(A must read and nice reminder of why it's important to elect Democrats... - promoted by Jay Stevens)
I've been pretty tough on Barack Obama since I started posting/commenting here, so I thought it would be good to take a moment to emphasize why I think it's important to back the Democratic nominee this year, whomever it may be.
Senate Republicans successfully filibustered the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act yesterday. Members of Congress authored this legislation after the Supreme Court ruled that victims of pay discrimination had only 180 days from the first act of discrimination to file suit. This obviously puts victims of discrimination at a significant disadvantage, and the legislation was intended to clarify Congress's intent regarding equal pay.
Sens. Clinton and Obama left the campaign trail to vote in favor of ending the filibuster and forcing a vote on the bill. McCain skipped this vote, but applauded his Republican colleagues who blocked the legislation.
This wouldn't be nearly as annoying if the logic behind his opposition to the bill wasn't such a mess.
"I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what's being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems," the expected GOP presidential nominee told reporters. "This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system."
...
"They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else," McCain said. "And it's hard for them to leave their families when they don't have somebody to take care of them.
"It's a vicious cycle that's affecting women, particularly in a part of the country like this, where mining is the mainstay; traditionally, women have not gone into that line of work, to say the least," he said.
McCain displays a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue at hand here. It's fine to support more education and job training for women, but Lilly Ledbetter was not less educated or less trained than her male co-workers. Though she received positive appraisals from her supervisors, and awards for her job performance, she received lower raises than her male co-workers. At the time of her retirement, each of these individual acts of discrimination added up to a salary that was $6,500 lower than her lowest-paid male co-worker. Women like Lilly Ledbetter don't necessarily need better education or training - they need for their employers to treat them fairly, and they need to have a reasonable expectation that our court system will hear their complaints if employers aren't going to do the right thing. The guidelines set forth by the Supreme Court are unreasonable for 99% of victims of discrimination, and John McCain simply doesn't get it.
Luckily, both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama understand the problem of pay inequity.
As president, I will never waver in my support for equal pay for equal work. I'm proud to be the sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would increase sanctions for violating the Equal Pay Act and provide stronger protections for women whose rights have been violated. I think it's long past time we put equal pay at the top of the national legislative agenda, to demonstrate that as a nation, we value the skill, talent and hard work of every American, including every American woman.
While I'm not as familiar with Obama's website, I did find this supporter's blog that clearly outlines Obama's support for equal pay legislation.
Both candidates are on the right side of this one.
