the downside to him, and again life is all about trade-offs. there is no perfect candidat hea maecmaide to himishe d smart, but sort of vanilla ice cream. do you want to scoops of inoa ice cream on your ticet, especially if, and i'm saying this as something close to rn romneyte, isairy doe biden and runs with hillary. now those of you who listen to my radio show no, i have been saying this for a long time about clinton. you allow thatill arheeyinhe inac november, those levers will go for mitt romney. [laughter] the is snow question about that. do thiiry to

llot. dee think in her case, she has the leverage to turn down the president of the united states, which nobody else does. i think she does. i don't think sh wants any part thhey otiinistration anymoe. a rn i k e n' he want dump biden is because biden is totally plugged into convenience and because obama did not go into wisconsin and camp fheond gunantehe ns nw yno they are gointo campaign for him but they are not totally invested in him, and obama anymore so if you were to pull biden off the ticket, the unions would really go bananas and they uldn't obilizinirld d tgsr, in thou bie sll on the ticket. in terms of the romney thing,

either romney or portman. paul ryan. i could be otally wrong it could be somebooff the ti en uof i k s io tho oneth to answer the second part of your question about obamacare, i predicted on my radio show a couple of days ago extly what is happening. which is that we would get ariza toanenc ur, sue t ulke oca ci l a grenade, throw it onto america, let itexplode and then they go away for three months. p. south america. we are out of here. they probably will ce in the to believe the professionalism that they are going to kick out the mandate, strike that down and maybe a lot of the rest of allowable stands to make it look like the court has integrity and it's not tally political. i k whthis the whotng

cotual. ilve to see if the supreme court does this. [applause] >> for more information visit e author's webit ac mammal.typepad.com. thtsge pic iciafo o professional careers and employment. she contends that women have gained little support in their professional lives despite the fact they comprise 60% of college undergraduates a 50 of medical and lawstudents. thiss abon r. >> i would like to start out i recognizing my present husband, john.

[applause] i wack b cu a a this bookstore. i don't think i have to exaggerate one bit when i say this is the best bookstore in the state of vermont, and i n't y th aer [aus you know, your presence here tonight also shows the loyalty that people have too the written word on paper, a bkstores sue e cnuee only going onehanyou do here tonight. i confess, i have an ipad, but i still like to ld a book in myhands d elthe ge i k bos g rvas a result of places

likeorthshire. and you might ask, why did i write this book? in fact i am being asked recently, maybe isce ou shito 7d people say, you know, why don't you just take it easy? yohave been gornor and you have done other stuff, and some little flame inside of me res gouansl t tgaane my voice to foster change. and what i found when i wrote politics and power and did aot of speaking a i futi ofas es, ci bunwmen, how did you do at? you had four children, you had a family, you had a full-time career.

and you know the is never n easy answer to thatestion, becae its sural g. bensi div i did it in stages. my kids don't remember now that i was home for 10 years and actually baked brownies and chocolate chip cookies and all is of that good stuff. i joyed this0 yes h monde ge go politics. but what surprises me is this was a bg question within the 60's. thewom's e tus u dol ive us act, maybe ot as he said lee as we are professing. so anyway, i discovered that this generation is facing the dieny.lly thwe have made

tremdous progress from e time that i had young children, you know women out in the rke, alnubew n, wmrec. 60% of undergraduates are female. but we haven't done is, we haven't adjusted how society is structured to at revolutn hrarmheay. rti acting like norman rockwell's saturday evening post covers, where the perfect family has daddy going out the door, holding a briease,earia domton the doorway, waving goodbye, wearing a pinafore. does anybody remember pinafore's? to pfect of cose white

anatoraorhateach se ofr. painting now applies to about 20% of the population and probably not for -- probably pa wng the door, is t lives. really the new portrait we have kind of a sentimental attitude that those days were perfec andhatoys ldaprabti exist, whereas they don't in the same way that we imagine them to. i will start reading you the beginning of the book. veuse in h rescabth women's movement. i was never one of the most

angry women once said. my acs bo ayngry i blurd. nd erd cfr so i hadn't had before. a proud reflection. i realize that i'm not angry enough to carry a placard in front of t nation's capital. weag bore ke [laughter] but as i did in my 30s, when i marched for women's rights, now in my seventies i am still dissatisfied with the status ch., and hbor a passn fo d al me ry being impatient. there is not so much time left and it permits me to say what i think, to be demanding andbest of all, to imagine a different worldwe es uede

