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FAIR PAY.
While Rick Davis and John McCain simply hope women will vote for Sarah Palin, the Democrats are trying to force McCain to actually take a stand on women's issues.
Democrats have hammered Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this summer over his vote against legislation pushing equal pay for women and men. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will get a second act in September, as Democrats seek to remind voters that McCain opposed it, according to an e-mail from the Democratic Senate message center. It lists "[e]qual pay legislation" as among the issues the Senate will take up in September.The Fair Pay Act expands the amount of time available for women to file discrimination claims after our conservative Supreme Court ruled that discrimination is okay as long as you can hide it for 180 days. My understanding is that this bill is the same as the Paycheck Fairness Act passed in the House this summer, which also addressed discrimination but set aside funds for salary negotiation training for woman as well as pushed the EEOC to better "collect and disseminate wage information based on gender," so that it is easier for workers to find out if they've been discriminated against.
Rudy Giuliani hit Obama this week for voting "present" in the Illinois Senate, which was actually a legislative strategy designed to blunt the effectiveness of state Senate Republicans in trapping Democrats in uncomfortable positions on wedge issues. McCain on the other hand, rarely shows up in the Senate to vote. Last time he had a tough decision to make on this bill, he just wasn't there. If voting "present" says something bad about Obama's leadership abilities, what are we to make of McCain not showing up at all?
--A. Serwer
COMMENTS (8)
Apparently McCain thinks that Palin should be paid less as governor than her male predecessors. About 30% less according to the national wage gap regarding gender.
Posted by: abject funk | September 5, 2008 3:43 PM
John McCain couldn't show up. He was being held captive by the Vietnamese. And the Vietnamese are so crafty that they can hold someone captive decades after they've released him. And that's not just a snark, John McCain still is being held captive, mentally at least. He just can't get over it, unlike the many POWs that have.
Posted by: fostert | September 5, 2008 3:48 PM
"Democrats have hammered Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this summer over his vote against legislation pushing equal pay for women and men."
I propose the "Everyone Gets Equal Pay Act". If you're not on board with this you must hate people who aren't paid as much as you.
Such is the logic of progressives.
Posted by: David Andersen | September 5, 2008 4:01 PM
What it shows is that - for example - McCain has too many things of real substance to do than vote on a bill rigged by a Democratic congress.
Post hoc reasoning, double standards, and no attention for detail - There's no where they can't take you.
Posted by: V.O.R. | September 5, 2008 5:40 PM
Thank you, David, for the reminder. I really should have made room for broad generalizations and strawmen.
I do the contemporary conservative a disservice when I imply there are only a few tools in his belt. Denial of reality on such a scale is really a pretty impressive effort and I shouldn't demean the hard work involved.
Posted by: V.O.R. | September 5, 2008 5:43 PM
One way to get the message across effectively, and make it difficult for McCain to respond is to just say that McCain was recorded absent (or voted absent) some number of times.
I know that Obama missed a lot of votes as well, but McCain has a habit of trying to call Congress back into session. It is worth pointing out he is seldom "present".
Posted by: tomj | September 5, 2008 9:15 PM
Dear progs, what do you have to say about Oprah's segregated lunch counter of a program? She absitively posilutely refuses to have Sarah Palin on. Suppose, just suppose, a white host had banned a national black politician, and a woman to boot, from his program? Yes, that's right, the progs as well as a lot of decent people would be making charges of racism. Well, turnabout is fair play. Oprah's ban on Palin is racism as well as obvious political bias.
BOYCOTT OPRAH NOW.
Posted by: Temptress | September 6, 2008 12:02 AM
I too demand to appear on Oprah! I have as much qualification as Palin does, and probably more! And as of today, I'm running for President!
WE SHOULD FORCE THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE OPRAH'S PROGRAM A PROPAGANDA OUTLET FOR MY CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT!
Posted by: Zephyrus | September 6, 2008 7:11 PM