Loud cheers greeted Senator Chris Van Hollen and Congressman Jamie Raskin, at WDC’s June 6 biennial meeting at the Bethesda Marriott. To the capacity crowd, both praised outgoing president Fran Rothstein (Raskin through an original rap routine) as a champion for countless Democratic victories. Congratulating Fran and incoming president Diana Conway, they urged WDC to follow our leaders in facing the crises of our time.
Read moreWDC May Luncheon with Investigative Reporter and Author Vicky Ward
WDC welcomed investigative reporter, author, and magazine columnist Vicky Ward at a luncheon on May 16 at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel. The full house of WDC members and guests were eager to hear from Ms. Ward about her New York Times best-selling book, Kushner, Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption.. As Ms. Ward explained upon reaching the podium, she had mostly been a New York writer, covering finance, art, and culture, before turning her attention to Washington politics.
There are several basic themes in the book. First, Jared comes from a complicated and troubled family. Next, Ivanka and Jared were supposed to be a moderating influence on Trump but have been anything but using their position for their own commercial gain and creating serious problems for the country along the way. Finally, Trump wanted them to go back to New York but he ultimately couldn’t bring himself to fire them.
Read moreSustained Progress toward Gender Balance in Government Requires Systems Strategies Used Around the World
We hope history books will say 2018 marked the year women finally began to achieve gender parity in national elected office. But it’s going to take more than hope. After all, it took 242 years to have a U.S. Congress comprised of 24 percent women.
That got me thinking: how are other countries doing in women’s representation in comparison to ours? It turns out— much better than we are.
The latest research from RepresentWomen, (a nonpartisan organization working to advance reforms to ensure more women can run, win, serve and lead) shows that the U.S. currently ranks 78th among the world’s nations for women’s representation. So much for patting ourselves on our collective backs for 2018.
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