Carolyn Maloney, New York Representative, Seeks To Deny Tax Breaks To Men-Only Businesses

If businesses like the Augusta National Golf Club, home to the Masters tournament, can continue to deny women membership, then the government should withhold their tax breaks, says Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).

Maloney's Ending Tax Breaks for Discrimination Act, which she has introduced multiple times since 2003, prohibits businesses that discriminate on the basis of sex or race from deducting travel or advertising expenses from their taxes. Now, on Equal Pay Day and in light of the prestigious Georgia golf club's refraining from extending membership to IBM's new CEO, Virginia Rometty, because she is a woman, Maloney has reintroduced the bill with a new working title: the Equal Play at Augusta Act.

"When a woman, Virginia Rometty, took over as head of IBM, it was an excellent time for the [Augusta National Golf Club] to change that tradition of not admitting women," Maloney told The Huffington Post. "But instead of recognizing her and breaking with this outdated tradition, they decided to continue with this discrimination."

"I am filing a bill that really follows the example of when Congress passed Title IX for athletic equality," Maloney added. "Any organization or institution that discriminates against women or men should not be able to deduct the cost of doing business, such as their meetings, flights and food."

While there is no official count of how many private country clubs and other organizations in the United States discriminate against women, media outlets have identified at least 24 males-only country clubs since the Augusta club garnered attention in 2003.

If the bill makes it out of the House Ways and Means Committee this time around, it could put the GOP in an awkward position, since many prominent Republicans, including presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, former aspirant Rick Santorum, and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have publicly criticized the Augusta National Golf Club for not admitting women. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is a member of a Maryland all-male golf club, which makes the issue even more awkward for him.

But if Maloney's ultimate aim is to coax private males-only clubs into changing their policies, the support of influential Republican men can provide her with more leverage to do so.

"A woman can run a great company, she can run a country, she can run circles around her competition, she can be at the top of her profession, but Augusta National Golf Club believes she cannot be a member of its club simply because she is female," Maloney wrote in an April 13 letter to William Payne, the club's chairman. "There is a wide and growing consensus that this is a policy whose time has long since past. There are not many things in this world that Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, President Obama and I can all agree on. But this is one of them."

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[jpark377]

08:52 PM on 04/22/2012

Really- it's only 5%? My state uses 10 % for "minority owned businesses". Hey Moloney- you are one of the worst representatives in Washington. As the price of gasoline spikes, and jobs are lost, you worry about garbage like this. Just like your little rant this morning about how there are too many men in the Secret Service. I guess I have to give you Dems some credit: you never forget to use a scandle to promote your affirmitive action programs, which do nothing more than promote resentment today.

[MaoZedung]

01:18 AM on 04/19/2012

And while we are at it let's also eliminate the 5% woman owned government contract advantage.

[Frank Padia]

01:40 PM on 04/18/2012

What about women's only health clubs or organizations that only provide health services to women?

[Mary Eyer]

02:54 PM on 04/18/2012

Only provide health services to women? What's the matter, you need a pap smear, Frank?

[wolfpeace]

11:55 AM on 04/18/2012

If the bill doesn't pass I have a simple solution: have a male to female pre-hormone transsexual join, transition, and show up at the Augusta in one of her dresses or skirts. If that doesn't work have her show up after her SRS.

[Robert A Hayes]

10:54 AM on 04/18/2012

broaden your horizons... just eliminate tax breaks to any entity that excludes anyone.

[Cold Breadth]

08:07 AM on 04/18/2012

Women have an unfair advantage to begin with. It's between the legs. It's ridiculous. Maybe some women want to wear my jock?

[shupper]

09:44 AM on 04/18/2012

Is cold breath an indication of death?

[Elizabeth Cairns]

04:16 AM on 04/18/2012

Augusta National Golf Club added to RepRisk's Reputational Risk Index for social discrimination. Thanks Laura!
http://www.reprisk.com/

[maternatura]

02:33 AM on 04/18/2012

Why on earth did we ever give women the right to vote? We just aren't equipped to handle anything. We can't think on our own. We surely can't make intelligent, well-thought out decisions on our own. We need the protection and direction of men of course, otherwise, we just might walk out in the middle of the street.

Dear Gentleman, thank you for meeting behind closed doors in your all male enclaves while threshing out the nation's business and social policies. Our ears are just too delicate and our minds too limited to understand. Thank you, Gentlemen, for taking on such burdens. I'll be home in my guilded cage wearing my burqa.

[maternatura]

01:01 AM on 04/18/2012

Why, oh, why did they ever give the vote to women? We don't know what we are doing. We can't think on our own. We don't understand our own needs. We need protection from our own desires. We women are weak minded, slaves to our hormones and can't handle power. We need the guidance and protection of men to control our lives or we just might not be able to walk across the street.

Please, Men of America, take this burden from us as we know not what we do. Meet in your private men's councils where you conspire over business and social policies for all of us. You men have a great burden to bear, but due to your superior innate assets, we have complete faith that you will arrive at the right decisions. We are grateful.

[Peace Walker]

12:51 AM on 04/18/2012

Absolutely!

[If6was9]

12:20 AM on 04/18/2012

Oh yea this is good,I mean who even knew? It's time for the gop to step back on their good old boy BS.

[murdawg]

12:10 AM on 04/18/2012

So the government is now trying to say that the he-man woman hater's club isn't legit?

[calvihouse]

09:42 PM on 04/17/2012

See Mitt Romney commit a felony!!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBb5j_gu448&feature=youtu.be

[Easy123]

09:11 PM on 04/17/2012

Why in the world does a club exclusively for rich men, who play golf, get tax deductions in the first place? Corporate tax breaks aren't enough, now tax breaks for clubs too?

[advchaser]

10:46 AM on 04/18/2012

All they get are the corporate tax breaks available to all businesses. Augusta does not take any federal money so they do not have to comply with all the strings attached regulations. That they can do that is their decision and right.

This bill is just as crazy as the religious right's promotion of personhood bills. Both have no place in government. Why can't people mind their own business!

[Timothy Unrine]

01:40 AM on 04/19/2012

Jimmy the Greek is probably on the Augusta board of directors, after his snide comments that women can't golf as good as men because their breasts get in the way.

Or maybe Augusta is just an down-low type of place, Judge Mathis says that Georgia, esp the Atlanta area, has the greatest amount of down-low men than any other area.

So the saunas are probably busy there. Who needs women? Tiger took all the women didn't he?

[Betty Sherlin Schueler]

08:56 PM on 04/17/2012

Good for Carolyn Maloney. I agree. If you are a business you should not be able to discriminate against anyone because of race, religion, gender, or national origin. If you want to discriminate then that is okay but you shouldn't be eligible for tax deductions.