[applause] lilly ledbetter did not just make this up. [laughter] the court, when they looked up the documents, they said you have been ending pay less for doing the same job. it's been happening so long, you cannot do anything about it anymore, which made no sense and why we had decided another bill. it's basic math that adds up to real money. it makes a real difference for a lot of americans working hard to support their families. of course, the fact that we have gotten some resistance from some people on this issue on capitol hill just fits within the larger problem, this vision that congressional republicans seem to be continually embracing this notion that you are just on your own, no matter how unfair things are. you see it in their budget. the budget the republicans in congress just put forward is like a bad rerun giving massive tax cuts to households making more than $1 million. or and force deep cuts that would actually help families by early education and job training and of course it includes the novel idea of repealing the aff

ledbetter mentioned, the original bill -- >> she said the opposite. she said your party is allowing this to become a partisan issue. >> no, no, she said ourjally it was a bipartisan bill and was passed accordingly. i understand that, but you're absolutely right. i think there's an opportunity here for republicans to have a little bit of me too, first off by stating we obviously are for equal pay for equal work for everyone, including women, especially women since they make up such a significant portion of the work force, but there is a certain level of political opportunism on both sides that comes into play. and the fact is -- >> what's the opportunity for republicans to fight this? why are you guys fighting this? >> i think there's an opportunity to put in context exactly what goes on in the workplace. there's a lot behind that 70% number that the president and others on the left like to tout. i mean, women have a lot of different choices they have to make. some unfortunate, some fortunate choices that they make with respect to their engagement in i

this is lilly ledbetter, she is the woman behind what is known as the lilly ledbetter fair pay act.he found out she made about a thousand dollars less per year than the lowest paid male counterpart. >> when the supreme court decided in 2007 that goodyear has been paying me unfairly long enough to make it legal -- [ laughter ] >> i knew i wasn't ready to give up my fight for fair pay. less than two years later, congress passed the lilly ledbetter fair pay act, and president obama -- [ cheers and applause ] >> and president obama made history with his signature on the bill. [ applause ] >> it was the very first bill -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- first bill he signed, sending a clear message about his priorities. standing behind the president as he signed my namesake bill into law was one of the greatest moments of my life. yet i knew and the president knew that my bill was just an important first step in the fight for fair pay. in the five years since, we have seen my bill's companion legislation, the paycheck fairness act stalled in congress with little movement in the fight for f

well, thanks to my friend lilly ledbetter.a simple principle. equal pay for equal work. it's not that complicated. and lilly, i assure you you remain the face of fair pay. people don't want my mug on there. they want your face. as lilly mentioned, she did not set out to be a trailblazer. she was somebody who was working every day, going to work, doing her job, best that she could. then one day she finds out, after years, that she earned less than her male colleagues for doing the same job. i want to make that point again. doing the same job. sometimes when you -- when we discuss this issue of fair pay, equal pay for equal work and the pay gap between men and women, you'll hear all sorts of excuses. well, they are child bearing and their choosing to do this and they are this and that and other. she was doing the same job, probably doing it better. same job. [ applause ] >> working just as hard, probably putting in more hours, but she was getting systemically paid less. and so she set out to make sure the country lived up to its

he is flanked by lilly ledbetter there. she is the person who sued goodyear tire and rubber when she found out that she cede approximately $1,000 less than the lowest-paid male employ employee. he supreme court agreeing that she had been treated unfairly, but saying she waited too long to sue. our mike viqueira at the white house. mike explain to us these two laws that the president is signing right now. >> you heard the president say the statistics, $0.77 on the dollar that's what the average woman makes for every dollar the average male makes. you cited lilly ledbetter there, the first law the president signed into law -- the first bill he signed in to law. and you may have noticed the president using a pen for each letter of his name? plenty of souvenirs to go around there. it would ban companies -- federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss their compensation in the workplace. no retaliation, he is also signing an executive action that would require federal contractors, of course those who do bus

lilly ledbetter didn't just make this up. the court when it looked at the document said, yeah, you've been getting paid less for doing the same job. it's just the court then said, it's been as lilly said it's been happening so long you can't do anything about it no more. which made no sense and that's why we had to sign another bill. it's basic math that adds up to real money and makes a real difference for a lot of americans working hard to support their families. and of course, the fact that we've got resistance from some folks on this issue up on capitol hill, just fits with this larger problem, this vision that the congressional republicans seem to be continually embracing this notion that you know what, you're on your own, no matter how unfair things are. you see it in their budget. the budget the republicans in congress just put forward last week. it's like a bad rerun. it would give massive tax cuts to households making more than $1 million a year and force deep cuts to help working families, like early education and c

