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1 Million Homes In Foreclosure — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

If you are a homeowner with a mortgage, these numbers may be very scary to you…Nearly 1 in 10 Homeowners Face Loan Problems, and More Than A Million Homes Are In Foreclosure.From The Associated Press…

The foreclosure hammer is hitting ever harder. People lost their homes at the highest rate on record in the first three months of the year, and late payments soared to a new high, too — an alarming sign that the housing crisis and its damage to the national economy may only get worse.

Dumping more empty homes on an already glutted market also is likely to put a further drag on home prices — extending a vicious cycle.

Slumping home values are being blamed in large part for the rising tide of foreclosures. Troubled borrowers are left owing more to the bank than their homes are worth. They can’t sell without taking a huge financial hit, so they just walk away.

In fact, Americans’ equity in their homes — usually their single biggest asset — now has dropped to the lowest level on record in figures going back to the end of World War II.

CNN’s Cafferty File asked the question - What does it mean when more than a million homes are now in foreclosure? So far there are over 200 responses to the question. Here are just a few…

Rick writes:
It means maybe, maybe, Washington will begin to realize just how much the American people are hurting. From the mortgage crisis to gas prices, our leaders still have their blinders on. At some point, they’ll have to stop paying lip service to these problems and actually start addressing them. We can only hope.

Linda writes:
People can’t afford gas to get to work or look for work, high unemployment rates, high cost of health care to name a few. How can one make a mortgage payment when they can’t even afford a few gallons of gas?

Rick from West Hollywood, Calif. writes:
1 million homes in foreclosure and a recession “longer and deeper” than anyone realizes mean one thing: George Bush and the GOP’s chickens are coming home to roost. And we are the newspaper lining the chicken coop floor.

Also See:

Video of Ed McMahon - talking about his possible foreclosure.

More Million Dollar Foreclosures

The Housing Crisis Is NOT Over

For Those Of You Counting

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Mother’s Day is right around the corner, and I was honored to be asked to participate in an ACORN Mother’s Day Special. I was asked to write a post on how my mother has influenced me politically. In my family, my daughter has become the fourth generation of strong, politically savvy women…that began with my grandmother.

Because I blog about politics every single day, my 14 year-old daughter is exposed to every aspect of politics, and could probably hold her own debating the issues with someone twice her age. When her grandfather (half) jokingly told her that Hillary could never be president because she is a woman, my daughter snapped back at him, “Are you kidding me?” Then she wanted to know if he thought she could never be president, because after all, she’s a woman too? Showing his true chauvinistic side, he responded to her by saying that she could maybe be president someday, but she would have to live in a little pink house next to the While House. Needless to say, my daughter was unamused.

Since I grew-up before the onset of 24 hour cable news, my mother’s political influence on me was a bit more subtle. I remember the first political discussion I ever had with my mother. We had been in a waiting room with many magazines, and I was too young to read any of them, but I did notice covers with horribly graphic photos of men at war. It happened to be towards the end of the Vietnam War, and I asked my mother, “Why is there war?” She told me that people don’t want to be at war, the leaders of the countries make the wars. That was when I realized women were not in positions of political power. Then I said, “We should make women the leaders of all the countries in the world, and then there would never be any wars.” My mother told me that sounded like a good idea, but it probably would never happen. My response was, “Then those men leaders who want a war, should fight it themselves.” I didn’t understand then, and I still don’t understand today, how war solves any problems, neither does my mother.

Anyway, my mother always had an interest in politics, and she voted regularly. Women’s issues were always very important to her, and they still are. She also never voted with a specific party; she always voted for the person she believed was best for the job. So, the way my mother most influenced my views on politics, was by raising me to be an independent thinker, and to believe that any one of us could affect change. I’d like to think that is the way I’m raising my daughter also.

