Equal Pay Day 2013: Democrats’ Hypocrisy on Full Display

by Matt Vespa


As America observed Equal Pay Day on Tuesday, Democratic politicians hypocritically used this day for political gain and shameless politicking.

Let me be clear: I’m in favor of equal pay; women should be paid at the same rate and be afforded the same opportunities as men. This isn’t not a partisan issue. I have both a sister and sister-in-law that masterfully balance their professional careers with raising children. Furthermore, when my nieces grow up, I want them to have the same possibilities that I had — and if they’re short-changed, this uncle isn’t going to be happy.

So, where’s the Democratic hypocrisy? It’s in the payrolls. Andrew Stiles, who is now with theNational Review, aptly noted in May of 2012 that “of the five senators who participated in Wednesday’s [May 23, 2012] press conference — Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.), Patty Murray (D., Wash.), Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.), Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) and Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) — three pay their female staff members significantly less than male staffers.” In fact, Sen. Murray paid her female staffers $21,000 less, which is a 33% difference compared to her male aides.

Stiles reported “that is well above the 23 percent gap that Democrats claim exists between male and female workers nationwide … [also] a significant ‘gender gap’ exists in Feinstein’s office, where women also made about $21,000 less than men in 2011, but the percentage difference — 41 percent — was even higher than Murray’s. Boxer’s female staffers made about $5,000 less, a difference of 7.3 percent.

On June 6, 2012, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) pleaded on the Senate floor in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, highlighting that “Senator [Barbara] Mikulski’s bill says you can’t be reprimanded or punished because you’re trying to find out if you’re being paid fairly. That’s why we have to pass this law and anyone voting against it – is taking a stand against women, is taking a stand against fairness, is taking a stand against justice — is taking a stand against our families.”
When the bill was failed to advance, her office released this statement saying, “Senate Republicans let down the women of America — and their families — by refusing to stand up for the basic principle of equal pay for equal work. But just as we didn’t quit when Republicans tried to defeat the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, we are not going to stop fighting until the Paycheck Fairness Act becomes the law of the land.”

But from a closer examination of her own payroll, Sen. Boxer’s rhetoric doesn’t match. Nevertheless, Boxer and fellow Democrats assailed Mitt Romney’s character, labeling him an anti-woman candidate who couldn’t wait to confiscate all the contraception in the country. (Note: We wouldn’t be talking about contraception if government hadn’t become involved, but that’s a different story).

The point is that the progressive left uses cookie-cutter politics to slice the electorate via wedge issues so they can form a winning coalition. That’s the only way they can win. Find out which demographics we need and screw the rest. Case in point, women played a critical role in Obama’s 2012 re-election, and he rewarded them by choosing all white guys to fill in vacant cabinetpositions. He also pays female White House staffers 13% less than male ones.

Right now, liberals are euphoric in the cult of the Obama presidency, and Democrats’ pay disparities seem to be safe under the cover of media bias. Regardless, for the women fighting for equal pay, it’s important to acknowledge that your supposed friends on the Democratic side of the aisle may be using you for other purposes.