It seemed rather remarkable earlier this month when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), in the midst of a national debate about the Republicans' "war on women," quietly repealed the 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act, a state version of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay law.
He's apparently unimpressed with the pushback, and in recent remarks to the Illinois Policy Institute, rejected the premise of the criticism (thanks to reader K.S. for the tip).
For those who can't watch clips online, Walker emphasized what remains illegal in Wisconsin: " The reality is today in the state of Wisconsin it is illegal to discriminate for employment, not only for hiring, but for promotions or any other impact on employment.... You repeatedly hear pundits and others out there claiming that we repealed Equal Pay in the state. That's just 100 percent wrong. It is still against the law to discriminate based on those factors."
That may sound persuasive, but Rosie Gray noted the effects of the governor rolling back the key parts of Wisconsin's equal pay law.
The act was meant to give victims of wage discrimination more legal avenues for pursuing cases against their employers, but Walker signed a measure removing parts of the law that allowed people to plead their cases in state circuit court as opposed to federal court.
The Republican governor's pushback, in other words, is wildly misleading. Walker's argument, in effect, is, "It's still illegal to discriminate against women." That's true, but it's also incomplete -- the state's Equal Pay Enforcement Act created a mechanism through which victims of discrimination could seek a legal recourse.
The governor thinks it's enough to simply make discrimination illegal. It's a step, but Democratic policymakers in Wisconsin a few years ago went further, making it easier for those who've faced discrimination to do something about it. Walker quietly turned back the clock.
The far-right governor may be embarrassed about it now, but that's 100 percent what happened.
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Governor Walker, have you stopped beating your wife yet?
Why would he be embarrassed when the rest of the right wing is proud of him? You keep thinking these people are capable of shame.
Men in politics must have a huge ego and arrogance problem. Where men cannot even keep their pants zipped thinking they are all that. Perhaps a good Psychiatrist reminding these men politicians no your not all that, but your actions show what you are really worth and in too many cases of late worth not that much, especially in the GOP/Republican party. And thinking all that money gains you prestige, you had better guess again, because money will never save you in the end. You would have to actually have some sense of justice, morals and ethics and not a pants that isn’t zipped up.
Walker is what is commonly known as a "DICK"
True, but having one has historically meant that he'd be entitled to higher wages than a woman.
In 1988, I was hired for my first job out of college. I was hired on the same day as a male colleague; we both had the same job title. However, I ended up holding more job-related responsibilities, and I had higher evaluations of my work. At the end of the year, when we received our letters to renew contracts, my colleague said, "won't it be nice to be earning a salary that begins with the number x?"
I was shocked, because his comment indicated that he was earning at least $5000 more than I was. When I asked why that was the case, they pointed to his master's degree (in a field completely unrelated to our occupation), and then said, "besides, he's going to be married in the fall and can use all the money he can get." I asked who I should [word that rhymes with duck] and they said, "come on... you're taking this awfully personally," to which I responded that I certainly was-- $5000 in the late 1980s was a lot of money!
I applied to graduate school and received a fellowship and tuition waivers, and left that job immediately. Lesson learned-- those who pay in inequitable ways will use whatever reasons they can to presume a candidate's qualifications for a job... but women, you'd better be on your toes when it comes to negotiating your pay!
Logic, reason, facts, statistics - these are not things that compute in GOP land!
Apparently logic and science are socialist plots.
As I heard it he is saving these women from those nasty lawyers who were the only ones making any money. Does he feel this way about lawyers in general, we should not have courts because the lawyers are the only ones who win? The state can decided if you deserve compensation after the discrimination of being paid less no need to hire a lawyer. I am surprised he did not say he and his government should be applauded for the good they are doing women.
What a wanking a-hole Scott Walker is! He's trying so hard to sink all that America has stood for in the last 100 years. Why people listen too- and vote for these morons can only be answered by the fact that voters get behind them on some issue like abortion- then turn a "blind eye" to anything else they say or do-
Note to Steve and Staff...How about a report of just one law passed in each state that is seen as one battle at a time in the War Against Women and shows it to be real since the Republicans and some press reports just don't understand why we all see it as a real war? sort of like the weekly lies report...
I used to live in Wisconsin back when it was a decent place to live. There was so little of this type of trash going on that politics just never rose to a point where anyone cared. Now Wanker "Dick" Walker has dragged Wisconsin down into the sewer from which it may never recover. Walker better hope that there's no afterlife because if there is, Fightin' Bob LaFollette is going to be waiting for him.