Jimi

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Our favorite girl Shannon, and by our favorite, I'm talking to anyone who was on WR pre-2005, posted a bulletin on MySpace. I talked to her for a bit about it, and got these replies....


----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: Shannon
Date: Jul 2, 2008 4:36 PM


While Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has vowed to make pay equity for women a top priority if elected president, an analysis of his Senate staff shows that women are outnumbered and out-paid by men.

That is in contrast to Republican presidential candidate John McCain's Senate office, where women, for the most part, out-rank and are paid more than men.

Obama spoke in Albuquerque, N.M. last week about his commitment to the issue and his support of a Senate bill to make it easier to sue an employer for pay discrimination.

"Mr. McCain is an honorable man, we respect his service. But when you look at our records and our plans on issues that matter to working women, the choice could not be clearer," Obama told the audience in New Mexico, a voter-swing state. "It starts with equal pay. Sixty-two percent of working women in America earn half or more than of their family's income. But women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2008. You'd think that Washington would be united it its determination to fight for equal pay.

He continued, saying that he is proud to have supported the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, which would extend the limit on how long an employee can wait before suing an employer for pay discrimination.

The legislation was named after Lilly Ledbetter, who was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire & Rubber's plant in Gadsden, Ala. She sued for pay discrimination before retiring after 19 years because she had made $6,500 less per year than the lowest paid male supervisor.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out her case, saying she waited too long to file a complaint. The court said that under the 1964 Civil Rights Act, an employee must sue within 180 days of a decision regarding pay if alleged discrimination is involved. The bill sought to change the law, but Democrats could not muster the needed 60 votes to override a Republican filibuster.

Obama voted for the equal pay litigation bill in April. McCain was campaigning that day and did not vote. But he has expressed opposition to the legislation, fearing it would open the door to too much litigation.

On average, women working in Obama's Senate office were paid at least $6,000 below the average man working for the Illinois senator. That's according to data calculated from the Report of the Secretary of the Senate, which covered the six-month period ending Sept. 30, 2007. Of the five people in Obama's Senate office who were paid $100,000 or more on an annual basis, only one -- Obama's administrative manager -- was a woman.

The average pay for the 33 men on Obama's staff (who earned more than $23,000, the lowest annual salary paid for non-intern employees) was $59,207. The average pay for the 31 women on Obama's staff who earned more than $23,000 per year was $48,729.91. (The average pay for all 36 male employees on Obama's staff was $55,962; and the average pay for all 31 female employees was $48,729. The report indicated that Obama had only one paid intern during the period, who was a male.

McCain, an Arizona senator, employed a total of 69 people during the reporting period ending in the fall of 2007, but 23 of them were interns. Of his non-intern employees, 30 were women and 16 were men. After excluding interns, the average pay for the 30 women on McCain's staff was $59,104.51. The 16 non-intern males in McCain's office, by comparison, were paid an average of $56,628.83.

The Obama campaign did not respond to written questions submitted on the matter Thursday by Cybercast News Service .

During his Albuquerque speech, Obama criticized McCain for supporting the Supreme Court ruling on the pay-equity issue.

"Sen. McCain thinks the Supreme Court got it right," Obama said. "He opposed the Fair Pay Restoration Act. He suggested that the reason women don't have equal pay isn't discrimination on the job - it's because they need more education and training. That's just totally wrong.

Obama continued, "Lilly Ledbetter's problem was not that she was somehow unqualified or unprepared for higher-paying positions. She most certainly was and by all reports was an excellent employee. Her problem was that her employer paid her less than men doing the exact same work.


----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Jimi
Date: Jul 2, 2008 4:45 PM


Making politicians look better by making others look worse doesn't actually make the other look better. Instead of pointing out faults, why don't you point out McCain's pluses?

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Shannon
Date: Jul 2, 2008 6:33 PM


Because I can repost whatever I want. That's why :P

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Jimi
Date: Jul 2, 2008 7:37 PM


But, it's better to post more accurate articles. :P

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Shannon
Date: Jul 2, 2008 10:40 PM



Tell you what... Do your own independent research and I'll post it.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Jimi
Date: Jul 2, 2008 11:34 PM


All I'm saying is that this leaves crucial details out, such as what these peoples' positions are, and their qualifications, and whatnot. I mean, if one man is a CPA, and one of the women was a secretary with no degree, then yes, she is going to make less money. I think that, if this is actually going to be an issue, then maybe positions should be accounted. Maybe we should know if a woman CPA is making less than a male secretary. THAT would be unacceptable.

The best thing to do in cases like this is not to badmouth, which is the worst part of politics, but to concentrate on your particular favorable candidate's strong points. I always think that mudslinging is just clouding the situation and takes away from any positive points.

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: Shannon
Date: Jul 3, 2008 9:31AM

Then don't read it.

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"I don't care if they're black, white, purple or green. Awww hold on now. Purple or green? You gotta draw the line somewhere. To hell with purple people. Unless they're suffocating. Then help them."


January 2009, the end of an error.

BackdoorJesus

women make less in the workplace because, as a group, they are less reliable for consistent attendance and career-motivated tenure.

When was the last time a man took off three months for maternity leave?

When was the last time a man quit his job because he got married & was going to stay at home & be a homemaker?

These are just a couple examples; there are more that I won't get into here in BOTH at risk of being TL;DR...

It is very true that there are a lot of women out there who won't do these things, but there are a whole lot more that will, and the latter group sets the employment standard for the former.

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YaMon

On the subject of labor laws... If Obama gets elected, you're going to see a shitload of changes in labor laws in favor of Unions.

Most on this board will say "good". Yeah. Real good

Currently the ILWU (West Coast Longshoremen) have zero contribution of pay to health care. They get 100% benefits. They have no deductible. And they pay $1 for prescriptions.

Fucking great, yeah? I agree. But WHO is paying for it?

Is there a magic land somewhere where they have fields and fields of money trees growing strong that get harvested and pay for all the great and fabulous union benefits and pensions?

Nope. In the example of Port labor, it gets absorbed by the shipping lines, which pass it on to the shippers (retailers) that eventually pass it on to the consumers. wonder why shit keeps getting so expensive???

Either that, or you take it to China or Mexico and get it done without the greedy hands of the unions.


But then again, what do I know? Maybe I should just buy a bong and go back to university where all this political and economic stuff makes sense in a classroom

Rodney Dangerfield in Back to School: "What's a widget?"

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procol

YaMon

holdthatpic.com?





Don't forget menstrual cycles.

CHRIST! FUCKING MENSTRUAL CYCLES FTL

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procol

Three others I would rather have used are fucked up today

facepeeler

makes me wish it were December...

so the political craziness will quit...I hate election years

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Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

CD

I've said it once too many times before. You CANNOT win an argument by painting the other side ugly. The true test is to paint your side above the others. Some get it, others don't. Shannon doesn't obviously.

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