Jeb Bush: "What's the Paycheck Fairness Act?" 15OKT14

jeb bush doesn't know what the Paycheck Fairness Act of 2014 is, but why should he? That is not an issue in the circles he move in....well, actually it is, but only in discussions on how to keep defeating it, like it was by filibuster on 15 OCT 14. The 1% crowd, corporate America have a vested interest in keeping women's pay low, they can keep hundreds of millions for themselves doing so. Yet for some unexplainable reason many women, in an act of political masochism, will vote for the very people who are committed to deprive them of earning a fair and equal wage and who are also committed to denying them and their families any social safety net benefits. It just boggles the mind. Maybe this piece from +Mother Jones will change more than a few minds. R emember, it was jeb's mother, barbara "babs" bush who said while visiting the Super Dome in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina who said " everyone I've talked to says, 'We're going to move to Houston.' What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality.

And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them. " It is no wonder jeb doesn't know anything about the Paycheck Fairness Act....
***** UPDATE 17OKT14 I have drawn the ire of a repiglican tea-bagger for my comments posted on Mother Jones via Discus, see the exchange at the end of this post. I think he's just jealous  of my hair....*****

Jeb Bush: "What's the Paycheck Fairness Act?"

—By Andy Kroll

| Wed Oct. 15, 2014 3:01 PM EDT

 Jeb Bush at American Polish Cultural Center in Troy, MI 10 13 14 (VIDEO)

Jeb Bush, one of the GOP's top 2016 presidential prospects, campaigned Monday for Terri Lynn Land, the Republican running for Senate in Michigan. At an event in the Detroit suburbs, a staffer for Progress Michigan, a liberal advocacy group, asked Bush whether he thought Land should support the Paycheck Fairness Act.* Bush appeared not to know what the proposal is.
The high-profile legislation, much touted by Democrats, aims to close the wage gap between men and women. It would beef up legal protections for workers who ask about the wages of co-workers or share information about their own earnings while directing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to gather information on wages from employers. In September, the bill died in the Senate after Republicans, led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), filibustered it.
The bill has been part of a national debate about the GOP and women, and it has played a prominent role in this Senate campaign, in which Land is running against Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mich.). Land, who served as Michigan's secretary of state from 2003 to 2010, has been criticized by Democrats—including President Barack Obama—for saying she did not support the Paycheck Fairness Act. Yet Bush didn't seem to know anything about this bill when the Democratic tracker asked about it:

Progress Michigan: Do you think Secretary Land should support the Paycheck Fairness Act?
Jeb Bush: Excuse me?
Progress Michigan: Do you think Secretary Land should support the Paycheck Fairness Act?
Bush: What's the Paycheck Fairness Act?
Progress Michigan: The Paycheck Fairness Act is a piece of legislation that would ensure women receive the same pay as men...equal pay for equal work.
Bush: Equal pay for the same work, not for equal work—I think that's the problem with it. I think there's a definition issue.
Progress Michigan: So you don't think Secretary Land should support it?
Bush: I don't know. You'd have to ask her.

Correction: The original version of this article stated that the tracker who questioned Bush worked for American Bridge 21st Century, the Democratic oppo research outfit.

Andy Kroll

Senior Reporter

Andy Kroll is a senior reporter at Mother Jones. For more of his stories, click here. Email him with tips and insights at akroll (at) motherjones (dot) com. Follow him on Twitter here. RSS | Twitter

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  THE POSTING EXCHANGE NOTED ABOVE
  
  

  

  john silva Craig • 18 hours ago

  You people just strike at the first shiny thing. The act is nothing but political garbage, just before the election! Nobody's falling for this, that's why it's in Mother Jones! you can't go any lower, well, maybe MSNBC, but, still you must be really desperate. Why don't you bring up save the whales and run on that too! Tell us how Republicans hate the Whales, it's true!! I went to a republican meeting, and, they were sitting around counting their money, and, throwing darts at pictures of women going "man I hate them whales!" darn Republicans!!
  

  

  Craig john silva • 2 hours ago

  My, how uninformative your rant is. Nothing disputing the gop / tea-baggers are opposed to equal pay for women, so you are just upset because this is a legitimate issue that the electorate should be aware of and Mother Jones is getting the word out?
  Concerning whales, you be very glad to know I have posted on my blog a call from the NRDC to revoke the permits for oil and gas exploration along the U.S. East Coast, for your reading pleasure http://bucknacktssordidtawdryb...
  

  

  john silva Craig • an hour ago

  You're too stupid to see the sarcasm! I far as the link? no thanks! Your picture is worth a thousand words!
  

  

  Craig john silva • 25 minutes ago

  Oh John, don't hate me because I'm beautiful!!!!!!
  

