Tag Archives: Massachusetts

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Mitt Has A Plan For Women

10/18/2012 Nativegrl77

During last night’s debate, Mitt Romney sure had a lot of opinions about women in the workplace. He seemed to think he was connecting with women voters. Do you agree?

Here’s the transcript of Romney from last night:

I had the — the chance to pull together a Cabinet and all the applicants seemed to be men. And I — and I went to my staff, and I said, how come all the people for these jobs are — are all men?

They said, well, these are the people that have the qualifications. And I said, well, gosh, can’t we — can’t we find some — some women that are also qualified?

And — and so we — we took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. I went to a number of women’s groups and said, can you help us find folks? And I brought us whole binders full of — of women. I was proud of the fact that after I staffed my cabinet and my senior staff that the University of New York in Albany did a survey of all 50 states and concluded that mine had more women in senior leadership positions than any other state in America.

Now, one of the reasons I was able to get so many good women to be part of that team was because of our recruiting effort, but number two, because I recognized that if you’re going to have women in the workforce, that sometimes they need to be more flexible. My chief of staff, for instance, had two kids that were still in school. She said, I can’t be here until 7:00 or 8:00 at night. I need to be able to get home at 5:00 so I can be there for — making dinner for my kids and being with them when they get home from school. So we said, fine, let’s have a flexible schedule so you can have hours that work for you.

I don’t know about you, but I’m insulted.

Top 10 #BindersFullOfWomen Responses

Top 5 Obama Punches from Debate 2

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Presidential Proclamation — Blind Americans Equality Day, 2012

10/16/2012 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Disability UpdatesNote: If you received this email as a forward but would like to be added to the White House Disability Group email distribution list, please visit our website at http://www.whitehouse.gov/disability-issues-contact and fill out the “contact us” form in the disabilities section, or you can email us at disability@who.eop.gov and provide your full name, city, state, and organization.

Recent disability announcements include the President proclaiming October 15, 2012, as Blind Americans Equality Day, the Department of Labor launching a virtual Workplace Flexibility Toolkit, the Federal Communications Commission putting internet closed captions rules into effect, and the Department of Education awarding $24 million in grant funding to 22 states to improve training systems to help children with disabilities.

Presidential Proclamation — Blind Americans Equality Day, 2012

As business leaders and public advocates, teachers and scientists, musicians and athletes, and in countless other ways, blind and visually impaired Americans have profoundly enriched every part of our national life. Today, we celebrate their innumerable contributions, and we recommit to guaranteeing equal access, equal opportunity, and equal respect for all Americans.

Read the full text of the proclamation at the following link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/10/15/presidential-proclamation-blind-americans-equality-day-2012

US Department of Labor launches virtual Workplace Flexibility Toolkit during National Disability Employment Awareness Month

The U.S. Department of Labor has launched its online Workplace Flexibility Toolkit to provide employees, job seekers, employers, policymakers and researchers with information, resources and a unique approach to workplace flexibility. Workplace flexibility policies and practices typically focus on when and where work is done. The toolkit adds a new dimension — an emphasis on flexibility around job tasks and what work is done. Funded by the department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy in partnership with the department’s Women’s Bureau, the toolkit makes more than 170 resources easily accessible

Read more about the toolkit at the following link: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/odep/ODEP20122014.htm#.UHwpRMU712w

Federal Communications Commission Internet Closed Captioning Rules Went Into Effect September 30

Rules requiring distributors of certain Internet video programming to provide closed captioning to assist viewers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing went into effect on September 30. Closed captioning is the visual display of the audio portion of video programming. These Internet closed captioning requirements were implemented pursuant to the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA).

Read more about the new rules at the following link: http://www.fcc.gov/document/internet-closed-captioning-rules-went-effect-september-30

$24 Million in Grants Awarded to 22 States to Improve Training Systems to Help Children with Disabilities

The U.S. Department of Education announced the award of $24 million in grants to 22 states to improve personnel training systems to help children with disabilities. States receiving grants are: Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The State Personnel Development Grants Program, authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), provides funds to assist states in reforming and improving their systems for personnel preparation and professional development in early intervention, education and transition services in order to enhance results for children with disabilities.

Read more about the grant awards at the following link: http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/24-million-grants-awarded-22-states-improve-training-systems-help-children-disab

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a message from Stephanie

09/28/2012 Nativegrl77

Mitt Romney agreed it’s “fair” that millionaires and billionaires like himself pay a lower tax rate than many middle-class families do.

That’s not our spin — that’s straight from Romney. On “60 Minutes” this week, he actually agreed that it’s “fair” that he got to pay a lower tax rate on the millions he made last year than a worker making $50,000 paid. Why? “It’s the right way to encourage economic growth.”

As anyone who’s been paying attention over the past few decades knows, Romney is flat-out wrong. Tax breaks for millionaires and tax hikes for middle-class families lead to endless deficits, not economic growth or job creation. That’s why President Obama is fighting to ensure that millionaires like Romney pay their share

We put together some content that looks at Mitt Romney‘s idea of tax fairness, as well as a couple videos that look at Romney’s positions on education, which he talked about this week. Check them out, and make sure your friends do, too.
#1 Romney’s idea of tax fairness Here’s the video of Romney on what he thinks is fair when it comes to taxes. Take a look, then share it with others:

#2 President Obama’s plan This week, President Obama laid out the details of his plan to build our economy from the middle class out. Voters in Iowa began casting their ballots this morning, so it’s a great time to let your friends and family know about the President’s plan to keep our country moving forward. Share this videowith them:

#3 Tax returns and reforms Romney has defied a decades-long precedent by only releasing two years of his tax returns. That leaves a lot of questions unanswered, but the tax returns he has released show that he benefits from loopholes in the tax code that give an advantage to millionaires and billionaires. So it’s no surprise that Romney doesn’t want to reform the tax code so that all Americans pay a fair share — he wants to keep rewarding millionaires and billionaires at the expense of the middle class. Take a look at this postabout his tax plan, and pass it along:

#4 Romney on class size At the Education Nation Summit this week, Romney doubled down on his assertion that classroom size doesn’t matter. But you don’t just have to listen to Romney to know that his policies are bad — watch Massachusetts teacherstalk about what happened to schools in their state when Romney served as governor, then pass the video along to the teacher or parent in your life:

Also take a look at this videothat tells the story of a Colorado teacher who got to speak with Romney. You’ll be stunned to hear how he treated her:

Thanks for all you do,
Stephanie