And, my mother was influenced by her mother, who was also a strong, independent woman. I came across a post that my mother recently wrote about her relationship with my grandmother. Here is an excerpt…

I didn’t know it then, but I see it clearly now in retrospect, she was a feminist before that word even existed. Back in the early 50s, she decided she wanted to learn how to drive a car. There weren’t many women drivers on the road back then. Husbands usually did all the driving, or there was public transportation. That wasn’t good enough for my mother. She hired a driving instructor, passed her driver’s test and acquired a license long before her four sisters. As a matter of fact, she became their main mode of transportation, and even though she urged them to get their own licenses, it was several years before the first one found the courage to do it. — read her full post at Frances Ellen Speaks

So, that’s my special Mother’s Day post. How did your mother influence your political views? How do you think you have influenced your daughter?

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Why Is Life Expectancy For Women Going Down In America? - by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

A new study has found that the life expectancy for women in the United States is on the decline. But don’t worry, this is not something that will affect ALL women in our country - just the poor women.

Even more troubling, is that the study doesn’t include any statistics after 1999. What that means is, the Bush years have not been figured into these statistics. I can only imagine how the last eight years of the Bush administration have impacted the reality of these numbers.

It seems like it wasn’t that long ago, that I heard how the US life expectancy had slipped in ranking from 11th to 42nd, behind most European countries.

John Edwards was absolutely right when he talked about two Americas. Try to picture America on one side, and a third-world country on the other. Now picture that third-world country within the United States. Thanks to a failing economy and a serious health care crisis, that is exactly what we face today. It’s really not surprising at all. Very sad, but not surprising.


From The New York Times…

Life expectancy has long been growing steadily for most Americans. But it has not for a significant minority, according to a new study, which finds a growing disparity in mortality depending on race, income and geography.

The study, published Monday in the online journal PLoS, analyzed life expectancy in all 3,141 counties in the United States from 1961 to 1999, the latest year for which complete data have been released by the National Center for Health Statistics. Although life span has generally increased since 1961, the authors reported, it began to level off or even decline in the 1980s for 4 percent of men and 19 percent of women.

“It’s very troubling that there are parts of the wealthiest country in the world, with the highest health spending in the world, where health is getting worse,” said Majid Ezzati, the lead author and an associate professor of international health at Harvard. It is a phenomenon, he added, “unheard of in any other developed country.”

Listen to an interview on NPR…

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Is This Post About Hillary Clinton, Women’s Health, Ellen DeGeneres, or Breast Cancer? All of the above? - by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at BlogHer)

Hillary Clinton was a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday. I didn’t actually see it, but I did see several reports of it on the cable news channels. The media was very thorough and quick to compare Clinton’s mock bowling with Ellen, to Obama’s gutter ball of last week. [Personally, up until that moment I had been undecided, but after seeing the riveting side by side bowling comparison, I’m now totally committed to one candidate.]

Anyway, one station was even observant enough to report on the differences between Barack’s “Ellen Show” strategy and Hillary’s…It seems Hillary didn’t do a jig with Ellen, but Barack did. So thanks to Hillary’s appearance on Ellen yesterday, the evening news programs had a lot of great election news to cover. The level of journalistic integrity on this important election coverage was nonexistent. I even continued to see the same coverage several times today, so I could only assume nothing politically relevant happened during Hillary’s appearance on Ellen. However, it wouldn’t actually be safe to assume that.

To my surprise I happened upon this blog post from Shakesville: Hillary and Ellen…

Hillary Clinton was a guest on Ellen yesterday, and, although I haven’t generally been in the habit of posting talk show appearances of the various candidates, I watch all of them (even John McCain—grumble), and I thought this one was worth posting because the two Dem candidates’ positions on gay rights have been the subject of much debate around here recently, and Hillary spoke to Ellen about gay rights and told a very personal story about people who influenced her support of equality and fairness (love that framing!). She also spoke about an objective that I thought would be of interest to a lot of Shakers: Making breast cancer curable in the next decade.

Hillary said what? She wants to make breast cancer curable? That seems like a pretty big deal, but all I had heard was that she couldn’t hit more than one plastic pin down with a plastic ball.

