Want Equal Pay? Vote GOP

Well, well, well. The sainted Sen. Barack Obama is found discriminating against women in his Senate office. In contrast, Sen. John McCain has more women working for him, and pays better. Which party really cares about women, hmm? Barack Obama is a TOTAL HYPOCRITE on this issue. HT Marathon Pundit. Deroy Murdock, Seattle PI:

Obama's 28 male staffers divided among themselves total payroll expenditures of $1,523,120. Thus, Obama's average male employee earned $54,397.

Obama's 30 female employees split $1,354,580 among themselves, or $45,152, on average.

Why this disparity? One reason may be the under-representation of women in Obama's highest-compensated ranks. Among Obama's five best-paid advisors, only one was a woman. Among his top 20, seven were women.

Again, on average, Obama's female staffers earn just 83 cents for every dollar his male staffers make. This figure certainly exceeds the 77-cent threshold that Obama's campaign website condemns. However, 83 cents do not equal $1. In spite of this 17-cent gap between Obama's rhetoric and reality, he chose to chide GOP presidential contender John McCain on this issue.

Obama responded Aug. 31 to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's Republican vice-presidential nomination. Palin "seems like a very engaging person," Obama told voters in Toledo, Ohio. "But I've got to say, she's opposed -- like John McCain is -- to equal pay for equal work. That doesn't make much sense to me."

Obama's criticism notwithstanding, McCain's payment patterns are the stuff of feminist dreams.

McCain's 17 male staffers split $916,914, thus averaging $53,936. His 25 female employees divided $1,396,958 and averaged $55,878.

On average, according to these data, women in John McCain's office make $1.04 for every dollar a man makes. In fact, all other things being equal, a typical female staffer could earn 21 cents more per dollar paid to her male counterpart -- while adding $10,726 to her annual income -- by leaving Barack Obama's office and going to work for John McCain.

No wonder women are jumping from the Dem ship to the Good Ship McCain-Palin.

Apparently words don't mean things for Barack Obama. His promises are as empty as his track record. The Barackstar has suggested running his celebrity campaign is his claim of experience to run the country, so he can't dodge the responsibility for running his own office. Is this how Barack Obama would run the government? In a slipshod and discriminatory way? We have seen this inattention to the hard work of governance in his handling his own state Senate district in Illinois--gee, he didn't know his fundraiser Rezko's buildings were falling apart--didn't know about the growing defaults on the Rezko "affordable" housing properties his law firm was handling, not even those in his own district.

Let's look at the country as a whole, though. Which party has the better track record when it comes to advancing women's pay? In today's WSJ, University of Chicago economics professor Casey B. Mulligan examines labor market data from the Census Bureau since the 1960's:

Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joseph Biden have proclaimed that they favor equal pay for women, and have alleged that Republicans do not. Sen. Biden has also insisted that Republicans, including vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, represent a step backwards for women. The economic record says exactly the opposite.[snip]

Sen. Obama says that he wants equal pay for women. If the historical record is any guide, the best way to achieve this is to work for a labor market that creates opportunities for women like it did during the Reagan and the Bush years. At the Reagan-Bush years' pace, the gender wage gap in 2016 would be down to about 12%. At the Carter-Clinton years' pace, women will not see new opportunities, and the gender pay gap will be essentially where it is today.

Want equal pay? Vote GOP. Vote John McCain and Sarah Palin.

P.S. And Barack? You might want to stop patronizing Sarah. It's not working.

UPDATE: ABC's Tapper picks it up. Obama says he has lots of women on his campaign staff. At least one, Patti Solis Doyle, is an ex-Hillary staffer. Doubtless others were pulled on board to placate Hillary voters. The real question is what happens after the election? Barack Obama does not inspire confidence.