McCain denys women equality in the workplace

[kaci_beeler]

Did you hear what Senator McCain said about the Fair Pay Act--a bill that would have helped make sure women receive equal pay for equal work? After it was defeated in the Senate, he said that the solution to employment discrimination was for women to get more "education and training."

This is outrageous! McCain is hugely misinformed: Study after study shows that women are paid less than men for the same work even though they have the same education and training. And his statement also sends a really offensive message that the pay gap is OK.

I just signed on to this public statement calling out McCain and urging him to support efforts to help guarantee women equal pay for equal work--can you join me? You can also submit your resume, which MoveOn will deliver right to McCain to prove to him that women have the right qualifications--what women need is equal pay.

http://pol.moveon.org/fairpay/?r_by=-68 ... E&rc=paste

Seriously. What shit.

[LeannRose]

Ugh. I'd vote for Hilary before I'd vote for him. And that's really saying something.

[York99]

the solution to employment discrimination was for women to get more "education and training."

This is outrageous!

Seriously. What shit.

Why are women so anti-education? What kind of message does that send to the kids?

[Miggy]

Seriously. What shit.

Does it help or hurt his case that his wife pulls down more than he does (by inheritance)? or does it not really matter?

[improvstitute]

Unfortunately this does not translate to job security for me. Nothing good comes from sexism. NOTHING!

[slappywhite]

You already have Home Ec, what more do you need?

[York99]

Unfortunately this does not translate to job security for me. Nothing good comes from sexism. NOTHING!

I respectfully disagree. Comedy comes from everywhere.

Also, without sexism, women can't get that great feeling of giving sexists their comeupance. That's a good thing.

The glass is half full.

[bilbo]

whuh? women are now GETTING PAID for doing their job? how hard could it be to make babies?

[kaci_beeler]

whuh? women are now GETTING PAID for doing their job? how hard could it be to make babies?

I, for one, do not appreciate your tired and overly used sexist joke.

[mpbrockman]

Kaci, if you really want to be angry at someone - aim your ire at Ledbetter's attorney.

This attorney chose to sue Goodyear under the more difficult Title VII rather than under the Equal Pay Act which was designed specifically for this purpose and has a longer statute of limitations. You can read about the Equal Pay Act here and Title VII here.

What sort of idiot goes before the court knowing the statute had run out? One with another agenda. I don't think I'm being too cynical when I suggest that the unprecedented expansion of liability that the "Ledbetter Fair Pay Act" would have created might have more to do with creating more work for lawyers and scoring political points than actually helping Ms. Ledbetter.

I'm certainly all for equal pay for equal work, but tort expansion is probably the least efficient way to do this. In this case it was also completely unnecessary given that there was another statute with ample precedent to sue under.

Unfortunately, the issue has now been spun in such a manner that opposing this flawed legislation (the LFPA) marks one as "anti-woman".

Bummer.

[kaci_beeler]

Well yes, I suppose there is a lot out there for me to direct my anger at.

[slappywhite]

whuh? women are now GETTING PAID for doing their job? how hard could it be to make babies?

I, for one, do not appreciate your tired and overly used sexist joke.

Oooooh Raor!

[Jessica]

how hard could it be to make babies?

Let's just say that if you haven't done it yourself, you probably won't understand.

[Mike]

You know, the irony of this is that I just saw a story in the news where men are more likely to be laid off in a recession than women because the men make more - so by cutting all the higher paying positions you are actually are removing males from the work force, leaving a possible female-dominated workplace in some areas. Which could be beneficial as the women move up in the company and get to make policies.

So I guess in some sick way being a woman and getting paid less than a man for the same job does have some benefits, though I doubt that the overall picture is great.

I can't understand how gender can affect a salary, other than the prejudice that a female employee will "use up" company resources and such if she gets pregnant.

But that's big business. I doubt it will ever change, and that really makes me think about if a company is able to screw its own employees over because of gender, imagine what they can do to their customers....

[bilbo]

hmph. well i never.