Bravo for the stimulus plan! Thanks for the discussion.
It was bothersome that the very first thing deleted from Obama's stimulus plan, upon pressure from conservatives, was family planning. Being able to "plan" the growth of our families is, in my opinion, the #1 stimulus for women to find or create and hold jobs. The old Turner Broadcasting series, "People Count" (launched in 1993), clearly demonstrated that fact. When women have the job skills and the societal permission to put off having children, the family develops the self esteem that allows a balance between the number of children and the means to care for and educate them.
We have allowed political and religious conservatives to frame a woman's worth in a context of limiting her options. If a woman cannot have access to birth control (outside or even within marriage), society is saying that she is subservient and dependent upon, not equally yoked with, her male counterpart.
We need to look at any other ways that the stimulus plan is gender-biased.
We can find some very useful information in the keynote speech by economist Caren Grown given at the International Convocation of Unitarian Universalist and Progressive Women on Saturday, Feb. 28th, 2009 in Houston. I will send a copy of the speech to the New Capital website for perusal & discussion.