Republicans in US Senate say SCREW YOU to Americans. Pay discrimination OK.

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

Or, should I say that Republicans in the US Senate say SCREW YOU to Americans, again (still)?

From AP:

Senate Republicans killed legislation Wednesday aimed at removing limits on how long workers can wait before suing their employers for pay discrimination.

Democrats, speaking to key constituencies of women, minorities and swing voters this election year, said they weren’t finished trying to pass the bill.

I don’t know which sentence above is more depressing.  I do know that the information contained in both is damning for both Republicans and Democrats.  The Republicans for being corporate whores and the Democrats for being election year whores.

Debate on the legislation, which was proposed in response to a Supreme Court decision last year, was steeped in election-year politics and shadowed by a White House veto threat.

snip

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 last May 29 to throw out her complaint, saying she had waited too long to sue. Under the justices’ decision, which they said was based on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, an employee must sue within a 180-day deadline of a decision involving pay if the employee thinks it involved race, sex, religion or national origin.

So, our esteemed Right leaning US Supreme Court decided that if you wait more than 180 days from the time you were discriminated against by an employer, in their estimation the statute of limitations on your complaint has expired.  (If anyone asks you why putting a Democratic Candidate in the White House this election cycle is a MUST, see Appointments – Court, US SUPREME).

The vote sparked dueling news conferences Wednesday in which leaders of both parties accused each other of playing politics with key voting blocs in a year when the presidency, every House seat and a third in the Senate are on the ballot.

Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama swung through Washington to speak from short, prepared statements in favor of the legislation. It was the first time in months that both candidates spoke on the Senate floor, an indication of the bill’s importance to voters the two are fighting for in their ongoing battle for their party’s nomination.

But Republicans were unified against it enough to muster 42 votes to supporters’ 56 votes. The bill passed the House in July, 225-199.

This case came about due to a lawsuit filed by an Alabama woman by the name of Lilly Ledbetter.  Ms. Ledbetter had worked her way up to a supervisory position at her place of employment, and one day an anonymous person left a note for her that detailed how much less she was being paid than other male supvisors that were at or below her level.  When Ms. Ledbetter retired, she made $6,500.00 less than the male supervisor that was receiving the least pay of the remaining supervisors.

Needless to say, she obviously waited more than 180 days from the time that this anonymous information was made available to her, as the Supreme Dip Sticks threw the case out.

Congress, not agreeing with the Supremes decided to put into place a bill that was far more fair to those employees that are discriminated against, but to no avail.  The Republican Party of Greed wins again!

The high court’s ruling, said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., leaves a “gaping loophole” in civil rights laws.

“Our legislation closes this loophole by making clear that as long as the discrimination continues, a worker’s right to challenge it continues as well,” he said.

In a statement, the White House said, “The bill far exceeds the stated purpose of undoing the court’s decision,” and could effectively waive the statute of limitations in such cases and burden courts with claims.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said the legislation would allow people to file discrimination suits against employers for deeds decades old.

“If they’re discriminated against, we need to make sure there is timely evidence so the prosecution can be thorough,” Isakson said.

America, there is no level playing field when Republicans are in charge of YOUR government.  Because they think it’s THEIR government, and BTW,

SCREW YOU, America

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