This file was prepared for electronic distribution by the inforM staff. Questions or comments should be directed to inform-editor@umail.umd.edu. THE GETTING IT GAZETTE November 27, 1992 BOUNTY ON SACRED BULLS by Ann Crittenden If every absentee father paid the kind of income-based child support mandated in the state of Wisconsin, the poverty rate among single-parent children in the U.S. would drop by 48 percent. But of course, they don't pay. The lawlessness around this is staggering--a direct result of the shortage of women in power. Through 1989 only about 25 percent of court-ordered child support had been paid. Nonsupport is an equal-opportunity crime, committed by men at all income levels, and leaving the moms and the rest of us to pick up the bills in welfare payments. The solution is breathtakingly simple, and would no doubt be already in effect were there more women in Congress. The Federal government has to take over from states and counties, whose jurisdiction and resources are far too limited for the scope of the problem of enforcing child support. The states would require that both parents' Social Security numbers be recorded on every birth certificate, and noncustodial parents would have their child- support payments deducted from their paychecks. The money would be mailed to the parent who is taking care of the child, even if he or she lived on the other side of the country. To work the plan would have to have the enforcement powers of the IRS, including the power to seize assets. Deadbeat parents should also be reported to credit agencies, so they couldn't borrow money for themselves while neglecting their children. And why not award a bounty to anyone turning in a child dodger? Dennis Bannon, head of Children's Support Services, a private collection agency (phone # 301-470-4294) says "the worst crime a person can commit is neglecting his kids." Bannon thinks an all- out effort could recover $11 to $12 billion of unpaid court-ordered child support. He would like to see all national professional licensing--for doctors, lawyers, pilots, etc.--linked to compliance so that nonsupport would be grounds for losing one's credential. At stake is the well-being of millions of children in poverty, expenditure of billions of tax dollars for child welfare, massive evasion of the law, and true respect for "family values." ------------------------------------------------------------------ Ann Crittenden's Killing the Sacred Cows: Bold Ideas for a New Economy will be published in January ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dispatches From the Country Kentucky Rebel(le)s: And the last shall be first Why should Kentucky, ranked 50th in number of women elected to state office, be the first to have its own edition of the GETTING IT GAZETTE? "We're having a little revolution here--with women in the Democratic Party," says Audrey Haynes, of Frankfort. In 1991, when the state leaders came to the Democratic Women's Club "for the usual female stuff--food an so on, some of us said we wouldn't mind bringing the cookies if our opinions were listened to, but as it was, we were getting pretty tired of it. Once I spoke up, it was as if other women had permission to express what they'd been feeling for a long time." Changes came thick and fast after that. The DWC requested equal representation on the state and county Democratic committees. "We've seen a big improvement in women's participation," though not yet equality, Haynes says. Three political skills workshops have been held, in Frankfort and Louisville, giving about 200 Kentucky women exposure to experts like Harriett Woods of the National Women's Political Caucus. Every month the DWC meetings focus on relevant substantive issues, not just dividing up the "ladies' auxiliary" duties. A political-talent inventory has identified capable women in rural areas with activist backgrounds. "These women are qualified to run and they have a good chance of winning, but they don't necessarily know that," Haynes says. "They need to be targeted and invited; they won't just come forward." Potential candidates also need information and training, often from out of state. "We've found it helps when two or three women can plan to go together," Haynes reports. "Those who don't want to run themselves can help another woman with her campaign." The next primary for statewide office in May 1995 will bring many open seats. Says Haynes: "What we're doing right now means women be ready." --Anne Mollegen Smith A Heartbreaker in Montana: Why Bradley Lost State Representative Dorothy Bradley lost a close race for governor of Montana in part because her Republican opponent, Marc Racicot, brought in a negative-campaign specialist. Respected in the state legislature and called by some "a visionary," Bradley wanted to run a clean campaign centered on key issues like the state's fiscal problems. She called for a referendum on a sales tax. An August 10 poll showed her well ahead. In September, the Republicans' expert in attack-dog tactics, Eddie Mahe, was brought in. According to Mary Vant Hull, a longtime Bradley adviser and former Bozeman city commissioner, Racicot began to portray Bradley as a "big spender" in an extensive radio campaign. "In our September telephoning we began to hear things like 'we can't afford