Today, the House of Congress will be considering the renewal of the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act, which expired more than 500 days ago. Why hasn't such a crucial piece of legislation been renewed? The short answer is that House Republicans blocked the VAWA vote in order to pursue their own conservative agenda in the form of an adapted bill. The differences between the original, meaty, bipartisan Senate VAWA and the lean, pared down ... Read More

Looks like the Senate bathrooms might need a makeover. Newly reelected Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar recently spoke about one consequence of having a record number of women senators: a line in the bathroom. “For the first time, we had a traffic jam in the women’s senator’s bathroom,” she said. “There were five women in there. There’s only two stalls! And I’m not going to say who — that ... Read More

Now that you've watched Barack Obama get down with the music stylings of Carly Rae Jepsen, it's time to get back down to serious political business. Or not so serious, depending on how much you believe the democratic party's attempt to pass a bill in the senate that would help close the wage gap between men and women in the US.   The paycheck bill would ban companies from responding against any workers who inquire about pay ... Read More

  Yesterday evening, the White House released a statement saying that the President will likely veto HR 4970, the House Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization bill. The Senate recently passed its version of the VAWA, updating it to include protection for Native American women, LGBT victims, immigrants, and college students. The Senate’s bill was passed 68-31, with 15 Republicans voting for it. The House bill will not ... Read More

In honor of Equal Pay Day tomorrow, the National Partnership for Women & Families has released staggering new data that illustrates exactly what women are losing out on due to the wage gap. In New York alone, women on average are paid 83 cents to every dollar paid to men. When the data is separated and examined more closely, women of color fare worse, with African American women earning 76 cents and Latina women 63 cents to every ... Read More

For the past eight years, it has been the age of the woman in Washington state politics. The Evergreen State is not only the singular state to have a female governor and two female senators currently, it is also the only state ever to have accomplished this feat. Washington seems to be doing something right. Governor Christine Gregoire and Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray are doing exactly what we love here at BUST: setting goals, ... Read More