HIStory

Our presidential candidates are touting their credentials as supporters of equal employment and equal pay for women. Gov. Romney described how, as Governor of Massachusetts, he deliberately sought out female candidates to appoint to high-level jobs in his administration. Pres. Obama noted his support for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the first bill he signed into law as President. He also appointed eight women to his Cabinet. That is only 35 percent of his Cabinet appointments but he also nominated two women to the Supreme Court.

Unfortunately there are problems with both of these stories. Romney implied that as Governor he "went to a number of women's groups" in search of information about qualified female candidates for positions in his administration. But the nonpartisan Massachusetts Government Appointments Project has rebutted this story, saying that they came to him with this information. Pres. Obama failed to note that in spite of the Fair Pay Act women in America are still paid only about 80 percent of what men receive in the private sector for the same work and qualifications. And he did not tell us what, if anything, he has tried to do about that. Does he expect women to do all the work by filing millions of lawsuits?

A more important question for Gov. Romney is what he did as head of Bain Capital to hire and promote qualified women or pay them equally. Practicing gender equality in the light of government office is a no-brainer. Failure to do it in private enterprise is the real problem.

Pres. Obama really failed to answer the question asked by a young woman on the panel at the debate on Tuesday. She asked what his Administration had done to bring women's pay up to the level of their male equals. The answer is--very little. The Fair Pay Act makes it easier to sue for discrimination in pay but our employers should not be discriminating against women in the first place.

What could our federal government do? It could be shining a spotlight on discriminatory employers but it is not doing so. It could be requiring equal pay as a condition of awarding government contracts but it is not doing so. It could be providing tax incentives for equal pay and employment or tax penalties for discrimination but it is not doing so. It could enact tariffs to penalize foreign employers who discriminate against their female employees but it has not done so.

If the women of this country formed their own political party they could win. They are the majority. And there is no law against it.