her,'" Hull notes, "even from her home county." Initially hurt and disbelieving, the Bradley team eventually responded with material showing Racicot as an even bigger spender, but not until two weeks before the election. Two other factors were personal. Nancy Tihart, an administrator in Bozeman, named one "the cowboy mentality." A woman rancher in the eastern part of the state agreed: "A lot of these men can't see a woman leading the state, even though women could bring the changes we need. Women aren't as likely to spend money on war rather than on people." Racicot's campaign material emphasized that he's married, with five children, whereas Bradley is divorced, with no children. "They said that as though it made her dangerous," the rancher reported. Was this an effective issue? "Personally I thought she could overcome it," Hull says. "If we had had some experts from New York or Washington, the Bradley campaign might have been able to answer it." As it was, the lost by 11,400 of the 406,000 votes cast. --Grace Lichtenstein Illinois: The Rise of Risk-Taking Femocrats The gender barrier in old Democratic-machine politics has kept women down. Most women in the Illinois General Assembly were Republicans. Today there's a new pattern of Femocrats, typified by Carol Moseley Braun. In the 1970s she ran against the machine for state legislature. Her win brought party acceptance. In 1980 she sued her own Speaker over redistricting that shortchanged minorities; she won again, and emerged as head of the Black Caucus and assistant majority leader in the House. In 1988 she joined Harold Washington's county slate to "balance" his ticket, and as recorder of deeds was the first black to win a major Cook County office. But she hit the glass ceiling. She decided to enter the primary against incumbent Senator Alan Dixon because she had nothing to lose. Other women empowered by her example staged some upsets in Chicago primaries, tantamount to election for Democrats. In the general election a pro-choice Democratic woman also upset a Christian Coalition Republican male with 61% of the vote. Next: Will the rubber-stamp Chicago City Council yield to forceful female pols in 1995? Stay tuned. --Grace Kaminkowitz HOW WOMEN WON THE ELECTION Again, the Talking Tweeds, the Power Pin-Stripes and the Major-Media Studs just don't seem to Get It by Deirdre English As Time and Newsweek both reported, a much higher percentage of women than men voted for Clinton. As neither of them noted, women also cast six million more votes than men. Clinton drew 47% of the women's vote, versus 41% of the men's vote. It was the women's vote that guaranteed Bill and Hillary a victory waltz at the Inaugural Ball in January. Would women have won the election for Clinton even if he had not led among men? Yes. Clinton's lead among women was a decisive 11%. (The women's vote was Clinton 47%, Bush 36%, Perot 17%). Would Clinton have won the popular vote if only men had voted? Yes, he would have squeaked by with a four-point lead. (The men's vote was: Clinton 41%, Bush 37%, Perot 21%) But if, instead, women had given Bush even half of the positive gender gap that they gave to Clinton, it would've meant four more years of Bush-Quayle. That's because the numbers of women voting are greater than the numbers of men. Black women were the voters most solidly for Clinton, at 85%. Clinton also won convincingly among two groups that are disproportionately female: older voters and the poor. He did even better among younger women voters, who feel the abortion issue most keenly. Among independents Clinton also drew more women than men. For women, the outcome of the elections can be considered the first major, national political break-through since Suffrage. It shows that women as a group can and do separate from the way that men vote--the gender gap, which first surfaced in 1980 when more women than men favored the Democratic candidate, is gaining ever greater heft. It was the women's vote that returned the Senate to a Democratic majority in 1986. This year women tripled the number of women Senators--from two to six. In California, which elected two women senators, an amazing 57% of registered voters are female. In the house, women nearly doubled their numbers, from 29 to 48. And all the newly elected women are pro-choice. For not-very-mysterious reasons, Democrats have not flaunted the gender gap statistics: they don't want to emphasize their growing debt to women. Clearly the press didn't Get It: mainstream media failed even to raise the issue of choice in the four top-of-the-ticket debates, and now have trouble drawing conclusions from the facts. As of now, women as a bloc can determine both state and federal political outcomes--and they are acutely sensitive issues like choice, pay equity, family leave and child care, and the need for more women in higher office. Women are waking up to their newfound power at the polls because other women are finding the means, like the hot-pink broadsheet now in your hands, to spread the news or, like the Women's Campaign Fund and EMILY's and the WISH lists, to funnel funds and savvy to women candidates. The stage is set for a rapid acceleration in the rate of change--as women realize they can elect more women, and can reward or punish representatives of either gender for their accountability to women's issues. BEWARE OF PHALLIC DRIFT What Clinton and Gore Must Do To Keep Us Happy by Ronnie Sandroff It kind of takes your breath away: With a stroke of the pen, Bill Clinton will soon heal some of the nastiest wounds of the last twelve years. He's pledged to eliminate the gag rule on abortion counseling, lift the bans on gays and lesbians in the military and on RU-486 and fetal tissue research, and institute family leave for federal workers. There's also the U.N. Convention on Women, the international treaty on equal rights long ignored by the U.S.