A moment on women in History. On December 27, 1927: Anne Legendre Armstrong was born.
She was a United States diplomat and politician, and the first female Counselor to the President; she served in that capacity under both the Ford and Nixon administrations.
From 1966 to 1968, she was the vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party. From 1971 to 1973 she was Co-chairman of the Republican National Committee, and She was the first woman from either major party to keynote at a national convention when she was the keynote speaker at the 1972 Republican National Convention.
She was the first woman co-chair of the Republican Committee, ERA supporter, cabinet-level advisor to Richard Nixon 1972-74, first woman Ambassador to the Court of St. James 1976-77, co-chair of Reagan-Bush presidential campaign, 1980.
In 1987, Armstrong was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan.
She died in 2008. And there is little doubt that she probably would not have been allowed to participate in today's Republican party. She supported the ERA and would have been viewed as too liberal for the over the top conservative movement of today.
Anne Armstrong was a Republican woman who made a lot of valuable contributions when the GOP provided a strong balance in our country and stood for something other than obstructionism. I know a lot of people would like to believe that their Republican party is still the party of Lincoln, but we all know that isn’t the truth. Today’s Republican party stands for nothing but their own self interest. They’ve drastically cut food stamps for the poor, eliminated unemployment rights for 1.3 million Americans right before Christmas, stripped women of their reproductive choices in every state that they control, refused to even consider raising the minimum wage or pass laws that would support equal pay for women.
This is not your father’s or your Mother’s GOP. They use religion as a weapon and go about assaulting everyone who disagrees with them.
This is truthfully the ‘do nothing’ Congress of all time who was willing to throw a tantrum that cost the American tax payers 2 billions dollars when they shut down the government over not getting their way. They have done nothing in the national congress but vote to defund the Affordable Care Act…. 44 times. And yet have offered no viable alternative. 48 million Americans were uninsured prior to Obamacare. That’s over 15% of the population. A report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that on average, uninsured families can only afford to pay in full for approximately 12-percent of hospital stays they may experience. the uncompensated cost of care – is up to $73 billion a year, a significant portion of which is shifted into higher costs for Americans with insurance and their employers. The number of uninsured is cut almost in half by the affordable care act. I'm still seriously trying to see the downside to affordable health insurance.
One of the things I hear most from Republicans is their philosophy of ‘taking personal responsibility’. I worked in Social Services for a long time with homeless and victims of domestic violence. And you would be blown away by the number of people who work full time, sometimes even two jobs and frequently have to chose between paying rent and eating. The Republicans want to fight against raising the minimum wage for these ‘working poor’. They want to give tax breaks to the big businesses who frequently find ways to avoid offering health insurance to their employees.
I’ve heard that we decide our political affiliations at an early age and most often stay with them our entire lives. But today’s GOP is not the party it was when Lincoln was president ,or even when President Eisenhower sponsored and signed the first civil rights bill since reconstruction.
The Democrats have long since been the party that has obviously accomplished more social justice. This is why they are referred to as 'Progressives'. I have come to refer to the right wing as the 'Regressives'.
Just a few of the major laws passed under Democratic Presidents:
40-hour Work Week
Minimum Wage Law
Overtime law
Social Security Act
Unemployment Compensation
Medicare
Medicaid
Family and Medical Leave Act
The 19 Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Women’s Suffrage Amendment Civil Rights
All of these accomplishments were under a Democratic president. Even the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Motor Voter Act of 1993 were under Democratic presidents. Democrats want you to vote, unlike many in the Republican leadership.
And it’s been statistically proven that the American economy does better under Democratic presidents than Republican. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. economy has grown at an average real rate of 4.35% under Democratic presidents and only 2.54% under Republicans.
So why do people who make less than a million dollars a year vote Republican? I have no idea. I haven’t figured that out why anyone would vote against their own self interest. My only possible excuse would be that the GOP has high jacked religion and twisted social issues in order to manipulate the fanatical moral fibers of some people.
But as we enter a new year, I really hope that more people will give thought to their long held belief systems and seriously consider if those self-destructive beliefs are serving the greater good or even the personal good. Change is never easy. But they have proven that those who more easily adapt to change…. do live longer.
