Rep. Todd Akin, the right-wing U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri, made matters worse for himself last week when he complained about Sen. Claire McCaskill's (D) capacity to be "ladylike." It led the usually understated Chris Cillizza to marvel at Akin's "devastatingly bad candidacy."
It can, however, get worse.
In this undated clip, we see Akin fielding a question from a voter who asked about the congressman's vote against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. "Why do you think it is okay for a woman to be paid less for doing the same work as a man?" the audience member asked.
Ordinarily, the standard line from far-right officials is that women aren't paid less than men, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. Akin, however, seemed to suggest wage discrimination simply isn't a problem for government to address.
"I believe in free enterprise," Akin said. "I don't think the government should be telling people what you pay and what you don't pay. I think it's about freedom. If someone wants to hire somebody and they agree on a salary, that's fine, however it wants to work. So, the government sticking its nose into all kinds of things has gotten us into huge trouble."
In other words, we don't need anti-discrimination laws at all. As far as this U.S. Senate candidate is concerned, if a woman takes a job and gets paid less than men doing the same work, it's her fault -- laws just aren't necessary.
Unless Missouri Republicans have a plan to disenfranchise women between now and Election Day, I suspect there will be quite a gender gap in this race.
Incidentally, an Akin campaign consultant last week also compared Akin to cult leader David Koresh. It was apparently intended to be complimentary.
Update: How tarnished is Akin's reputation at this point? Democrats have begun using him against other Republicans as far away from Missouri as New York.
Leave a Comment:
Akin of all people should realize the road to hell is paved with good intentions, God bless his pointed little head! -Kevo
Luckily for Akin, his sphincters will magically close to prevent him drowning in his own ignorance.
Fortunately for us here in Mizery, I mean Missouri, his mouth keeps opening! Claire McCaskill 2012!!
Akins says what the rest of the Republicscum think.
Mr. Akin is a 'free agent' now. After having been 'cut loose' by the Republicans, he went into a 'I can say what I am really feeling now' mode.
And, lo and behold, now he's getting Republican support again.
Why? Because for the Republicans, it is simply about power. They don't care what sort of unhinged lunatic they have in the seat, so long as it will vote for what they want.
They don't care what sort of unhinged lunatic they have in the seat, so long as it will vote for whatever unhinged lunatic idea they have.
There fixed it for you
He's been saying far-right crazy-@!$%# for years, it's only now people are listening.
he's writing Claire's ads for her.
I think you may be onto something!!! McCaskill 2012!!
Yeah, well, I guess he's lucky he's on the Gov't payroll, a system where equal pay is a fact of life, guaranteed equality for men, women, and dolts.
Omigod, and a staffer compared him favorably to David Koresh. Favorably. Amazing. Did I say favorably? Well, it's decided, I can't move out of New England....
Alls I have to say is "john sununu"
He is reading from a script given to him by ALEC. Most Republicans are. On their own they have no idea what legislature to work on or which ones actually help the struggling Middle Class, it was designed this way to keep the attention off the real issues. Our Country is now being ran by Large Corporations via the Republicans. And they obviously don't care how ignorant they sound as long as someone keeps sticking money in their pockets, and a promise of a job. The irony of it all is that if they worked at the job they are being paid for, they wouldn't need any extra bonus checks from their rich friendly people. They are all being bribed and the American people know it. And instead of trying to turn things around by behaving like grown men they decide to turn their backs on us and play their game. Women seem to be much farther along in their mental and spiritual growth than men. Maybe this is why there is an attack on us. We know all about playing games, that is how we managed to survive for this long. You can't con a con.
Of course. And nobody on the RIght has a problem with the script.
It's the ad-libs that cause all the trouble.
I don't know - parts of New Hampshire and Maine get pretty conservative. They have apparently forgotten the 'Live freeo r die' and stiff necked independence that made them famous.
So the issue of equal pay is not the place for government to stick it's nose, but it's totally okay for the government to legislate woman's health care. Hmmm I see a problem here.
Hell, we don't need minimum wage laws or unions, either.
how about child labor laws? I am taking your comment as sarcasm and returning in equal dripping sarcasm. If your comment wasn't sarcasm, then mine is multiplied by 10.
Bloix, you're right, we don't need minimum wage laws or unions, which is why Michelle Bachmans solution to eliminate unemployment is to do away with minimum wage laws, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/eliminating-minimum-wage-slash-unemployment/story?id=13951494#.UGnFHlEtgzA and as far as unions, one only need to look to Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states with republican legislatures, and governors to see what they've been doing. I am completely dumbfounded when I drive thru my middle class neighborhood and see Romney Ryan signs out on front lawns. How can anyone not see the republicans are trying to eliminate the middle class to strengthen the rich, and corporations?
I feel so sorry for this man's wife, but then again, she married an idiot.
"...if a woman takes a job and gets paid less than men doing the same work, it's her fault -- laws just aren't necessary."
That's right, it women would just stay home barefoot, pregnant, greeting their husbands with a martini when he came in from a "hard days work" WE wouldn't have to listen to the Akin's within the GOTP spouting this nonsense. If only women would learn to be Stepford women and stay in "their place" the world would be so much better.
And in other news.....
And if we can just ignore or discriminate against all of those other folks who are supposed to be second-class citizens (blacks, Native Americans, Latinos, other minorities), older white working class guys would find it so much easier to do better economically.
