83% is the highest it has ever been in history.

[Stinky The Clown]

That's the current percentage of the average man's wage that the average woman is now earning. That would seem a good thing.

Or is it?

Maybe what this says is that men's wages are falling. Maybe this is a foreshadowing of our race to the bottom and not the rise of women up the socioeconomic ladder.

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20100914/BUSINESS/100914013

[Warpy]

1. That's exactly what it means

because so many educated men are simply being unemployed while women, typically earning less in defiance of the law, are kept on.

It's not good news for either. It's terrible news for both.

[dkf]

3. Sobering news indeed.

[ClarkUSA]

2. Obama's first legislative win, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, is working to level the playing field. nt

[Luminous Animal]

6. At least 2 versions of The Lilly Ledbetter Act passed the house but not the Senate

before and during Obama's primary campaign. Lilly herself, through tireless lobbying, had far more to do with the introduction and passage of this legislation than Obama. Obama did sign it (while McCain said he, himself, wouldn't) but it wasn't his legistlation.

[ClarkUSA]

8. You're misinterpreting what I said.

When I said it was Pres. Obama's first legislative win, I meant in a macro sense in that passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first campaign promise he kept, thus it was, in effect, his first legislative win as POTUS. I certainly did not mean that it was his legislation per say.

With all due respect and massive kudos to Lilly Ledbetter's courage and determination, I have no doubt that Pres. Obama's enormous political capital after the election and personal lobbying on behalf of the bill helped convince enough Senators to vote for it, letting it pass through the Senate with little trouble.

The fair pay bill was the first legislation Obama has signed since taking office. It was also the target of veto threats from former President Bush after it was passed by the House in 2007. Last year Republican senators blocked a vote on the bill. The new Democratic-majority House and Senate quickly passed the legislation this year. Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, who attended the signing ceremony:

We are heartened that this legislation was made a top priority of the new Congress and administration, because it demonstrates a return to the common sense values of hard working Americans. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is one large step towards ensuring truly equal pay for equal work.

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/01/29/lilly-ledbetter-watches-as-obama-signs-fair-pay-act

It's clear that passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act "was made a top priority of the new Congress" solely because of President Obama's determination to keep his campaign promise to Lilly Ledbetter.

I only wish my mom had been a beneficiary of this legislation. In her time, she made half the pay of younger men she trained who promptly got promoted above her.

[Ozymanithrax]

4. Every cloud has a lining made of pure shit. n/t

[Elwood P Dowd]

5. 10 years ago I didn't know a single person that was unemployed.

Today, I know about a dozen. Every single one of them is male. I also know a couple of electrical engineers who are now working at big box stores for 25% of their previous salary. Their jobs were outsourced to China.

[Canuckistanian]

7. Maybe it's the free market saying that men are artificially overvalued

Hey, it's a thought.

[uncommon]

13. Shhhhh...

you can't say that here silly.

[applegrove]

9. In the bible a female slave is worth 3 stones while a male slave is worth 5. So we have not come

that far except for the part about being a slave.

[Scuba]

10. We're heading rapidly back towards slavery, if not already there....

...look, for instance, at inmates being farmed out to businesses to provide cheap labor.

Note that they're taking jobs away from others.

Note the number of pot smokers and other "victimless" criminals.

Note that the taxpayers pick up the healthcare for these workers.

Note the world's highest incarceration rate.

[SoCalDem]

11. and with more men losing jobs than women, the percentages

are bound to go up.. If a company lays off a bunch of men making $40K & up, and keeps the lower paid women, the percentages get skewed...and I'd bet that those women who kept their jobs, would not dare ask for a raise..and would willingly work off the clock or take work home with them:(

[Orsino]

12. More significantly, our combine average is getting closer to the Third World's. n/t