She was a United States diplomat and politician, and the first female Counselor to the President; she served in that capacity under both the Ford and Nixon administrations.
From 1966 to 1968, she was the vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party. From 1971 to 1973 she was Co-chairman of the Republican National Committee, and She was the first woman from either major party to keynote at a national convention when she was the keynote speaker at the 1972 Republican National Convention.
She was the first woman co-chair of the Republican Committee, ERA supporter, cabinet-level advisor to Richard Nixon 1972-74, first woman Ambassador to the Court of St. James 1976-77, co-chair of Reagan-Bush presidential campaign, 1980.
In 1987, Armstrong was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan.
She died in 2008. And there is little doubt that she probably would not have been allowed to participate in today's Republican party. She supported the ERA and would have been viewed as too liberal for the over the top conservative movement of today.
Anne Armstrong was a Republican woman who made a lot of valuable contributions when the GOP provided a strong balance in our country and stood for something other than obstructionism. I know a lot of people would like to believe that their Republican party is still the party of Lincoln, but we all know that isn’t the truth. Today’s Republican party stands for nothing but their own self interest. They’ve drastically cut food stamps for the poor, eliminated unemployment rights for 1.3 million Americans right before Christmas, stripped women of their reproductive choices in every state that they control, refused to even consider raising the minimum wage or pass laws that would support equal pay for women.
This is not your father’s or your Mother’s GOP. They use religion as a weapon and go about assaulting everyone who disagrees with them.
This is truthfully the ‘do nothing’ Congress of all time who was willing to throw a tantrum that cost the American tax payers 2 billions dollars when they shut down the government over not getting their way. They have done nothing in the national congress but vote to defund the Affordable Care Act…. 44 times. And yet have offered no viable alternative. 48 million Americans were uninsured prior to Obamacare. That’s over 15% of the population. A report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) shows that on average, uninsured families can only afford to pay in full for approximately 12-percent of hospital stays they may experience. the uncompensated cost of care – is up to $73 billion a year, a significant portion of which is shifted into higher costs for Americans with insurance and their employers. The number of uninsured is cut almost in half by the affordable care act. I'm still seriously trying to see the downside to affordable health insurance.
One of the things I hear most from Republicans is their philosophy of ‘taking personal responsibility’. I worked in Social Services for a long time with homeless and victims of domestic violence. And you would be blown away by the number of people who work full time, sometimes even two jobs and frequently have to chose between paying rent and eating. The Republicans want to fight against raising the minimum wage for these ‘working poor’. They want to give tax breaks to the big businesses who frequently find ways to avoid offering health insurance to their employees.
I’ve heard that we decide our political affiliations at an early age and most often stay with them our entire lives. But today’s GOP is not the party it was when Lincoln was president ,or even when President Eisenhower sponsored and signed the first civil rights bill since reconstruction.
The Democrats have long since been the party that has obviously accomplished more social justice. This is why they are referred to as 'Progressives'. I have come to refer to the right wing as the 'Regressives'.
Just a few of the major laws passed under Democratic Presidents:
40-hour Work Week
Minimum Wage Law
Overtime law
Social Security Act
Unemployment Compensation
Medicare
Medicaid
Family and Medical Leave Act
The 19 Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Women’s Suffrage Amendment Civil Rights
All of these accomplishments were under a Democratic president. Even the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Motor Voter Act of 1993 were under Democratic presidents. Democrats want you to vote, unlike many in the Republican leadership.
And it’s been statistically proven that the American economy does better under Democratic presidents than Republican. Since the end of World War II, the U.S. economy has grown at an average real rate of 4.35% under Democratic presidents and only 2.54% under Republicans.
So why do people who make less than a million dollars a year vote Republican? I have no idea. I haven’t figured that out why anyone would vote against their own self interest. My only possible excuse would be that the GOP has high jacked religion and twisted social issues in order to manipulate the fanatical moral fibers of some people.
But as we enter a new year, I really hope that more people will give thought to their long held belief systems and seriously consider if those self-destructive beliefs are serving the greater good or even the personal good. Change is never easy. But they have proven that those who more easily adapt to change…. do live longer.