WV & OR-Sen: Meet The Two Female GOP Candidates Who Really Don't Support Equal Pay

DailyKos:

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R. WV)

This is a short one about Equal Pay so I decided to combine the Senate races in one diary. First in West Virginia you have Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R. WV) who is looking like she's going to be West Virginia's next U.S. Senator. West Virginia women should know this about her: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) claims that she supports equal pay for equal work. But her position has struck a nerve with Democrats, who say her empty rhetoric isn't reflected in the votes she has actually taken in Congress. The latest flare-up came after an MSNBC interview was published Monday in which the congresswoman, seen as a favorite to take Democrat Jay Rockefeller's Senate seat in 2014, once again expressed her support for equal pay for women. "Women absolutely deserve equal pay for equal work. Equal pay is the law. In order to ensure women and men have access to the same opportunities we need to grow our economy and create jobs, and we must invest in job training and skill development," she said. The problem is that Capito voted repeatedly against legislation that would bolster laws against gender discrimination in workplace pay. The seven-term congresswoman voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2007 and again in 2009, before it was ultimately signed into law by President Barack Obama. Moreover, she voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act -- which would add further protections to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 -- in 2008, 2013 and 2014. - Huffington Post, 8/12/14

The National Women’s Law Center, which show that West Virginia women earn just 70 cents on the dollar compared to men. Democrats like Capito's opponent, Secretary of State Natalie Tennant (D. WV), have used these statistics to hit Capito on her hypocrisy.

"Since Congresswoman Capito refuses to support paycheck fairness, maybe she would be willing to take just a portion of the salary her male colleagues earn in Congress and donate the rest to help West Virginia women pay their grocery and daycare bills," said Tennant spokeswoman Jennifer Donohue. It should be noted that the DSCC has not yet given up on this race so we will need to see how it plays out. Now in Oregon you have Dr. Monica Wehby (R. OR), the Koch Brothers and George Will's favorite candidate, had this to say about Equal Pay: http://www.msnbc.com/...

Monica Wehby said such legislation aimed at providing women the same opportunities as men would deny them careers. “I would be concerned that it would make it more difficult for businesses to hire women because of the fear of lawsuits. They would tend to steer away. And I think that that’s an unintended consequence of laws like this that increase regulation and legislation,” she said Sunday during an interview with a local news station in Portland. Senate Republicans in April rejected the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have held employees responsible for wage discrimination against women and would have required the U.S. Department of Labor to collect wage data from supervisors. Wehby said she supports equality for women in the workplace, but thinks there are flaws in the bill. “I would absolutely favor any legislation that supports equal pay for women, but this was a flawed piece of legislation,” she said. “It did not take into account experience, hours worked, education.” - MSNBC, 8/12/14

Here's a little more info: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

The bill, which fell along party lines, would prohibit retaliation against employees who share their salary information with each other, compel employers to show that wage differentials between men and women in the same jobs are due to a reason other than sex and would require the Department of Labor to collect wage data from employers, broken down into gender and race categories. Republicans have variously said the legislation is a "political distraction" and an election-year stunt by Democrats, that existing laws already prevent pay discrimination and that the bill would result in frivolous lawsuits. The numbers don't appear to bear out Republican fears: Complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which handles claims of wage discrimination at the federal level, didn’t increase substantially after President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, which was a bill narrower in scope. - Huffington Post, 8/12/14

Wehby has tried to attack her opponent, Senator Jeff Merkley (D. OR) on this issue: http://www.oregonlive.com/...

As a working mother of four, I am quite familiar with workplace issues regarding equal pay and discrimination. Based on actual experience, I know that Senator Merkley's approach to this issue is not only wrong, but will only exacerbate the problem of discrimination against women in our economy. The bill that Senator Merkley supports adds additional regulations, documentation and other administrative requirements that will have a harmful effect on women in the workplace. Senator Merkley's answer to this issue is typical of career politicians – more regulation, more red tape, and more government interference on small businesses. A bill like this will encourage job creators to look for labor substitution. This is an issue that I have encountered firsthand in my life, and I know it well enough to make creating real equality a priority when I'm in Washington. However, as is often the case with Senator Merkley – his intentions here result more in political optics than actual solutions. Work equality will be a top priority for me, but this bill will not come anywhere near accomplishing that goal. I would have voted no based on my workplace experiences and knowledge of how this legislation would have hurt women in the workplace. - The Oregonian, 7/18/14

Merkley's campaign of course has fired back:

"Monica Wehby supported the Supreme Court's decision to allow women's employers to deny them birth control coverage, she wants more Supreme Court justices who say they'd overturn Roe v. Wade and she thinks equal pay legislation would hurt women," Merkley spokeswoman Lindsey O’Brien said in a statement. "Monica Wehby's shocking belief that equal pay legislation would discourage businesses from hiring women is the latest proof Wehby is out of touch with Oregon, and her lockstep support for the reckless national Republican agenda would hurt Oregon families." Merkley has a double digit lead over Wehby but of course the Koch brothers are spending big to try and defeat him. Click here to donate and get involved with Tennant and Merkley's campaigns:

http://natalietennant.com/

http://www.jeffmerkley.com/

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