As difficult a time as I have understanding male politicians pushing against women attaining equal rights, I have an even more difficult time understanding female politicians doing something similar.
In the upcoming midterm elections, Republican Monica Wehby will be challenging Democrat Jeff Merkley for an Oregon Senate seat.
On Sunday, KGW's Laural Porter asked Ms. Wehby the following question: "What about equal pay for equal -- for women? You said you'd vote against that, and it doesn't seem to go along with what you represent."
In response, Wehby said this:
"I would absolutely favor any legislation that supports equal pay for women, but this was a flawed piece of legislation. It did not take into account experience, hours worked, education. I would be more concerned that it would make it more difficult for businesses to hire women, because of the fear of lawsuits. They would tend to steer away. And I think that that's an unintended consequence of laws like this that increase regulation and legislation."
Of course, Ms. Wehby's claim that more regulation and legislation, with regard to fair pay for women, would result in frivolous lawsuits is nothing new. However, the numbers don't back up.
After President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, it has been reported that, "complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which handles claims of wage discrimination at the federal level, didn't increase substantially."
Leading up to the 2012 elections, Democrats regularly railed against Republicans for fighting a "war against women." In response, Republicans typically said the claims were nonsense and were just a way of trying to score political points before the election. Yet, in the two years since that time, members of the GOP have continually tried to make it more difficult for women to: Get contraception coverage with their healthcare plans, legally have an abortion, vote without much problem (due to name changes), receive equal pay for equal work, etc. So, while the GOP may still steadfastly contend that they're not fighting a war against women, I have to wonder what it is they think they're doing. If one were to really think about matters and twist things around slightly, it appears that the GOP may be fighting for imaginary women - you know, the ones whom don't ever have sex with guys, the ones that never have to worry about pregnancy, the ones void of any health problems, the ones that force their spouses to change their last names to her's, and the ones that laugh off the notion of gender pay-discrimination because it's as false as the belief that every U.S. president to this point has been a male. Oh, wait - I'm being told that is true...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/11/monica-wehby-equal-pay-_n_5669346.html
In the upcoming midterm elections, Republican Monica Wehby will be challenging Democrat Jeff Merkley for an Oregon Senate seat.
On Sunday, KGW's Laural Porter asked Ms. Wehby the following question: "What about equal pay for equal -- for women? You said you'd vote against that, and it doesn't seem to go along with what you represent."
In response, Wehby said this:
"I would absolutely favor any legislation that supports equal pay for women, but this was a flawed piece of legislation. It did not take into account experience, hours worked, education. I would be more concerned that it would make it more difficult for businesses to hire women, because of the fear of lawsuits. They would tend to steer away. And I think that that's an unintended consequence of laws like this that increase regulation and legislation."
Of course, Ms. Wehby's claim that more regulation and legislation, with regard to fair pay for women, would result in frivolous lawsuits is nothing new. However, the numbers don't back up.
After President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, it has been reported that, "complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which handles claims of wage discrimination at the federal level, didn't increase substantially."
Leading up to the 2012 elections, Democrats regularly railed against Republicans for fighting a "war against women." In response, Republicans typically said the claims were nonsense and were just a way of trying to score political points before the election. Yet, in the two years since that time, members of the GOP have continually tried to make it more difficult for women to: Get contraception coverage with their healthcare plans, legally have an abortion, vote without much problem (due to name changes), receive equal pay for equal work, etc. So, while the GOP may still steadfastly contend that they're not fighting a war against women, I have to wonder what it is they think they're doing. If one were to really think about matters and twist things around slightly, it appears that the GOP may be fighting for imaginary women - you know, the ones whom don't ever have sex with guys, the ones that never have to worry about pregnancy, the ones void of any health problems, the ones that force their spouses to change their last names to her's, and the ones that laugh off the notion of gender pay-discrimination because it's as false as the belief that every U.S. president to this point has been a male. Oh, wait - I'm being told that is true...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/11/monica-wehby-equal-pay-_n_5669346.html
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