On the face of it what he says makes sense. You should be able to negotiate pay with the people lucky enough to hire you. The truth of it is quite different. It's called ethics. If you don't legislate pay, companies will pick some number out of the air and tell themselves that is a living wage, that is the wage you should be paid according to your gender. I worked at a factory for three years on minimum wage. There was NEVER any chance of a pay raise no matter how long I worked there. If there wasn't a mandated minimum wage the people who owned the place would have paid the lowest wage they could get away with and still have enough people to turn out their product. Many business people don't see those who work for them as equals. All they see is profit growth and when they look at it they pat themselves on the back, tell themselves how clever they are, rarely taking into account that the people who generated those profits are on the factory floor, no matter how much financial risk the people at the top think they're taking.
Well, simple solution. Cut HIS pay in half and if he complains just use his own logic about wages being arbitrarily determined by the payee.
I hope the people of Missouri are listening real close to Akins. Daughters of Missouri, you will have no rights if this man and his ilk get elected. Mrs. Akins - how do you explain to young girls that your guy says elect me and you can expect to earn less money than the boys and that is okay. Now, isn't that a fractured fairytale ??
Akin is parroting the GOP position on Free Enterprise. Romney has already said "free people and free enterprise." Essentially it is the freedom to go from one low wage job to another. Over a hundred years ago, it was called "freedom to contract," under a Laizze-faire (anything goes), with no regulations, in which people worked in unsafe conditions, long hours, and low wages. There really was no "contract" other than the need for people to work and it was "their choice" in which they assumed all risks and accepted wages of the employment; an agreement between "worker" and business. Under this "system" there was no prosperity and no real middle class. The wealth was distributed to the wealthy elite who essentially ran government. During the last hundred years we've seen regulations protecting workers from discrimination, from unsafe working conditions, the Fair Labor Standards Act (includes prohibiting child labor) etc... the GOP would like to undo all of these gains we've made. An economic system and a political system are not the same and shouldn't be confused if we value our democracy that moves forward in improving the lives of all people. A final note; one good example of Free Enterprise is China, where there are no regulations prohibiting Child Labor.
My post to the ultra right wing Patriot Post kids "
First Romney lost Blacks, then Hispanics, then Women, then Seniors. On Wednesday he'll lose any chance of being President and on Thursday he'll lose donors because they don't like losers.On November 6 Romney will lose the election, Adleman and the other billionaire boys club members will lose their boy.
Democrats, liberals, progressives win and right wing nutters lose. See you around chumps. Say good bye to Todd Akin.
I suppose it's wrong to post from my own blog but here goes anyway. : http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-vs-romney-debate
what is america thinking vote, vote, vote !!!!! this clown needs booted so far away from politics he will need a space ship to get back to office.
not so deserted as all the big money players are coming back (and obviously agreeing with him) are they so desperate for this seat they will take the negatives with it or is this how they believe also (my guess is the latter)
He says what they think.
Wake up AMERICA! VOTE ,vote, vote. This clown needs removed from office as far away as possible.
There is a nudge-nudge nuance I believe has been missed. Legitimate Rape has nothing to do with rape being excused, which seems to be the way it was taken. It is this; Legitimate Rape means rapes that actually occurred, as horrible as rape is, this refers to rapes that, you know, actually occurred. Nudge-nudge… Illegitimate Rape, unspoken, means those cases where women lie and say they were raped.
With these definitions, it becomes evident why exclusions for Rape and Incest are opposed. Nudge-nudge, wink-wink, Women cannot be trusted. As an entire group, Women cannot be trusted. They will just lie and say they were raped. After all, anyone who would have an abortion in the first place……
Critiques that mention that dude couldn’t pass a high school biology class miss the point. Nature has a way of shutting that down… Nudge-nudge, wink-wink… God has a way…. Maybe God has a plan… maybe it is therefore right that rape victims continue the pregnancy… Maybe God will step in and shut things down, or not. Who are we to know?
This guy’s religious beliefs, whatever label appropriate, affect his actions. In his religion (not his group but his own views), Women cannot be trusted, sex only if married and hetero, and Men should be the ones making decisions. “His own…” is stressed because it would be unfair to lump all groups together, however, it would be fair to say there are groups that adhere to and promote that view.
So dude, it follows… In your religious views, and feel free to give a shout-out to a(ny) group(s) that you speak for, does Your God plan rapes to occur in the first place? So Voters, it follows… Do his views align with yours?
You've pretty much described Fundamentalism, of the Christian, Jewish, Moslem or Hindu varieties - they're all just different forms of the same religion, i.e., Fundamentalism.Fundamentalism is l founded on the subjugation of women.
Thank you, but there is more.
What I’ve tried to describe is; the Fundamental attribution error, Ingroup-outgroup distinction, Outgroup homogeneity effect, and Actor-observer bias. All fundamentalist groups manipulate with such behaviors, but not all people using such behaviors are fundamentalist.
Since when does the employer openly admit at the very beginning that they are paying the guys more than you. They tell you what the starting wage is and that is it. They aren't honest about it. It isn't until somewhere down the line that you might find out.
Repubs: Cares about what's under a woman dress, not her pocket book.. Simple.
-Obama 12
Would Mr. Akin be OK with an atheist, Muslim or Jewish employer deciding that the "free market" (in their micro-environment, anyway) dictates that Christian employees get 50% of the wage of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, followers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and atheists? Or, would he howl with rage about religious discrimination? Probably the latter, as his type have an intense need to be victims.
The mos frightening thing about this wiz kid, is that he is not the only person with these values or beliefs out there in voterland!!