Paycheck Fairness Act: Obama Pushes For Equal Pay For Women

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is calling on Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which he calls a common sense bill to ensure that women get paid as well as men for equal work.

The legislation would make it easier for women to sue employers who pay them less than men. The House passed the bill in 2009, but it failed to clear the Senate. Some Republican lawmakers have argued that the bill could aid trial lawyers more than it would help women.

The administration's Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force also recommended Tuesday that the federal government collect better data from businesses so it can more effectively track wage discrimination in the workplace.

Comments

[publicedukated]

09:45 PM on 07/22/2010

Why didn't ba r ry pay his female campaign staffers the same amount he paid his male staffers?

[Rich Zubaty the Rude Guy]

12:33 AM on 07/22/2010

This is a political red herring. There are NO jobs in America where women get paid less for equal work. None. So pass the bill. But don’t’ forget the real problem is that there are not nearly enough women paving asphalt and plumbing toilets and growing food. They want the “information jobs”, not the hard jobs that actually HAVE to get done.

[phylsboutique]

08:13 AM on 07/22/2010

I beg to differ with your comment that...... They want the “information jobs”, not the hard jobs that actually HAVE to get done. I came from a small town that the biggest employer was a coal mine that ACTUALLY EMPLOYED women! Not just in the "information jobs" but actually mining the coal, so don't say stupid things like, "there are no jobs in American where women get paid less for equal work".............................there are hundreds!

[tribilin219]

05:29 PM on 07/21/2010

For what? soon all middle class working Americans will be working for food?

[mrcontinental]

02:14 AM on 07/21/2010

Soon everyone will be making only minimum wage anyway, without benefits, and all pay will be equal.

And unemployment checks will be equal also.

[Mr-Mikey]

02:01 AM on 07/21/2010

So let me get this straight, Republicans are concerned because Trial lawyers might take advantage of women?

Wait.. let me think this through.. We shouldn't pass an act that helps guarantee equal pay in the workplace for women, because women who are in the middle of lawsuits.. Lawsuits against Employers who are discriminating against the women by paying them less wages for the same job a man is doing.. An You're concerned about LAWYERS?!?

Why not push the bill, so lawyers aren't needed? Why not guarantee equal pay rights for all in the work place, or face penalty? Don't think of the Lawyers, think of the women!

[mickcastillo]

01:14 AM on 07/21/2010

This is only fair! And the bleat that this will probably be more of a windfall for lawyers is baloney! The only reason for a lawsuit will be inequity. If after this is passed that these inequities remain, then my advise to the women is to sue and let the lawyers go to town with it! Hit them where it hurts!
And why would one be reluctant to hire a woman after this? Look at the folly in that statement. You are actually recognizing and endorsing the fact that there is inequity in pay for women! There is no reason for that, figuring that we have evolved from the days when women were not............'Nuff said.

[arnth01]

10:04 PM on 07/20/2010

When Rachel Maddow earns as much as Olbermann, then I'll know she's a woman

[davesf]

05:02 PM on 07/21/2010

How do you know how much either of them earns?

[davesf]

05:03 PM on 07/21/2010

Oh, sorry, I missed that it was a slap at her being a lesbian. Never mind, just go away.

[pauldeba]

08:52 PM on 07/20/2010

This ought to help employment, in the lawyer sector. I can't imagine anyone will hire a woman after this.

[davesf]

05:02 PM on 07/21/2010

Have'nt got much of an imagination, have you?

[Low Prices are Good]

08:20 PM on 07/20/2010

what about the "Making people look the same act." No one is allowed to be different. We should all get plastic surgery to look the same. Then we will have true equality.

[davesf]

05:03 PM on 07/21/2010

That's moronically not on point.

[schatsie]

08:13 PM on 07/20/2010

He should also be supportive of the UNION bills, any and all of them....I remember how AA screwed the pilots out of pensions while 20 of their executives has pensions worth over 1 milllion per year for retirement.....

[whitegayrepublican]

06:11 PM on 07/20/2010

Not much to blog about over here I get connoting the lack of volume based attention given to women rights issues and legislation. We should be so embarrassed.

Albeit Lindsey Lohan's first day of serving jail time received more attention than this largely SIGNIFICANT piece of legislation. FOR SHAME!!

[TwoSpirits]

10:05 AM on 07/21/2010

Yes, we should be embarrassed.

The news should not be entertainment based.

[Pansey]

05:27 PM on 07/20/2010

Many working women are the main breadwinner in today's families. It's only fair they get equal pay. We left that "Mad Men" world a long time ago.

[caroline gray]

04:15 PM on 07/20/2010

I really hope this helps out us ladies, it's still very much a man's world.

[santiago sherwood]

04:09 PM on 07/20/2010

do what my wife says and all will happy starting with her

[Kevin Atlanta]

03:11 PM on 07/20/2010

One more government meme of "study" just as in DADT. The disparity is known, demonstrated and deserving of destruction now.
Push on President Obama, please.