Michelle Obama unveils Blueprint for America’s Working Women and Families

You can read Barack Obama’s agenda for helping women and families balance work and life in his Blueprint for America’s Working Women and Families, and later today, I’m told, there will be video of the announcement, which occurred in Chicago just about 20 minutes ago.

From the inbox:

Michelle Obama will address a gathering of Women for Obama in Chicago on Monday. There, she will discuss the campaign’s success in reaching women across the country, and discuss why her husband, Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, will be a champion in addressing the unique challenges facing working women and families. Mrs. Obama will also unveil a Blueprint for America’s Working Women and Families, detailing Barack Obama’s agenda to help women balance work and family, to keep themselves and their families healthy, and to prosper in a changing economy.

Michelle Obama kicked off the Women for Obama program in Chicago in April 2007. Since then, Women for Obama has created a nationwide network of tens of thousands of women working to educate and empower themselves on the issues that are most important to women and families. Throughout the primary, the group has played a key role in Senator Obama’s campaign through its fundraising, grassroots activity and online organizing efforts.

“We know the importance of women’s voices and votes in this election cannot be overstated, and I am so proud of the progress Women for Obama has made over the last year, bringing the issues that are most important to women and families to the center of this campaign,” said Michelle Obama. “As President, Barack will change Washington so that instead of just talking about family values; we actually have policies that value families. Policies that make it easier for working parents to support, care for, and raise their families; policies that no longer force working women to choose between their kids and their careers. Barack understands the struggles working women and families face every day, because the women he loves most in the world have gone through it. That’s why he carries our stories – and the stories of women he’s met all across America – with him every day.”

This luncheon, benefiting the Obama Victory Fund, will take place at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago on Monday.

I’ve browsed the Blueprint and here’s a list of the topics covered:

1. Fight for pay equity
2. Making Work Pay for Working Families
3. Increase the Minimum Wage to $9.50 by 2011
4. Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit
5. Provide a Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to an Additional 7.5 Million Women
6. Create Automatic Workplace Pensions
7. Expand Retirement Savings Incentives for Working Families
8. Expand Family and Medical Leave Act
9. Encourage States to Adopt Paid Leave
10. Expand Paid Sick Days to 22 Million Women
11. Protect Against Caregiver Discrimination
12. Expand Flexible Work Arrangements
13. Expand High Quality Afterschool and Summer Learning Opportunities
14. Fix the Nation’s Health Care System
15. Ensure All Children Have Health Insurance
16. Fight Cancer
17. Supports a Woman’s Right To Choose

You’ll have to read the pdf to get the meat on each of those.

Does he offer enough ideas and details? Not enough? What would you add? What would you remove?

What more do you want to know?

How does this blueprint compare to what John McCain has promised to do for working women and families?