Key Vote NO on the Paycheck Fairness Act, S. 2199

As one of our over 6.6 million FreedomWorks activists nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to vote NO on the so-called “paycheck fairness act”. Sponsored by Senator Barbara Mikulski, this bill is a piece of political theatre which could have serious economic impact for no appreciable gain.

Progressive politicians continually use the perceived problem of pay inequality between men and women as a political issue, digging up the Paycheck Fairness Act every election year to highlight a supposed “war on women”. The problem is, when you compare actual economic data, in most industries there is no wage gap. Women who earn less than their male counterparts tend to do so because of life choices, rather than any demonstrable workplace discrimination.

Disregarding the facts, this bill creates a legal environment which promotes litigation against employers who are even suspected of discrimination – where the burden of proof (and legal expense) is on the employer. Ironically, employers may actually be incentivized against hiring women at all if they fear that any perceived paycheck discrepancy might lead to an expensive lawsuit.

At the end of the day, this bill addresses a largely non-existent problem in a way that is a giant boon to trial lawyers, not women, and its costs and incentives could actually hurt employment and economic growth.

Therefore, we hope that you will call your senators and ask them to vote NO on the “Paycheck Fairness Act”. FreedomWorks will count this vote as a Key Vote when calculating its Economic Freedom Scorecard for 2014. This scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the FreedomFighter Award, which recognizes Members of Congress who consistently vote to support economic freedom.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO,
FreedomWorks