Indeed.
Posted on 01/21/2015 10:49:27 AM PST by SeekAndFind
As part of President Barack Obama’s annual effort to provoke Republicans and cheer up disheartened Democrats, the president touched on a theme that he has deployed effectively in the past that is designed to inflame tensions between the genders: The idea that women are systematically discriminated against in the workplace.
“Of course, nothing helps families make ends meet like higher wages. That’s why this Congress still needs to pass a law that makes sure a woman is paid the same as a man for doing the same work,” Obama said during his State of the Union address. “It’s 2015. It’s time.”
Of course, the notion propagated by this White House – that women earn 23 percent less than a man does for the same job – is a demonstrable myth. That has not stopped the president and his allies from disseminating that politically beneficial lie. The fact that Obama chose not to repeat the hopelessly inaccurate statistic that women make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns does last night, however, does indicate that the fact checkers are effectively shaming the administration into being a touch more truthful.
For years, it has been in the administration’s best interests to drop that statistic. By the administration’s own dubious calculations, the White House pays women less than their male counterparts in similar positions – a condition that persists long after it was first revealed by investigative reporters.
“The average female employee at the White House earns about $78,400, while the average male employee earns about $88,600,” CBS News reported in June of last year. “That’s a gap of 13 percent – the same percentage as 2009, when the average woman made about $72,700 and the average man earned about $82,000.”
“Women tend to hold more junior positions than men, and among White House leadership just 53 female officials make more than $100,000 compared to 87 males who do,” the report continued.
White House advisor Valerie Jarrett was confronted over this disparity, and the hypocrisy associated with the president’s regular hectoring of others for a sin in which he also indulges, by potential Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina on Wednesday in an appearance on MSNBC.
Fiorina noted that, not only are there already anti-discrimination laws on the books and if women are truly being discriminated against, they have a legal recourse. Moreover, she added, the president is not leading on the issue because he cannot even address the pay disparity in his own White House based on the administration’s problematic calculations.
“I’m also struck by the fact that the single greatest impediment to equal pay for equal work is the seniority system,” Fiorina continued, “which pays not on merit, not on performance, but on time and grade.”
“And who is it that supports the seniority system?” she asked. “Unions. Government bureaucracies. The vast majority of constituencies that the Democratic Party represents and who supports the Democratic Party.”
“In the White House, women do earn equal pay for equal work,” Jarrett replied unconvincingly. She went on to ignore Fiorina’s astute questions and touted the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed into law in 2009 as evidence of the administration’s commitment to eliminate gender discrimination. “There’s no good reason why Congress hasn’t passed the paycheck fairness act!” she exclaimed.
So, if you were hoping for a final Götterdämmerung over the issue of equal pay between these two powerful female voices, you were disappointed. It was, nevertheless, clarifying to watch Jarrett adopt an evasive posture when confronted by the White House’s own pay gap.
RUTROH.......... Carly
But, either was we pay for it.
Liar! Liar! Pants On Fire !!
You can count on the LSM to ignore the WH pay disparity.
Certain conservatives think that catching leftists in hypocrisy really scores points with the public. But Why should we care about ANY pay gaps? Do we really want the Democrats to be more consistent in this matter?
Fiorina noted that, not only are there already anti-discrimination laws on the books and if women are truly being discriminated against, they have a legal recourse. Moreover, she added, the president is not leading on the issue because he cannot even address the pay disparity in his own White House based on the administration's problematic calculations. "I'm also struck by the fact that the single greatest impediment to equal pay for equal work is the seniority system," Fiorina continued, "which pays not on merit, not on performance, but on time and grade. And who is it that supports the seniority system?" she asked. "Unions. Government bureaucracies. The vast majority of constituencies that the Democratic Party represents and who supports the Democratic Party."
http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm
Just one more law that Obama can’t bother to enforce. How’s it feel, women?
I have never in 30 years of working found a woman whi earned than a man.
At least in sales. The commissions are the same and the only thing that changes that is a salesperson eroding margin.
I have seen women whose salary was larger than mine but, that is largely a concept of setting expectations during the hiring process.
Most do in fact erode margin on sales negotiations, taking comfort that their salary is sufficient to pay the bills.
My commissions and checks are generally larger but, that is a matter of helping clients obtain what they want based on their value priorities and I don’t negotiate price.
But enough about me.
Women are paid exactly what men are paid and it has been my observation they will use every PTO they get each year.
Men use far less PTO, probably because we will just go to work if we are sick and more likely because we are still the bread winner, in terms of bringing the most money into the household and days off are lost opportunities.
Blah blah blah...
So if women do the exact same job for less money the job creators are idiots for not hiring all women to get more work for less money. Right?
In my former engineering days almost all the women in the office made more money than me. That’s because I went to college and got the skills to design aircraft a lot later in life because I had to work my way through college. Many of the women in there went straight in to college from high school. I’m not complaining. They had 10s of thousands in debt while I owed nothing. (never finished official college though but did get educated in the company programs). The fact was they earned more money than I because they were there longer.
In some other companies women earned less for the same position. They tended to take off three to four times as many sick days and unpaid days as the men. They took longer and more frequent vacations. And, they took maternity leave. ALL of their own choice and were lucky to work at a place that accommodated them.
Who is this Carly chick, and why is she suddenly getting so much TV exposure?
Jarrett is gong to miss being Queen of the Freak Show
If employers could really get the same work from women for less than they pay men, THEY WOULD ONLY HIRE WOMEN.
RE: Who is this Carly chick, and why is she suddenly getting so much TV exposure?
As if you didn’t know:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carly_Fiorina
Is Jarrett an Arab? Have any of th members of this administration been thoroughly investigated?
Carly was the head of HP when I worked there, she had to fight to get things done with an entrenched bureaucracy stuck on bad habits and a lot of backbiting and diffusing her core message. When she brought in Compaq it shook things up, I am a tough sell but she was trying to do the right thing and get the company Mojo back to where it needed to be.
I will be investigating her platform but if she is following her usual due diligence she is quite capable of telling it like it is and where she wants us to go.
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