I was so excited to hear Gov. Chet Culver's budget proposal before the joint meeting of the legislature today. It came just off the heels of the minimum wage hike (which was a good and needed thing, even if I think the increases should have been spaced out a bit more) and I was ready for more good news. With such important causes in the budget such as healthcare for Iowa's most vulnerable, increases in teacher pay and lifting the ban on some stem cell research, I should have been delighted. Right?
I alternated between watching the address on television and listening to it on the radio. There were a few places, as I walked between the two, I missed words and sentences. When the speech ended, I went back over what I'd heard. Stem cell research? Check. Cigarette tax for healthcare? Check. Continuance of semi-vague campaign rhetoric? Check. Funding increases for education? Check. Women's issues? Che... wait a minute.
Unsure if I'd actually missed something within the speech, I trotted over to the Des Moines Register site to double-check the written version of the speech. I skimmed it and saw no mention of women/woman/gals/etc. Hmmm. I then did a word search on the page and found only one instance of the word 'women' in his speech:
Finally, there are some additional important priorities in this budget. They are:
... protecting and expanding access to shelter services for at-risk women, mothers and children. I can tell you the First Lady will continue to be a real advocate on behalf of shelter service care providers and the vulnerable individuals who desperately need them. Thank you dear for your efforts, and we will direct these important resources into shelter care.
The logical side of me keeps up the steady "be happy" drumbeat. It's a blessing to hear anything positive about women in the speech. (Seriously, whenever you hear the word 'woman' or 'women' come out of GW's mouth, you just have to cringe at what might follow.) The emotional side of me, however, is still feeling a bit pandered to by the Culver campaign.
You see, a year ago Chet Culver was in a heated contest for the Gubernatorial primary against Mike Blouin (former Director of Economic Development who has recently been relieved of his duties in that state agency -- I can't imagine why Chet would do that, Mike! -- and has taken a post at the Greater Dubuque Development Corporation). Both Culver and Judge stirred the women's rights activists throughout the state by pointing out Blouin's issues with choice. It was arguably that one issue which brought Culver and Judge through the primary and into the general contest.
Further, when I attended the inauguration ceremonies in Des Moines earlier this month, I was asked by a priest during his invocation to "pray for those unborn, wishing to be citizens." WHAT?!? We have all these walking-around-outside-the-womb children dying overseas, but this man wants me to focus my attention on another woman's uterus?
In the budget speech, it is good to note that Culver honored the first woman Command Sergeant Major in the Iowa National Guard. Unfortunately, the honoring came too late for her to enjoy it. Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn Gabbard died following a helicopter crash in Iraq. Deepest condolences to her family.
While I don't expect every good thing coming out of Des Moines to be linked specifically to women, I would remind both Culver and our state legislators of Abigail Adams' words to her husband John:
"...in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors."
![[Essential Estrogen]](http://www.essentialestrogen.com/gfx/blank.gif)
![[Rep. Polly Bukta]](http://www.essentialestrogen.com/gfx/rep_polly_bukta_2006.jpg)
It was no accident the powers-that-be were motivated to put it all together so quickly. You see, today we witnessed history... and anticipate witnessing even more in the near future.
