And it’s easy to see why — pay equity is important for women, families, and the national economy, which would see a $200 billion stimulus if women were paid equally to men for the same work.
Despite significant progress over the past few decades regarding equality and fairness for all citizens, women still earn just 78 cents to a man’s dollar and face barriers to fully participating as equal members in society. But even as women are calling for action to close the gender pay gap, Tea Party candidate for Congress Glenn Grothman wants to preserve the status quo.
Grothman, a standard-bearer for Scott Walker’s Republican Party, was a driving force behind repealing Wisconsin’s Equal Pay Enforcement Act, which made it easier for victims of workplace discrimination, such as wage discrimination, to sue their employer.
While the report cautions that Republicans who “deny the legitimacy” of pay equity will be seen as “out of touch with women’s life experiences,” Glenn Grothman has doubled down on opposing pay equity. In fact, Grothman actually believes that, “You could argue that money is more important for men,” and that because men “expect to be a breadwinner someday,” they, “may be a little more money-conscious.”
No, that was not out of an episode of “Mad Men.” It was in 2012.
Grothman went even further earlier this month at a primary debate where he commented that he would like to turn the clock back to the 1950s and that we ought to have a special commission to “see what we can do to help the men.”
“Glenn Grothman’s warped and skewed vision of the world would be comical if he wasn’t working so hard to make it a reality,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Thursday. “Women and men in the 6th Congressional district and around the nation understand that pay equity isn’t just an issue of fairness – it’s an economic issue that impacts all working families.”