fought this issue in the supreme court and the act named after her, the lilly ledbetter fair pay act bill was the first president obama signed when he came into office. >> thank you for having me. it's a pleasure to be here. >> so many people around the country have watched your long fight on this and eager to get your reaction today. what do you pay about the pay disparity in the white house itself? >> the news today is just wonderful because it's been something that i've been fighting and lobbying for ever since the ledbetter bill was signed because had this today paycheck fairness been the law or this thing, this executive order i signed today but having the government contractors be followed and make sure that they are adhering to the law, if this had been the law back in my day, i wouldn't be here because i would be at home drawing the proper retirement i had legally earned through my working career. i could not discuss my pay and couldn't find out and worked for an employer that had government contracts from the time i walked in until my retirement. and this would have been so

well, lilly ledbetter dealt with the statute of limitations. what this bill is is deal with other issues. no longer can workers be retaliated against for sharing wages. for years lilly, and she tells her own story, she's the story of many, was harassed and humiliated for asking questions about coworkers' salaries. she found out that the guys were making more because of an anonymous note that was sent to her. somewhere in the vast corporation of goodyear, for whom she worked, a contractor, a federal contractor, by the way, there was somebody, probably a wonderful man who worked with her, who wanted to help her out and told her. but then she went on to try to do something. well, guess what? she faced retaliation. first she faced verbal harassment. she faced threats to her very safety. she faced sexual intimidation. she really got it thrown right back in her face and every day became a torture in the workplace, but she pressed on. that happens to women all over america. now, the other thing is -- and we can't allow that. when you stand up for your

we want to finish the job that we began with lilly ledbetter five years ago. five years ago one of the first bills passed during the obama administration was that we passed the lilly ledbetter bill which reopened the courthouse door to women who wanted to seek redress for the way they were treated unequally in the workplace. but we need to finish the job, and that's what paycheck fairness does. what does finish the job mean? well, right now in the united states of america there is a veil of secrecy, a veil of secrecy. and where is it? in the workplace. right now in many companies and businesses, employees are forbidden to talk about the pay that they receive with another employee. the other thing is in many places when an employer seeks redress, she's retaliated against. and last but not at all least, there are loopholes that many employers use to justify women paying less. they invite -- they invent excuses and they call them business necessity explanations. well, we're on the floor today to say we want to end the soft bigotry of low -- the low wages for wome

orders he signed with lilly ledbetter, the woman who leant her name to the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. >> today the average full-time working woman earns just 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. some say the pay gap doesn't exist. they say it's a myth. but it's not a miyth. it's math. you can look at the paychecks. you can look at the stubs. >> in fact looking at the stubs got easier for some workers today thanks to the president's action. the first order signed by the president bars federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss their compensation. the second requires contractors doing business with the federal government to include information about gender and race when reporting their pay data. the president is also pushing congress to pass the paycheck fairness act which would essentially apply those two orders to the private sector along with other provisions like allowing workers to seek punitive damages from employers. and while the senate plans a vote to open debate on the bill tomorrow morning, it's expected to fall short of the 60 votes needed. meanwhi

thanks to my friend lily ledbetter.nly for that introduction but for fighting for a simple principle. equal pay for equal work. it's not that complicated. and, lily, i assure you, you remain the face of fair pay. people don't want my mug on there. they want your face. you know, as lily mentioned, she did not set out to be a trailblazer. she's just somebody eithvery da going to work, the best that she could. and then one day she finds out after years that she earned less than her male colleagues for doing the same job. i want to make that point again. doing the same job. you know, sometimes when we discuss this issue of fair pay, equal pay for equal work, and the pay gap between men and women, you'll hear all sorts of excuses. well, they're child bearing and they're choosing to do this and they're this and they're that and the other. she was doing the same job. probably doing it better. the same job. working just as hard, probably putting in more hours. but she was getting systematically paid less. and so she set out to

the president is joined by lilly ledbetter. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states accompanied by mrs. lilly ledbetter. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. [applause] thank you and good morning. my name is lilly ledbetter and i am honored to stand here today on behalf of women everywhere who are struggling to make ends meet because of the gender pay gap. my perm story of unfair pagan in 1979 when i started at good year tire and rubber company. i thought a job at good year could help put my two children through college and enable my husband and i have to financial security in retirement. as the only female supervisor, i persevered through daily harassment and took as little leave as possible because i never knew if my job would be waiting when i returned. almost two decades into my career at goodyear, i received an anonymous note that said i was being paid thousands of dollars less than my male counterparts. all i could think about is how much my family had done without and h

