Equal Pay for Equal Work!
It should be a right.
It should be a given.
(It was guaranteed by the equal pay law under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.)
However, apparently much of Congress has failed to get the Memo,
(They did get the "nod and a wink" from the "corporate wing" of Supreme Court, however ...)
In 2007, Goodyear Tire employee Lilly Ledbetter filed suit for compensation for years of being paid less than similarly situated men at Goodyear ...
Ledbetter Demands Equal Pay
In May 2007, the Supreme Court threw out Ledbetter's case, taking away every cent the jury awarded, while shredding almost 30 years of equal pay law and stripping workers of key wage protections under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
...
The House of Representatives immediately passed a bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, to restore the original interpretation of that landmark workplace civil rights law.
...
On April 23 [2008], a nominally bipartisan group of 57 senators (including every Democratic senator) failed to garner the 60 votes necessary to stop the filibuster, so the bill was tabled.
Filibuster ... how convenient for SO many Corporate interests!
Perhaps it's cheaper for Big Business to pay off Congressmen, than it is to pay a fair wage to all of its employees?
Afterall that "good old boy" system is about preserving more than that corner office. The stakes are quite high for those upper crust CEO's and the Boardroom members, assuming the Working Public ever gets "just the facts":
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(Link to same graph -- with Axes switched)
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(Link to Census Data Report [pdf] used as data source for Charts.)
(Link to NOW article reporting on this Census Data.)
The stakes are high, so the Corporate Media seems to have buried this important "Life-style" story. Chalk it up to "Life in the big city", I guess.
Studies show that many women earn substantially less than men working in similar jobs. Currently, women earn about 77 cents on the dollar compared with men, and comparisons for minority women are even lower. Obama strongly supports equal pay for equal work. He co-sponsored and voted in favor of such an act in the Illinois Senate.
Obama knows a winning issue when he sees one (perhaps finally blunting the effectiveness of "emotional wedge issues" this time around?)
Politico: Obama strategy: Equal pay, not abortion, 7/14/08
Move over, Jane Roe. Lilly Ledbetter has taken her place as the name on the tongue of Democrats courting female voters.
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On June 23, Barack Obama kicked off a "discussion for working women"
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But he didn’t once mention or even allude to abortion or Roe v. Wade. Instead, he keyed in on Ledbetter, the woman whose suit against Goodyear for pay discrimination was thrown out by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision last year delivered by Justice Samuel Alito.
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"Sen. McCain thinks the Supreme Court got it right. He opposed the Fair Pay Restoration Act," Obama said.
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By shifting his focus toward pay issues and away from abortion, Obama places himself in a far less polarized environment, and steers clear of the "ick factor" that many Americans, regardless of their political views, associate with the practice of abortion.
Equal Pay for Equal Work!
THAT IS a Banner that most Working Class Independents, most Women Rigths advocates, (and dare I say, even some "Gophers") can all Rally around?
BUT, it hasn't happened yet ...
Sure we supposedly have Civil Rights, NOW -- but don't bet your Future on it.
(Just ask Lilly Ledbetter)
Apparently what Congress has given,
they may some day take away too ...
assuming the "Price is Right".
(ie. some deep-pockets Lobbyist presents a palatable counter-argument)
All it takes is a Filibuster, (just 60 Senators to 'lean on')
OR just another appointment to the Right-tilting Court,
assuming McCain (and Crew) can re-spark all those Emotional Hot Buttons ...
Afterall, in their opinion (the opinion of the "Roberts Voting Block" on the Supreme Court):
"What's good for Goodyear is good for America ..."
(their America that is -- which is Big Business, of course.)
The stakes are high
They will pull out all the stops
to stay in power,
just stay tuned ...
Now for a word from their sponsors ...
Random Pundit: "Say have you seen the latest McCain Ad? -- it's a Hoot!
... you just GOT TO SEE THIS ...."