DO REPUBLICAN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HATE WOMEN? THE ANSWER MAY SHOCK YOU

This morning People For the American Way put out an action alert, one that urges fair-minded citizens to call our U.S. Senators and urge them to pass H.R. 2831, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. We've been talking about the Ledbetter case since last year. The bill, which has already passed in the House. "remedies a terrible Supreme Court decision regarding protections against pay discrimination in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Because the Court's decision had to do with a piece of legislation and not the Constitution, Congress can amend the current law to make the language clearer and more explicit about the original act's intent -- and thus correct the Court. It looks like the vote will come tomorrow so today is the day to call your senator. The toll free number is 1-866-338-1015. The senators who talk about equal pay for equal work but who are likely to vote against the bill are:

Susan Collins (R-ME)
John Sununu (R-NH)
Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC)
James Inhofe (R-OK)
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Gordon Smith (R-OR)
Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Ted Stevens (R-AK)
Pat Roberts (R-KS)
Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Many people are unaware that under the Bush Regime women have had a particularly hard time keeping up. Today is Equal Pay Day but the effects of the Bush Recession is falling harder on women than on men.

     •     In the past year, the unemployment rate among adult women workers has gone up more rapidly than for men—rising from 3.8% in March 2007 to 4.6% in March 2008, an increase of 20%, compared with a 17% increase among adult men.


     •     The downturn has caused women's wages to fall and this decline is significantly larger than what men have suffered.  In 2007, the real median wage for adult women workers dropped 3%; wages for adult male workers dropped by.5% over the same period. Women's wages are also more volatile than men's wages, and they face a much higher risk of seeing large drops in income than men do.


     •     Women are also disproportionately at risk in the current foreclosure crisis, since women are 32% more likely than men to have subprime mortgages.


     •     Existing pay disparities for women exacerbate the economic strain on women and on households run by women, since women earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men


     •     Women have significantly fewer savings to fall back on in a time of economic hardship. Non-married women have a net worth 48% lower than non-married men, and women are less likely than men to participate in employer-sponsored retirement savings programs.

On top of that, today's Washington Post reports that life expectancy for women is falling-- for the first time since the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918. Heckuva job, Bush-- let's make sure to vote in another Republican just like him (or worse) in November!

And by the way, just so you get a better understanding of what the pay gap between men and women means in practical terms, the average 25-year-old working woman will lose more than $523,000 to unequal pay during her working life. Even with the inflation Republican economic policies has brought on, that's a LOT of money. Bush's chief obstructionist, Mitch McConnell is expected to lead a filibuster against equal pay and there will be a cloture vote to shut down the debate. One senator likely to support McConnell's filibuster against equal pay is Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe. Blue America has endorsed state Senator Andrew Rice in his bid to replace Inhofe and his reactionary policies this coming November. We asked Andrew if he thought there was any hope Inhofe could be persuaded to support equal pay for equal work.

“I hope that when Senator Inhofe considers his vote on the equal pay for equal work legislation in the Senate this week, he will take into account the status of women in our state. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Oklahoma ranks 45th among the 50 states in a cumulative measure of quality of life issues like employment, health, earnings and general well-being.  I believe we can do better, particularly because we Oklahomans place great value on life and equality.”

Does it matter to you? It isn't just Inhofe either. Do one of the senators on the list above represent you? Let him-- or Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham or Elizabeth Dole-- know what you think. That toll free phone number, again: 1-866-338-1015

Yes, Elizabeth Dole and Susan Collins-- two women, each trying to pass herself off as an independent-minded senator and a supporter of equal rights. And yet, each has been a serial rubber stamper of the worst of the GOP program. I contacted Jim Neal, the progressive Democrat running against Dole, and, like Andrew Rice, someone who has been enthusiastically endorsed by Blue America. Jim didn't comment on Dole or her shameful record specifically but what he told us leaves no doubt about the contrast North Carolina voters will be able to choose between: "Bad economics kills. Conservative economic policies have reduced Americans' incomes, and we see now reduced their life spans as well. The GOP has launched a frontal assault on all forms of reproductive health care as a proxy for their war on a woman’s right to choose. The Republicans have spent three decades distorting the record of the Great Society and the War on Poverty, Democratic programs which actually reduced poverty and improved the health of Americans. Now the jury is in on Republican economic policies, and we see they are literally killing us."

If you have a moment, please take a look at the ad that People For the American Way is running in Minnesota. It explains the difference between a senator claiming they support a lofty abstraction, like "equal rights" and supporting or failing to support the reality on the ground.




UPDATE: TOM ALLEN ON THE LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT

Blue America-endorsed Tom Allen has been one of Congress' strongest advocates of the whole idea of fair pay for equal work. He was one of the co-sponsors of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 last summer and this morning he came out swinging on the day when the Senate will try to overcome the Republican filibuster led by Mitch McConnell.

"Last summer I co-sponsored and helped pass the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007.  This bill reverses the Court's unacceptable and unfair reading of Title VII so that a more realistic and appropriate deadline applies to those who face discrimination in the workplace.
 
"This was the law before the Ledbetter decision, which once again demonstrated that President Bush's appointees have moved the High Court decisively away from the interests and aspirations of ordinary, hard-working Americans.
 
"A Court that was previously enlightened by the pragmatic wisdom of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is now controlled by the ideology-driven agenda of her replacement, Justice Alito.  
 
"When George Bush nominated him, Samuel Alito's record was clear.  
 
"I had no doubt that he would side with those who seek to turn the clock back on women's reproductive rights and who value employers' interests over those of workers. I would have voted against his confirmation for these very reasons, and as a member of the Senate, I will vote against the confirmation of any nominees who do not understand fairness and individual rights."

Susan Collins, the rubber stamp Republican senator Allen hopes to replace, voted, lemming-like, for Alito. It is expected that Tom's pressure could force her-- reluctantly-- to break with her party, something she rarely does, to vote to end McConnell's cowardly and disgraceful filibuster today.