Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Gender Pay Gaps and the Mighty Obama Samurai Pen

WOW!  And by that by that I mean the “War on Women” of course. Today is “Equal Pay Day,” which is an annual event to bring public awareness to the insidious “gender wage gap.”

Even though some contend that the gender pay gap is nothing butt a myth, we never let facts get in the way of a good emotional argument that leads to “Executive Action.”

So today we’re heading into battle once again: with our mighty pen.

bo pen

Although I must say, our battles are starting to sound increasingly small:

In his latest effort to circumvent Congress and highlight an issue that he hopes can help fellow Democrats' chances at the polls in November, President Obama will announce a pair of moves on Tuesday that his administration says will strengthen enforcement of equal pay laws for women.

First, Obama will sign an executive order banning federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss their compensation.

It is difficult to quantify how frequently employees are retaliated against for discussing their salaries. But a 2011 Institute for Women's Policy Research study found that about half of all workers report the discussion of salary information is prohibited by employers.

"It's very difficult for women to know they are being discriminated against if they can't talk to one another about compensation," said White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

And when the battles seem this small, so do the warriors:

bo miniature2Samurai Prezzy: fighting the really big battles with his little sword (and pen)

 

I seriously don’t even know what to say about this. Our entire healthcare system has been compromised, Iran is about to go nuclear, Putin is putting his little Napoleon pants on, the NSA is spying on everyone in the entire world, and the President of the free world is…fighting for women’s right to compare salaries?  Just what rabbit hole have we tumbled into?

bo boeing plant big black hole sucked inCome on, jump in,

Rest assured, Big Guy’s White House is fighting this gender pay war on all fronts…except the home front. It was revealed that the median salary for female White House staffers was 12 percent lower than those of male staffers. Don’t worry though, as Jay Carney explained to the press, we’re way above average:

"What I can tell you is that we have as an institution here have aggressively addressed this challenge, and obviously, though, at the 88 cents that you cite, that is not a hundred, but it is better than the national average,"

lake_wobegonWe’re all above average, in a mediocre world

Anyway, enough about the gender pay GAP at the White House; it’s perfectly legal. We requested, and received, a Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act waiver from Barry’s pen.

And as we all know, a pen, in the wrong hands, is mightier than the sword.

barry's pen2That is one mean looking weaPen.

 

dancingobama[5]

“Never give a sword to a man who can't dance.”  - Confucius

Oh, and just for the record: Lady M doesn’t draw a salary at all! Can you believe it? For all the work she does!?! And Big Guy makes $400,000. Tell me that’s not a gender gap!

bo gap“Look, I’ve got a waiver for this gender gap.”

Historical Note: this is not the first time the Big White has been embroiled in the War on Women on a personal level. They’ve been accused of being a “hostile workplace” in the past.

Linked By: Larwyn’s Linx on Doug Ross@Journal, and @FarNorthDallasT, @blogho, @ValCSilver on twitter, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!

Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network