Urge Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, sign the petition today! 26MAR14

IF congress doesn't pass the +Lilly Ledbetter Paycheck Fairness Act this year, if our government fails to make equal pay for men and women the law of the land this year, it would be a dream come true to see women organize, nation wide, and hit the corporations who are directing the politicians who are keeping this from becoming law by boycotting Black Friday and the entire weekend. Money talks, and if women just had the courage to put aside all their other differences for just one three day weekend in November and united in a boycott of all shopping for the entire weekend I bet just the threat of it would get congress to act. Right now we can all help put pressure on congress to pass this bill by signing this petition. Click the link, and then start the discussion of a 2014 Black Friday boycott.... 

Please join Daily Kos and the National Partnership for Women & Families in urging Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. Click here to sign the petition.

In honor of Equal Pay Day coming up in a few weeks, the National Partnership for Women & Families is working to remind the country about how badly the wage gap hurts women and their families.

Women who work full time, year-round in this country are still paid about 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. That’s groceries hardworking women can’t afford to buy, rent they can’t pay, and gasoline they can’t put in their cars. The Paycheck Fairness Act would close loopholes in current law to stop wage discrimination and promote fair pay.

Every member of Congress should support this bill.

The National Partnership has been responsible for some landmark victories over the years -- including the passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, key provisions in Obamacare, and so much more. Let's help add the Paycheck Fairness Act to that list.

Help convince Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Keep fighting,
Rachel Colyer
Campaign Director, Daily Kos

Mitt Romney Campaign Muddles Response To Lilly Ledbetter Act Question Again 18OKT12

DISREGARD mitt robme romney's and lyin' paul ryan's positions on abortion, birth control, family planning, women's health and all their other lies and deceptions. Ignoring all that, why would any woman vote for them when they are against equal pay for equal work? They are opposed to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (lyin' paul ryan voted against it in the House), showing they have absolutely no respect for women at all. From HuffPost.....
WASHINGTON -- Thursday morning brought additional confusion over what Mitt Romney would have done had the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act come to his desk while he was president.
The Republican nominee has deftly avoided answering that specific question, choosing instead to say he wouldn't repeal the law, which makes it easier for women to sue over wage discrimination. Following Tuesday night's presidential debate, top adviser Ed Gillespie said Romney had opposed the bill while it was being debated, only to walk that statement back hours later.
"I was wrong when I said last night Governor Romney opposed the Lily Ledbetter act," Gillespie's statement read. "He never weighed in on it. As President, he would not seek to repeal it."
By Thursday, however, that position too seemed to have been reversed, with an anonymous Romney aide telling CBS News that he did, indeed, oppose the Lilly Ledbetter Act in 2009.
"Gov. Romney fully supports equal pay for equal work for women and for everyone and he would in no way want to repeal or change the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act," the adviser told CBSNews.com. When asked why Romney had opposed it in 2009, the adviser said that "every bill has certain aspects to it that people might find concerning but the equal pay for equal work part was of no concern."
The Huffington Post reached out to the Romney campaign for comment. An aide said that Gillespie's second statement -- the one saying Romney had had no position on the Lilly Ledbetter Act at the time -- was the operative statement.
"This is a blind quote," the aide said of the CBS story. "Ed addressed this issue on the record yesterday. That explains our position."
It's a bit baffling that the campaign's message is so muddled on this topic. Yes, conservatives opposed the Lilly Ledbetter Act when it was passed under the belief that it was a gift to trial lawyers. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Romney's running mate, is one of the lawmakers who voted against it. But Romney has moved away from conservative doctrine on a number of fronts in the past few weeks. And whereas on several occasions he had to contradict his previous positions to do so, the fact that he hadn't taken a stance on the Lilly Ledbetter Act gave him an opportunity to say he supported it from the get-go without being accused of flip-flopping.
Instead, he's opened himself to criticism that he's too timid to weigh in on women's issues.
"I don’t know why this is so complicated. Gov. Romney still won't say whether or not he supported a law to protect that right no matter how many times he is asked. This is not that hard," President Barack Obama said at a rally in Manchester, N.H., on Thursday.
"Would you have signed the Lilly Ledbetter equal pay law? No answer," former President Bill Clinton said at a Thursday rally in Ohio. "He can't even say whether he would sign a law that is already on the books ... what he wants to do is convince the moderate voters that he is a new man without explicitly disavowing a single solitary commitment he made in the two years he said he was severely conservative Mitt Romney."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/mitt-romney-lilly-ledbetter_n_1980527.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications

Obama fires up crowd in Virginia with ‘Romnesia’ speech 19OKT12

I really wish I could have been there to hear him myself, it is not only the best of the campaign so far it is the perfect explanation of just what mitt robme romney and lyin' paul ryan are spreading across the country in a desperate attempt to salvage their campaign of lies, misrepresentation, misleading and deception. From the Washington Post....

