James Green, vice chair of the Wasatch County GOP in Utah, wrote a truly astounding letter to the editor this week arguing against Senate Bill 210, which would direct employers to establish uniform pay criteria and study pay disparities between men and women. Let’s not do that, Green argued, because men should make enough to “allow the Mother to remain in the home to raise and nurture the children.”
If you are wondering whether it’s actually the year 1692, back when we capitalized random words and treated women like disposable fetus incubators, you would appear to be correct! Here’s the full letter, via the Wasatch Wave:
Equal Pay bill has a serious downside
Editor:
Here’s the problem with the Equal Pay bill being considered by the Utah Legislature: Traditionally men have earned more than women in the workplace because they are considered the primary breadwinners for families. They need to make enough to support their families and allow the Mother to remain in the home to raise and nurture the children.
If businesses are forced to pay women the same as male earnings, that means they will have to reduce the pay for the men they employ, simple economics.
If that happens, then men will have an even more difficult time earning enough to support their families, which will mean more Mothers will be forced to leave the home (where they may prefer to be) to join the workforce to make up the difference.
And as even more women thus enter the workforce that creates more competition for jobs (even men’s jobs) and puts further downward pressure on the pay for all jobs, meaning more and more Mothers will be forced into the workforce. And that is bad for families and thus for all of society.
It’s a vicious cycle that only gets worse the more equality of pay is forced upon us. It’s a situation of well-meaning intentions, but negative unintended consequences.
We should encourage our Legislators to drop the whole notion. Let the marketplace determine what free-market forces should prevail. It is not the role of government to dictate to businesses what they should pay anyway, either as a Minimum Wage or Equal Pay for men and women.
James C. Green, Wasatch County GOP Vice-Chair
Heber City
Ah-hah! Okay! A vibrant thesis from James Green, who, to be fair, is just too stupid to realize that he’s supposed to quietly harbor these regressive ideas and talk about them in private while stealthily crushing society back down around them, not explicitly link them to conservative economic principles.
Following an uproar in response to the letter, Green informed Fox 13 News that he has been in “hot water,” and opted to write another letter. Guess what! It was also bad, and we find out that in addition to the word “Mother,” he also capitalizes “Women”:
Dear Residents of Heber Valley,
I submitted a letter last week which some found offensive. First of all, I want to clarify those were purely my opinions and do not reflect those of the Wasatch County Republican Party or the Republican Party in general.
Secondly, I want to clarify the main focus of my letter was to express that I don’t feel the government should be dictating to private establishments what they must do in regard to employment, hiring, or wages.
There was no offense intended toward Women, whatsoever. And yet some took it that way. To those who were offended, I profusely apologize. I sincerely did not mean to do that.
Of course, Women’s contributions in the workplace are just as valuable as any one else’s. I was merely pointing out the historical reasons for pay disparity and the challenges of overcoming that.
While I worked my fingers to the bone (with numerous extra side jobs) so my Wife could stay in the home and raise our two Sons, who are now both Physician/Surgeons (plus one also has a Law Degree), I realize not everyone is so fortunate.
Please accept my apology for any misunderstanding.
Kind regards,
Jim Green
Glad that’s all cleared up.
