"Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006" was released by the U.S. Census Bureau in August of 2007. [1]
The publication states "The female-to-male earnings ratio of 0.77 in 2006 was not statistically different from the 2005 ratio..." In other words working women, on average, only earn 77% of what their male counterparts are paid.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it an “unlawful employment practice” to discriminate “against any individual with respect to compensation..." [2]
"Employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment."
43 years later women are still being discriminated against in the workplace as can be determined by the $3.1 million in monetary benefits paid out in 2006 for claims filed against employers. [3]
When the women in this country cannot receive equal pay, based on the law, should it come as any surprise that women are not treated equally in other areas?
The current election is a prime example - the two Democratic contenders should be provided equal time by the media, but inequality on the cable networks is running rampant. We're not sure how many times CNN has mentioned the name Obama, but it should be clear to everyone by now that CNN believes there is no one else in the race except Obama.
Remember the Harry and Louise ads when Hillary was trying to get universal health care passed in the 90's? "I don't want the government sticking its noise in my medicine cabinet."
Funny thing, the same people responsible for the Harry and Louise ads now want to stick their noses into every room of your house and follow you around wherever you go. But people don't seem to mind.
NBC Universal pulled the original video claiming patent rights, but our own interpretation is that the video showed how unfair and unbalanced the media are and have been. http://www.alternet.org/blogs/election08/77752
As we know from the media coverage of the primaries, Hillary has to do twice as well as Obama to get half as much praise.
But - what can you expect in a country that still hasn't managed to get enough states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment?
The ERA in Congress
ERA bills reintroduced in Congress on March 27, 2007:
The Equal Rights Amendment, first proposed in 1923, is still not part of the U.S. Constitution.
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