--we hope he'll send it to the Senate for quick ratification. Other pro-women measures are more complex and will succeed only if Clinton continues to listen up and we continue to speak out. Let's remember that in the days before the Democratic convention Clinton was being urged to concentrate on winning the white male vote. Happily, he ignored that push for phallic drift and went for the voters who wanted real change, including the Anita Hill-born again feminists. Together, we won. But we're still anxious about being heard. Some hopeful signs: In Arkansas, Hillary Clinton listened and talked with citizens in every school district to rally the electorate around the controversial idea of testing teachers; in Oregon last spring Governor Barbara Roberts spoke to over 10,000 citizens about the state budget via the state's closed circuit television station (then survived a recall effort). These forums may be the beginning of a new age of responsive government, and women are good at them. So, post-victory, what do women want? For a start, we'd like to break down the obstacles that unfairly keep us from becoming healthy, wealthy and wise. Looking Out For Number One: Health Care, Please The first priority, of course, is for all of us (including part-time workers, the self-employed and the not quite poor) to have access to affordable preventive, routine and acute health care, including the full range of gynecological and reproductive services (not forgetting the WIC program for feeding women, infants and children). Coverage should travel with us from job to job, so the we don't become health insurance vassals. And if companies are allowed to self-insure, it's ludicrous to let them amend their policies to avoid paying for expensive AIDS or cancer treatment. That's the sense part. But we also want health care that doesn't offend our sensibilities--kind, personal and respectful health care, not assembly-line clinics where we see a different doctor every time. And, since we're the ones who often get stuck puzzling over benefits restrictions and filling out endless insurance forms, let's minimize the hassle factor and make simplicity a goal. Ask the women who write recipes to cook up a lite 'n' lively manual to the new health care benefits that anyone can understand. 'Quotas' Are a Red Herring, What Matters is Equal Pay & Opportunity Enforcement of the excellent laws currently on the books to curb on-the-job harassment and discrimination has been a sick joke for the last 12 years. With the right attitude and the right appointments, Clinton can re-empower the EEOC and its branch offices. A few big monetary settlements will go a long way towards chilling out such behavior. So will serious enforcement of Executive Order 11246, which insists that federal contractors practice affirmative action for women and minorities. A fair share of government-stimulated jobs must go to women and include training and daycare facilities so that displaced homemakers, high school dropouts and welfare moms can step out of poverty and onto career ladders. Don't Require Us to Think or Act Like One of the Guys Will someone please invent a female-friendly way of teaching math and science? Can we redo textbooks to eliminate economic gender stereotyping? Will teachers, parents and principals commit themselves to teaching little boys that only a wimp would pick up a girl's skirt (the earliest form of sexual harassment)? The chance to do service to the nation in return for college tuition is a great Clinton idea. But let's set up the program so that it can accommodate women with children and provide catch-up retraining for women who've been cut out of the job market. And when workers are sent abroad, joint assignments shouldn't be confined to married couples. Relationships are important; many women do better when they can count on a friend. We already have effective laws, such as the Women's Educational Equity Act and Title D. Enforcing them, in letter and spirit, can help guarantee equality in education. Oh and one more thing: Appoint women to your cabinet, agencies and federal judgeships. They'll get your work done for you. Rumors & Ruminations As we say good-bye to the Second Lady, it's now possible to share Sister Mary's insight: Marilyn Quayle is Lily Tomlin's evil twin...Suggest to Washington women's-rights lobbyist Pat Reuss that she oughta' run for office and she laughs: "Even if I were up to it, I'm afraid my family could never stand the scrutiny" ...These days, ask not whether there's some skeleton in your closet, but how you can manage to make no bones about it: Had Lynn Yeakel's husband announced his resignation from his country club over its lack of black members, might that have saved