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Home Front: Politix
Roberts scoffed at equal-pay theory
2005-08-16
Edited for money quote:WASHINGTON — As an assistant White House counsel in 1984, John Roberts scoffed at the notion that men and women should earn equal pay in jobs of comparable importance, and he belittled three female Republican members of Congress who promoted that idea to the Reagan administration. The memo from Roberts, now President Bush's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, was a response to a letter that the three women — one of whom was Olympia Snowe of Maine, now a RINO U.S. senator — had sent to the administration. The women had said that the concept of "equal pay for equal work" had not sufficiently boosted women's wages because women were not in many of the same fields as men. The three were promoting the notion of equal pay for different jobs of comparable value, based on factors such as skills and responsibility.

In his memo to White House counsel Fred Fielding, Roberts said the women's letter "contends that more is required because women still earn only $0.60 for every $1 earned by men, ignoring the factors that explain that apparent disparity, such as seniority, the fact that many women frequently leave the work force for extended periods of time. ... I honestly find it troubling that three Republican representatives are so quick to embrace such a radical redistributive concept. Their slogan may as well be, 'From each according to his ability, to each according to her gender.' "
I want this man on the court just so he can write opinions like that.
Posted by:Steve

#7  Oh come on, you know you can't base things like this on -logic- or -common sense-. Those things are just so unfair to people who get what they deserve instead of what we say they should have. Logic is just so male-centric that it should be banned.

/sarcasm off.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2005-08-16 21:56  

#6  agreed - equal JOBS = equal pay...anything adjudicated by committee? Economic suicide and only the lawyers get rich
Posted by: Frank G   2005-08-16 20:26  

#5  Starting, SteveS?

Then you're way behind the rest of us.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-08-16 20:14  

#4  SteveS, you win the prize. That's exactly the way his opinion was explaned last night. Trying to equate bulldozer operator with a secretary just doesn't get it. His opinion is a woman bulldozer operator and a man bulldozer operator should get the same pay providing they have the same experience and seniority.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2005-08-16 14:24  

#3  I have no problem with equal pay for equal work in the proper situation (like the same job for the same employer)but to try and equate disimiliar jobs as being of " equal worth to society is just plain nuts.
Posted by: Cheaderhead   2005-08-16 13:30  

#2  What? Roberts scoffed at 'equal pay'? That heartless bastard!

But wait! If we actually read the article and not just the headline, he was sneering at the idea of 'jobs of comparable importance'. And how do we determine comparable importance? The categories are set by some Committe of the Proletariat for Job Categorization and the Promotion of Economic Justice and Equality (CPJCPEJE), of course. An idea definitely worthy of sneers

Gawd, I'm starting to hate the newspapers.
Posted by: SteveS   2005-08-16 13:13  

#1  My favorite one is when he asks: "Does this brief say what you want it to say, what I mean does it say nothing at all?" I hate to disagree with Ann Coulter but I think this guy is a keeper.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge   2005-08-16 13:12  

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