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Helping women succeed in the workplace, and balance family and professional demands, sometimes requires a change in attitude and a little flexibility. People using a bit of commonsense can often find win-win solutions to the challenges that women face: Bosses who greenlight more flexible arrangementswhether thats allowing an employee to work from home when their child is sick, facilitating job sharing or telecommuting, or some other non-traditional work arrangementwill often find that they are rewarded with greater employee loyalty and efficiency. Those who stubbornly refuse to work with employees to meet their needs will have trouble retaining valued workers.

Democrats, the official party of the traditional feminists, often talk about the need for a societal change to make corporations and other institutions more sensitive to womens needs. Yet when it comes to actually walking-the-walk of providing women a little bit of flexibility, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosis response to a pregnant Members request to vote by proxy suggests that she just doesnt get it and needs a change in attitude of her own.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Rep. Tammy Duckworth (a Democrat representing Illinoiss 8th congressional district, who is also a war veteran who lost both her legs while serving) wanted to be able to vote in her partys leadership elections next week by proxy because she was ordered by her doctor not to travel this late in her pregnancy (she is due with her first child next month). Rep. Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic leadership refused her request.

News reports suggest that part of the decision is raw politicsDuckworth is expected to vote in a way not favored by Rep. Pelosi for a key committee slot. Therefore, Pelosi may have nixed the request just to get the outcome she wanted in her partys election. Other factors certainly play into the decision: Democrats likely feel they have little to lose from shutting down Duckworths request since the election is over. Vocal feminist groups are Democrats steadfast allies, so are unlikely to kick up a real fuss. And the mainstream media dutifully parrots the idea that Democrats are the party of working women so will likely just ignore this inconvenient little news story.

Yet this decision also provides a little window into how the Left views the issues surrounding women in the workplace. One Democrat aide explained that they decided not to lift the ban on proxy votes for slippery slope reasons. In other words, Democratic leaders claim that if they grant a proxy in this circumstance, it will be harder not to grant one the next time.

Should the American people, and particularly Rep. Duckworth, accept this excuse?

I say no. Surely, the Democrat leadership is capable of considering requests on their merits. After all, such decision making and use of discretion is one of the principles of leadership. Every employer has to make such judgments: Should I grant this leave request or authorize this expense? To make such determinations, they consider the merits of the case and the record of the employee.

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Democrat Leaders Just Don't Get It