ECONOMY
The Gender Pay Gap

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act (EPA) into law, making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform equal work. At the time, women earned 59 cents to every dollar earned by men. Today, a pay gap persists, as women earn 77 cents to every dollar that men earn. The Institute of Women's Policy Research found that this wage disparity will cost women anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime in lost wages. An April Senate report found that in contrast to previous slowdowns, the current economic downturn "is hitting women harder than men. They are suffering more job losses and larger reductions in wages than the general population." Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) have introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA), which will strengthen current laws against wage discrimination. The bill passed the House Education And Labor Committee last week and is scheduled to come to a floor vote later this week. As DeLauro urged, "The marketplace alone will not correct this injustice -- that is why we need a legislative solution."

UNACCEPTABLE STATUS QUO: While the wage gap has narrowed throughout the 20th century, gender-based financial disparities between are, in many cases, growing. Unmarried women, for example, earn only 56 cents for every dollar that married men make. In the last year, the unemployment rate among adult women workers increased 20 percent, in contrast to a 17 percent increase among adult men. As women get older, the wage gap broadens: females aged 45 to 64 earn only 71 percent of what men earn, a pain exacerbated by the necessity to prepare for retirement. In the current subprime crisis, despite their better overall credit scores, women are over 30 percent more likely to have expensive subprime loans and are at greater risk of facing foreclosure. Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) noted, "Between 1963 and now, the wage gap has narrowed by less than half a cent a year. At this rate, it would take about another 50 years before men and women reach parity in pay in this country." Currently, there is not a single state in which women have gained pay equality with men.

RESTORING EQUALITY: The Paycheck Fairness Act would "close loopholes that have allowed employers to avoid responsibility for discriminatory pay" and strengthen accountability in the workplace. The legislation increases penalties for sex discrimination in pay unless the company has a business-related reason for the inequality in wages. The PFA puts gender discrimination sanctions on equal footing with other forms of wage discrimination ­ such as those based on race, disability, or age, allowing women to file lawsuits for compensatory and punitive damages. The bill also prohibits employers retaliating against employees who share salary information with their co-workers. The legislation also strengthens opportunities for women. The Act requires that the Department of Labor "improve outreach and training efforts to work with employers in order to eliminate pay disparities" and "creates a new grant program to help strengthen the negotiation skills of girls and women."

STALLING EQUALITY EFFORTS: Failing to note the persistent inequalities between men and women, congressional conservatives claim the Paycheck Fairness Act is "unnecessary" because the Equal Pay Act "already makes wage discrimination illegal" and complain about "increased litigation costs." In reality, conservatives are worried about employers being required to pay women a fair wage. PFA simply closes loopholes in existing law so that fair pay laws can be better enforced. Furthermore, conservatives' record on equal pay is dismal. The PFA received its first hearing in 2007 -- after progressive captured Congress -- while the legislation sat in conservative-controlled Congress for a decade. While the bill enjoys the support of 230 House co-sponsors and 22 Senate co-sponsors, conservatives have consistently mounted vigorous efforts to stall equal pay legislation. In April, Senate conservatives blocked cloture on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have rectified the Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear "that made it much harder for women and other workers to pursue pay discrimination claims." Labor Secretary Elaine Chao has recommended that President Bush veto the PFA.

Under the Radar

ETHICS -- SENATORS CALL FOR EPA ADMINISTRATOR JOHNSON'S RESIGNATION: In a press conference yesterday, three members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, including Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA), called on EPA administrator Stephen Johnson to resign, charging that he had refused to cooperate with Congressional oversight and that he gave misleading testimony to Congress. The senators also asked Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate the contradictions between Johnson's sworn testimony and the sworn testimony of other witnesses regarding the EPA's decision to deny California a waiver to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Boxer said they had "lost all confidence" in Johnson's "ability to carry out EPA's mission in accordance with the law" because he had "become a secretive and dangerous ally of polluters." In a sobering speech on the Senate floor yesterday, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) condemned Johnson's tenure at the EPA, listing five charges of "putting the interests of corporate polluters before science and the law" and "four charges of degrading "the procedures and institutional safeguards that sustain the agency." But White House spokesman Tony Fratto dismissed the congressional allegations against Johnson, claiming that Johnson "is an honorable, experienced, career scientist" and that Boxer has "no standing" to challenge his integrity.

