The Fair Pay Restoration Act was sponsored by Barack Obama and was not supported by John McCain. The Fair Pay Restoration Act was a bill to amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. The main purpose of this Act was to clarify that "an unlawful practice occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, and for other purposes."
Bill Status: The Fair Pay Restoration Act did not pass the Senate.
John McCain also did not support a second bill, H.R. 2831: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007. However, his public statement as to why he did not support this bill deserves a mention:
"If you eliminate the statutes of limitations, and you make it unending, you may be violating the rights of the individuals who are being sued, whether they're a man or a woman," McCain was quoted as saying after the vote."
But something else that also deserves a mention is that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act did not eliminate any statutes of limitations, nor did it attempt to eliminate statutes. In fact it maintained statutes that were already considered unfair by many of the bill's supporters.
According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi:
"Finally, the bill maintains the law's current statute of limitations and limits on back pay recovery. Contrary to opponents' claims, the bill does not eliminate the statute of limitations. Under this bill, an employee must still file a charge within the statutory filing period after receiving a discriminatory paycheck. Moreover, employees have no incentive to sit on their rights. The bill maintains Title VII's limitation of two years for back pay recovery. The longer an employee waits, the more back pay is rendered unrecoverable."
Bill Status: The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 was passed by the House July 31, 2007.
Rather than say that McCain does not support equal pay for women, it might be safer to say he has not supported legislation to reduce inequality and discriminatory practices regarding pay.
But one thing is clear, the reason McCain gave for not supporting the bill is not based on truth. Either he did not understand the bill before voting, or he believed women are naive enough to simply take his reasons for refusing to support equal pay for women at face value.
McCain's on-record off-color and inappropriate jokes degrading women speak loud -louder than how he has actually treated women during his presidential election campaign. McCain has employed more women than Obama, and pays them higher wages than Obama has. And, for whatever reason, McCain did choose a women running mate. But is this a real attitude or smoke and mirrors?
Do we need legislation to protect the rights of women in the workplace?
Are John McCain's current practices of giving women opportunities in his own campaign a ploy to redirect from a longer history of not supporting women?
Does he perpetuate stereo-types and inequality of women by repeatedly making sexist and racist "jokes?"
Please discuss your opinions in WIB' Forums.
