Obama-Biden White House Will Accomplish More For Women

Women comprise the highest number of registered voters, and in Denver at the Democratic National Convention, I saw more women of all ages and races than in any other convention I have attended. Women will decide this election!

Woman and families have been hit hard by Bush's conservative thinking and broken economic policies. Barack Obama recognizes the challenges woman face. Women need a President who is on their side and that is Barack Obama. This is why I have agreed to serve as the Honorary Chair of Hawaii Women for Obama. His unwavering commitment to addressing pay inequity, affordable healthcare, education, choice and the rising cost of living are just some of the reasons an Obama-Biden White House is vital for women.

I encourage you to read my editorial below calling for a "new deal" that will bring the change we desperately need in Hawaii and the entire country.  An Obama-Biden administration will accomplish more for women than a McCain-Palin administration.

The American Dream Needs a New Direction, a New Deal

From Wall Street to Bishop Street the message is clear the "American Dream" is in trouble. The United States is a place of dreams. Through hard work and ambition a parent can provide better for their children within one generation. It is the dream that inspired my mother and thousands of others to come to this country. They sought the opportunity to achieve greater prosperity than was possible in their homeland; the opportunity for their children to grow up and receive an education to carry them to bigger dreams. Sadly now in 2008, the hope of the "American Dream" is out of reach for many families, for some who have no health care or lost their jobs and homes, a nightmare.

Families in Hawaii are struggling to make ends meet. Local charities have cited record need for donations. This past Tuesday 4,900 people converged on the Blaisdell Center to look for employment at a job fair. This was 1,400 more people than last year. The average homeowner's energy bill on Oahu has jumped 42% from last April. Americans are facing higher costs for all basic necessities, from gas to healthcare to groceries. Unemployment is up 6.1% nationally, and millions of people are about to lose their homes due to the housing and banking crisis.

Senator John McCain has described these economic problems as just in our heads, citing a "mental recession". And even this week, he stated that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" as our financial sector and Wall Street are in the biggest crisis since the great depression. Are the Republicans smart guardians of our economy? Eight years of Republican policies that gave tax breaks to the top 2% of the richest in our country, while ignoring the majority of American struggling to make ends meet must end.

So how will this affect Hawaii? Economists are predicting the crisis in the national market will lead to a recession here in the islands. Hawaii's tourism economy is fragile. As an island community, we are most vulnerable to high energy costs, issues related to air travel and inter-island shipping of goods. Tourism experts were quoted this week as saying that the economy is "the worst they have ever seen it." It is projected that due to the uncertainty in the economy, our state's staple industry will "...experience another consecutive year of falling visitor counts."

The state of Hawaii is facing a $900 million budget deficit in the next few years. And following the federal bailout of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the collapse of AIG, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers, it appears the Republicans are now chanting for change. This "change of heart" is a little too late. This country is in crisis and we need a new direction, a new deal, a new leader. And that leader is Barack Obama.

As a child I remember my mother struggling to support my brothers and me. Without her income we would have no food or roof over our heads. I would go to sleep at night fearing what would happen if she ever got sick as we did not have health insurance. What would we do? And still today, there are children here in Hawaii facing that same concern every night. They live without healthcare. Their future is not secure. If their parents get sick, will they be ok?

Approximately 14.6 million women are now living in poverty. And nearly 13 million children are living in poverty, a rise of 1.3 million since 2000. This is unacceptable. We need to elect a leader committed to fight for access to affordable healthcare. We need to elect a leader committed to ensure that our public school systems have the resources they need to educate the future of this country. We need a leader who fights for equal pay for equal work. We need a leader who finds it unacceptable that women still only make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. That leader is Barack Obama.

A McCain-Palin White house would be more of the same failed Bush economics that got us into this recession to begin with. John McCain has voted 90% of the time with President Bush. A 10% change is a continuation of the Bush administration and our country cannot afford more of these same failed policies.

The only thing certain in this uncertain economy is that we need leadership that will bring true change by reversing the policies of this current administration and rebuild an economy that works for average families, not just people who make more than $250,000!

We need to elect leaders who will be responsible and responsive to the everyday issues people face. Because long after the 2008 election is over, these very real issues will still be here. If you believe that it is time for fundamental change in Washington and a President who puts your concerns first the choice is clear this November. The Democrats and Barack Obama are those offering the new direction and the new deal.