this is lilly ledbetter, she is the woman behind what is known as the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. she found out she made about a thousand dollars less per year counterpart. >> when the supreme court decided in 2007 that goodyear has been paying me unfairly long enough to make it legal -- [ laughter ] >> i knew i wasn't ready to give up my fight for fair pay. less than two years later, congress passed the lilly president obama -- [ cheers and applause ] >> and president obama made the bill. [ applause ] bill -- [ cheers and applause ] >> -- first bill he signed, sending a clear message about his priorities. standing behind the president as he signed my namesake bill into law was one of the greatest moments of my life. yet i knew and the president knew that my bill was just an important first step in the fight for fair pay. in the five years since, we have seen my bill's companion legislation, the paycheck fairness act stalled in congress with little movement in the fight for fair pay. that is until today. folks often refer to me as the face of fair pay. but for today at least, that

. >> now, the woman you see standing next to the president there is lily ledbetter, and she's the woman who worked at goodyear tire for 19 years making 40% less than her male co-workers until one of them wrote her an anonymous note exposing her pay gap. the actions build on the fair pay act that bears her name. she spoke to my colleague about today's actions. >> if this had been a law back in my day, i wouldn't be here because i would be at home drawing the proper retirement that i had legally earned through my working career. >> today republicans are firing back calling equal pay and the president's actions a political ploy. >> so on this equal payday, i would urge us to stop politicizing women and let's start focussing on those policies that are actually going to help women and everyone in this country have a better life. >> now, in all fairness, this is a medicine term election year, and the president is and has been working hard to rally his base. our nbc first reid team points out the reasons why firing up the female base is key. women have made the difference between democrats win

well, thanks to my friend, lilly ledbetter. not only for that instruction but for fighting for a simple principle. equal pay for equal work. it's not that complicated. and lilly, i assure you, you will remain the face of fair pay. people don't want my mug on the. they want your face. [laughter] as lilly mentioned, she did not set out to be a trailblazer. she was just someone who is working every day, going to work, doing her job as best as she could. then one day she finds out, after years, that she earned less than their male colleagues for doing the same job. i want to make that point again. [laughter] doing the same job. you know, sometimes when we discussed this issue of fair pay, equal pay for equal work, and the pay gap between men and women, you will hear all sorts of excuses. well, their childbearing and they're choosing to do this and there's this and that and the other. she was doing the same job, probably doing it better. [laughter] applaud the same job. working just as hard, probably putting in more hours. but she w

what specifically does that do that the lilly ledbetter act didn't do? >> thank you so much for asking, because i really want to clarify this. the lilly ledbetter act fixed a loophole that the supreme court opened up in a very damaging decision. it was not actually a step forward on ratifying -- on rectifying this concern. it was fixing a problem the supreme court created. the paycheck fairness act, on the other hand, would be the first legislation in decades, in like 40 to 50 years to actually move us forward. and it does that by making sure that women's access to the courts is very similar to folks who are discriminated against on the basis of race in their pay. this is not some sort of new radical litigation that women would be able to bring in the courts. this is the type of litigation and protection against discrimination that other groups have enjoyed for a long time and that builds on the work from 40 or 50 years ago. >> i want to thank sandra for getting up so early and joining us this morning. i know molly wanted to get in and she will as soon a

we want to finish the job that we began with lilly ledbetter five years ago. five years ago one of the first bills passed during the obama administration was that we passed the lilly ledbetter bill which reopened the courthouse door to women who wanted to seek redress for the way they were treated unequally in the workplace. but we need to finish the job, and that's what paycheck fairness does. what does finish the job mean? well, right now in the united states of america there is a veil of secrecy, a veil of secrecy. and where is it? in the workplace. right now in many companies and businesses, employees are forbidden to talk about the pay that they receive with another employee. the other thing is in many places when an employer seeks redress, she's retaliated against. and last but not at all least, there are loopholes that many employers use to justify women paying less. they invite -- they invent excuses and they call them business necessity explanations. well, we're on the floor today to say we want to end the soft bigotry of low -- the low wages for wome