ua ihe k e,he aheit arena. why the anger? what did i expect? i expected that the women's movement of the 1970s would quon sntguyd answers toth k. do meh a family and a career? i expected that affordable quality childcare would be wildly -- widely available, the a lal y for each work would be dit ctt nu ill make 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. i expected when 1/2 of our congress, governors, state legislators and mayors would be female, i did not expect that in 2010 thatnu w 17 congress and the united states would be tied at 69th place in the percentage of women in parliaments out of 178

countries. iexpected that ner i nopeehat proportion again started 17%. i expected a high percentage of the fortune 500 companies uld be led by women. i did not expect that figure to be 3%. ecta oec of violence against women would be widely condemned and sharply reduce. i did not expect that a female journalist would be sexually abused in the middle of cairo's tahrir square and then blamed for bringi itose urga cew pece of february 2011. i expected the road she weighed would remain the law of the land. i did not expect that it would wobee lir rane a state.

children of how life used to be long ago, when families had to figure out for themselves how to be both wage earners and caregivers. sudden changes ourred th i d exed c n ve aed at women would comprise nearly 60% of college undergraduates, that women would comprise half of the medical and law students, that women would enter the workforce in record numbers and the traditiona mi ppd heheul taby a two wage earner family. that is the good news. the bad news is that many women who have careers that we never could have imagined, i'm still prm. e toe b taar children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled. until we find a way to sort out how to share these responsibilities between

spouses, partners, employers and government, gend equalit l man ivg so that is the search that i enter text to find out both why the united states is so different from the rest of the ab nd, and how we can brg i surprised now, the book has only been out about 10 days or two weeks, how many people do not know how different we are from the rest of he world. take rxlepaatty e. un ss as you know, the first bill that bill clinton signed into law was unpaid family and medical leave, and it is considered a huge hievement in tnite t s ttnris

because when a family has a new baby or when somebody is sick, that is when expenses move up, and you know you have to pay for food, clothing, hospital, tin wotoe soaifamily leave, good as it is, is notdequate. and the united states is in very strange company when it cometo nothaving pad tey e. oies vet rnante leave, because debts want to stay home. they d't want to be like the previous generation of madmen, who left early intening antwa ofnk aughter] left early in the morning, came back after the kids were asleep, with no time for a bedtime story. so they want to be different, this generation, as do mothers

anofrse ita meacd'fe s rs weeks, months that are so crucial for a baby and mom and dad to bond. yregute p maternity leave.

and you can take time off without being, risking being fired leaving work. war theal oer e ed states. and what do we really need to make families stronger? this is, you know, the title of ag." book is "the new feminist as i dopt, d veew des is about whether it should be called the feminist agenda. i feel better wi "the new york times" review -- [laughter] maybe she was right after all, but it's more than feminism at 'rlkg t. wee inoun g elyin engaged. because the elderly could benefit from workplace flexibility. from paid medical leave. paid medical leave for the elderly would work in twoays.

og ntr working daughter of an elderly person i if the mother or grandmother suddenly needs medical assistance, she could come home, provide it. anbeprte her tothedo anr erly worker, a lot of elderly people don't want to leave the workplace or can't afford to leave the workplace. and if they had flelity, if tiffifmeg hnew theyldak fo awoav valuable, skilled employees that we need so badly today. seto tum ois policies that w that most families would like. and, again, we would reap the

benefit if we implemented this policy. and let me just give you an example. sulyouaci theust had a baby, and choice. it's one or the other. if you're lucky you get vacation time, up times that vacation -- oftentimes that vacation may be paid but nothing else. so do you quiyour j and sy bao w?r dyo , rkein flexibility -- workplace flexibility, you could work it out. and some people work it out now. mostly people who, one, have veoomps d lesses andwoor scwhve p, frankly, to negotiate. people in the lower wage scales do not have that power. i've been told stories of somebody asks rflexilit thaye