TERRORISM -- BUSH ADMINISTRATION EMPLOYING FLAWED STRATEGY AGAINST AL-QAEDA: According to a new study by the Rand Corporation, entitled "How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al Qaeda,' the Bush administration has failed to "significantly undermin[e] al Qaeda's capabilities." The report found that "a strategy based on military force has not been effective" and in fact "has the opposite effect from what is intended: It is often overused, alienates the local population by its heavy-handed nature, and provides a window of opportunity for terrorist-group recruitment." The study finds that the use of the phrase "war on terror" is counterproductive and should be abandoned because it "raises expectations...that there is a battlefield solution to the problem of terrorism" and "encourages others abroad to respond by conducting a jihad...against the United States." Instead, "the authors call for a strategy that includes a greater reliance on law enforcement and intelligence agencies in disrupting the group's networks and in arresting its leaders." "Terrorists should be perceived and described as criminals, not holy warriors," they added. The findings run counter to President Bush's repeated claims that pursuing terrorists and their supporters as criminals is "not enough." If force is necessary, the authors argue, "the emphasis should be on local troops, which understand the terrain and culture and tend to have greater legitimacy." The report also noteds that al Qaeda's "probability of success in actually overthrowing any government is close to zero."

IRAQ -- U.S. AUDITOR CALLS FOR AN END TO U.S. FUNDING OF IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION: The independent office in charge of monitoring spending in Iraq is to recommends that the U.S. government stop funding Iraq reconstruction projects because of Iraq's increasing oil wealth. A report released today by Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Stuart Bowen finds that with the price of oil at $125 a barrel, Iraqi oil revenues since the beginning of the year have totaled $33.1 billion, and "could exceed $70 billion" by the end of the year. In an interview, Bowen said he favors withdrawing U.S. funds for funding altogether. In an interview with the AP, Bowen said the Iraq government "doesn't need more money" because oil revenue and unspent funds from earlier budgets are "more than adequate to meet the country's reconstruction needs." The SIGIR report says that the Iraqi government is now spending $50.33 billion at the end of the end of the quarter on June 30, only slightly below the $50.46 billion appropriated by the United States. Despite the high profits, the Iraqi government has lagged on ensuring safe water and access to electricity and has not yet passed a law for the distribution of oil wealth, and "violence continues to pose a deadly threat to personnel involved in reconstruction activities."

Think Fast

Bush administration officials "reassured Israel's defense minister this week that the United States has not abandoned all possibility of a military attack on Iran." At the same time, the Israelis are "emphasizing the possibility of a military response out of concern that Tehran may soon have the know-how for building a nuclear bomb."

According to icasualties.org, "nearly twice as many U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq so far this month." If the July statistics hold, "they'll mark the lowest American military death toll in Iraq, and the second highest toll in Afghanistan, after June, when 27 U.S. troops were killed there" and 29 were killed in Iraq.

The Bush administration's agreement to "a general time horizon" for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq has accelerated negotiations over a long-term security pact between Washington and Baghdad, the Wall Street Journal reports. Though the Iraqis "are pushing for a 2010 withdrawal," officials familiar with the talks say "a compromise could be a year or two after that."

Yesterday, a coalition of liberal advocacy groups – including Brave New Films, CREW, Campaign for America's Future, and The Nation – hand-delivered a petition to Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) containing more than 127,000 signatures calling for former White House adviser Karl Rove to be held in contempt of Congress and jailed.

A new report by the Black AIDS Institute finds that "if black America were a country, it would rank 16th in the world in the number of people living with the AIDS virus." According to the report, "nearly 600,000 African-Americans are living with H.I.V" while "up to 30,000 are becoming infected each year."

"Pacific Gas and Electric Co., California's largest investor-owned utility, has contributed $250,000 to defeat a ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriage in the state." The contribution will be paid for using "shareholder-funded political accounts," not by the utility's revenue from customers.

And finally: Dan Quayle may join "Dancing With The Stars." Extra reports that the former vice president "is 'on the short list' of potential stars for the upcoming season" of the popular dance contest television show.

Good News

Massachusetts will likely soon join just one other state, California, in allowing same-sex couples to marry regardless of residence.

State Watch

CALIFORNIA: Top environmental official considers a ban on plastic bags in order to protect marine life.

NEW JERSEY: "Fewer New Jersey state workers than expected have accepted early retirement offers."

ENVIRONMENT: "West Coast governors urged the federal government Tuesday to keep new oil drilling rigs out of their waters."

Blog Watch

THINK PROGRESS: Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan backs down to Bill O'Reilly: "I messed up," "you're the big kahuna at Fox News."

WONK ROOM: The billionaires behind Newt Gingrich's "American Solutions for Winning the Future."

NUKES & SPOOKS: Report finds that troop shortages in Afghanistan are linked to the Taliban comeback.

HUFFINGTON POST: Toby Keith promotes his pro-lynching song and movie on the Colbert Report.

Daily Grill

"The deficit is projected to rise to $482 billion."
-- Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle, 7/28/08

VERSUS

"The war, unemployment costs, Medicare fees, the new housing bill bring[s] the grand total to about $600 billion."
-- ABC News, 7/29/08