Viewpoints: How many women does it take to fix Congress?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

The next United States Congress will have at least 123 women in the House and Senate, including two Muslim-American women, two American Indian women and two 29-year-olds.

Ten more women might still win in midterm races that remain too close to call.

Starting in 2019, women will make up nearly a quarter of the 435-member House of Representatives, a record high. Currently, there are 84 women in the House.

The female newcomers will make waves in government, and not just because women legislators often bring greater attention to wage gaps, family leave policy, sexual harassment, child abuse and other critical issues that disproportionately affect women.

As scholars who study political leadership, we believe more women will be also good for Congress for a more fundamental reason: They may just get a broken system working again.

Women try to collaborate: Washington, D.C., has been ferociously polarized since the 2016 presidential election, but Republicans and Democrats across the nation have been moving further apart ideologically since the 1990s.

There used to be overlap between the views of Democrats and Republicans, at least on some issues. Now, there is almost none.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/viewpoints-how-many-women-does-it-take-to-fix-congress/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=c0a19ee9dd-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-c0a19ee9dd-228635337

[Loki Liesmith]

1. Lol at thinking Congress is fixable.

[empedocles]

2. Saw Liz Cheney on fox/bartiromo. No colloaboration seems possible there.

Congress, imo, absolutely does not need another Cheney, much less one in the #3 'con chain spot.

[shanny]

3. I'm thinking the ratio should be the same one

the notorious RBG would like to see on the Court. When asked how many women would be appropriate she said, "Nine."

[Eric J in MN]

4. I had to Google the other 29 year old

Yet there is one more highlight that could be included. Though Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, is the youngest ever woman to be elected in Congress, she is so only by a few months. Abby Finkenauer, a newly elected Democrat from Iowa’s first district, is also just 29-years-old, and though she will be 30 by the time she is inaugurated, her feat is still remarkable.

Although Iowa is a swing state that voted for Trump in the last election, Finkenauer was able to flip her Cedar Rapids district, beating Republican incumbent Rod Blum. Finkenauer’s campaign out-raised Blum’s by over $1.3 million, with most of her money coming from out of state contributions.

One of four siblings from a working-class family, Finkenauer is a first-generation college graduate. She was elected as a representative in Iowa’s state legislature in 2014, and ran on a platform that promotes cutting down student debt, setting up universal health care, the right to abortion, and funding for organizations that provide it. She is in favor of renewing DACA and reforming immigration policies, but does not favor abolishing ICE.

https://qz.com/1454242/midterm-elections-2018-abby-finkenauer-wins-in-iowa/

[Eric J in MN]

5. Please only quote 4 paragraphs. DU rules. NT

NT