McCain opposes equal pay bill in Senate

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

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."



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080423/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_fair_pay

[islandmkl]

1. way to increase your female support base, johnny...

[darue]

2. I don't blame McCain for collaborating with the Vietnamese during the war...

I don't blame McCain for collaborating with the Vietnamese during the war, I blame him for collaborating with the fascists in America after the war.

[Historic NY]

3. Did he vote for the ERA? Maybe not his wife keeps him.........

Heck McSame wants to keep women as chattle, how 18th century of him. The ERA still has not been ratified figures Az. is one of those reluctant states.

Unratified States

Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Louisiana
Mississippi
Missouri
Nevada
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Utah
Virginia


http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/

[provis99]

14. and of course, 10 of 15 are southern states

what the fuck is WRONG with the South? I mean seriously.

[newfie11]

15. YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!!

[darue]

32. go METS! n/t

[madeline_con]

18. Don't even fucking start. n/t

[superconnected]

4. WTF, what year is this? Mccain really is sexist.

[Fridays Child]

5. McScum

eom

[gaspee]

6. Of course he does

I'm still waiting for the ERA to pass. Wouldn't have to worry about an equal pay bill then.

We better not lose to this guy - that's what people should be thinking about - not beating the crap out of each other in the primary.

[and-justice-for-all]

7. What a pig....nt

equality? what equality? we don't need equality....

[mcollier]

8. And let me guess

No Media coverage.... Just Wrong Again from the typical Right...

[bluestateguy]

9. Just like he sold out our POW's and MIA's in 1995

and put the kibosh on the investigations.

[Sam Ervin jret]

10. Is this guy ever right on any issue? I mean, how can you be for equal pay if you're not for the

the right to litigate an employer if you feel you are denied it?

What is it the rethugs always say about people in courts when they want their rights? Oh ya,

If the companies are innocent then they have nothing to be afraid of. Get to court.

[JerseygirlCT]

11. Yes, he's all in favor of pay equity in theory. It's just when it

stops being theory that he's got a problem with it.

Jerk.

Please tell me we WILL use this stuff to beat him?

[Kaleko]

34. Yes, we will beat him with shit like this

...if I have to go and flog him myself with a heavy-metal garter belt!

Just keep these gems coming, John McPimp. We're ready.

[Amonester]

35. Yes. Bookmark for (upcoming) use.

:thumbsup:

Thank You DU!

[Thor_MN]

12. "opens us up to lawsuits "

Who the hell is "us", Sen. McSame? The law creates the possibility that corporations that have broken existing laws might actually have face consequences. Companies that have broken no laws have nothing to fear.

[MikeNearMcChord]

13. Jesus!! Was this idiot a born A--Hole, or did he have to work at it?

[progressoid]

16. Lawsuits. Riiiight, that's the reason. Lawsuits.

Let's remind all of those women that want to vote for him in November about this.

[cbayer]

17. He also didn't know that condoms prevent STD's.

He is living in another century and it's not even the 20th.

[Muttocracy]

19. Here's the roll call - some moderates (R) voted in favor

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00110

I heard Reid's vote at the end and I'm not sure why he voted no, except as part of some procedural thing I don't get. I heard Obama and Clinton's votes and was surprised there wasn't an explosion of OMG!!!!1 on the floor together!!!1 threads (though perhaps that's why they voted a few minutes apart).

The last thing I heard when I was listening to c-span this afternoon made me think Reid was bringing it up again tomorrow, but now I don't see that on the calendar. Veteran's benefits tomorrow.

As I understood it, this had to do with the time limitation on filing claims - lots of argument from the Dem. senators that women may not know they're being paid less than their male colleagues until it's been going on for a long time. Mikulski was almost yelling.


edit to add - apparently it was in response to a Supreme Court decision, at which Ginsburg dissented and asked Congress to pass legislation so there couldn't be a very narrow interpretation of the time window. Kennedy was leading the bill I think.

[dflprincess]

21. And some not so moderate Bush Stooges who are up for reelection

and considered vulnerable also voted for it. I'm refering to that Weasel Normie Coleman who is running from his record so fast he looks like the Road Runner.

I don't know if Kennedy was leading the bill but I heard a clip of his speech today on NPR, he was his best - took a swipe at the Supreme Court that could have been part of last night's "Boston Legal".

Yes, this was in response to a court decision. This woman who had worked as a manager at a Goodyear Store found out that the male managers had been paid more than she and that this had been going on for 19 years. She found out about this when someone left a note in her locker that had her salary and the men's salaries listed on it. The next lowest paid manager was making $6,000 a year more than she was. The court said she only had 6 months from the first time the discrimination happened to file suit. Meaning that she had 6 months from the first time a male doing the same job was paid more than she to file. The fact that, like at most companies, the employees are forbidden to discuss salary so she had no way of knowing did not factor into the court's decision. The bill in front of Congress (which passed the House) would have set the 6 month clock running every time a person got their paycheck.

