's daughters are just so cute.

President Obama

I wish our new president all the best. I truly hope that he will bring upon positive change.

I can only imagine that being the president of the United States of America is no easy task, especially with the state of our current economy. I believe that he will bring upon positive change to our nation and will help it rise out of the crisis that we are experiencing. It will not be easy, but I don't think that anyone runs for president thinking that it will be an easy job.

This is crazy!

Seriously, Californians said yes to discrimination and eliminating the rights of people???? What??? I guess I just don't understand. I don't understand how this will be good for California, I don't understand. We took a total step backwards in California.

Change!!

Congratulations to our new president!! Barack Obama is our president-elect. What a wonderful and historic day!! I believe that the best person won and I believe that positive change is coming our way.

Rock the vote!

Response to Anonymous Comment

I received an anonymous comment to my blog post from yesterday. I understand that people have different point of views and are free to comment in any way they feel. On the same note, I am allowed to post and write about my thoughts in any way I feel. We are fortunate in the United States to have freedom of speech and exchange ideas in many different ways. We have the right to disagree. This blog is a personal blog where I share my ideas and thoughts about what I think to be important. I don't talk politics very much but I do know what is important to me and have my own beliefs.

Everyone has different ideas and viewpoints and those ideas are meant to be respected. I respect the opinion of the commenter and that person has the right to be bothered by my post if they so feel bothered. They may not agree or be annoyed but I do personally believe that the issues that were outlined in the report card are very important issues and are important to me both as a woman and as a citizen of the United States. I also understand that not all people will agree with me. That is the beauty of human beings, we are all individuals and we are all different. I embrace those differences.

I do want to clarify one thing from your comment. You asked:

"Furthermore, since when did economist become specialist in such things? Isn't the specialty of economist supposed to be the economy?"

Actually economists are social scientists, like other social scientist (e.g., psychologists, sociologists) economists study a wide variety of issues; many issues that impact public policy. They apply economic theories and methodologies to answer important questions. In actuality, the items outlined in the report card are all public policy issues that have been studied by economists as well as other social scientists. As a psychologist, I find economic research to be very valuable and so yes they are specialists in "such things" and as a discipline look at issues beyond the economy. These things are a part of their discipline. Economist, much like psychologist, are stereotyped to be one thing when in fact their training provides them with the skills to do much more. Well-known economists have done research on child care, work and family issues, health care, employment, education, and much more. Many of the same issues that are important to voters.

While Anonymous commenter you might be annoyed by my post, I am not annoyed by your comment. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and commenting on my blog. While I do not agree with your comments, I do thank you for taking time to read my blog and share your comments.

Presidential Report Card

Recently, a group of economists released a report card evaluating the presidential candidates on 10 economic issues of importance to women. No matter who you support, it is a good idea to be informed. This report card is one way to compare the candidates on the important issues. Below is the report card according to the report.

REPORT CARD	McCain	Obama
Overall Grade	D	B
Health Care	C-	B-
Pay and Employment Equity	F	B
Retirement Security	D	B
Taxes	D	B-
Paid Time Off	D	B+
Child Care and Early Education	D	B
Poverty	D	B
Non-traditional Families	C-	B+
Domestic Violence	D	A
Reproductive Rights	F	A

This is pretty interesting and I am sure people will have their various comments on this report card. But it is important to realize, that this report was endorsed by more than 40 economists. Many of whom are well-know academics in their fields and who examine policy issues for a living. As an academic, myself, I find this to be a credible source. In the end, it is up to you to decide what is important to you. The full report can be found at http://www.epgwi.org.

Let's talk politics

I am not a very political person. I never talk politics. But I do find this election to be very fascinating. How can one not find it anything but fascinating? No matter what happens it is a historical election. What I find most interesting is that the majority of the election coverage has focused on Obama vs. Palin. I think people (or the media) has forgotten that Sarah Palin is not running for president, she is John McCain's running mate, i.e., she is running for VP. Although if something were to happen to McCain, she is next up.

On NPR last week, they were reporting on the election and they gave reports on the campaign trail from each side. The first story was about Palin and the second story was about Obama. I receive Newsweek every week, I have seen front page photos featuring Obama and his race to the presidency and also front page photos of Palin and who she is and what she brings to the table. Interestingly when I googled, I found many websites that compare the qualifications of Obama and Palin.

So who is really running for president on the republican ticket? Because for this everyday American girl, it looks like the race to the White House is between Obama and Palin. Fortunately, I am a smart girl and I realize that Palin is not running for president. But if I had no clue about anything or was a total outside I would have very little idea who McCain was. Let alone the fact that he running for president.

McCain, who?