the candidate some grief? Pro's Call: Yes. With potential trouble (like Al Gore's dope-smoking in his student days) better let it out it early (good you got those "wooden Indian with a Mexican Gold cigar" jokes behind you, Al). Make that number two on CWILTC's List. Pronounced Quilt-see, it means that in politics, Campaign Wisdom Is Like a Teflon Coating: It saves the candidate from sticky situations once the fat hits the fire....Computer's spelling- checking program questions Moseley Braun, offers as first alternatives "mausolea" and "brain." Clever machine figures the Senator is drop-dead smart. Cabinet suggestions from editors of GIG and QQ: Why stop with new people? Give new names and new missions to the departments, too. Make H.U.D. into Housing & Urban Resurrection and appoint former NYC City-Council Pres. Carol Bellamy ... Health and Human Services becomes Health and Human Dignity, headed by Dr. Marianne Neifert, a.k.a. "Dr. Mom," and Billye Avery, of the Black Women's Health Network... Dear Old D.O.D. (Defense) becomes D.C.R. (Dept. of Conflict Resolution) headed by Pat Schroeder, with Jimmy Carter as special envoy...Continue to call Justice Department "Justice" but mean it, for a change, and turn it over to Eleanor Holmes Norton... Redefine the Council of Economic Advisors as the Committee for Economic Equality, chaired by Isabel Sawhill... The Center for Disease Control should become the Center for Health and Preventative Medicine, with Bernadine Healey, Jane Brody and Mathilde Krim firmly at the helm...Reconsider Energy Dept.: How about "Sun, Wind & Water"? ... All too used to having jokes in office, the Quayle Quarterly's breezy (no, make that Wendy) list offered a new ho-ho-hoe: refocus Customs as The Welcome Wagon--to be headed by Martha Stewart. --Mollie Ann Smith Socks: The Interview My cat, Josephine, disappeared for a few days last week, along with a tuna sandwich and my portable tape recorder. When she returned, she brought with her this interview with the outspoken First Pet- elect. Josephine: Would you describe yourself as primarily an indoor or outdoor cat? Socks: I feel that both hunting and living with a family are important roles for cats. I have great respect for cats who stay home full time, but I also admire those who have no family to support them, and who are raising litters on their own. J: Is it true that you've undergone a makeover -- S: Absolutely not. My fur is my own, 100 percent. They did do some polls, and suggested that I might have broader appeal if I changed my name to "Hosiery." I refused, and Mr. Clinton supported me. J: Are you being considered at this point for a cabinet position? S: I've always been welcome in the cabinets and on the counters here in Little Rock, but we felt that would be inappropriate at the national level. However, I'm currently working with the transition team to set up a private litterbox near the Oval Office. J: As First Pet, will you address any specific issues? S: I'll continue my work with the SPCA, or course. Also, I plan to be involved in ecological issues, particularly in the area of tuna fisheries. J: What do you say to rumors that you've been very influential behind the scenes in this campaign? S: Oh, I suppose I've been underfoot a bit. Mr. Clinton and I have a very warm, close relationship. But I'm not like some pets who need to be beside their masters every second. J: You don't see yourself, then, as a First Pet in the tradition of Millie? S: I think you'll find I'm a very different breed of animal. --Julie Phillips TALKING POINTS Combat dry-mouth and build consensus with the Getting It Gazette's handy pre-fab comebacks. This Week's HOT BUTTON: Homosexuality in the military At issue for women: Sexual harassment; Job discrimination; Gay women's rights; Clinton's future effectiveness as a reformer. Guideline: They're talking about sin, sex and mutiny. You're stressing conduct, excellence and what America stands for. They say: Homosexuals should not be in the military. You say: Bogus issue. They're in. Always have been. Always will be. the right is just trying to make Clinton look like a Sodom-and-Gomorrah liberal so they can discredit the rest of his agenda. Like health care. They say: Colin Powell (or one third of the officer corps) will quit! Do Not Say: Goody! You say: It will be terrible to lose so many great men over such a frivolous issue. Personally, I think most of them are bluffing. But luckily the cold war is over, the military is cutting back, and we can afford the luxury of this difficult but long-overdue transition. They say: You've never been in a barracks. There's not privacy. You say: Many families live in close quarters. And many fathers commit incest. Does that mean you want all fathers barred from living with their families? No, the issue is conduct. They say: Discipline will suffer. You say: You mean like it did in Operation Tailhook? Discipline problems in a well-fed army nearly always come from above. They say: Groping. Molestation. Corruption of the innocent. You say: (intensely, yet calmly): Agreed: Sexual harassment is a serious problem in any organization--for men as well as for women. Deal with it preventively as well as punitively and it can be minimized. They say: AIDS You say: Screen for HIV. Like flat feet. They say: Homosexuality