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New EPA Clean Air Standards Show Why Consumer Action is so Critical…

Today the Care2 Election Blog has a timely guest post by Diane MacEachern, the founder and CEO of Big Green Purse, Diane is passionate about empowering women to use their marketplace clout to protect the environment. She is a best-selling author, successful entrepreneur, sought-after public speaker, and long-time conservationist, she has launched the only company in the U.S. dedicated specifically to transforming women’s environmental concerns into measurable improvements in our quality of life.

READ FULL POST AT THE CARE2 ELECTION BLOG

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87%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I have been spending a good part of today surfing the 300+ women bloggers on my list…I’ve been nominating many of them to Women’s Voices Making History at WVWV. But I had to stop for just a minute, when I came across a post at The Truffle (who is 67% addicted to blogging), and I found the above widget and a link to How Addicted to Blogging Are You? Of course, I had to take a little break, and find out how addicted I was. So, I took the quick little quiz, and guess what? I’m only 87% addicted. That’s not so bad. No need for intervention or a recovery program just yet.

Well, no more time for this. I have to get back to nominating as many women as I can for .

How addicted are you?

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Clinton & Obama: Unite Democrats, Insist All Votes Be Counted — Posted by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

I know I am in the minority when I say this…But, I do not think that under any circumstances, either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, should concede the Democratic nomination. At least not until every state has held it’s primary. This election is just much too important for that. Sadly, most would prefer Hillary Clinton bow out gracefully if she doesn’t have a landslide victory on Tuesday.

From The New York Times…

Top supporters of Senator Barack Obama, joined by at least one prominent Democrat yet to endorse a candidate, put pressure on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday to bow out of the presidential race unless she scores clear victories in the crucial big-state primary contests on Tuesday.

From Erin Kotecki Vest at The Huffington Post and BlogHer…

Dear Senator Clinton, Please Step Down

Like I said, “I don’t agree.” This isn’t just any election, this is an historic election. One where Democrats will be nominating either the first woman or the first African American to be our next president. And I think it is only fair that all Democrats (except of course Florida*), have an opportunity to vote in this primary.

If the candidates (and the DNC) truly care about uniting the party, then they should agree that regardless of the outcome, Clinton and Obama will run as a team. And then, from this moment, and until every state has had an opportunity to vote, Hillary and Barack should campaign on the issues only, and drop all the rhetoric and mudslinging.

I know this is a radical idea, and one that will probably not be adopted. However, by uniting the candidates, the party becomes united. And by allowing every state to hold a primary that “counts”, the DNC will continue to unite the voters in preparation for the general election. Let’s face it…How well has this primary system (of deciding the nominee before all states have had a chance to vote), served us in the past? Not so well.

It seems clear that voters want all votes to be counted, so why not just do it? I think it’s about time to recognize that the old system is not working. And the primaries are going to be held in every state either way, so why not let them all count?

Guess what? It’s not to late to do right by the American people.

Well, that’s what I think. What do you think?

*By the way…Governor Charlie Crist has announced that he would support another Primary in Florida.

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Environment: Wind Farming In Texas - Posted by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)


Finding methods of alternative energy is one of the most important environmental tasks facing our country. So it is interesting (and a bit ironic) that wind farming is sprouting up on the oil fields of Texas.The Care2 News Network reported on this story from an article in The New York Times - Move Over, Oil There’s Money in The Texas Wind Here are some excerpts from the article…

Texas, once the oil capital of North America, is rapidly turning into the capital of wind power. After breakneck growth the last three years, Texas has reached the point that more than 3 percent of its electricity, enough to supply power to one million homes, comes from wind turbines.

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Super Delegates: The Good, The Bad, and The Confusing. — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at Care2 Election Blog)

There has been a lot of confusion over delegates and super-delegates. And, because of the close race between Obama and Clinton, understanding the role of delegates and super-delegates is going to be more important than in past elections. However, understanding may be the easy part…Getting over the seemingly less than democratic process, may prove to be more difficult.