lily ledbetter, the name sake of the women's rights bill the president signed back in 2009 has endorsed grimes and put her name on e-mails to donors. ledbetter will be on hand today, boy the way, at the white house as the president signs those executive orders. now, back in washington, the dsec is launching a gop pay gap campaign to attack republicans over the wage issue. make no mistake, the white house is fully involved in this campaign as well. the president has held about half a dozen events focused on women and girls this year. there are several more on economic opportunity. even mentioning equal pay in his state of the union address. all of this is a clear sign the administration is going all in on this issue of closing the wage gap in an attempt to gain some traction before the midterms. the effort hit a bit of a bump on monday when critics brought up a study by a conservative group claiming that the white house had its own wage gap. the administration's own figures show that women staffers make on average $9,000 less than men. now, carney pushed back on monday, insisting that th

as crystal alluded to this morning, lily ledbetter is such an important piece of this conversation toactually have a story that we can all look to to advance this conversation, but igor, thank you so much for joining us. >>> in addition to being equal payday, an important note for ice cream lovers. it's also free cone day at the ben and jerry's. they taste even better when it's free. >>> talk about a treat your news cycle. that's next. sfx: car unlock beep. vo: david's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. and you'll see just how much it has to offer, especially if you're thinking of moving an old 401(k) to a fidelity ira. it gives you a wide range of investment options... and the free help you need to make sure your investments fit your goals -- and what you're really investing for. tap into the full power of your fidelity green line. call today and we'll make it easy to move that old 401(k) to

lilly ledbetter was there. as i know the presiding officer recalls, lilly ledbetter has been one of the leaders on pay equity. she worked at goodyear for over 20 years. after being there for two decades, she found out from one of her co-workers who anonymously passed on information about what people were making that for 20 years she was receiving less compensation for doing the exact same work that her male counterparts were doing. she had no idea about this. there was no justification for the difference. so she decided that she would do something about it, not just for herself but for those who are in the workplace should be treated fairly, so she brought action. she took this case all the way to the supreme court of the united states, and guess what the supreme court did. they said you know, lilly ledbetter, you're right, you were discriminated against, you were paid less because of your gender, but guess what? because it's been going on for so long, you don't have any remedy. now, that's absolutely ridiculou

a lot of people understand the lilly ledbetter case. lilly ledbetter worked at a tire company. she was a manager. she was considered one of the top people in the company that did this work. she found out she was getting paid thousands of dollars less by the owner of the tire factory. and she sued. she won in a lawsuit at the lower level, and then she -- it went all the way to the supreme court, and they said, sorry, you waited too long to file your lawsuit. what? she said, i couldn't find out about it, and i didn't find out about it, she said, until a coworker left me a note and said, lilly, i admire you, you're great. do you know you're getting x thousands less a year than your male counterpart? but she didn't find it out for many, many years. so we have to fix that problem, and barbara mikulski and the president led us and he signed the bill, the lilly ledbetter which extends statute of limitations so when you find out you've been discriminated against, you can bring a lawsuit. all this says is you can find out for sure earlier by just asking someone. so i am just in shock. a

the lily ledbetter act was the first step in this direction.ow the president's taking additional steps what, five years later? so why has it taken so long to move on and make sure this really does happen in our country? >> well, every single year, the president has been supporting a piece of legislation that is sitting up on the hill right now called paycheck fairness. that law would do the same thing he did today by executive order, except it would apply to all employers. our goal is to get congress to act to cover all employers. as he said n thin this year's s of the action, where congress fails to act, he will take action. yet he's still pushing congress to pass a very important legislation that would benefit every single woman out there who has no idea whether or not she's being discriminated against, does not have access to data that would show whether or not. and is concerned her employers might retaliate against her in the event she starts to ask what other people are making. >> in the house of representatives is basically saying what yo

he said, "the ledbetter act ensures equal pay for equal work." well, if that's true -- and i believe it is -- then why offer this additional legislation, if it's not purely a political exercise designed to posture and perhaps distract people from the things they're upset about, like obamacare, leading into the midterm elections? well, we're now being told that unless we pass the so-called paycheck fairness act -- or the trial lawyer giveaway -- employers will be able to discriminate against women. well, that's nonsense. that's not true. i don't know how you can say it any more strongly other than to call it the lie that it is. even before the lilly ledbetter action, equal pay for equal work has been the law of the land since the 1960's. as "the wall street journal" once observed, the paycheck fairness act should really be called the trial lawyer paycheck act because that's who would benefit from the this bill, were it to become the law of the land. of course, as i mentioned a moment ago, the majority leader doesn't really expect this to pass, but

