Comments on: Tom Daschle for HHS Secretary?

By: Ashley

Ashley — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:45:55 +0000

A poster at OpenLeft mentioned Daschle’s reproductive rights record. She said he started out as anti-choice, but he is now completely pro-choice. I think his pro-choice views are expressed in his book on healthcare.

As far as women in the Obama administration, I find it all so confusing. Of course, there is a gender imbalance on the justice team. But I can’t quite get a handle on exactly how many people, let alone women, have been appointed (as opposed to rumored ) to the administration as a whole. It’s also difficult because every appointment isn’t listed on the Change.gov website. Nevertheless, I sent a message to Change.gov about female appointees.

I see the overly male justice team, but then I read about lots of great women being apponted. I’m new to this place, so forgive me if this has already been answered (or just point me to a link!):

Jill (and others), do you think having every administrative team/department be gender balanced is “better” than having the entire administration be gender balanced? If the administration ends up 50% female (although certain teams, like justice, are overwhelmingly male) is that problematic? I understand why we need more women in justice. And I want to see women handling every aspect of policy, from national security to women’s health. But, is one instance of gender parity inherently more “equal”? If the justice team were 70% female and the arts funding team were 70% male, would that be bad? It’s something I’ve been pondering.

In a great bit of news, Melody Barnes has been tapped to head the Domestic Policy Council. She seems pretty awesome.

By: nonskanse

nonskanse — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:03:45 +0000

Cara,
At lower levels of law and high-profile public careers, the female population is much higher. I think that the number of female associates at law firms, for example, is fairly good. But the number of partners as much less.

I’m not denying the merit of purposely seeking out groups that are underrepresented in the higher levels of law and public service, which would probably help increase the points of view in the administration. However, I’m wondering if the Obama administration members are being chosen to be representitive of the field they’re drawn from, and if that is a bad thing. (one being good does not make the other bad)

It could be a smart move politically for votes to hire appropriate ratios from the available pools instead of appropriate ratios from the population as a whole. Unfortunate, yes.

By: Rev. Debra Haffner

Rev. Debra Haffner — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:22:13 +0000

I’m guessing this is only the first of the “consensus” type appointments we’ll see in the days ahead. Clearly, in terms of sexual and reproductive health issues, it won’t be quite the battle it has been for the past eight years. But if you were wondering if we could sit back and just enjoy the next four, I think this is a good indication that people who support sexual justice need to continue speaking out.
Rev. Debra Haffner
http://debrahaffner.blogspot.com

By: dan

dan — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:00:28 +0000

Tom Daschle now on CNN: “Obama is wrong”
watch interview: http://www.ma.my/iny3vn/
very surprised!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:31:15 +0000

I could not be more thrilled to see Marilyn’s name on that list – I worked with her at DREDF for two years, and she is a rockstar (although not technically an attorney, so if she’s in the list of fourteen the count’s off).

And Justice Reynoso! Another amazing person who has done so much good work. I can’t speak to the rest, but these two choices make me very, very happy.

By: Anne

Anne — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:45:26 +0000

The people Obama selects are typical. Change was just a word and lie that a lot of people fell for.

By: printmaker

printmaker — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:44:14 +0000

I’m not thrilled with the lack of females or minorities represented, but I do think that we have to remember that Obama is relatively inexperienced and seems to be choosing people who are. Unfortunately, at this point in history, a lot of women and minorities haven’t been given the chance to have such lengthy experience. While that in and of itself is a good argument to give them a chance, the state of our nation is also a good argument to pick someone who’s been around for awhile. I think we need to go a little easy on Obama as he’s navigating some pretty treacherous territory right now.

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:45:14 +0000

I’m also frowny over the lack of women, but I am thrilled over the inclusion of people with disabilities through Marilyn Golden. I’m not familiar with her because my work has been primarily in Canada, but knowing that there’s at least a place at the table for PWD makes my webbed toes tingle.

By: Tom Daschle for HHS Secretary? | Pelican Project Pro-Life

Tom Daschle for HHS Secretary? | Pelican Project Pro-Life — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:13:11 +0000

[...] More here: Tom Daschle for HHS Secretary? [...]

By: Radfem

Radfem — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:48:52 +0000

I don’t know. I was interviewed by three DOJ Civil Rights attorneys and two U.S. attorneys and all but one of them were female. Three were women of color and all of them were excellent. So there’s pools for attorneys, particularly in civil rights and women’s health and reproductive issues.

Alejandro Mayorkas, I had to cough up a hairball when I saw that name. He was the head U.S. Attorney in my region. Not very impressive but that’s my personal experience.

Some really strong attorneys though on his team. I’m hoping this is good news for the Civil Rights Divison of the DOJ and that there will be much more focus in this area than there has been in the past (cough) eight years.