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All Votes Should Be Counted — by Catherine Morgan (cross posted at Care2 Election Blog)

I’m a disenfranchised voter in Florida, and happy to be voting today anyway. I have to admit, I’ve been more than a little annoyed with this whole Florida delegates don’t count thing. This morning was no different. Especially after I came across this post over at BlueBloggin - Clinton Breaks Pledge and Heads to Florida…

Hillary Clinton along with all the other Democratic candidates pledged not to campaign in Florida, however Hillary will appear in Florida on Tuesday. How can anyone trust or believe what Clinton says. It’s obvious that Hillary doesn’t play or obey the same rules everyone else does.

Obviously, this person has a bone to pick with Hillary. And quite frankly, it very well may be obvious that Hillary doesn’t “play by the rules”. But, as a disenfranchised voter of Florida, I have a couple of things to say about this.

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Stop Talking About Race and Gender — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at Care2 Election and The Political Voices of Women)

O.k. - I’m bored with Clinton and Obama going on and on about the “race/gender” non-issue. Voters are going to vote on the actual issues (the economy, the war, healthcare, taxes, etc)…I am sick of hearing them attack each other over twisted words meant to sway voters with race and gender tactics. Just stop it! You too, Main Stream Media! Stop making this an issue, when it is not the least bit important to how these candidates will handle “actual” issues important to the American people. You are wasting critical time. Voters need to hear these candidates talk about what they will do to “heal” our country, not continue to add to the “fracturing” of it. So please…Just Stop It!

READ FULL POST AT THE CARE2 ELECTION BLOG

Also See:

Women To Play A Key Role In 2008 Presidential Election

Why I’m Still An Undecided Voter

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Women Will Play A Key Role In 2008 Election — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog and The Political Voices of Women)

The presidential campaign has taken an interesting turn in the last few days. It’s finally become apparent to the media, the pundits, and the candidates, what has been obvious to women all along…Women hold the key to the White House, ignore them and you shall be locked out.

How important will the “women’s vote” be in the 2008 presidential election? The answer - It’s going to be more important than anyone can even begin to imagine. If that fact hadn’t been abundantly clear before now, it certainly should be after Iowa and New Hampshire. Obama won in Iowa with the majority of women voting for him there, and Clinton won in New Hampshire with the majority of women voting for her there. When all is said and done, the next President of the United States will be coronated not by the media, but by the women.

In 2004, 8.8 million more women voted than men, that number is going to be even greater in 2008.

So, do your homework candidates. This election is not about race, gender, or tears…It’s about the issues, especially the issues that are important to women voters. You will need a message that resonates with all women voters…all colors, ages, income levels, married, single, soccer moms, and single moms. Don’t feel bad men, women ultimately want what’s best for the country, so that includes you too. And NEWS FLASH…Just “pandering” to the women is not going to do the trick, we can actually see through that.

NOTE TO CANDIDATES: Now might be a good time to check in with Lisa Stone of BlogHer about the BlogHer’s Voter Manifesto. FYI…Women who blog not only vote, but they influence other voters. With that said, you may also want to check out The Political Voices of Women, where a list has been compiled of over 300 women blogging about politics and the election. And, don’t forget to check out our very own Care2 Groups, with millions of members, many of whom happen to be women.

So, what are some of the women of the blogosphere saying about the events of the last few days? Here is a little sampling…

READ FULL POST AT The Political Voices of Women

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Hi everyone.  I want to take this opportunity to tell you that I am helping to launch a new blog by Care2.  It’s called the Care2 Election Blog, and I will be the primary blogger.  I hope you’ll stop by and check it out.  THIS IS A LINK TO MY FIRST POST.  Todays post is on…Another veto by Bush for SCHIP.

I’ll be here at the Care2 Election Blog each day with posts on the latest election news, political commentary and, of course, will address campaign issues that are especially important to the Care2 community, with an emphasis on non-profits. Since this is Care2’s first blog, I hope to get as much feedback from the members of the community as possible…and I look forward to hearing all of your comments and suggestions (so please…don’t be shy).  — read my full first post here

If you are not already familiar with Care2, you should go over and check them out.  It’s a site that makes it easy to take action on issues that are important to you.

