Talk about a perfect follow-up to the story about women losing seven times as many jobs as men since President Obama’s taken office. The Washington Free Beacon’s Andrew Stiles reports on the gender pay gap in the White House:
Female employees in the Obama White House make considerably less than their male colleagues, records show.
According to the 2011 annual report on White House staff, female employees earned a median annual salary of $60,000, which was about 18 percent less than the median salary for male employees ($71,000).
The Obama campaign on Wednesday lashed out at presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney for his failure to immediately endorse the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, a controversial law enacted in 2009 that made it easier to file discrimination lawsuits.
President Obama has frequently criticized the gender pay gap, such as the one that exists in White House.
Why the large wage discrepancy in a White House that has regularly railed against the gender pay gap in the workforce? HotAir’s Allahpundit raises a few theories:
In some industries there may be a nondiscriminatory reason for a gender gap in pay, e.g., men may be overrepresented in jobs that require lots of strength or dangerous duties, which in turn may pay better because of the risk. But that’s surely not the case in the cubicle utopia of the West Wing. The most obvious explanation in an office setting is that men tend to earn more because there are more of them in senior positions. Is that true, champ? If so, how come?
If the White House’s defense is that women aren’t equally represented in senior positions, let’s see David Axelrod take that case to the public.
It really is baffling that President Obama would make the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act into a campaign issue when his own house is literally not living up to the standards he’s demanding from others. Perhaps the Democratic Party thought the issue would instantly push the GOP into defense mode and the White House’s own failings would never become an issue. Clearly, they miscalculated. While Democrats are trying to win over women voters by claiming Republicans are waging a war on female reproductive rights, the women’s vote tends to be influenced far more by economic issues. Judging from that, the stories today about how women workers are faring under Obama will be very effective messaging points for Republicans.
Right you are. It’s a function of far fewer women in senior positions. The people who count on the (huge) White House staff (setting aside those “detailed” from other agencies) hold the titles “assistant to the president,” “special assistant to the president,” and “deputy assistant to the president” along with some specializes titles like press secretary, communications director, counsel and associate counsel (of course, even these comprise a large group, while most power is held by about a dozen top aides). Men outnumber women within this senior group by more than two to one.
The Big Lie thrives on stroking the egos of the duped. By giving them a sense of superiority over ones enemies, the duped lose their critical perspective of the demagogues that stroke their narcissistic tendencies. n nTraditionally a free media would help keep perspective, but when journalists are fawning for the privilege of proximity to the demagogue there is nothing to mitigate the self-righteous spree and the Big Lie can take hold. n nObama cannot be re-elected without the women's vote and the White House will go all out to protect their lead. That means more lies, obfuscation, intimidation, and whatever else is necessary. n nThis story will remain a relic of conservative media and will have no impact on the national dialog.