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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Politics Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Posted by Eli Sanders on Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 8:20 AM

One of my favorite ads of the campaign season...

...had its fulfillment today as President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act.

While this bill bears her name, Lilly knows this story isn't just about her. It's the story of women across this country still earning just 78 cents for every dollar men earn - women of color even less - which means that today, in the year 2009, countless women are still losing thousands of dollars in salary, income and retirement savings over the course of a lifetime...

So in signing this bill today, I intend to send a clear message: That making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone. That there are no second class citizens in our workplaces, and that it's not just unfair and illegal - but bad for business - to pay someone less because of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion or disability.

Comments (8) RSS

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Putting more money in the hands of more people is the real stimulus.

Gobama!

Posted by Stim U. Lose on January 29, 2009 at 8:54 AM

The Lilly Ledbetter is also a great example of a smart response to a stupid Supreme Court ruling. So much of the conversation about Supreme Court rulings amounts to wailing and gnashing of teeth (and hoping for people to die at convenient times) that we can sometimes forget that a lot of the cases turn as much on statutory interpretation as on constitutional law. In the Ledbetter case, the decision was stupid and cruel, but the statute was also badly drafted, so one could argue that the fault was as much with the people who originally drew up the legislation as it was with Scalia the rest of the dinosaurs on the court.

Posted by Nick on January 29, 2009 at 9:01 AM

Now THAT'S change you can believe in.

Posted by Greg on January 29, 2009 at 9:11 AM

This so significantly rocks. This is his first bill Obama signed.

Posted by chicfrilla on January 29, 2009 at 9:38 AM

How quickly he forgets. What about sexual orientation?

Posted by Peter Friend on January 29, 2009 at 9:45 AM

@5 God, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone broke out with a "b-b-b-but, he didn't specifically mention teh gays!" Do you ever allow yourself to be happy about anything?

Posted by Hernandez on January 29, 2009 at 10:16 AM

@6 No - it would have been an approriate addition. I am sad to see that its missing (speaking as a het female).

Posted by subwlf on January 29, 2009 at 1:15 PM

@5, Gays earn more than straight people on average. If straight people found that out, they'd be wanting better pay, so Obama's helping us all out by keeping it on the DL.

Posted by another Andy on January 29, 2009 at 2:44 PM