exitouir and it's as cruel as that. so if we had workplace flexibility, you'd retain talent. i have a long interview, and i peonally met with a gentleman naamhoishrec loe,cti financial firm. and from a business perspective, he became an advocate of these policies. why? he found out they were losing talent. at weycrde r dot- anth ueheccounting firms -- they recruited the best people they could get. an equal number of men and women. by the time people were ready to be on the boards of directors or ofen 15%.mop level anhe began to realize we put all this money into training

these people, and we're losing them. and they're not coming back. so they spent about t or three yes anazing it, gihe ltanic taal and he explained that the costs of replacing and training a good employee is three to five times soigppt, i, thennuaa. rr f these policies -- and they opposed unpaid family leave at the time -- is people like the chamber of commerce and the large business community. because they immediately say this is going to cts my, aft.dt.weat is is anti-business. and, inase you haven't noticed, they don't want government in anything whether it be wall street, main street or the family. but one of the things weave to nd sncougeam

wahls of these companies and inform us that this does not damage or ween the bottom line, it really mas business m pithe paofai tt. ev wth today's employment rate which is high, but i'm always surprised to read there are lots of jobs that are not bein filled. anwhy are they noin ll cathannd ntcae letol so we, we really shortchange ourselves when we don't recognize that policies like flexibility, policies like paid family leaake aug er i rni ntk force that we so desperately need. in addition in addition to paid

family leave, ild pu onat .itche and, you know, people ask often -- and it's a fair question -- should i send my child to child care or not? is child care good or bad for children? well, during world war ii it was considered veryood ne ie ore sometime after the war it was not considered so good for children, because the men were coming home to take th jobs that women had held. expectatio oeim bs soci rgrt quality. poor child care may, in fact, not be good for children. but good child care can be very good for children. strd tnton't have rh ilre er is national standard,

but guess who meets it 100%? the best child care provider in the united states of america is the the president o defense. [laughter] haow qtyil . and then they discovered, you know, they couldn't, they couldn't recruit people. they couldn't retain them. and as you know in the last ten moomere eily,o warsoing on, e ta more people had children, and quality child ca became a question of national security. and at'sheree ty. itubze ca pay scale depending on your income, and every child care center sponsored by the military meets national standards.

in vermont i t it' abo% nnatrd the other factor that may have influenced the military, and it's an important one for us to consider, is that there was a in thevead %, 75% --yrs ago excuse me -- of the people who wanted to sign up to serve their country were rejected. and they were rejected partly forhysical reasons,ut py bee w't lra eyn'owe a write, they didn't have social skills, they didn't have the qualifications to serve their country. and how does that relate to what i'm saying? itelates in the sense thahe y y cice ai studies have revealed from

0-5, are the critical years in brain development. thcreayoou can have gd carein ce mg as a contributing citizen have been vastly improved. there have been longitudinal studies over a 40-year period of very poor children who went to high quality child care ceers. wi hrt e ysumhae eect is short term, you know, the test scores may go up for a couple of years, and then ty go to regular school, they don't get the same enrichment, and wehaes seshack. proven is we should not only look at test scores which they call cognitive skills, we should look at other skills called noncognitive skills like the attention span, like the ality sole mmate atyoe

lath skills were retained. and how do we know that? slightly lower incarceration rates, slightlyigher st f riops, sliglyet i p t istin those early years. the one time this country has made a huge investment in education was the g.i. bill of rights. as i looked back on the history suse l iasrybill w roia tim as hnvenhe were lots of skeptics, a lot of people thought, well, why should we educate these, the young men? i mean, college was considered an itist functi, and wethnmene gle weretap. llht resulted in the development of the american middle class. that is now a common assessment.

and if we had not made that investment, we wouldn't b here today. ou ahat investment in early childhood, good prenatal care, in good kndergarten and after-school care would give us the same rate or a similar rate of return. hir t ray neglecting families and neglecting children. now, i'm not proud of this statistic, and i sure you are not either. the united states has the higheschdpovey rat yusli ctr hou 20%. now, the best countries as you might surmise, are the scandinavian countries. their povey rate is 3%, 4%, nothg higher tn 5

enr,us,hedo go above 10%. so what is a consequence of this high child poverty rate? as i alluded earlier, these children are given a blowefore an wou pnttrt. parrty, someone when i was in sweden yesterday said the swedes are self-of conscious and embarrassed by having a 3% poverty rate. we don seem to emas t ovte tkifinmes absolutely essential both for national security and for economic security. again, if we are to, um, really so darwinism only, only paying attention to the survival of the fittest and let the rest fend for themselves.

