Obama's stance on women's pay bears scrutiny
Source: http://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/ci_10462137
The Monterey County Herald
09/14/2008 01:39:34 AM PDT
Now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work," Barack Obama said in his convention acceptance speech. "I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons."
Obama's campaign Web site is even more specific. The women's issues page laments that, "Despite decades of progress, women still make only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. A recent study estimates it will take another 47 years for women to close the wage gap with men at Fortune 500 corporate offices. Barack Obama believes the government needs to take steps to better enforce the Equal Pay Act."
But Obama's commitment to federally mandated pay equity seems to have eluded his Senate office. Compensation figures for his legislative staff reveal that Obama pays women just 83 cents for every dollar his men make.
A watchdog group called LegiStorm posts the salaries for Capitol Hill staffers online. The most recent statistics are for the half-year from Oct. 1, 2007, to March 31, 2008, excluding interns and focusing on full-time personnel. Based on these calculations, with some extrapolation, Obama's 28 male staffers divided among themselves total payroll expenditures of $1,523,120. Thus, Obama's average male employee earned $54,397. Obama's 30 female employees split $1,354,580 among themselves, or $45,152, on average.
One reason may be the under-representation of women in Obama's highest-compensated ranks: among Obama's five best- paid advisors, only one was a woman.
The 83 cents on the dollar Obama's female staffers earn exceeds the 77 cent threshold that Obama's campaign Web site condemns. However, 83 cents do not equal $1.00. In spite of this 17 cent gap between Obama's rhetoric and reality, he chose to chide GOP presidential contender John McCain on this issue.
Obama responded to Sarah Palin's Republican vice-presidential nomination by saying she "seems like a very engaging person ... But I've got to say, she's opposed — like John McCain is — to equal pay for equal work. That doesn't make much sense to me."
Obama's criticism aside, McCain's payment patterns are the stuff of feminist dreams.
McCain's 17 male staffers split $916,914, thus averaging $53,936. His 25 female employees divided $1,396,958 and averaged $55,878.
On average, according to these data, women in McCain's office make $1.04 for every dollar a man makes. All other things being equal, a typical female staffer could earn 21 cents more per dollar paid to her male counterpart by leaving Obama's office and going to work for McCain.
One explanation could be that women compose a majority of McCain's highest-paid aides. Among his top-five best-compensated staffers, three are women. Of his 20 highest- salaried employees, 13 are women.
These statistics suggest that McCain is more than fair with his female employees, while Obama quietly perpetuates the very same pay-equity divide that he loudly denounces. Of all people, the Democratic standard bearer should understand that equal pay begins at home.
Deroy Murdock is a columnist with Scripps Howard News Service and a media fellow with the Hoover Institution.
Strong Economic Fundamentals? Not in New Obama Ad
Source: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/16/strong_economic_fundamentals_n.html
By Howard Kurtz
The Ad: (Graphics:) Sept. 15, 2008. Lehman Bros. Collapses. Markets in Turmoil. Job Losses at 605,000 for the Year. Foreclosures at 9,800 a Day. And John McCain Says?
(McCain:) Our economy I think, still, the fundamentals of our economy are strong.
(Graphics:) The fundamentals of our economy are strong?
(McCain:) The fundamentals of our economy are strong.
(Graphics:) How can John McCain fix our economy if he doesn't understand it's broken?
Analysis: This Barack Obama commercial uses the Arizona senator's own words to make him appear out of touch with the havoc wreaked by the Wall Street meltdown -- and therefore is accurate in its portrayal.
The McCain campaign quickly realized that its candidate had struck the wrong note yesterday morning, and soon sent reporters new remarks in which John McCain declared the economy to be "in crisis."
But while McCain may have stumbled politically, his statement is defensible on economic grounds. While Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers have been sold, seized by the government or declared bankruptcy in recent weeks, few would argue that the underpinnings of the American economy are collapsing. Still, the word "strong" is not what most voters want to hear after a one-day stock market plunge of more than 500 points.
The newsreel-style ad, with headlines unfolding to dramatic music, ends with an image that furthers the Illinois senator's "third term" argument -- McCain and President Bush together in front of the White House. Implicit in that picture is that McCain backs the man who presided over the current financial mess, and would represent a continuation of his policies.
The production of this spot in less than 24 hours underscores how modern technology has quickened the pace of campaigning and how the ad wars are increasingly driven by daily developments.
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