Far from shrugging off constraints, this era's aroused women voters are rising up in defense of home and family

Sarah Palin said last week that the “mama grizzlies,” -- those women who are rising up and becoming advocates for their country -- would take back this nation. There is indeed a new breed of women activists in America today. Indeed, roughly 45% of Tea Party activists are women. However, they aren't like the women who came of age in the 60s and 70s who were shrugging off the "bondage" of children and families and rallying around a newfound independence. No, today's women activists have taken to the streets and the voting booths for just the opposite reason. These women are rising up in defense of their children, their grandchildren and their way of life.

The majority of women believe the stimulus has failed to create jobs and have rejected both bailouts and so-called health care reform. For the first time since Gallup has tracked the issue, the federal budget deficit – now over a trillion dollars – has replaced the economy, the environment and Social Security as the issue that worries Americans the most when they think about how America will look 25 years from now.

Why doesn't Washington get it? The nation's economic and fiscal health directly impacts women. They comprise a majority of the workforce partly because the recession has disproportionately affected men and has left women shouldering the burden of employment and kitchen table economics. They are the ones making the majority of financial decisions for their families, including health care decisions, yet it is women who will be paying the high price.

Only one-quarter of women say their economic situation will “definitely improve” over the next few years, a shockingly dour number for Americans who generally project optimism on financial outlook.