McCain Opposes Senate Bill That Sought Equal Pay for Women
NEW ORLEANS — Republican Sen. John McCain, campaigning through poverty-stricken cities and towns, said Wednesday he opposes a Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits.
Senate Republicans killed the bill Wednesday night on a 56-42 vote that denied the measure the 60 votes needed to advance it to full debate and a vote. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had delayed the vote to give McCain’s Democratic rivals, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, time to return to Washington to support the measure, which would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination.
McCain skipped the vote to campaign in New Orleans.
“I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what’s being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems,” the expected GOP presidential nominee told reporters. “This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system.”
The bill sought to counteract a Supreme Court decision limiting how long workers can wait before suing for pay discrimination.
It is named for Lilly Ledbetter, a supervisor at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s plant in Gadsden, Ala., who sued for pay discrimination just before retiring after a 19-year career there. By the time she retired, Ledbetter made $6,500 less than the lowest-paid male supervisor and claimed earlier decisions by supervisors kept her from making more.
The Supreme Court voted 5-4 last year to throw out her complaint, saying she had waited too long to sue.
Democrats criticized McCain for opposing the bill.
“Senator McCain has yet again fallen in line with President Bush while middle-class families are falling by the wayside,” Clinton said in a statement following the vote. “Women are earning less, but Senator McCain is offering more of the same.”
Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney said: “At a time when American families are struggling to keep their homes and jobs while paying more for everything from gasoline to groceries, how on Earth would anyone who thinks they can lead our country also think it’s acceptable to oppose equal pay for America’s mothers, wives and daughters?”
McCain stated his opposition to the bill as he campaigned in rural eastern Kentucky, where poverty is worse among women than men. The Arizona senator said he was familiar with the disparity but that there are better ways to help women find better paying jobs.
“They need the education and training, particularly since more and more women are heads of their households, as much or more than anybody else,” McCain said. “And it’s hard for them to leave their families when they don’t have somebody to take care of them.
“It’s a vicious cycle that’s affecting women, particularly in a part of the country like this, where mining is the mainstay; traditionally, women have not gone into that line of work, to say the least,” he said.
McCain chose to visit the tiny hamlet of Inez, Ky., because it is where President Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on poverty. But McCain said Johnson’s poverty programs had failed.
“I wouldn’t be back here today if government had fulfilled the promise that Lyndon Johnson made 44 years ago,” he said.
In recent weeks, McCain has proposed a series of tax breaks for corporations, government-backed refinancing for struggling homeowners and a summer holiday from gas taxes. He proposed another new program Wednesday: a tax write-off for companies that provide high-speed Internet access for underserved, low-income communities.
People commenting seem to agree that we should not make laws based on principles but rather based on fear of the worst-cast scenario that might result in the courts. So what are laws about, stating the principles we believe our society should hold, or about trying to make it easy to be a lawyer or judge and avoid giving them any work to do? Besides, if the issue really is a fear of some lawsuits, they could easily write a timeframe into the law so that people could not go back into the past but it would only start applying now, or even a year or two from now.
However, I think we should make laws that state and uphold principles, with just enough realism to make them practical. Let’s not say we believe something but never put it into action. That’s hypocrisy, folks.
Regarding Matt’s comment:
If only the solution were as simple as starting a labor union and striking for equal pay! Do you realize that less than 7% of private sector workers are in unions? Do you know how incredibly hard it is to organize workers and not be fired in the process? A big part of the reason there has been equal-pay litigation like the Ledbetter case is that workers have been FORCED to go to the courts, because the labor laws do not adequate ensure that they can speak up in other ways.
Yes, all they have on President Bush and the Republican’s is the War in Iraq and on that they don’t even agree with each other. They need other diversions. Good common sense explanation Mr McCain. Let tem stew a while.
Women deserve same pay. Minorities deserve same pay. Elderly deserve same pay. Working disabled people deserve same pay. BUT I support McCains decision. I do not like government restrictions and mandates. I am a republican, but if my female co-workers wanted to strike for equal pay then I would support them. I would like to think I would picket and hold signs and contribute. But the government does not need to be involved in everything. Plus in this lawsuit crazed society we need to learn to approach our issues with something besides a lawyer. You should be complaining to your labor unions. Or start one!!!
Who is he working for, the people or companies. If a person does the same work as another, where is the need for more education? Where is the fairness? If pay is equal, why should there be lawsuits? And he wants to be president!! Here was an opportunity to display courage and work for the disadvantaged, but all those politicians who voted against or didn’t vote for this bill need to be educated about justice!!!!!!!!!
I DISAGREE WITH JOHN MCAIN. WOMEN DESERVE EQUAL PAY.
Yeah lol, someone I can agree with. Obama “Mr. Wonderful” yet not one college student can tell you why they are voting for him. One father when asked “why are you voting for Obama”, said “my son talked me into it”. Wow, this guy deserves what he gets. What an unintelligent reason to vote for a person.
women are treated unfairly, just look at how the media pundits disrespect hillary. they would never dare be disrespectful to obama the “messiah”. this is a real issue, women who do the same work as their male coworkes deserve the same pay.