because we pay for it. we pay for it. and that's one of the questns esal the have very divisive politics, when government at least on one side of the aisle is saying we've got to get out of all these social programs. youw,enth usss rbl bt thiwe h - stamps, head start -- going into absolutely the wrong direction. hopefully, the center will restore -- the senate will restore much of that, but we caknow for sure. thespocalis ll for one thing, like it or not -- and we don't seem to like it very much as evidenced byhe health care debate -- we can look at other countries. itoe - wn' t an's jhe

scandinavian countries. it's countries like great britn and australia. both of these countries implemented something called the flilt to request flexut emee and you'd like to work four days a week instead of i've or get home by 4:00, you can ask your employer for flexibility. he or she does not have to give a us, nnetyouavav re tte fsk and if you can't negotiate it, you might come up with something different that pleases -- [inaudible] it goes to a tribunal. business firstopd i thee l to i this employee works part-time for a company, she's going to come back and work full time. not only that, you have an extremely gratef, loyal and

productive empyee as a result. now, if sobontase wh ye gto work. and i suspect parents and especially mothers are going to look around. what is he best place to work for? not just because of the salary, poes rdmise of what are their wnhecountries are doing it. and what's most interesting to me is a little, small bit of information. now, we all know we have multi-national, global companies. wellwhen these companies do bussn feerey ve t-- peing french] 90% of the population uses it in sweden. even us austria or stzerland, te country of my birth, they have th sarey g tules of of those llec te to play by the rules?

no. they seem to make a profit even though they're policies -- like paid family leave, flexibility and some frm ofubze thr bottom line abroad. and those employees in other countries get these benefits, why shouldn't americans get these same benefits? now, i said is is a tough , yowhs r ago t beaywhth bad is the best time to really make noise and not let the anti-- i alway call it anam py, deprivegh. families of the ability to be both loving caregivers for their children and providers in a substantive, stable way.

the other thing you might say, why take on a new agenda when at this moment in time we're fighting to hold on t old daenhi b yoowerhot i'd be giving a speech like i did in montpelier a couple weeks ago, protecting access to affordable contraception. i mean, i thought i was back in umd at waz d,co, kwhat the right to choose is being whittled away at state by state and maybe on the federal level as well. well, iguthe hto . htous energy to hold on to what we have, but we

also have to move forward at the same time. now, it suddenly dawned on me the other day that progres lios gs,is n yow, hts dips like sort of a vermont country road with some bumps in it -- [laughter] some troughs. and we're in one of those times. but progress will be restored, i am sure the plu atwusone direction is inevitably going to swing back. but it's not going to do so without our voices raised. and one of theues'n thhengon e s s t elected to office is that we need more women in politics. now, vermont's pretty good. we're ranked number two in the country in the percentage of women in our legislature. we can be prd of that. anenl nnheof thoy'

res h just been reminded of. you have to ask yourself the question, if there were more women in the congress, would a tablof four or five mid onep? gh ve a nph, kn if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. [laughter] so we have to have a seat at the ble. we ve to be pt of the us. w, te saying i don't among the judiciary, the conversation changes when women are present. doesn't mean they win everything, but you remind them of a few things about, you know, your real-life experiences with todldarngounstomeor hng know, reality. not just an abstract idea into the discussion. and, yes, men have supported

these issues, and some will continue to do so. but there's nothing like the power ofealry bu hto tell our stories, and we have to tell them out loud so that other people can hear. now, these conversations about who's ing to pick up the childrent arho g ttohessbout being able to go home early to make a doctor's appointment, these conversations take place all the time in the private sector. we know they do. suar ttala ce at theater bto in the café. but they haven't been part of the publ political anda. so my suggestion is we have to put it on t publicnd av aolia te

whisr ti child care? what is your posion on subsidized child care, on out with marnit but it- start ldfaan mal av no aido ask and put them on the spot. i mean, that's what happened in other countries. and it was the women's movement who led in terms of bringing it up in a way that we didn'tn this '70s. nost rnt thiin th70 d as conservatives who raised these issues. and i'd love to make a suggestion to republicans that if you proposed a yoaim go ftndly worknd it child care, women would run after you, say, yes, yes! this is a winner politically.