i mean, lily ledbetter didn't just make this up. the court, when it looked at the documents said yeah, you've been getting paid less for doing the same job. the court then said -- as lily said, it's been happening so long, you can't do anything about it anymore. which makes no sense. that's why we have to sign another bill. it's basic math that adds up to real money. it makes a real difference for a lot of americans who are working hard to support their families. and, of course, the fact that we've got some resistance from some folks on this issue up on capitol hill just fits with this larger problem, this vision that the congressional republicans seem to be continually embracing. this notion that, you know, you're just on your own, no matter how unfair things are. you see it in their budget. the budget the republicans in congress just put forward last week. it's like a bad rerun. it would give massive tax cuts to households making more than $1 million a year, force deep cuts to things that actually help working families, like early

many of you may know the story with lilly ledbetter fair pay act. she was working for good year and had no idea she was being paid less and an anonymous tipster told her through a note. a woman who was working as a human resource manager learned that two men, who held the same position, and less load, were earning more. and partly because of her role as a human resource agent she was able to piece the records together through access in her employment. but most people are not in that position. and the particular challenge is when a workplace prohibits people from talking about pay by subjecticing them to discipline if they discuss their pay and that makes it impossible to know if they are being paid the same as others in the workplace. >> i want to move to edward montgomery because you have worn different hats. you have been in an administration with enforcement responsibility and you have the perspective as an economist as well. the issue of fair pay. tell us why fair pay matters. why does it matter from an economic perspective? >> i think you can s

in fact, i just left a round table discussion with lily ledbetter who after whom the famous lily ledbetterorking for a federal contractor and a part of her problem was she had no idea for 19 years that she was not receiving equal pay and by the time she found out, the statute of limitations to bring a lawsuit against her employer had lapsed. so we corrected the problem about the statute of limitations by passing the lily ledbetter fair pay act but still far too many women have no idea that they're not receiving equal pay and more importantly, they're afraid to ask because they're afraid of retaliation. another woman said she needed her job. she was a single mom trying to take care of her children, couldn't afford to lose her job because of retaliation from her employer. >> we keep hearing the 77 cent figure, the pay disparity between men and women. but some argue that doesn't really -- it's not apples to apples. look at people in the exact same job the gap is narrower and getting better over time, some cases women are making more than men in the same job. >> well that is actually -- >> the

today, president obama's bringing equal pay activist lilly ledbetter back to the white house to watch him sign two new orders for federal contractors. one prevents retribution for employees who speak out about what they're paid. the other requires contractors to report compensation by race and gender. >> the president is using his executive power to do what the do nothing wrong will not do. >> reporter: female workers earn 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. women at the white house earn 88 cents. >> it is better than the national average. >> reporter: but is it fair? republicans argue closing the pay gap could hurt men and women. >> we don't want a law that will make employers afraid to give raises because they're afraid this might invite a lawsuit. that doesn't help men or women. >> january, february, march, little bit of april, a woman is working for free. it is not about flexibility. it is about total unfairness. >> reporter: the senate is due to vote on pay equity this week. and it is that senate bill that would affect so many other women across the country, but, alex, as of r

the storyu may know with lilly ledbetter.she had been working for years for goodyear and have no idea she was being paid less. an anonymous tipster let her know through a note. in one of the other cases recently, a woman who was working as a human resources learned that two men who held the same position come and actually had smaller caseloads than her, were earning more. partly, i suspect, because of her role in the corporation as a human resources person, she was able to piece together some information through the records her regularss to in employment. most people are not in that position. challenge is when a workplace actually prohibits people from talking about patty. -- about pay. subjects them to discipline if they discussed pay. makes it virtually impossible for an employee to know whether they are being paid the same as others in the workplace. >> thank you. montgomery.ve to ed you have worn different hats. you have been in administration and had enforcement responsibilities. you have been in academia and have the pe

today president obama is bringing equal pay activist lilly ledbetter back to the white house to watch him sign two new orders for federal contractors, one prevents retribution for employees who speak out about what they're paid. the other requires contractors to report compensation by race and gender. >> the president is using his executive you power to do what the do-nothing congress will not do. >> reporter: the american association of university women says female workers earn 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. women at the white house earn 88 cents. >> it is better than the national average. >> reporter: but is it fair? republicans argue closing the pay gap could hurt men and women. >> we don't want a law that will make employers afraid to give raises because they're afraid this might invite a lawsuit. it doesn't help men or women. >> january, february, march, a little bit of april, a woman is working for free. it's not about flexibility. it's about total unfairness. >> reporter: the senate is due to vote on pay equity this week. but that senate bill on pay equity is not expect

