Your Voice, Your Vote: 2020-21 Edition: The Savvy Woman's Guide to Politics, Power, and the Change We Need

by Martha Burk

Overview

What Every Woman Needs to Know to Bring About Change in the Voting Booth

In a presidential election year with our currently divided political climate, it is more important than ever for women voters to be educated and informed about issues that affect them deeply. Your Voice, Your Vote 2020–21 Edition is a manifesto for every woman voter and for male voters who care about the women in their lives. Martha Burk empowers the reader to cut through the double talk, irrelevancies, and false promises, and focuses directly on what's at stake for women not only from now through the 2020 election, but also in the years beyond. Written from a nonpartisan viewpoint, Dr. Burk lays out the records of both the Democratic and Republican parties as well as their platforms on topics such as:
 

• Health care
• Pay equity
• Reproductive rights
• Maternity leave, family leave, and child care
• Social security, sick leave, and long-term care
• Violence against women
• LGBTQ rights
• Education and Title IX 
• Taxes and the economy
• Women in the Military
• Affirmative action
• The Equal Rights Amendment

Informative and insightful, Your Voice, Your Vote should be carried to every political rally, every press conference, every precinct meeting—and into the voting booth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510752542
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	01/14/2020
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Martha Burk is a political psychologist and women's issues expert who is co-founder of the Center for Advancement of Public Policy in Washington, DC. She serves as the money editor for Ms. magazine, and she is a syndicated newspaper columnist and frequent blogger for the Huffington Post. Her public radio show Equal Time originates from KSFR public radio in Santa Fe, and is marketed through Public Radio Exchange from Public Radio International. Dr. Burk has long been active in public debate and political analysis. She has provided briefing papers for presidential candidates, including Bill Bradley, Wesley Clark, Howard Dean, and Bill Richardson, and has worked closely with members of the United States Congress on issues of importance to women. She served as a Senior Policy Adviser for Women's Issues to Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico. From 2000-2005, Dr. Burk served as Chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations.  She has appeared on a great number of news shows, including The Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, Newsnight with Aaron Brown, Lou Dobbs's Moneyline, CNN Financial, Bloomberg News, Wolf Blitzer Reports, CBS This Morning, Brian Williams Show, Fox Morning News, News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Hardball, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. She has been featured on hundreds of talk radio programs. Dr. Burk has been a regular guest on public affairs programs and a contributor to major newspapers, websites, and print outlets on public policy, including USA Today, The Nation, Knight-Ridder wire services, Scripps Howard news services, Louisville Courier Journal, Los Angeles Daily News, Working Woman, Business Woman, Executive Female, TheWall Street Journal, The Washington Post, TomPaine.com, Alternet, and the Huffington Post. Print coverage of her work has been extensive, with multiple articles in every major and many minor newspapers and magazines, including extensive coverage in The New York Times. Profiles, some with front page coverage, have appeared in People magazine, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Dallas Morning News, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Chicago Tribune, the Baltimore Sun, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, and More magazine. She lives with her husband in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Change, No Change, or Short-Changed: What's at Stake for Women in 2020 and Beyond? 1

Chapter 2 The Gender Gap-Women Can Control Any Election 5

Chapter 3 Who's in Charge? Why Should Women Care? 15

Chapter 4 What Do Women Want? What Are We Thinking? 29

Chapter 5 Where We Stand: We've Come a Long Way … and Yet? 37

Chapter 6 Health Care-On Life Support? 43

Chapter 7 Reproductive Rights-The Perpetual Attack 61

Chapter 8 Pay Equity: Show Me the Money! 79

Chapter 9 Hey Big Spender: The Economy 93

Chapter 10 Taxes 107

Chapter 11 LGBTQ Civil Rights 123

Chapter 12 Social Security: Will I Be Dependent on "the Kindness of Strangers" in My Old Age? 129

Chapter 13 Violence Against Women 137

Chapter 14 Our (Sick) System of Sick Leave, Maternity Leave, and Family Leave 145

Chapter 15 Child Care 151

Chapter 16 Long-Term Care 159

Chapter 17 Education and Tide IX: Back to "Separate But (Un)equal" 165

Chapter 18 Affirmative Action is Our Business (and Education Too) 173

Chapter 19 More than a Few Good Women-in the Military 183

Chapter 20 Global Women's Rights 193

Chapter 21 The Last Word-Equal Constitutional Rights 205

Appendix I Nuts and Bolts of US Publicly Funded Health Care Programs 211

Appendix II Supreme Court Decisions on Reproductive Rights 220

Appendix III The Political Parties and Their Platforms 223

Endnotes 237

Index 276

Editorial Reviews

"Burk is insistent and urgent when pressing the cause of gender equality. Part primer, part call to arms with its lessons on how politics work . . . valuable lessons for every voter: Take time to know what your candidates stand for, question and prod them beyond bromides and talking points, and hold them accountable."—The Washington Post

"Martha Burk reminds us there is still work to do—and shows us a road to gender equality that goes straight through the voting booth." —Susan Scanlan, chair, National Council of Women's Organizations

"Martha Burk is much more than simply an advocate for women's issues. Her broad range of experience and understanding of the political process make her uniquely qualified to outline what's at stake—not just for women, but the country as a whole—in the upcoming election. A timely and important call to action." —Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico

"Whether you're a young woman worried about your future, an employed woman fighting to break the glass ceiling, a mom out of the paid workforce, a retired woman struggling to make ends meet, or a feminist activist trying to change the world, this book has the information you need." — Eleanor Smeal, publisher, Ms. Magazine

"A call to action and a resource for women who want to understand what's really at stake, and why women should view their political selves in a more powerful way. Burk's book is also a great primer on the issues that you think know something about, but would like a little more background on without the spin of cable talking heads, like the Affordable Care Act, why women voters should care about the mortgage/housing crisis, foreign affairs, reproductive health, paid maternity leave, civil rights—you name it, she's got it in this valuable book." — Joanne Bamberger, The Huffington Post

"This is a must have for every voter, not just women . . . the heart of this book is Burk's explanation of the issues. Read the book and then share with the women in your life. Or buy a few copies and start an election discussion group". —Vivalafeminista.com

From the Publisher