and people just don't recognize bee araome tef eri and because the issue has been framed in a particular way, and we have to reframe it as real suttrmi.s pie so let me conclude by rng be tcln.dhi that's what people do, isn't it? [laughter] especially former politicians. [laughter] but, you know, my last book i asketheuestn, watab pe t gup aak onan ie wers

running for office or attending a meeting or a rally or writing a letter, what moves you from being a passive observer to an actively-enged citizen? i aouahr boxes. in the first box is something called anger. you've got to be mad about something. you know, whether it's the lack of a street light on your block, he itheic et wers - aur] stpetoti that. [laughter] or whether, or whether it's, you know, the prolonged war in afghanistan and iraq. you're mad enough to say,'ve thoue th snd. caimat tyon imagine the world a little bit different than it is now. some people don't allow themselves to that. but u imagine, you know, good child care, happy families, you

know, there's alwaysointo poesweornd lyt can make it easier. but you can imagine -- that s swedish. [laughter] then you move to the third box, and what do you ha there? you have your anger, you have yoopsm d ox-o,ve your anger, imagination, and the last box is optimism. you know, they say pessimists are usually right, but optimists change the world. iisi cg hwiyba we thought we really need a fourth box, and that box is you've got to take action. after you've gone through tha test, we can't st sit tly wa fngo ce. i'ea the beginning

of -- or the end of my last chapter which means you really don't have to read the book. [laughter] except i don't think they would ke that. pace silence, politeness, the characteristics that have won women praise in the past, have to be set aside if women and their families want to achieve a different future. wemust snch bkhe w il es a fi a the work families' policies necessary to sustain strong families. we mayot yet have seted on the perfect catch words to describe t 21stentury in flie be owt wt r change. the word "revolution" is once again appropriate. we have to organize, mobile eyes and advocate -- mobilize and advocate with a fierce passion

aelrom sr, t esto anor south reeving no constituency or person untouched. the well being of a family must become a critical national concern that unites all nstienci -- n,me cova.ermote i got carried away here. the poor, middle clas the upper class, labor, the elderly, employers and employees, the nation's economic security and moral integrity are atisk. beheruwaen the country up from its dormant state. we, the richest, the most compassionate nation on earth, have the ability to respond to the call for action. toceweveoeton some three firm beliefs. one, that we can't afford the

expens two, that family policies impede job growth. three, that the mily is solely a priteom stusmbse beliefs: that the cost to the nation of inaction is greater than the cost of action, that investment in family work policies fostersconoc inmeorhien o grandchildren and the nation. it is time to strengthen the institution that all americans of ery political persuasion lue st;he mi ot wfothrft now is the right time to begin. thank you. [applause]

thank you very much. thank you. [applause] thank you. i think there's cropne. u'heroe. ress,cots lus. [laughter] >> run for president. [laughter] >> thanks. i have a very good excuse though. i'm not born in the united states. >> he.ter] reve divisive nation. the first order of business has to be getting beyond the divisiveness that is there toda in washington d.c. hodo wdo t riouabte eat' sad that mr. murdoch, i think, who

defeated richard lugar ran on the platform of noome prsed n. ncom ae w matyay suspect it doesn't really. i think people do not like the status quo. we'll know better after this election, if that's true. but i think most americans would like to get things done, and you n't aomplisf se ta fs t i , ar o politics, to coin an old-fashioned -- reuse an old-fashioned phrase is the art of compromise. d, you know, that's what do in vermont more or less much better thanin core cossu tbee in mega m ways should be considered a hero because he worked with democrats on the nuclear arms control treaty. instea he is villainized for that. i think the public has to speak up a say ha thikind o in nnd ttis r

of money in politics. these super pacs, that's all they do is purchase negative ads. ree czeunwe findwa haot these super pacs. but, again, the public has to speak up. and with or without money, i still believe that individual voices can have an impact. deac ruin democracy. interesting thing happened in massachusetts. if they can stick with it, both scott brown and elizabeth warn said they would take no super cey d orndesidt, hyo w - m that's a compromise between a republican and democrat. and if more people would do that, i think we would move in a dierent direction.

yes. e'stion. >> you mentioned that we need to speak up. there is a movement abo,it ile lusedy a nsti ameo constitution that we start it within the states, that we force the states to go to congress and then turn it back. what is your projection on that happening? >> well, i kno thatwo iof tcotual dm ink ie sanders is supporting one, and ore groups are -- other groups are supporting another. i think we will need a constitutional amendment to change citizens united. but that takes a long time. en t tion iink ulrk o that, but simultaneously see if

we can get more informal agreements to stop tis concept thatorporations are pople whounkutar and just the imbalance. i mean, there's always going to be money in politics, but it's the overwhelming on the negative sidethe funding of this ditiheld n ngpla chance. but, you know, i think this election might tell us something in terms not only of e presidency, but of who was re oe nivdhether peoe will thcevie s negative politics works, but it may get to a point where people are just plai disgusted and say, i'm not going to buy that anymore. i see a couple of heads nodding

which is a si of hope. thunma bckhehe es. >>re ricus circle between women and children and poverty and the 77 cents to a dollar for men, what a man makes. and i'm wondering if you think ri amesshatua ghlp break this cycle down a little bit and how we could go forward with that. >> well, that's a good question. now, the equal rights amendment was one of the issues that th .as hot i io politics, to the constitution, which was very simple -- there should be no discrimination on the basis of sex. i believe thos were the exact words. and it became, later it becam tenethabon with anti, you know, phyllis schlafly

made a huge campaign effort against it, and it got pretty confused. and even vermont did notatify staent. idotr t ra dmevho n en ses to ratify it. you know, it's a fair question, but i don't have that much faith in it. at this point. first of all, i think until it would be a hard slog to -- i yoisoue ictonbe a hrd ogo meecially poor women, of inequality is huge. and, you know, the west way to reduce -- the best way to reduce the childhood poverty rate is to leenrn engh y up t cre iman yes, the remnants of welfare that are left are important, but if we can enable that woman or that couple to earn enough money, it wld anouowju n

t 'mee. [laughter] that told me that in switzerland most recently they did a study, d women d men are paid equally in switzerland. now, don kif ty us e sunt w t sis m n, stzerland, women didn't get to vote until 971. and -- 1971. and yet they've got a strong women's movement. now, why do we still have that 77-cent gap? trass, i nalof caitruat o women work part time, or they take time off. but even when you measure apples to apples, college professors, for example, working the same urhea j7me t he 100% that men get. so one of the cures, if you

will, to narrow that gap was revealed to me by the nt vet,tha rt number one state. the number one area was washington d.c. and think about it. why would washington have the gomeowest payap yorrgome inaty pc a lot of companies do not even allow people to talk about what the person at theext desk to them is earning. that was seory et d eyoarbo t famous lilyedbetter case? for those of you who haven't heard, she worked for goodyear tire and rubber company for 20 years as a supervisor on the factory floor. after 2arsomedyte liyon'owhi b

you're making significantly less than the guys who have the same job. so she sued. she won her case in aower court, bught to the supreme court. the supreme court turned it down afr80s hasthe aas rule. of course, she didn't know until 20 years later. and it was cumulative. well, the first bill that barack obama signed into law was lyederr p a chngyb y't and so i think sunlight would help a great deal. if more employers provided public information and, also, metiswo--ud h oras th r salary increases, for promotions. and sometimes we may even have

to train people. you know, there's something that holds you backyou kw? of coue, sometimes you can't fo reuseyo yok, yca't afford that risk because your job is to essential. but often you can, and you simply undervalue yourself and raur power to ask for tha att. galartt >> but on the whole question of not being able to talk with your colleagu about what you're getting paid, who i the world ever puts that into practice? i mean, what kind of employer would ever do that? >> well, they dotan p opooh. t. r w eeals rtr that's all you can sur surmise. >> but there must be some way that employees can get together and find out without letting the boss know they found out, you know? [lauter] the's got to be aay. >> t -aou do

>> i mean, unions have thought that. the unions are quite weak today. but most unionized wplaces abowhama -s,th b >> i'd like to thank you for this talk and for reclaiming the foan y, and to show whyhas been it's a very proud designation. and it isn't what a lot of the negative connotations are about, but it really is ptectg sonk f inat ge aorti t >>l,nk f sg that. [applause] you're making it much easier for me to use a tooth.

