John McCain supports wage discrimination

I added an update to my post on Wednesday about the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — noting that Senate Republicans blocked the bill from passing. John McCain wasn’t there for the vote, but he opposed the legislation: (via Scott)

“I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what’s being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems,” McCain told reporters yesterday. “This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system.”

To summarize: McCain’s not against women and people of color being paid the same as white men for doing the same work — heck, if businesses want to pay fairly, that’s great! — but he doesn’t think we should make businesses do so. And not holding businesses accountable for wage discrimination is the same thing as endorsing it.
In my interview with Lilly Ledbetter, she actually responded to McCain’s position on the legislation:

We’ve had a lot of opposition that said this would just open up a multitude of lawsuits, and it would be tough on corporations to fight these cases. But that’s not true. If a person or individual thinks they have a case, they can’t even go to EEOC unless they have proof. You can’t just waltz into EEOC.

Right. It’s not exactly like it was easy for Ledbetter — and others in her situation — to prove they were discriminated against. In fact, there are some very high barriers to getting the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to recognize your complaint as valid.
So the “I hate lawsuits” defense is bullshit. McCain is really saying that he values the rights of corporations over the rights of women and people of color who work for them. Thanks, buddy.