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The Ignored Issue That Can Get Progressives Elected
Corporate Accountability and WorkPlace:
Truth, Lies, the Bailout and CEO Pay
Sarah Anderson, Sam Pizzigati
Democracy and Elections:
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DrugReporter:
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Election 2008:
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Environment:
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Van Jones
ForeignPolicy:
Chomsky: "If the U.S. Carries Out Terrorism, It Did Not Happen"
Subrata Ghoshroy
Health and Wellness:
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Sam Stein
Hurricane Katrina:
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Amy Goodman
Immigration:
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Media and Technology:
The Growth of Talking Points Memo: A Case Study in Independent Media
Joshua Micah Marshall
Movie Mix:
The "Battle in Seattle" and Beyond
Stuart Townsend
Reproductive Justice and Gender:
Sarah Palin's Debate Performance Tanked Among Women
Linda Hirshman
Rights and Liberties:
Robert Fisk: For the Muslim World, it Will Make No Difference Who Wins the Election
Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez
Sex and Relationships:
New Poll: Parents Overwhelmingly Support Age-Appropriate Sex Ed
Scott Swenson
War on Iraq:
The End of Iraq's "Awakening"?
Robert Dreyfuss
Water:
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A recent poll found that the biggest issue for voters as the 2008 election approaches is not the Iraq war. It's an issue that leaders have not been focusing on: the well-being of America's children.
The poll asked conservatives and liberals, whites and blacks, men and women, Christians and non-Christians which of 11 changes were "absolutely necessary" for the United States to address within the next 10 years. The 11 ranged from national security and environmental protection to the state of marriage and families and the spiritual state of the country. But the issues that emerged as the frontrunners were "the overall care and resources devoted to children" and "the quality of a public school education." That was the response by 82 percent of the adults surveyed. What's even more interesting is that this poll was conducted by the Barna Group, a Christian polling organization.
Of course, the religious right has made a great deal of "family values" over the last decades. But the "overall care and resources devoted to children" was hardly what they focused on. On the contrary, many of their policies have been terribly detrimental to children.
While the Republican Party calls itself the party of "family values," for the past six years, a Republican administration has consistently opposed and cut programs that help America's children. The administration has opposed school lunches, after-school programs for families of working mothers, preschool programs, and college loans. Most recently, President Bush even threatened to veto an expansion of health insurance for the millions of American children who lack adequate health care: the SCHIP program.
This failure by the current aAdministration and its congressional allies to care for America's children gives progressives the opportunity to reclaim an area they've tragically neglected. It offers the opportunity to introduce a progressive family policy agenda.
This progressive family policy agenda should include:
See more stories tagged with: socialism, children, childcare, progressives, family values, family policies
Riane Eisler is best known for her international bestseller The Chalice and The Blade and her just published The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics. She is president of the Center for Partnership Studies and co-founder of the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence. For more information, see www.rianeeisler.com and www.partnershipway.org.
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