Obama is Pro-family -- His Policies Will Aid American Families Much More than Republicans!

I am praying for Barack Obama and his grandmother. The fact that the white woman who raised him, his grandmother on his mother’s side, is sick, and he is putting aside the most important campaign of his life to be with her, well, this shows he is a candidate with deeply held family values. His plans and policies reflect this high regard for families.

The reason he is a great leader is that he has good values and good work habits, learned at his grandmother’s knee. Obama has demonstrated that he is a committed Christian with strong Christian values at the heart of his vision of America, and the world, as well as his vision of the society and the support for the neediest ones among us. Even his opponent, John McCain, recently told a crowd that Obama is “a decent family man.. who loves America” If I were the Obama campaign I would run this as an ad and a robo-call to kill the lies against Senator Obama.

It is amazing what some people will believe in the character assassination ads and emails. I found it interesting that Obama’s lack of lapel flag pin was so “disrespectful” in the primaries, but when he wears one in each of the presidential debates, and McCain wears none, and no one says a word. Sarah Palin attacks Obama as anti-family, and yet which candidate has policies that will actually help families? It is Obama, by far. just check his website for detail after detail. www.barackobama.com

You can also check out your coming tax cut under Obama if you are one of the 95 percent of Americans who will get one. And if you are wealthy, you will still only be paying what you were paying before the Bush tax cuts, which were originally meant to be temporary. And, if you are wealthy, you are getting more out of the American dream than anyone else, so you should pay a little more to help the rest of society. It is not spread the wealth, it is keep the health -- of the country that is buttering your bread with more butter than ninety-five percent of your fellow countrymen and women!

Anyone who has seen Senator Obama interact with his wonderful wife Michelle and his two young girls knows there is a lot of love in this little family. And both he and Michelle grew up in basic American families with strong values and work ethics that we can all admire. What is more, Obama is a good family man and represents families in his beliefs and policies! He loves his kids, his wife and he also cares for the families struggling all over the country, including the veterans and current military. He is concerned about the future we are handing our children and grandchildren. We all should be concerned about it!

In Obama’s remarkable acceptance speech in late August, he brought up an issue that we must keep at the forefront of this election: paid family leave and paid sick days. He laid out a compelling vision of what a strong America looks like when he said:

“We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job - an economy that honors the dignity of work.”

After eight years of Republican rule, our country looks nothing like this. When families find themselves in crisis and ask, “How can I keep my paycheck and care for my family in the face of this emergency?”…the answer for most people is “you can’t.” Working moms and dads have to make painful decisions about whether they take time off to care for a new baby or have enough money to buy diapers. The leadership of the supposed “family friendly” party has done very little to make life easier for American families.

Here are some facts to consider:

• The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) has given more than 50 million Americans the ability to support their families. However, because leave is unpaid, many families that have taken leave face economic hardship. Of the people who do not take FMLA, 78 percent say they could not afford to take leave.

• In the United States, only 51 percent of people get paid leave through their work to care for families.

• Almost half - 48 percent - of workers in the private sector get no paid sick days.

• Among low-wage workers the number with out paid sick days are even more dramatic: nearly 80 percent do not get any paid sick days.

We can do better for working Americans. We must do better for working Americans. We must do better for families. We need a real pro-family administration, not one that just gives lip service to the phrase and then actually attacks the families with pro-business plans and nothing for the workers.

Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing spouse or parent. We must elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden because they are really pro-family!