Have you not heard of this bill? You must be a white cis-man, then. For everyone else outside of that small but powerful category, here's the summary in bumper sticker form: EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK! Did you know that in the United States the wage gap for white women is 77 cents to every white man's dollar? That African-American women get 62 cents? That Hispanic women get 53 cents? The Paycheck Fairness Act is designed to help correct that. It would strengthen the existing Equal Pay Act of 1963 and would allow employees easier access to salary records without fear of retaliation. No brainer, eh?
Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Kay Bailey Hutchison have the same jobs that Al Franken, Henry Reid, Mitch McConnell and handsome former Cosmopolitan model Scott Brown have. The salary for the job is $174,000 yearly. All of the aforementioned ladies are white, and they are all Republicans who failed to break ranks to vote for this legislation (well, Murkowski didn't vote against it--she failed to leave her precious write-in ballots to show up for the vote. Same diff). The dreaded filibuster killed it. That must mean that these four women do not agree that women employees need this kind of legal protection. Hmmmm.......
GRAB YOUR CALCULATORS! What should Collins, Snowe, Bailey Hutchison and Murkowski be paid? And how much money do those four owe back to the federal government now that their hypocrisy has been exposed? I'll take an Ativan while I wait (the sheer stupidity of some people gives me anxiety attacks).
Ready? I was an English major, not a math major (I'm a GIRL, silly!), but my numbers tell me that each of these women should only be paid $132, 240 per year. Let's subtract that from $174,000 and see what we get. Oh mercy! These four, who do not believe that women have the right to equal pay, need to remit back to the federal government $41, 760. EACH. For every year that they have served.
I'm starting a campaign to get my money back, because $41K times whatever might be just enough money to ensure that my public library, its hours slashed due to budget cuts, could reopen on Mondays. Luckily, most of the staff are women, and we know they work cheap! Start dialing, girls!
Kay Bailey Hutchison: (202) 224-5922
Olympia Snowe: (202) 224-5344
Lisa Murkowski: (202) 224-6665
Susan Collins: (202) 224-2523
No excuse. Absolutely none.
ReplyDeleteexcellent post. I cannot for the life of me understand why people (women especially) would vote against ending the wage gap by gender (and race) in our country. How unpatriotic is this? How racist and misogynist is this? What, was there a provision in there that was too heinous to vote for?
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess the bill must have been a prelude to socialism. That can be the only explanation.