Voting Your Economic Interest

Reuters reported yesterday on Kerry’s attempts rile up women voters in Wisconsin. He promised to promote equal pay policies and increase the minimum wage ($7 from $5.15) and lashed out at the “false assurances” of the Bush regime. My favorite quote:
“Before the president complains about his job, he ought to come here and spend the day with you. He might learn something about how, day after day, the women of this country juggle so much with such grace and strength.”
While I don’t think that Kerry can cure [all of] our economic ails, he will be a *big* improvement. Under the Bush administration the gender wage ratio fall from 76.6 cents to 75.5 cents (relative to a man’s dollar earnings), poverty ratios steadily grew and the unemployment rate for women grew 37%. (sigh).
Not to mention that Bush doesn’t even promote equal pay among his own staff. As Feministing reported back in July, leaked White House salary figures showed the rampant sex pay discrimination within the Bush administration. Bush women with similar titles and positions earn about 78 percent of what Bush men earn. Wow. Talk about a miserable job…
Kerry summed it up pretty well yesterday: “The women of America can write the future of America if they go to the polls and make their voices heard.” Considering that more than a million women have lost their jobs under the Bush administration, I would say it’s *definitely* in your economic interest to get busy at the poll.