Momocrats

A "quiet" news week means there's been nothing to distract us from the sputtering economy. That means more birther talk, more legislative assaults on the rights of women and a movement to privatize public education. Plus gas prices are sky high (averaging $3.88 in the US). What's a mother to do? Karoli, Cynematic and Donna Schwartz Mills have a few things to say about that.

The week began withTax Day: Tea Party rallies were held by a loud minority who think the lowest tax rates in history are still too high... while there is evidence that a consensus is growing among the sane citizenry (you know, the ones who understand basic math) that the budget cannot be balanced without raising revenues back to Clinton-era tax structure.  Our week ends with Earth Day. Forty-one years later, is our environment any safer?  Donna Schwartz Mills and Cynematic host this week.

Cynematic and Meghan Schuster Harvey welcome special guest Todd Farley, author of Making the Grades -- his behind-the-scenes account of how industrial education actually comes up with your kids' test scores.

Campaign 2012 has officially begun - Are You In? Donna Schwartz Mills, Cynematic and Jaelithe Judy talk about the official launch of the President's re-election campaign and the relative lack of enthusiasm from the liberal wing of the party... especially in light of the radical budget proposal revealed this week by GOP House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan, which would gut Medicare and Medicaid. Special guest Melissa Schober will be on hand to say a lot more. MOMocrat Melissa has worked in and around the Beltway for the past decade beginning her career with NARAL. Melissa has worked as a public health advocate. An apparent glutton for punishment, she lived through health care reform only to take a job working with a mid-Atlantic state's Medicaid program. She is appearing on MOMocrats as an individual and the views she will be expressing are her own. A mom to an almost 3 year old, she is perpetually short on sleep.

On Monday night, President Obama told the nation of his conviction "that a failure to act in Libya would have carried a far greater price for America." What do YOU think? Cyn3matic, Donna Schwartz Mills and Stephanie Himel-Nelson have a few thoughts to share on how perpetual wartime affects our military and their families. We will also remember pioneering MOMocrat Geraldine Ferraro and the dubious candidacies of some who have followed (Michele Bachmann for President in 2012?)

Freewheeling discussion by a panel of MOMocrats and special guests about the week's hottest topics.

Earthquakes, tsunamis and nukes - oh my. Cynematic, Donna and Karoli on the disaster in Japan, correlation with California, and tectonic shifts in the thought on nuclear energy. Also: touched base on education in the bubble economy, corporate media, GOP overreaching and what progressives can do about it.

This week's episode might be subtitled "Still Waiting for Superman" - or "Lex Luthor, Big Man On Campus." MOMocrats Cynthia Liu and Donna Schwartz Mills talk extensively with special guest Leonie Haimson, longtime New York City education activist and organizer of grassroots group Parents Across America. Talk was of schools (in New York and elsewhere), class sizes, Cathie Black, Michelle Rhee, budget cuts and why Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg DON'T have all the answers.

he ongoing War on Women: Education Cuts That Hurt Kids and the Women Who Teach Them. With Cynematic, Jaelithe Judy, and Donna Schwartz Mills.

Cynematic and Donna Schwartz Mills will be joined this week by MOMocrats Jaelithe Judy and Julie Pippert. And what a week it's been: Protest is in the air, from the Middle East on to Madison Wisconsin. A GOP majority voted in to create jobs instead seems to be using economic crisis as an excuse to bust unions. Worse is a return to the old culture wars, with a renewed focus on women's issues. Special guest Kelsey Collier-Wise of DakotaWomen.com will be on hand to talk about last week's jaw-dropping "Shoot the Doc" bill, and what's on the docket next in South Dakota.

Political discourse - or threatening rhetoric? MOMocrats Cynematic and Karoli talk to guest Andrea Weckerle of CiviliNation.org about dialing back the name-calling and combating cyberstalking and online threats.

The MOMocrats muse on the continuing drama in Egypt, the effect of the Tea Party on the GOP, and the assault on women's health in the Federal and state legislatures. With panelists Cynematic, Jaelithe Judy and Donna Schwartz Mills.

The gavel has been passed to new Speaker of the House John Boehner. Hold tight, it's going to be a bumpy ride. Feminist author and activist Gloria Feldt join Cynematic and Donna Schwartz Mills for a discussion of where women in politics go from here.

Freewheeling discussion by a panel of MOMocrats and special guests about the week's hottest topics.

Freewheeling discussion by a panel of MOMocrats and special guests about the week's hottest topics.

Freewheeling discussion by a panel of MOMocrats and special guests about the week's hottest topics.

Freewheeling discussion by a panel of MOMocrats and special guests about the week's hottest topics.

Freewheeling discussion by a panel of MOMocrats and special guests about the week's hottest topics.

Freewheeling discussion by a panel of MOMocrats and special guests about the week's hottest topics.

The MOMocrats pay tribute to Elizabeth Edwards, who passed away today after a long battle with cancer.