By Jerry Markon, Published: October 19

President Obama introduced a new word into the American political lexicon Friday, accusing his GOP opponent, Mitt Romney, of “Romnesia” for changing positions and trying to pivot to the political center.
Before nearly 10,000 supporters at a Virginia rally, Obama smiled, joked and wagged his finger as he mocked Romney’s earlier declaration that he was a “severely conservative” governor of Massachusetts.
“Now that we’re 18 days out from the election, ‘Mr. Severely Conservative’ wants you to think he was severely kidding about everything he said over the last year,’’ Obama said in a speech devoted almost entirely to attacking Romney, and during which he gave little indication of what he would do in a second term if reelected.
Building in intensity, Obama continued: “He’s forgetting what his own positions are, and he’s betting that you will, too. I mean, he’s changing up so much and backtracking and sidestepping. We’ve got to — we’ve got to — we’ve got to name this condition that he’s going through. I think — I think it’s called ‘Romnesia.’ ”
The crowd roared.
The Romney campaign was not amused. “America doesn’t need a comedy routine; it needs a serious plan to fix the economy,’’ Romney senior adviser Danny Diaz wrote on Twitter.
Added Amanda Henneberg, a Romney spokeswoman: “Women haven’t forgotten how we’ve suffered over the last four years in the Obama economy with higher taxes, higher unemployment, and record levels of poverty. President Obama has failed to put forward a second-term agenda — and when you don’t have a plan to run on, you stoop to scare tactics.’’
The renewed skirmishing came as the other candidates converged on the key swing state of Florida ahead of Monday’s final presidential debate in Boca Raton, which is shaping up as critical in a race that polls show is tight nationally and in battleground states.
Vice President Biden and Romney’s running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), spent their Friday rallying supporters in the Sunshine State, whose 29 electoral votes make it the biggest swing state prize. At one point, Ryan’s campaign jet rolled across the tarmac in Tampa past Biden’s Air Force Two.
Ann Romney and Michelle Obama, both important surrogates as the campaigns battle for an edge among women voters, have events scheduled for South Florida in the coming days. Female voters are a critical bloc that could determine who is elected on Nov. 6, and recent polls have shown Romney cutting into Obama’s lead among them.
With the economy still the key issue in the race, Obama got some potentially good news on Friday: New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the unemployment rate dropped in 41 states last month, including many of the top swing states. Those included Florida, Colorado and Iowa. Yet Florida’s rate, at 8.7 percent, remains higher than the national average, and unemployment is still high across the country.
Romney prepared for the debate Friday morning in New York before flying to Florida. where he appeared with Ryan at a rally in Daytona Beach in the evening.
They spoke to a crowd of thousands of supporters who were warmed up to the singing of country music star John Rich of the group Big and Rich.
Romney said that Obama’s reelection effort has become the “incredibly shrinking campaign.”
“Have you been watching the Obama campaign lately. It’s absolutely remarkable,” Romney said. “They have no agenda.”
But speaking to the tightness of this race, even as Ryan and Romney spoke, a crowd of Obama supporters gathered and shouted “Obama. Four More Years,” drowning out parts of Romney’s 20-minute speech.
Romney’s debate partner, Sen. Rob Portman, as well as top advisers Stuart Stevens, Beth Myers and Dan Senor joined him on the flight to Florida.
It was Romney’s commanding performance in the first presidential debate two weeks ago — along with Obama’s widely panned showing — that reconfigured a race in which the president had been ahead.
Romney on Friday released a new television ad titled “Bringing People Together.” It emphasized his bipartisan credentials, though some Democrats in Massachusetts say Romney worked only sporadically with them during his governorship. But the Romney campaign also apparently senses vulnerability on the subject for Obama, whose political brand in his 2008 campaign was built around his ability to transcend partisan divides.
Yet it was a highly partisan president who spoke on Friday in an open field at George Mason University in the critical battleground state of Virginia. Obama drew chants of “Four more years!” as he bounded onto a podium draped with two blue signs reading “Women’s Health Security.’’
Obama portrayed Romney as a “throwback to the 1950s” who would restrict women’s rights, favor the wealthy and squeeze the middle class.
During his riff on what he called “Romnesia,’’ Obama said: “I’m not a medical doctor, but I — but I do want to go over some of the symptoms with you because I want to make sure nobody else catches it.’’
The crowd hooted.
Obama then listed a series of what he called position changes by Romney, focusing on women’s issues. “You know, if you say you’re for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to say whether or not you’d sign a bill that protects equal pay for equal work, you might have ‘Romnesia,’ ’’ Obama said. “If you say women should have access to contraceptive care, but you support legislation that would let your employer deny you contraceptive care, you might have a case of ‘Romnesia.’ ”
The president drew his loudest applause by bringing up the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Chuckling, he said: “If you come down with a case of ‘Romnesia’ and you can’t seem to remember the policies that are still on your Web site, or the promises that you’ve made over the six years you’ve been running for president, here’s the good news: Obamacare covers preexisting conditions.’’
“We can fix you up. We’ve got a cure. We can make you well, Virginia. This is a curable disease.’’

