As a Busy Mom Thinks: Independence Day 2015

I'm sitting here at our friend's beach house on the Outer Banks this Fourth of July. The television news is both frightening and ridiculous--talk of terror threats on this sacred holiday blending in with the heated debate over the appropriateness of the Confederate flag.

The direction our country is heading causes dismay. Once a country that applauded achievement, it now decries success and calls it greed. Once a country that celebrated freedom of speech and freedom of religion, we now live in fear of offending anyone--especially if we are Christians sharing our faith. Instead of praising our cultural differences, we are suspicious and more divided than ever.

America remains the greatest country in the world. Democracy has stood the test of time. Yet, abuse of executive privilege has us moving closer and closer to socialism; as does a Supreme Court that ignores the Tenth Amendment:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

We are at a dangerous turning point in our country. Either we are going to move closer to socialism or we are going to keep democracy alive and well. We are either going to allow the federal government to centralize control or we are going to elect people who work to keep control in the hands of the states (the people).

I am scared for our future. I am scared for our children's future. Every day I fear some new terror threat will impact our country and the people I love. As we sat and enjoyed the fireworks on the beach tonight, my husband and I were considering how easy it would be for a terrorist with a machine gun to wipe out hundreds of us as we were celebrating our country's independence.

September 11 changed our lives forever. But have we gotten smarter? Have we learned from it? Have we elected leaders who can deal with threats and keep us safe? Do those kinds of leaders exist anymore?

I pray for this country. I pray for its leaders. And I pray for my children and future grandchildren who will live through much more difficult times than my husband and I have known.

God bless us all, and God bless America.

Why Working Moms Need to Read Stupidparty Math V. Myth: Unmasking the Destructive Forces Eroding American Democracy by Patrick Andendall

Stupidparty Math v. Myth: Unmasking the Destructive Forces Eroding American Democracy relies on publicly available facts, resources and tools to deconstruct and relentlessly drill down on the numerous misconceptions held by too many Republicans.

Why Working Moms Need to Read Stupidparty Math V. Myth

 by Patrick Andendall

I’m excited to write for the The Busy Mom’s Daily about why it is important for working moms to read my book. Recently, the new Republican Congress passed a sweeping anti-abortion ban on the anniversary of Roe V. Wade. And the end of January marked the 6th anniversary of the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Nevertheless, for every one dollar I make, women still make 78 cents.

In President Obama’s State of the Union address, he emphasized a need for a bill to complete the progress of getting equal pay for men and women. Congress has attempted to improve the law but to no avail because of Republican obstruction. Even though legislation has addressed the wage gap, there remains an overall systemic problem: when women negotiate their salary, they use previous salary history.

It is worth mentioning to readers that my book does not tell you who to vote for. In the book’s introduction I point out that I owe much of my early success to conservative economic principles. In fact, there are some components of conservatism that seem naturally feminist: keeping the government out of the choices women should be left to make on their own, business friendly policies that empower women entrepreneurs, etc. In other words, the purpose of my book is not to tell women that Republicans have to be anti-women and they should always vote Democratic. By definition, a Conservative tends to be behind the curve on social issues and new ideas. Rather, working women should read my book to understand the ways that the “Stupidparty” has hijacked today’s Republican Party, and in the process painting the entire Republican Party anti-women on many of these issues.

Conservative does not mean freedom from government overreach in the Stupidparty. In fact the reverse in the case. Conservatism in the Stupidparty reflects reactionary principles from a bygone era that work distinctly against working women. My book equips voters to combat this kind of political rhetoric by pointing them to publicly available facts using more than 1,500 hyperlinks (the eBook is free for anyone that buys a print book).

The Supreme Court is about to clarify the law on pregnancy discrimination. Women are making significant strides for equality in the workplace, and in the military. But this should not be incremental progress, or a gift. It should be a right granted to all women.

Read Stupidparty Math v. Myth and discover the facts for yourself, and then decide.

Patrick Andendall has always had an interest in politics and, being multicultural, he views issues from a more international perspective. In 2004, five days before the election, he flew to Cleveland and pitched in to help with the political process. What he discovered was the dissolution of the American Dream, which he writes about in his book, Stupidparty.

Educated at English boarding schools from the age of seven, Andendall went on to graduate from Lancing College. He started by sometimes working three jobs at once, trainee Underwriter/claim broker at Lloyd’s of London, his own one man cleaning Company (cleaning the very offices of a Reinsurance Company he would transact business at) plus doing seasonal work on various farms.

Having made some windfall profits by borrowing money in order to be a “Stag” to take advantage of opportunities created by Margaret Thatcher’s de nationalization policies of the mid 1980′s, Andendall evolved into an entrepreneur with a core specialty in Reinsurance in London and New York where he looks for patterns in numbers. Self-employed in a field not normally conducive to self-employment, he is able remain in control, juggle different jobs, travel and pursue his various interests.

Ending up in New York via romance in the African bush, Andendall now lives on Long Island with his wife, two children and two dogs.


For More Information

• Visit Patrick Andendall’s website.
• Connect with Patrick on Facebook and Twitter.
• Find out more about Patrick at Goodreads.
• Contact Patrick.