thankyo an iea. nethin 't uais hngld care at our workplace is it's really effective for the employee as well as the child. do you see any changes coming down in terms of supporting employers and encouraging more of that in workples? quon aer noigft w ecgoor held a conference of on-site childcare in the workplace, and i brought up a gentleman from boston who ran stridrite shoes andhad -seld. d ouhisis s todo it.o well, not everybody does it. well, first of all, it's not easy. it does take a capital investment. we do have a lot of rules and regulations, most of whichare neceary. t yo queionse tein p. ldeomndt track process, and we could make

it easier for employers who -- especially for small businesses. it's very hard to do. buthere are other things ty can d presl a neighboring childcare center. a lot of places do referral. t the truth is especially for babies, it is very, very hard to i tag odyth saheve 200 applications for, like, 30 spaces. and some people say, you know, even before you get pregnant when you think about getting egnant -- [laughter] you have to sign ur baby cdc bus's so hard to do. but we could do more, and i think state govement probably could be more helpful. and, you know, qlity the

related to what we payhildre whhe france, they certify all their childcare providers, they're treated like teachers, they have to have a deee, and sovebody sends their the. it'sott fo tr r me'ssid g ons o g asked why are you sending your kid to childcare, it's why aren't you? now, i know there have been books lately about the french and h they distance themselves from their children, but that's tha tthd cdcer. valeo all, you know, we've always had this debate in this country wit social welfare programs, do you limit it to a few, the most needy, and we usually do because we don't have enough money. ofatg lnle small constituency. if we could make childcare,

quality, accessible childcare universal li we do cial security, you could never take it away, you know? you'ha hen in, middnd pecocotu f it. that's a long-range goal, but it's good to keep in mind. yes. >> is there on-site childcare -- [inaudible] >> i don't think so. aneyt rtl tahe wn' ro- [laughter] near the hall of the house of representatives. so i think we have a ways to go. thadef byo h wae tge te. [inaudible conversations] >> yeah -- >> two more questions. >> i just want today say that you're absolutely -- wanted to say you're absolutely suchn inspiration to me personally d

bo wn,ti sny levels. but i was curious if there were any particular women right now for you that you find as an inspiration at this time. >> well, that's a very good question. threshthsu wn and i greatly admire -- and i'm sure i'm in lots of company here -- hillary clinton. she really is doing an incredible j d,owomng reg pe en rorpren years ago, she got a lot of negative because she was ambitious, she was torn between -- she was criticizedt e pot fei t , tenheap o g aninie she was too tough. and, remember, she had no

emotion? and when she sort of welled up with tears in new hampshire shortly before that primary, i edhe ose, meplid sthe ma he. and others said, she can't be commander in chief, she's too emotional. [laughter] so now though,ow i think it's, like, 2 ti ama polylaomin i think she has changed the aspirations and the sense of possibility for women all over the world. >> well, iink may -- o, oorst ay ogo d. haal right. >> [inaudible] >> i just want to thank you, thank you for coming and to pick up on what you said about social conscious and experience and your second box of imagination. i mean, each of us, i need to image ifntce d yolk a

ri i imagine, i imagine those five men around the table discussing contraception and thinking how the, whatever, do they -- [laughter] have that when they have no neha h ulf h pece the result of conception. in any way, shape or form, personally experience that. and also the experiee of congress in voting or making evne ceshaal he >> ink experience each of us or different people have of -- so my question, i don't really have a question, just to say how do we do that, how do we share, how do we get e divisiveness out of, out of the eatn ee opayotmun at f cet differently from the way i feel about -- >> oh, we are different in this state. >> -- women and -- well, yes.

