Are Ladies Just Too Busy for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act?

By Kelly Faircloth | March 17, 2014 | 8:15pm

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Can women have it all, or is it just too much to juggle? And by “it all” I mean all the money that they should be paid but currently are not, thanks to the wage gap.

Salon reports that this fascinating line of argument comes via Cari Christman, who heads Texas’s Red State Women PAC. Local ABC affiliate WFAA asked whether her organization believes Texas needs an equal pay act. This has become an issue in the state gubernatorial race, as Wendy Davis faces off against former attorney general Greg Abbott. In his last gig, he convinced the Texas Supreme Court that the Lilly Ledbetter Act—which gives women longer to file gender discrimination claims after leaving a job—didn’t alter Texas’s statue of limitations.

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Christman’s answer: “We believe Texas women want and deserve equal pay. But honestly, Jason, we don’t believe the Lilly Ledbetter Act is what’s going to solve that problem for women. We believe women want real-world solutions to this problem, not more rhetoric.”

No doubt Red State Women has some clever “real world” alternative! (LOL, as if):

“We lead busy lives, whether working professionally, whether working from home, and times are extremely busy,” she told WFAA. “It’s a busy cycle for women, and we’ve got a lot to juggle. So when we look at this issue we think, what’s practical? And we want more access to jobs. We want to be able to get a higher education degree at the same time we’re working or raising a family.”

Sorry, I need a minute to deal with the cognitive-dissonance brain freeze……………..OK, we’re back.

Yes, America needs more jobs. (Badly!) But more jobs and more education doesn’t do anything specific to solve the wage gap. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act does, both offering specific redress for women and providing a powerful disincentive to discriminate. Filing a lawsuit against a former employer sure isn’t an easy road, but this sort of legislation certainly isn’t just “rhetoric” (if it was, maybe the GOP wouldn’t be so opposed). Appeals to jobs and education on the other hand? The very stereotype of empty political boilerplate!

There’s no such thing as “too busy” for equal pay for equal work. The GOP should just go ahead and say they’re opposed because they think complying places some unfair burden on businesses. Don’t try to piss in my ear and tell me it’s raining.