Nia-Malika Henderson, Felicia Sonmez and Philip Rucker contributed to this report.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/obama-fires-up-crowd-in-virginia-with-romnesia-speech/2012/10/19/ddde9560-1a13-11e2-aa6f-3b636fecb829_print.html

WHY I SUPPORT OBAMA!!!!!

Let's see if it is possible for a romney supporter to come up with a list of reasons they are supporting him....I don't think we'll see it, and if we do it will probably be full of things they are against and not of things they are for...full of nope instead of offering the country HOPE!

WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY 26AUG10

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

August 26, 2010

Presidential Proclamation--Women's Equality Day, 2010

WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY, 2010

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Ninety years ago, on August 26, 1920, the ratification of the 19th Amendment to our Constitution was completed, guaranteeing women the right to vote, renewing our commitment to equality and justice, and marking a turning point in our Nation's history.  As we celebrate this important milestone and the achievements and shattered ceilings of the past, we also recognize the inequalities that remain and our charge to overcome them.
In a letter to John Adams, who was then serving as a delegate to the First Continental Congress, Abigail Adams once implored her husband to "remember the ladies" in the "new code of laws" of our fledgling country.  It has taken the collective efforts of daring and tenacious women over many generations to realize the principles and freedoms enshrined in our Constitution.  Standing on the shoulders of these trailblazers, we pay tribute to the brave women who dot the pages of our history books, and to those who have quietly broken barriers in our workplaces, communities, and society.
We can see the remarkable fruits of past struggles and victories today.  For nearly two centuries, America could only imagine a female justice sitting on the Supreme Court of the United States.  Today, for the first time in our Nation's history, three women sit on the bench of the highest court of the land, and I am proud to be the first President to nominate two women to the Court.  Women lead in boardrooms and in our Armed Forces, in classrooms and conference rooms, and in every sector of society.  Their boundless determination has enabled today's young women to dream bigger as they see themselves reflected at the highest levels of business, communications, and public service -- including in my Administration and Cabinet.  If we continue to fight for our hopes and aspirations, there will be no limit to the possibilities for our daughters and granddaughters.
As we celebrate 90 years of progress on Women's Equality Day, we also recognize the realities of the present.  Women comprise less than one-fifth of our Congress and account for a mere fraction of the chief executives at the helm of our biggest companies.  Women hold only 27 percent of jobs in science and engineering, which are critical to our economic growth in a 21st-century economy.  And, almost 50 years after the Equal Pay Act was enacted, American women still only earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn.  This gap increases among minority women and those living with disabilities.
These disparities remind us that our work remains unfinished.  My Administration remains committed to advancing women's equality in all areas of our society and around the world.  I was proud to create the White House Council on Women and Girls to help ensure that American women and girls are treated fairly in all matters of public policy.  I also appointed the first White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, whose leadership will guide my Administration in confronting violence and sexual assault against women.  The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the first bill I signed as President, restored basic protections against pay discrimination for women, and to build upon that law, I support passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act.  I have also established the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force to ensure equal pay laws are vigorously enforced throughout the country.  Workplace flexibility is also important to women and families, and we will continue coordinating with Federal agencies to make quality child care more affordable, promote work policies that improve work-family balance, and advance the economic development and security of all women.
Fifteen years after the world gathered in Beijing for the Fourth World Conference on Women, far too many women around the world still lack access to basic education and economic opportunity, face gender-based violence, and cannot participate fully and equally in their societies.  To help address this, I appointed the first-ever Ambassador at Large for Global Women's Issues to elevate the importance of women's empowerment in all aspects of our foreign policy.  From Afghanistan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United States will continue its commitment to the rights of women around the world.
Women's rights are ultimately human rights, and the march for equality will not end until full parity and equal opportunity are attained in every State and workplace across our Nation.  It remains our responsibility to ensure that the principles of justice and equality apply to all Americans, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, or socioeconomic status.  If we stay true to our founding ideals and the example of those who insisted upon nothing less than full equality, we can and will perpetuate the line of progress that runs throughout our Nation's history for generations to come.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim August 26, 2010, as Women's Equality Day.  I call upon the people of the United States to celebrate the achievements of women and recommit themselves to the goal of true gender equality in this country.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA