Women Are Already Mobilizing Against Romney/Ryan

Last updated on August 12th, 2012 at 03:32 pm

It’s war. Nothing screams Lysistrata like Romney/Ryan.

Let’s face it, Romney/Ryan just isn’t sexy. Romney/Ryan evokes frigid patriarchy and sadistic economic policies enacted by cruel, punishing Oz — who is, of course, nothing but a teeny, tiny speck of a man behind the curtain. There isn’t even a big daddy behind the frozen mask. Just empty hearts, greedy fingers and many dissatisfied customers. There’s something not right in Romney Ryan land.

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

Luckily women know how to mobilize (we, too, are proud community and family organizers — no Palin sneer intended) in reaction to freedom destroyers; we’ve had a lot of practice. The National Organization for Women (NOW) is joining Nuns on the Bus and just about every other sane human with a beating heart in condemning Ryan’s cold-hearted, death panel budget. NOW isn’t going to take the assault that is Romney/Ryan lying down, they’re going to be “dogging Romney-Ryan on the campaign trail, mobilizing to expose the disproportionate impact on women of their positions on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the social programs they would slash.”

NOW President Terry O’Neill issued a statement this morning:

Republican Mitt Romney could not have picked a better running mate to telegraph the very essence of his campaign for president than Representative Paul Ryan. Together, these two candidates plan to lead the way in transferring even more wealth from the middle class, the working class and even the poor to the very rich in this country. Women should beware, because they are the targets or the disproportionate casualties in virtually every policy Romney and Ryan propose.

All we need to know about Ryan is written down in his infamous budget plan, which Romney has wholeheartedly embraced. Its most hated feature is that it converts Medicare to a private voucher system — something that would be particularly harsh for women because they rely on Medicare to a greater degree than men. But it only gets worse from there. The Romney-Ryan budget plan places future cuts to Social Security benefits on a fast track that Congress could not slow down; makes Medicaid a state block grant program; repeals Obamacare, which makes health insurance affordable to tens of millions of women and their families; and slashes a whole range of social programs that disproportionately serve and employ women.

Members of the media will tell you that Ryan is smart and “wonky.” But what he has in store for this nation is not smart — it’s doubling down on the disastrous policies of the Bush-Cheney years that not only wrecked the U.S. economy but pushed relentlessly to turn back the clock on women’s basic rights. A Romney-Ryan administration would support anti-abortion efforts like “personhood” amendments, totally defund Planned Parenthood and all federally-funded family planning services, and use government to sanction religious opposition to birth control. Their vision is a threat to women’s rights, public health and the economic security of the vast majority of people in the United States — all for the benefit of the most fortunate among us.

In the coming days and weeks, right up until November 6, NOW will reach out to voters to drive home the message that a Romney-Ryan administration would be truly devastating to our economy and to women in particular. We will be dogging Romney-Ryan on the campaign trail, mobilizing to expose the disproportionate impact on women of their positions on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the social programs they would slash. We will also shine a spotlight on Romney-Ryan’s threats to equal pay, reproductive justice, protecting women from violence, and other issues that deserve greater attention in this deeply consequential election.

Yes, religious opposition to birth control… Brought to us by Paul Ryan, who was been lambasted by his Catholic church for his cruel budget, proving that it was never about morality. It’s all about control. Sad, pathetic little men who need to control women because they can’t keep us any other way. Whose fault is that?

I say, if the boys can’t play in the big game, they shouldn’t expect us to hand them a handicap. It’s a free market. They need to learn to love us, or expect to lose us. And lose us they will this November. Those of us they didn’t lose at hello are gone by the time we read what they want to do to our parents and grandparents with Social Security and Medicare.

Hey Ryan Romney, guess who takes care of their parents in this country, boys? It’s us. The same people you don’t want making any tough decisions about our own medical care. The same people who take care of the babies, the children, and you.

We’re not going back to the dark ages. We’re just not. If we have to Lysistrata, we will. And nothing screams Lysistrata like Romney/Ryan.

Sarah Jones

Listen to Sarah on the PoliticusUSA Pod on The Daily newsletter podcast here.

Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.

Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Connect with Sarah on Post,  Mastodon @PoliticusSarah@Journa.Host, & Twitter.