This week, we recognize Equal Pay Day -- the day that marks how far into the new year women have to work to catch up with men's wages from the previous year. Let's remember how far we have to go to see real equality for women and press for progress.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, but women are still way behind men in earnings.

The middle class is what drives our economy. We can't prosper as a nation unless today's and tomorrow's jobs provide fair, decent wages. A fair minimum wage truly benefits everyone.

The rapid increase in demand for their services is fueled by an aging baby boomer population and the wounded veterans returning from a decade of combat. And while the opportunity to pursue a noble career helping others maintain their dignity and independence is appealing to job seekers, there's a catch.

Americans have said 'yes' to fair pay for women, 'yes' to policies that make our workplaces more family friendly, 'yes' to ending gender discrimination and strengthening consumer protections in health insurance, and 'yes' to a more patient- and family-centered health care system.

I posed the following question to some of the most influential women of our time, "What message would you most want to get out to women about the upcoming election?" Here are their inspiring answers.

Watch the debates and learn more about EMILY's List's incredible pro-choice Democratic women. Because when you listen to what they have to say about things like healthcare access, equal pay, and economic security, your choice at the ballot box will be an easy one.

The Ledbetter case is not simply a story of how women are denied equal pay -- though it is certainly powerful on that front -- it is also a template for strategic action by progressives in fighting over the courts that could and should be scaled up and broadly deployed.

The quick-witted denizens of the ether have gone to town with Mitt's office supplies. I've heard all kinds of explanations for why this is all just liberal media spin. But, actually, there are many reasons why this meme is legitimate and not just a silly Internet trope.

This is an election, Mr. Romney, not a date. Women don't want to feel special. They want to earn a living and feed their families. To influence how workingwomen are going to vote, you would have to talk to them as voters.

Nationally, full-time working women are paid just 77 cents for every dollar paid to full-time working men - a gap that has remained largely unchanged for a decade. That amounts to $11,084 dollars annually.

Last week, Rick Santorum, a man more Catholic than the Pope, in an appeal to fundamentalist, Protestant evangelical voters, said of Mitt Romney, a com...