The Republicans (including President Zippy who said he'd veto the bill if passed) claim to oppose the legislation because it would result in a rash of lawsuits - and we can't have companies being sued for not following the law. :sarcasm:

[MaineDem]

22. Coleman, Collins, Smith, Sununu

All up for reelection. All facing stiff opposition. All trying to appear moderate.

All belong to the Party of the idiot-in-chief who would veto this.

[Muttocracy]

23. great summary. So Coleman is trying to pull toward the center?

I lived in MN for a few years, I guess it was just after his party switch but before the Senate race (I sent money back to MN for Wellstone just before he was killed :( )

I've thought of him as one of Rove's chosen Senate fillers. I heard him on the SFRC asking some critical questions about BushCo foreign policy and was quite pleasantly surprised. He sounded smarter than I remembered him too. Still wouldn't make up for the rest of it though.

[dflprincess]

26. Oh yeah.

Normie wants us to forget that he was Bushco's handpicked stooge for the job. Some 527 outfit has been running an ad about how "independent" the weasel is. I wish I had the link to it for you - I think it sets the record for the most lies in a political commercial.

Meanwhile, I heard on the local Air America station that Norm has said that if Franken was in the senate the emergency funding for the I35 bridge would never have been approved because other Republicans would not have voted for it without Normie's influence. I thought that was very telling - an interstate bridge collapses in a large city and the Republicans won't vote to rebuild it if they don't like at least one of the state's senators. It's just another argument for the need for a larger Democratic majority in Contress. (For amusement, you might want to check out the thread in the Minnesota Forum about Norm's womanizing.)

[PittPoliSci]

28. he didn't even fucking vote!

asshole. nice spine, douchebag.

[Muttocracy]

31. How do folks in AZ feel about this? It's not like he's got a primary to worry about! nt

[Cresent City Kid]

20. Priorities

So, let me get this straight, equal pay is good, but not as good as the absence of lawsuits? What about domestic abuse laws, is the extra paper work worth the trouble?

I have a compromise solution. Instead of lawsuits, how about throwing violators of the equal pay law IN FUCKING JAIL!

[ToughLuck]

24. KEEP IT UP MORON..I love it.!!

[davhill]

27. How Ironic would it be

If Clinton's division of the Democratic Party lead to the election of McCain and a huge step backward for woman's rights.

[Vidar]

25. I've lost track of when McCain is revealing his true position or merely

being politically expedient. What's worse is that he's lost track as well.

[PittPoliSci]

29. why did reid vote against?

[Muttocracy]

30. I'm guessing it was some procedural thing - he was the last to vote I think

I was half-listening to c-span 2 this afternoon and was confused because up until then all the Dem. names I recognized voted AYE, and they said Reid of Nevada NO. But then Reid spoke on the floor about things being worked out for the next day's voting so I'm wondering if it had something to do with him as majority leader? Dunno. :shrug:

[annm4peace]

33. awesome ! This is going to piss off a lot of conservative women

I work at a financial institute, and I had foward them a petition on asking for the Senate to support the equal pay bill. they were all for it.. and even the guys I sent it to..
Remember, I'm in a conservative work place....

I can't wait to give them the news about McCAin. What a jackass.

[darue]

36. opens "us" to lawsuits? it doesn't open me to any n/t

[truthisfreedom]

37. McGlassceiling

[girl gone mad]

38. Wonder if those feminist Clinton supporters..

are still going to rush right out to work for McCain when Obama gets the nomination?

[OhioChick]

39. McCain Opposes Equal Pay For Women Bill

Source: AP

Republican Candidate Skips Vote On Bill

POSTED: 11:06 am EDT April 24, 2008

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."

Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/politics/15978343/detail.html

---

No Surprise Here......

[onehandle]

40. Shut up and get back into the kitchen!

Reading between the lines here.

[OhioChick]

41. Yep...

Barefoot and Pregnant.

[no_hypocrisy]

43. Or as Hitler would say "Kirche, Kinder, und Kuchen."

Church, Children, and Kitchen.

[no_hypocrisy]

42. Problem is potentially more lawsuits? Amend that sucker, Sucker!

I don't buy that load of BS a bit.

[CountAllVotes]

44. gee, that should draw a lot of votes

:mad:

:kick:

[mwb970]

46. Talk about a tin ear.

mcCain is bush! I am already so sick of him I could scream.

[Vinca]

45. If we can't beat this guy with anyone,

it's time to disband the party.

[jazzjunkysue]

47. Gramps is still sore about his pre-nup with Cindy.

Apparently, she'll let him tell all the other women in merrukuh what they'll make. Just not the wifey.