Female Republicans Wage Paycheck Fairness War on Their Own Gender

by Sunnyjane

Three-fourths of a penny for your thoughts.

On January 29, 2009, newly inaugurated President Barack Obama signed into law the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  Fast forward to 2012: When Mitt Romney was supposed to ensure that Obama became a one-term president, his campaign staff was asked if their candidate supported the Lily Ledbetter Act.  Now it's not as if these fools had been asked to find the length of the hypotenuse in a right triangle using the Pythagorean theorem.  It was a simple Yes or No question.  But, living up to very low expectations, a rather lengthy silence ensued before they finally responded, Um...we'll get back to you on that.  (Note: Romney refused throughout the campaign to answer that question, even after Ann assured the ladies at the Clint-Eastwood-infested convention that We love you women!)

It should come as no astounding revelation that Republican men in the House and Senate have historically voted against any legislation that would ensure income equality for women, regardless of how badly they need that particular demographic at election time.  But in the time-honored conservative manner of allowing the males to run the show, the female lawmakers (and I use that term loosely) have also refused to allow their own gender adequate protections to ensure that they receive equal pay for equal work.  'Tis a head-scratcher, but I assure you that the ladies have some excellent reasons.  Susan Collins believes that the Paycheck Fairness Act could impose a real burden on small businesses due to excessive litigation that might occur.  (Memo to Sen. Collins: There would be no litigation if small businesses were paying equal salaries for equal work.)  Never one to hide her ignorance by keeping her mouth tightly shut, good old North Carolina Rep. Virginia Jared-Loughner-was-a-liberal-communist Foxx thought the Act was a liberal plot to strengthen Democrats' accusations that Republicans are anti-women.  Well if the shoe fits, honey, just go on and hit yourself upside the head with it. (Memo to Rep. Foxx:  You're as stupid as the Wingnut from Wasilla.)  There are some folks who are hoping that Ms. Foxx will run against Kay Hagen for the Senate.  I hope so, too; it's the last we would see of Foxxy. 

Last June, Tennessee Congressman (yes, she insists on being addressed as congressman) Marsha Blackburn appeared on Meet the Press.   When asked about her vote against the Paycheck Fairness Act, she responded in word-salady language that women don't want equal pay laws, they just want to be recognized as having gotten the job because they were the most qualified.  Or something like that.  Of course, it never occurred to David Gregory -- or any of the other men on the roundtable -- to ask the Congressman a rather relevant question:  So, Congressman Blackburn, are you saying you would be perfectly satisfied if you were being paid $40,000 less than your male counterparts in the House of Representatives? This same question should be asked of every female who votes against paycheck equality.  The sound of silence would be deafening.

That was 2013.  What are Republican women doing now to advance the cause of equal pay for women?

Oh, Stop Your Silly Whinging, Ladies

Making twenty-three cents on a dollar less than a man might not seem like a big deal to Republican women, until they start realizing that over a forty-year career, they could be cheated out of almost half-a-million dollars.  That not only hurts their current quality of life, but it dramatically affects their Social Security and any pension fund plans they may have.  This sort of ignorant defiance is akin to purposely shooting yourself in the foot and claiming Stand Your Ground defense when asked why you did such a stupid thing.  (Think about it.)

According to one state representative, Minnesota women are whiners for wanting laws to protect them against income equality.  This whining absolutely disgusts Rep. Andrea Kieffer because -- wait for it -- ...these bills are putting us backwards in time. We are losing the respect that we so dearly want in the workplace by bringing up all these special bills for women.  

Uh huh.  Well, who would have ever guessed that a law requiring that women be paid the same salary as men for the same work would be putting them backwards in time and causing them to lose respect?  Whose respect might that be, Rep. Kieffer?  Yeah, that's what I thought -- the respect of the same men who advocate paying a woman less because, after all, she's just a woman.  Makes perfect sense.  New hash tag:  #Makes Perfect Sense if You're a Republican.

Dysfunction Junction Deep in the Heart of Texas
 

Q: How many Republican women in Texas does it take to change a light bulb?  A: None; they're too busy still making candles for the men folk.

Or so we've been led to understand.  The executive editor of Red State Women -- which has just started a PAC for Greg Abbott, by the way -- said recently that while Texas women certainly want and deserve equal pay, the Lily Ledbetter Act was not the answer to the situation.  But when asked by the interviewer what would resolve paycheck inequality, she was at a loss.  Thus, Ms. Cari Christman decided it was because women are too busy to worry about equal pay laws: If you look at it, women are… extremely busy, we lead busy lives.  And times are extremely busy. It’s just — it’s a busy cycle for women, and we’ve got a lot to juggle.  #Makes Perfect Sense if You're a Republican. 

Then cometh the executive director of the Texas Republican Party to chide women for trying to seek their silly little paycheck justice through the courts and simply become better negotiators.  #Makes Perfect Sense if You're a Republican.

Fortunately, Wendy Davis was having none of it, and snapped back at this lunacy, and pretty much told Greg Abbott to come out from behind the skirts of his staff and surrogates and speak for himself on the issue of paycheck equality.  It hasn't happened yet! 

End Note