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Politics

Republicans Would Be Crazy Not To Vote For The Paycheck Fairness Act

12:30 pm, June 5th | by Amy Tennery


Given the contentious nature of the gender pay gap debate, it’s not surprising that today’s Paycheck Fairness Act Senate vote is something of a nail-biter. The legislation, in essence, is asking some senators to vote on an issue many people don’t believe exists. Vote to help eliminate the gender pay gap — and while you’re at it, vote to end discrimination against unicorns, amiright?

I’m being facetious, of course. And I’ve rambled on about gender pay gap enough times that it’s pretty obvious by now where I stand. Sex discrimination exists, women are routinely paid less than men, and no, it’s not because money is “more important for men.” This is a real thing, backed up by real Bureau of Labor Statistics data. It’s not because we’re not aggressive enough, and no, it’s not good enough to justify it by saying “but women want to be mommies!” This is an actual, systemic problem.

But I get it; some people (*cough*republicans*cough*) can’t be swayed. But voting for the Paycheck Fairness Act is still a really good idea, even if it’s only from a strategic standpoint.

For starters, look at the meat and bones of this bill. Put simply, the Paycheck Fairness Act is a stopgap measure to keep women from getting screwed over when they believe they may be the target of gender pay discrimination. Currently there’s a big gaping hole in the Equal Pay Act, one that allows employers to justify paying a female employee less than a male employee for “factor other than sex.” It is, as a New York Times editorial put it, “a much-needed updating and strengthening” of Equal Pay. It puts employers on the hot seat if they’re paying their women less than men and it “protect[s] employees from retaliation for sharing salary information.”

In short: This bill isn’t forcing anyone’s hand. It provides greater employee protections as part of a legit update on a nearly 50-year-old law. Not exactly radical hippie stuff.

But here’s why it should matter to Senate Republicans: From a strategic standpoint, they should want to vote for this.

Let’s not kid ourselves here — this election cycle has boiled down to a battle for the women. Once a non-starter of an issue, the “Limbaugh incident” catalyzed something major. Women felt attacked by the right — and, yes, attacked by the left.

And the coldest, most cynical of hearts will tell you, Obama’s done really well at getting on this bandwagon. And the cold hearts would be right.

During the Masters this year, did Obama really need to condemn Augusta National for barring women? Nope! But oh, did we love it when he did.

And a day later, he followed that with this address on, yep, closing the gender pay gap:

Obama acknowledges that the gender pay gap is real. And he says that we need to put in measures to fix this. This is lightyears ahead of the rhetoric we’ve seen from the right.

Why wouldn’t Senate Republicans want to get on board with this? The Paycheck Fairness Act, in all its mild-mannered, women-protecting sentiments isn’t a bad compromise for the right to make. Just acknowledge that this is an issue. This would be a huge win for them — and it could finally put the GOP on the right side of this issue.

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  • Anonymous

    It can be shown that women get paid more than men.  This legislation is about a gender-based agenda, not the truth and not fairness.

  • Anonymous

    I would love to see you prove that. Women on average are paid 73 percent of what a man makes for the exact same job.

    By the way, they stopped it again.

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  • http://nowtweet.it/2kbq Josephine E. Segura

    they should want to vote for this. http://FreeLancerJob.notlong.com

  • Anonymous

     Explain the methodology of coming to that figure.  Women get paid 124% of what a man makes at the exact same job.  

    While you are at it, name me how many women die on the job vs how many men.  See, you don’t really have to look ANYTHING up – you KNOW there is no comparison whatsoever.  Men do the DANGEROUS jobs women don’t do.  That then demonstrates why men get paid more and it ISN’T at the “exact same job” – this is a lie thrown in to sell this feminist agenda BS. 

  • Anonymous

    Really? 124 percent? Based on exactly what? The 73 percent figure is based on actual payroll reporting. You know real numbers. Maybe you have heard of them.

    As far as the rest of your misogynist screed, I see no reason to even dignify that with a response. Go back to your hate filled little life, you sad, sad person.

  • Anonymous

    “But men and women get paid differently for different work. Warren Farrell points out in his book Why Men Earn More that the 25 worst jobs in terms of stress and physical demands — occupations such as sheet-metal worker and firefighter — are more than 90 percent male. In general, men who are employed full-time work more hours a day than women employed full-time (8.2 hours compared with 7.8, according to the Labor Department), and women are much more likely to interrupt their careers to have children, affecting their earning power over time.”

    http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/297356/left-s-favorite-bad-statistic-rich-lowry#

    I made a simple point about how men work more dangerous jobs and you freak out because I’m right. I’m glad I didn’t mention how women are usually the ones wasting time on the phone and drop everything they are doing when someone brings a baby in to the office….I know of which I speak.

  • http://twitter.com/InezFeltscher Inez Feltscher

    Reasons the pay gap exists:

    1. The average man working “full time” works more hours than the average woman working “full time.”
    2. Women go into “softer,” lower-paid, and more flexible fields and majors than do men.
    3. Women’s physical labor is worth less because they are weaker, and many jobs are still brawn, not brain jobs. (Is it fair to pay a truck package loader who can lift 50 lbs the same as one who can lift 100?)
    4. Many women drop out of the workforce for several years while their children are young, and this puts them behind in climbing corporate ladders.

    The WH report doesn’t control for any of these facts, because it uses “median weekly earnings,” without regard to field, major, or hours worked beyond “full time.”

    The CAP report is slightly better, but still only controls for education “level” rather than type of degree, and only for the most generic field categories.

    Opposing the Paycheck Fairness Act is a function of reading deeper into the numbers, and not just judging by a headline-grabbing statement about a 23 cent pay gap that doesn’t really exist between people who do the same sorts of work.

    P.S. Sex discrimination in employment is ALREADY forbidden by state law.

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