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Women Political Bloggers: Are You On The List? If not…go here to have your political blog added.

I am pleased to announce that our list of women blogging on politics, has today reached over 300. When I started the list only a few weeks ago I had 100 blogs, and now thanks to so much participation by other women bloggers, we now have 316 women political bloggers on the list.

I would like to take this time to thank some of the many bloggers who have helped grow and promote The Political Voices of Women. Now, in no particular order…

• Today, Dee from Conservatism With Heart not only promoted the blog and our list, but used her post to send me over 25 links of blogs that were not yet on the list…Single-handedly bringing our list to over 300. Thank you Dee. Dee also posts at Grizzly Groundswell.

• Earlier in the week I was honored to be mentioned in an article at The Huffington Post…How cool is that? I did a post about it here, and this is the link to the article by Carol Jenkins.

• Jill Miller of Writes Like She Talks, did a very kind post supporting the list here. Thanks Jill.

• Faye Anderson of Anderson@Large, not only did a nice post promoting the list, but she was also my very first guest blogger at The Political Voices of Women. Thanks Faye.

• And since Faye’s guest post, I have also been lucky enough to have many other women contribute as guest bloggers…

Robin Gerber did a guest post here.

Sue from Nailing Jello to the Wall has done two guest posts…here and here.

Olivia Morgan from Women For Obama did a guest post here.

Sarah at One Mom’s View did a guest post here.

Heather Johnson from Moms4Mitt did a guest post here.

and our most recent guest post is by Julie at Moms Speak Up, and that post is here. Julie also promoted the site here. Thanks Julie.

Thank you to all of these wonderful women blogging on politics.

• Yankee Cowgirl also did a post promoting our list.

• Jenn from Ft. Hard Knox just did a very nice post here.

• Sandy from Around Des Moines just posted about the site, and she also joined our new community and even put a post up there too. Thanks so much Sandy.

• Deborah from Girl With Pen mentioned the site here.

• Amy from Georgia Women Vote did a nice post here.

• Mixter’s Mix, Modern English, sairy, Pondering Penguin, Mauigirl’s Meanderings, and opit, all have The Political Voices of Women in it’s blogroll. Thanks.

Thanks to all of these women (and the one man “opit“), for helping to make The Political Voices of Women the “go to” place for women bloggers, and people who want to know what they’re thinking.

I’m sure that I’ve missed many (and for that I’m sorry), so if you have done a post or added me to your blogroll please leave me a link in comments…And the next time I do a thank-you post, I will be sure to include you.

*I hope you will also consider joining our Political Voices of Women Community.

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Women’s Media Center Introducing Progressive Women’s Voices — by Catherine Morgan

I was pleasantly surprised today, to find that my political blog “Informed Voters” was receiving incoming links from The Huffington Post. It seems Carol Jenkins wrote a post about women in politics, and my list of over 275 women political bloggers got a nod. As happy as I am about being recognized by The Huffington Post, the overall message of Carol’s post is an extremely important one…

“Don’t let your voice be silent. Let’s change the conversation together.”

The Women’s Media Center has created Progressive Women’s Voices, a new program to change the conversation and ensure that all of our voices are heard. Through this program, the Women’s Media Center will train, brief and support 15 progressive women whose stories and expertise are critically missing from the national debate.

The Women’s Media Center is seeking participants who represent diverse backgrounds, with experience and knowledge of specific subject areas and with strong communication skills which they will help to further develop. Full program details are available here.

We need your help now - to identify these women and give them a chance to receive the training and support they deserve.

So tell us: Who are the great women out there whose voices deserve to be heard, but who are not yet a part of the national dialogue? Leave your suggestions here, and we’ll make sure that the program information gets in their hands.

And if you’re reading this and think that you may be that woman, then let us know. Whether your expertise is war or peace, leadership, climate change, health care, or technology, chances are you follow the news, and realize that progressive women’s voices, like yours, are missing.

READ THE FULL POST BY CAROL JENKINS HERE

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