is an abomination against God. You say: Well, if my God feels differently, do you think it's government's job to decide whose god is right? They say: Letting homosexuals in the military will interfere with male bonding and endanger men in combat. Do Not Say: "Male, male, men, men." What about lesbians? Besides, war's stupid. Women can resolve world conflicts without it. Smile and say: Come on. We've all seen those WWII movies. Guys had trouble bonding with Jews, blacks, Swedes--you name it. Every war brings a new bonding crisis. In combat, where bigotry can lead to death, they seem to get over it. Whatever they say... You say: Conduct is the issue. This is America, remember?? Land of opportunity? If you do your job effectively, obey the rules-- you've a right to serve, to compete. Sure, justice is tricky to implement, but it's worth fighting for. --Lynn Phillips Extending the Rainbow: Women of Color in Congress by Susan McHenry In 1968, Shirley Chisholm, the first and only black woman entering Congress, was dumbfounded to be assigned to the House Agriculture Committee. "I guess that's because of that tree that grows in Brooklyn," she said at the time. This year, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), one of five newly elected African-American congresswomen, is actively seeking Chisolm's old assignment: "A large part of my old district is agricultural, "the Georgia congresswoman explained to EMERGE magazine. The five newcomers join four black women incumbents who were re-elected to House seats, plus the first African American senator, Carol Moseley Braun, of Illinois. The November elections not only more than doubled the number of black women in Congress, but extended the diversity of black women among our federal lawmakers. All four incumbents are from northern urban areas, but all five newcomers are from the South, where more than 60% of black voters live. Besides McKinney, the corps of black women in Congress includes Carrie Meek and Corrine Brown, both Democrats of Florida, Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) and Eva Clayton (D-NC). All five of these women are experienced politicians at the state or local level. Indeed, Texas's Johnson and Georgia's McKinney, both former state legislators, are astute veterans of state redistricting committees. Overall, this group of nine women are expect to be important bridges between the Congressional Black Caucus (which grew from 25 to 39 votes in the House, all Democrats but one) and the Congressional Women's Caucus (47 votes in the House). Better organized than the Women's Caucus and funded through their own foundation, the 22-year-old Congressional Black Caucus lost no time, meeting only two weeks after the election to plan how to maximize their effectiveness as a voting bloc and serve as a fulcrum to leverage a bloc of progressive votes that may total 100 in the 437-member House. The Hispanic caucus also grew from 11 to 17 in the House. Two of the newcomers are women: Lucille Roybal-Allard, Mexican American congresswoman from California, and Nydia Velasquez (D-NY), the first Puerto Rican congresswoman. NO APPLAUSE, PLEASE. JUST SEND MONEY Are you a woman who can laugh and think at the same time? Of course you are--and that's why you love this hot pink broadsheet. It's clever, it's political, it's about women and it's VERY readable. Now we need your money to continue putting out the message. You contributed to women candidates this year as never before. And it worked! The Backlash Boys heard the Fat Lady sing in Lafayette Square. Keep up the momentum. Stay in the loop. Fill out the form below RIGHT NOW and send it with your check. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Getting It Gazette, 451 West 24th St., NY NY 10011; 212 229-0763 Yes! Gazetteers, I get it! Here's my contribution for this year. $35. You will send me intermittent issues of the 1993 Gazette. $55. You will send me 10 back issues plus intermittent issues of the Gazette in 1993. $100. You will send me intermittent future issues plus a T- shirt with your "women's point-of-view journalism" logo. $1000. You'll do all of the above plus kiss the hem of my robe. $100,000. The above, plus naming a building after me. Name_____________________________ Address__________________________ City & State__________________________________________Zip__________ Thanks for the efforts of Linda Amster, Mary Kay Blakely, Janet Bode, Zoe Chace, Jeanne Clark, Ann Crittenden, Gail Eisenberg, Deirdre English, Abby Hirsch, Grace Kaminkowitz, Wendy Kesser, Sue Leonard, Grace Lichtenstein, Susan McHenry, Patty McWilliams, Tanya Melich, Eileen O'Reilly, Jane O'Reilly, Mary O'Reilly, Barbara Parker, Julie Phillips, Lynn Phillips, Pat Reuss, Diane Rippe, Ronni Sandroff, Amanda Wetherbee Smith, Anne Mollegen Smith, David F. Smith, Bryna Taubman, Valerie Tausch, Sue Vogelsinger, Carol Wheeler, Signe Wilkinson--creator of the 'Abortion Cartoons on Demand,' Jae Yang; Alissa, Jenny; and Barry, Bob, Chuck, Herman, Jennifer, Lanier and all the gang at Kinko's. Special thanks to CAWP at Rutger's, the Communications Consortium, the Hunt Alternative Fund, Ms. Foundation for Women, Now/LDEF, Mary Jean Tully, Women's Campaign Fund; and Hypnotic Hats, Ltd. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of its contributors.