>> but it's a good question. in hto o cenofrm w coy and realize we have certain privileges. and really responsive government in this country where we know our leaders, we know they can't be bought, and thespecl splnttsutic in the rest of the country. so we have to work on a national level as well. you know, yo mentioning of these three or four men ttin ouaandeng ofe y h s washington this week, and i think i have the courage to tell it. [laughter] it seems that a republican congressman was asked, you know, how's this contraception issue workg forou anere setrtion.

the guy looked a little uncomfortable, and he said, well, you know, it's not that great. we've discovered that sex is popular. [laughter] ppe] >> for more information visit the author's web site, madeleine kunin.org. [applae] [cheers and applause] me eonan hr heanpl] goow [laughter] this is so exciting! [cheers and applause] this is my very first book. [cheers and applause]

an my very first and probabl gos g, s well, you know, let me just say i am so proud of this product. um, it is -- the book, "american grown,"s everything i would have imagined. i wantedhe book to befubsel t ul tell because when malia and sasha picked it up, you know it's, mom, you know, your book, how nice. [laughter] yeah, they actually got pulled in by the pictures. and then they couldn'tt . thta lng ro reg stdacly thvellgo actually, a thumbs up. [laughter] so that's what we hope the book will be. i mean, the book is really not just the story ofhe white hoe guard season and how it came to be -- garden and how ouia ulnsuth 'so syof cun gardens across the country.

everything from a wonderful community gardenn hawaii to some excellent school gardens that are hpening in,ight k dain me ew i s too kids. so the stories of the work people are doing across this country, really an important partf the book as well. but we also talk about one of my key initiatives which is let's move, and it's all about geing anme theinst atcs and work that are going on all across the country to help our kids lead healthier lives. and then it's a little practical too. i mean, it gives a few tips, yo know? i'm not the best gardener in the world,ut i hadreea an hadmybaft a tubman kids, tubman and bran croft kids. [applause] bancroft kids. they are my partners in crime i this respect.

th of ts ndls ve bnit te exploring, it would have to be a teaching garden, it would have to be a garden that kids could participate in and understand where they're food comes from -- tir food com from and to engage in that bee 'sllat nemyowe,ist enolmyin odt a--nd we didn't garden in chicago, but we certainly went to farmers' markets, and we got them involved in really changing their diets and oing that process, that they accepted it a t more. umnose kreseen tha with these in tar t i tt they're bringing back ideas and questions to their own families and heing to change the way they eat and doreat things. so these kids have been amazing, um, and they have just been a easu. doloro ty get to work. they get to work. and they get our garden planted

and harvested in a matter of 10, 15 minutes, sometimes 30 nutes. soco't thit it de. so pd,ouud o you all! [applause] thank you. thank you for helping me. [applause] thank you for helping me. so i just want to thank you all co ot.anding in the rain, for anhot becomes the beginning of many conversationsing in your -- conversations in your own home in your commitments, and i hope that it leads to a healthier generation of kids at some poin ther alomo res t,o,tea wh e efs, so urge you to try 'em. you all, thank you so much, and i look forward to seeing you all up here. all right. [cheers and applause]

naleveio aig thy, t's mir book.ations] who gets the first signed copy? [inaudible conversations] >> thank you. thank you very much. boo roan g yr kids --ouys come on, get your books. there you go. that's great.

there you are. [inaudible conversations] >> [inaibleonat] >> there you go. ere you are. th falurlpeetie. eru ri you can see picture t -- pictes of you in there. [inaudible conversations] how are you? i oooe ys. thmeomt.ak

so, now, are you -- [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] >> oh, cool. very cool. well, thank you. we couldn't do this without you all. ar y 'sgo tee oh, my goodness, thank you. you all have beenmazing. [inaudible conversations] this is a good way to end the year. >> thanks foroming. >> oh, my goodness. hoe t yo . [inaudible conversations]

i remember. [laughter] thanyou so much. w e y 'sd ee a naleveio la >> tsormi. ppat. [inaudible conversations] >> how are you? good to see you. >> [inaudible] >> you know me, i would -- naudible] oh, my goodness. >> how are you? >> wonderful. ohan yor takg ti. [iib]

[inaudible conversations] t' okay. >> thank you so much. >> hi, how are you? >> beautiful. >> so are you a gardener? excellent. [inaudible conversations] >> how are you today? it's so nice to see you [lteudible conversations] mydns. oh, yeah. yeah, the recipes -- [inaudible] i've eaten them, and i'm told

they're easy to follow. thank you so much. how are are you? oh, thank you. >> how you doing? >>t'ha thi atnversations] l ng wedo i f e k and they all -- [inaudible] i lo them so much. [iibonat]hem so mch. >> hi, how are you? [inaudible conversations]