President Obama Signs Equal-Pay Bill

I found an article this morning..While it may not be "bigfoot related", ladies it's a historic day.

Find out what this means to you.

While this type of legislation took long enough, it's finally here and the contribution to companies and corporations made by women across this country is finally being recognized.

In your paycheck.

The lady standing to President Obama's left is Lily Ledbetter. While Lily lost her fight in the Supreme Court against Goodyear, she continued on and fought for the rights of women (through legislation) to receive equal pay for work they perform. Work men were doing and receiving more pay for. This wage discrepency has been an issue in this country for many years. That has come to an end. I should say, it should come to and end, if it does not - there are now serious rammifications for employers.

As part of that "next generation", I would like to say thank you. It is never easy for anyone to take a fight as far as Lily did. I have seen the discouraged looks on more than one face of someone who was facing a legal battle, and Lily's fight was by far one of the biggest struggles facing women. What she endured could not have been easy. Lily continued and now employers will be held responsible for being certain the women they employ are being treated "financially" the same as their male counterparts.

It's women like this I admire.

Thank you Lily!!!!!!!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090129/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama signed an equal-pay bill into law Thursday before cheering labor and women leaders who fought hard for it and the woman whose history-making lawsuit gave impetus to the cause.

Obama, choosing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as the first bill to sign as president, called it a "wonderful day" and declared that ending pay disparities between men and woman an issue not just for women, but for all workers.

With Ledbetter standing by his side, Obama said she lost more than $200,000 in salary, and even more in pension and Social Security benefits losses that she "still feels today." He then signed the measure that effectively nullifies a 2007 Supreme Court decision and makes it easier for workers to sue for discrimination by allowing them more time to do so.

"Making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone," Obama said. "That there are no second class citizens in our workplaces, and that it's not just unfair and illegal — but bad for business — to pay someone less because of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion or disability."

Ledbetter said she didn't become aware of the large discrepancy in her pay until she neared the end of her 19-year career at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, Ala, and she filed a lawsuit. But the high court held in a 5-4 decision that she missed her chance to bring the action.

Obama appeared before a jammed East Room audience, and his entrance and many lines of his brief remarks were met with happy applause and yells. He paid special tribute to Ledbetter, who fought for the bill even though it won't allow her to recover any money for herself.

And in the room were the living symbols of this fight: Nancy Pelosi, first woman speaker of the House, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who took her pursuit of the presidency further than any other woman, even though she ultimately lost to Obama in the Democratic primary season.

Of Ledbetter, Obama exclaimed: "This grandmother from Alabama kept on fighting, because she was thinking about the next generation."

First lady Michelle Obama hosted a reception after the ceremony in the State Dining Room.

Ledbetter became a regular feature in Obama's campaign for the White House, addressing the Democratic National Convention in Denver last year and traveling to Washington aboard Obama's train for the inauguration ceremonies. Obama spoke strongly in support of legislation to change the Supreme Court decision during his campaign and the Democratic-controlled Congress moved it to the top of the agenda for the new session that opened this month.

The high court had a person must file a claim of discrimination within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay a worker less than it pays another worker doing the same job. Under the new bill, given final passage in Congress this week, every new discriminatory paycheck would extend the statute of limitations for another 180 days.

Congress attempted to update the law to extend the time, but the Bush White House and Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in the last session of Congress.

Opponents contended the legislation would gut the statute of limitations, encourage lawsuits and be a boon to trial lawyers. They also argued that employees could wait to file claims in hopes of reaping larger damage awards. The bill does not change current law limiting back pay for claimants to two years.

Obama cited Census Bureau figures that women still receive only about 78 cents for every dollar that men get for doing equivalent jobs — "women of color even less," he said.

"Today, in the year 2009, countless women are still losing thousands of dollars in salary, income and retirement savings over the course of a lifetime," he said.

This is more than just a women's issue, said Obama.

"It's about parents who find themselves with less money for tuition or child care; couples who wind up with less to retire on; households where, when one breadwinner is paid less than she deserves, that's the difference between affording the mortgage or not; between keeping the heat on, or paying the doctor's bills or not," Obama said.

The measure, which amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act, also applies to discrimination based on factors such as race, religion, national origin, disability or age.

This is interesting.. How did your Senator Vote on this Legislation January 22? Pay attention to party lines. The divide is stunning..

Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---61

Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN) Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL) Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-ME) Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA) Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA) Hutchison(R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD)
Kaufman (D-DE) Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR)
McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK) Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL) Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller(D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH) Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA) Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM) Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---36

Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY)
Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC) Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH) Hatch (R-UT)
Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE) Kyl (R-AZ)
Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL) Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH) Wicker (R-MS)

Not Voting - 1

Kennedy (D-MA)