Breaking: GOP blocks pay equity

The Senate GOP has blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act which should put to rest any suspicions you may have had that the GOP’s current game isn’t to remove all women’s rights and make their lives as miserable as possible. The vote was 52-47 to block the measure.

Pay equity would have given women some protection from pay discrimination, including fees to people that pay different based on gender, to give transparency around salaries so you can know if an employer is biased and to protect those that bring lawsuits of pay discrimination.

Instead, via Think Progress,

Republicans framed the measure as a useless bureaucratic roadblock that would have hindered free enterprise and helped trial lawyers. Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) called the bill a “war on free enterprise.” But Heller’s record on women’s issues is far from stellar: He previously voted against Paycheck Fairness when he was in the House of Representatives and also voted against the Lily Ledbetter Fair pay act, another pay equity bill.

Pay discrimination isn’t some fantasy of the left — it actually prevents families from higher earnings. On average, women make 77 cents to a man’s dollar. And that’s happening while more women are becoming the primary breadwinners or dual-earners in their family and a larger number of women with high degrees entering the job market.

Over her lifetime, the average woman loses enough in wages to feed a family of four for 37 years.