All posts by Susan Dench

Susan Dench

About Susan Dench

Susan Dench is the founder and president of the fast-growing non-profit, non-partisan Informed Women's Network. Recognizing that many women are tired of "politics as usual," Susan decided to take action and develop strategies that are innovating the way women and politics intersect, nurturing and encouraging women in fun, energetic gatherings where views can be expressed in a supportive environment and then translated into practical solutions that produce results.

Taking on the (pink) elephant in the room

Perhaps the president of Dartmouth College has finally said what many other university administrators are feeling. Philip Hanlon didn’t mince words when he spoke to a group of student leaders, faculty and alumni earlier this month. He offered a withering critique of his own school, saying that its future “is being hijacked by extreme and […]

Gay marriage proponents, intolerant toward those who disagree, are squandering their progress

With last week’s forced resignation of JavaScript inventor and Mozilla co-founder and CEO Brendan Eich, there is little doubt that bullies are exerting control over freedom of speech. What heinous transgression did Eich possibly commit to get tossed from the company he was recently tapped to run? He contributed $1,000 to California’s Proposition 8, which […]

Is discrimination the only explanation for the wage gap?

As Equal Pay Day rolls around, crusading politicians President Barack Obama and gubernatorial hopeful U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, D-2nd District, misleadingly trot out Bureau of Labor Statistics data stating that women make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns — for the same work or in the same job. While the narrative sounds like […]

On minimum wage, the free market should be able to do its thing

The latest wealth redistribution plan is picking up speed this election year, complete with the requisite Obamanomics propaganda machine rolling into town. In this case it’s Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Change bringing in the PR juggernaut on a well-appointed bus. Portland Mayor Mike Brennan and gubernatorial hopeful U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud have jumped on […]

Democrats think we have jobs for everyone

Democrats are the gift that keeps on giving. Or taking away, if it means parting you from your hard-earned money or preventing you from getting a job. But paradoxically, two leading Democratic thinkers now claim we have plenty of jobs. Apparently, they think we could put all Mainers back to work and solve our welfare […]

Hey, you owe me! Or, why a teen suing her parents is owed nothing

Here’s my definition of self-entitlement: The belief of selfish egoists who think they can have whatever they want, whenever they want it without regard to rules, guidelines, conventions, laws or fairness to others. Poster girl for this unfortunate character flaw: Rachel Canning, a New Jersey high school senior, who’s suing her parents for support and […]

Don’t let the food police get away with these half-baked ideas

While we’ve all had a good laugh (at least I hope you did) at former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s decrees on 16-ounce sodas, calorie counts and trans fats, there are many other instances of the government’s irrational need to tell everyone else how to live and coerce them into compliance. Some more examples of government […]

Liberals no longer hiding contempt of free speech

Wow, this was a banner week for liberals and their “tolerance” of differing opinions, proving again that liberalism cannot survive open and honest debate. First of all Charles Krauthammer, a columnist and Fox News contributor, found himself in hot water with the global warming crowd, who demanded that the Washington Post refuse to publish his […]

The new normal: A lack of civility

As we commemorate Presidents’ Day this week, it’s a good time to take a glimpse of the man George Washington was destined to become by dusting off his Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour In Company and Conversation. Written by our first president as a teenager, the document is still relevant today (although we hope we […]