President Obama Signs Fair Pay Act
by Kelly
I don’t know about you, but when I heard about this tonight I couldn’t help but smile! Finally, we have legislation concerning the wage gap (Hey MRAs, even our President knows it exists!). Here’s an excerpt from the NY Times article:
“It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign — the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — we are upholding one of this nation’s first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness,” the president said.
He said was signing the bill not only in honor of Ms. Ledbetter — who stood behind him, shaking her head and clasping her hands in seeming disbelief — but in honor of his own grandmother, “who worked in a bank all her life, and even after she hit that glass ceiling, kept getting up again” and for his daughters, “because I want them to grow up in a nation that values their contributions, where there are no limits to their dreams.”
Read the full article here.
- Dollface
Photo Courtesy The NY Times
At the risk of sounding ungrateful…
Why in the world did it take a decade into the 21st century to make this happen?
The feminist movement started in the 1800 for crying out loud. And all it took was just a few days into the new president’s term for this strike of the pen?
I may end up having to eat my words dollface.
@ eksith — I can’t agree with you more. I was so shocked when I saw this, not only because it’s great, but because I couldn’t believe how quick and easy it was for Obama to sign it.
@ Ian — :)
How fantastic! How truly fantastic!
But, doesn’t it have to go through the other branches before it’s actually passed? (forgive me, I’m a little rusty when it comes to how the government actually works)
Still…yay!
Jackie
Once Obama signed the bill, it became law. He was the gatekeeper so to speak, it had already passed House and Senate scrutiny. There is one more challenge, the Supreme Court has to declare the law as Constitutional, but that hasn’t really been a challenge as of late. I don’t want this to come across as rude or nasty, as the intent is not as such. I recommend this as a good, fun refresher http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ
Oh, total awesome! This is a real success story. I loved hearing Lilly talk too. She pursued this regardless of hte fact she’d never benefit financially from it. She knew in her heart it was right. Huzzahs!
@ Jackie — I think it already went through Congress, or at least I’m pretty sure that’s what the article says.
@ Dolly — It’s awesome
This is great but its only on paper now.
The next step is to actually enact it. And this is fully a participation of employees and employers while setting up also a feedback system.
Jackie – No, the bill’s already been through Congress. President Obama signing it into law is the last step, so it’s a done deal now.
And as far as the ‘it was so quick and easy for Obama to do this!’ stuff, let’s just make sure we don’t forget that while having a president who understood the importance of this bill and was happy to sign it was essential, women like Senator Barbara Mikulski and Lilly Ledbetter herself have been working for this for years. (Not that I think any of you would forget that, but it’s worth saying.)
Sorry Ian your comments were in the spam folder for some unknown reason. I just retrieved them!
Its ok!
That is amazing, and completely fantastic :) Hooray!
didn’t they sign something similar to this in the ’60s? i hope it works!