Lilly Ledbetter Puts Mittens In His Place

The Lilly Ledbetter Act was meant to give women grounds to sue for unfair pay practices.  It, and other measures like it, have failed.  The Paycheck Fairness Act was the most recent to fail.

Ledbetter points out that women who work for substandard wages lose over a lifetime.  A lifetime of working as hard as men, but lower wages or lack of benefits.  The next time you hear a Republican talk about jobs and growth, remember they unanimously voted against fair pay for women.

In an unrelated news article today, I read some confessions of slimy HR practices.  For example, pictures of kids so parents will chat, and disqualify themselves.  One hiring professional checks for wedding bands, because women can get pregnant and take maternity leave, so no newlyweds for his company.  But the kicker for me was the guy who hired women knowing he could get away with paying her less.  Exploiting working women is a known business strategy.  The GOP stated concerns for businesses if they had to face the "burden" of paying women the same wage for the same work.  But now we're supposed to believe they care about working women.

While Romney decides whether he opposes gender discrimination, here is an important reality he should consider: This isn't just about women. It's about all families and their economic security.

The consequences of unequal pay reach far beyond the paychecks women take home every week. My pension and Social Security were based on an unfair salary, so over the course of my career, I was cheated out of hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have gone to my kids' education or my family's medical bills or to support the shops and small businesses in my community. I also worked countless hours of overtime, but the extra pay I earned was based on the same uneven scale.

The question Romney's campaign couldn't answer is a question of fairness and whether American workers have a level playing field on which everyone has the same opportunity to get ahead.

I know Obama believes in those values. As the grandson of a woman who worked in a bank long after she hit the glass ceiling -- and who was paid less than the men she trained -- he believes equal pay is an essential right. As the father of two girls, he cares deeply about making sure the work force they'll join one day isn't slanted against them.

But I have no idea where Romney stands -- and from the sound of it, neither do those closest to him.

What we do know about whom and what Romney supports is even more unsettling than his silence on this issue. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker recently took away citizens' rights to fight workplace discrimination. Romney called him a "hero" and a "man of courage."

Romney is too cowardly to come forward and speak about fair treatment of women.  He didn't even try to promise to think about maybe considering something that worked to benefit everyone.  He ducked the question.

This is not the leader of a nation.  He is King Shit of Turd Mountain, and anyone with sense would wash their hands of him.