A new era of responsibility is here.

Women now make up approximately half of the workforce - very positive. Two-thirds of all families are either headed by a single-head of household or two working parents, and particularly in this economically challenging time, that second income is more important than ever. However, women are still only earning 75 percent of what men are earning.

There are certain things that Americans expect their government to do. Our infrastructure is vitally important. Putting people back to work with construction is important. Our roads, our bridges, our sewers, our waterways, our dams - this is what makes our country so special.

The last six months of the Bush administration lost four million jobs and the first six months of the Obama administration lost another four million before any initiatives of the president could take action.

I think that in a country as successful as ours, we still have a long way to go in terms of parity for women, whether it’s equal pay in the workforce or a whole host of other issues.

Given the daunting challenges that we face, it's important that president elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one.

I think, traditionally, when the federal government has gathered statistics, it's been done in silos, so every agency really focuses on the statistics that are important to agency.