Here is an example of how elections matter. The Obama Administration has sided with workers suing Wal-Mart in the largest sex discrimination case in history. Huge. Big. Important.
From Bloomberg:
The Obama administration sided with women suing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for discrimination, urging a federal appeals court to let the current and former workers sue as a group and proceed with the biggest sex-bias case in U.S. history.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, weighing in on the lawsuit for the first time since it was filed in 2001, rejected Wal-Mart’s argument that as many as 2 million workers shouldn’t be allowed to seek back pay and punitive damages as a group because that would violate the company’s right to defend itself against each worker’s claims before a jury.
The suit, known as Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., could cost the Beast of Bentonville billions of dollars if the plaintiffs win. The case was in the appeals court because the Beast was trying to overturn a previous court's decision to allow the case to proceed as a class action. Not surprisingly, the Chamber of Commerce weighed in on the side of Wal-Mart.
And the Administration's position goes far beyond the Wal-Mart case, and takes the position in sold favor of womens' rights:
"If Wal-Mart’s arguments were accepted, it could effectively preclude a claim for punitive damages in most if not all Title VII pattern-or-practice cases including those brought by the Commission," Sloan wrote. "It would be ‘nonsensical’ to prevent victims of particularly egregious discrimination from proceeding collectively."
Elections make a difference.