[Vision2020] The Wages of Ideology

[Art Deco]

  [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/>


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April 11, 2012
The Wages of Ideology

Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin is struggling to fight off a determined
effort to replace him in an extraordinary recall election scheduled for
June 5<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/31/us/wisconsin-approves-recall-election-for-governor-walker.html>.
The original reason more than 900,000 Wisconsinites signed petitions to get
him out of office was his signature on a bill that stripped most public
employees of their collective bargaining rights. But, every few weeks, Mr.
Walker provides new grounds for becoming the third American governor to be
removed by his own electorate.

The most recent came last week, when he signed the repeal of a 2009
law<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/07/wisconsin-s-repeal-of-equal-pay-rights-adds-to-battles-for-women.html>allowing
the victims of wage discrimination to pursue damages in state
court, which is generally easier than filing a federal complaint. The
principal reason for the original law was to narrow a significant gap in
compensation between men and women. At the time the law was passed, women
earned an average of 75 cents for every $1 men earned; by 2010, after the
law was passed, the average for women had edged up to about 78 cents.

By closing off this important avenue to state courts to women, Mr. Walker
was acceding to the lobbying demands of business groups, including hotel
and restaurant trade groups that employ large numbers of women in
low-paying jobs and do not wish their wage scale to be challenged in court.
(He called it a “gravy
train”<http://newsdesk.learfielddemos.com/2012/04/10/the-out-of-staters-did-it-audio/>for
trial lawyers.) That’s the kind of thing he’s been doing since he took
office in 2011, and it’s an important reason why he was warmly embraced
during the Wisconsin presidential primary last month by Mitt Romney, who
won that state.

“I applaud your governor,” said Mr. Romney, who also called him a “hero”
and a “man of courage.” Mr. Romney’s campaign has its own problems with
issues of pay equity. On Wednesday morning, his staff could not answer a
simple question<http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/romney-camp-stumbles-on-pay-equity-question/>about
whether Mr. Romney supports the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the
first federal law signed by President Obama, in 2009, which makes it easier
for women to sue for pay discrimination.

A few hours later, the Romney campaign put out a bland statement saying he
supports pay equity<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75042_Page2.html>and
“is not looking to change current law.” But many elements of the
Republican Party are eagerly looking to change the law. If Mr. Romney is
elected and a Republican-led Congress presents him with a bill overturning
the Ledbetter act, would he sign it, following the path of his hero, Mr.
Walker? That question went unanswered, just as the campaign never said
whether it supported Mr. Walker’s repeal.

The Romney campaign sent out several statements on Wednesday from
Republican women making the misleading
claim<http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/job-growth-isnt-just-a-womens-issue/>that
women had been disproportionately hurt by Mr. Obama’s economic
policies. That concern lacks credibility, considering that several of those
women voted against the Ledbetter act, including Representatives Mary Bono
Mack and Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Mr. Romney has also said he wants to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood, just
as Mr. Walker ended state financing for nine Planned Parenthood
clinics<http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/planned-parenthood-condemns-wisconsin-governor-cutting-off-health-care-women-37132.htm>in
Wisconsin last year. Mr. Romney’s disregard for the welfare and
leading
concerns of women is costing the presumptive Republican nominee support
among women.

He may try to roll back these positions toward the center for the general
election this fall, but voters should be skeptical. As Mr. Walker’s actions
show, they are at the core of Republican ideology.


-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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