Democratic 'Equal Pay' Hypocrisy

Democratic 'Equal Pay' Hypocrisy

By Warren Beatty

Talk about hypocrisy!  Dear Leader Barack Hussein Obama has outdone even himself.  In his weekly radio address, Obama reiterated the importance of ensuring equal pay for equal work.  He then highlighted actions his administration has taken to expand opportunity and narrow the pay gap that exists between men and women.  In the address, Obama said:

You see, the average woman who works full-time in America earns less than a man -- even when she's in the same profession and has the same education.  That's wrong.  In 2014, it's an embarrassment.  Women deserve equal pay for equal work. [emphasis mine]

And, on April 8, 2014, Obama made these remarks:

I don't know why you would resist the idea that women should be paid the same as men and then deny that that's not always happening out there.  If Republicans in Congress... want to show that they, in fact, do care about women being paid the same as men, then... They can join us in this, the 21st century, and vote yes on the Paycheck Fairness Act."

All that rhetoric sounds great, but actions speak louder than words, as White House pay records illustrate.

The Obama White House, in 2013, paid women 88 percent of what they paid men.  It is very unlikely that Obama (or the lap-dog MSM) will mention that fact.

As Meghan Keneally of the Daily Mail writes, "Of the administration's 20 top earners, who each took home a tidy $172,200 for their work in 2011, only six of those were women."  The median White House annual salary in 2013 for men was $71,000, versus $60,000 for women, or 18 percent less. And the situation is not new. Women, in 2009, made 89 cents for every dollar that men made, or, on average, $9,390 less annually.

Salaries for most of the White House staff are set by a pay schedules.  But because more women are in the lower pay categories (as this table indicates), the female median salary is less than the male median salary.

Annual Salary Range	Number of Men	Number of Women	Percentage of Men
$50,000 or lower	62	78	44.3
$50,001 - $70,000	46	51	47.4
$70,001 - $100,000	43	42	50.6
$100,001 - $150,000	53	44	54.6
$150,001 and over	21	18	53.8

Notice that women comprise the majority of the two lowest pay categories.

And let's not forget White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who is a man.

And since Obama opened the door, let's look at what Democrats are doing:

• For all Democrat Senate staffers, men made an average of $5,500 more annually than women.  In fact, more than two-thirds of Democrat Senators pay men more than women.
• Senator Barry Sanders (I-VT), "an avowed socialist who caucuses with the Democrats, has the worst gender gap by far. He employed more men (14) than women (10), and his chief of staff is male." Sanders pays women, on average, 47.6 percent of what he pays men.  And, he has said that Republicans "are trying to roll back the clock on womens' rights."
• Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) paid female staffers an average of $23,504 less than males, an average of 29 percent less for female.
• Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) paid female staffers, on average, $20,861 less than males.  The average salary for women was only 72 percent of mens' salaries.
• Here's one that will make you laugh -- Senator Mary L. Landrieu's (D-LA) timing is superb.  Landrieu pays her female staffers much less than males.  The average male salary was $13,037 higher than the average female salary. Yet on April 1, 2014, Landrieu put out a press release on the equal pay issue.
• Here's another laugher. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), who loudly pushed the Senate to pass the "Paycheck Fairness Act," pays women on his staff, on average, $11,505 annually less than he pays men.  "Four of the five highest paid staffers on Durbin's staff are men."  When asked about the equal pay issue, Durbin said "How serious is equal pay for equal work to working people across America?  I think it's critical."

Democrat apologists will argue that they favor "equal pay for equal work," that the above noted pay discrepancies are the result of men being in higher-paying positions.  That may be true, so a look at staffing is in order.  Not even one of the Senate Democrat leadership (Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, Chuck Schumer, Patty Murray) has a female chief of staff or communications director. Senate Republicans are doing better, with two top GOP leaders having female chiefs of staff, and four of five leaders having female communications directors.

Denis McDonough, a man, is currently Obama's Chief of Staff. And, of Obama's fifteen cabinet members, only three are female (including Kathleen Sebelius, scheduled to be replaced by Sylvia Mathews Burwell).

And the Democrat National Committee pays women 15 percent less than men.

Why was the "Paycheck Fairness Act" even brought up?  Senate Democrats felt comfortable doing so as they knew the bill would not be brought up in the Republican controlled House of Representatives.

So, the question is, "Is Obama himself embarrassed?"  After all, his words and actions are at odds with each other.  And, are Democrats embarrassed?  And, is the MSM embarrassed?  MSM, your research has been done for you, yet you still goes right along with the Democrats and persist on espousing the "Republican War on Women" myth.

Republicans may be just as guilty, but Democrats need to "clean up their acts" before pointing their fingers at anyone.

But that's just my opinion.

Dr. Warren Beatty (not the liberal actor) earned a Ph.D. in quantitative management and statistics from Florida State University.  He was a (very conservative) professor of quantitative management specializing in using statistics to assist/support decision-making, and has authored four e-books on the subject.   He has been a consultant to many small businesses and is now retired.  Dr. Beatty is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army for 22 years.  He blogs at rwno.limewebs.com.