>> lilly ledbetter. going to look at the question transparency.course you want to know what other people are getting paid to make sure you're getting paid enough. the other is going to impose new rules on federal contractors in which they have to report to the federal government on race and sex. it's a big issue for the president because he feels he's got a big political advantage on this question of equal pay for equal work. he's really going to push it hard. >> it's a political advantage, but it's something he's been focused on early on. when he signed lily ledbetter. >> on the politics of this, let me say what's interesting is if you look at the polling, this is not just popular with women. it's also popular with men. everybody wants their spouse to get a fair deal. everybody wants their daughter to get a fair deal. and republicans -- the white house feels republicans don't really have a alternative position and really on the defensive on this. a lot where republicans are on the offense. when the white house has got them on he run on this, they

. >> does governor romney support the ledbetter act? >> we'll get back to you on that. >> we'll get back to you on that. the romney campaign struggled mightily with both pregnant pauses and with addressing that issue. losing to women by 18 points, and losing the presidential campaign. president obama got elected, and the democrats did pretty well besides. but the paycheck fairness act has not passed congress net. but lily was back with president obama trying to somehow, some way make it the law. >> for african-american women, latinas, even less. in 2014, it's an embarrassment. it's wrong. >> 77 cents on the dollar for the average working woman. today is equal payday, where the average woman will earn against her male colleagues just to make the same as them last year. republicans spend the day arguing that equal pay day is a myth. releasing a statement that the difference in pay is because of their jobs. women prefer jobs that pay less. and that was the polite way of saying it. at fox news, they scrapped the finer terms. >> so, tomorrow

the lily ledbetter case where lily ledbetter was being unpaid unfairly for years -- was being paid unfairly years. unfortunate, there is not a perfect answer that to that question but there are cases out there that show unfair pay for equal work. in terms of coverage for transgender people, that is not an equal pay act. the equal pay act is now 50 years old. it was enacted in 1963 and uses terminology that was consistent with that time. so it speaks about gender discrimination but it does not go beyond that. host: next caller, detroit, michigan on the line for democrats. caller: i am calling because four or five calls before, she said that she had worked in the con fields. she has to be from the south because i am from mississippi and we work in the cotton fields. it was $2.50 per 100 pounds we picked. if we chopped cotton in the morning, we got a lot of gas and you get three dollars per day. not per hour, per day. so we were working -- i left mississippi in the 1970's and it was still going on. in my employment, you can see it is out there. you don't even have the comfort ability factor be

wants totely, everyone reference lily ledbetter.y are referencing a world that does not exist today in the way it existed then. can we find situations? yes. we probably would have less cases if we had better transparency. then there is the issue of how far we want to go. there's a right to privacy. we want to go further than we do. economists like transparency. is it a political issue? this bill was written so that the democrats are not comfortable with that. independent,who is voted against it because he says it is unworkable. it was structured this way so that republicans and -- democrats could vote yes and republicans would vote no. the republicans would have to stop it in the house and the president could spend the next two months campaigning. that does not serve your interest very well. the reality is, this president is probably paying for an earthquake --praying for and are quick at night so he can avoid reflection on obamacare and the lousy economy. basically women are being used right now, politically. by proposing a law tha

has tried this week to turn the page with health care by appearing with equal pay advocate lily ledbetter. if that pitch is stalled as he faces questions about paying female staffers at his own white house a median wage of 88 cents on the dollar. >> when it comes to american women, overall, what we've seen over the past five and a half years is less income and more poverty. that's a story senate democrats don't want to talk about. >> democrats, though, are spoiling for paycheck payback in november. as senate republicans today blocked their so-called paycheck fairness bill. >> we're here to fight. i say square your shoulders, put your lipstick on and let's fight another day. >> tough for congress to throw too many stones at the white house. national journal magazine found that in the senate, female republican aides make 86 on the dollar. female democrat aides make 92 cents. >>. >>> a small group of doctors received from medicare from the taxpayer $3 million or more in 2012 payments. an associated press analysis revealed 344 doctors in that group. topping the list was a florida ophthalmolog

i think if you look back at lilly ledbetter and look at the circumstances here, it's clear that maybekplace to have these conversations. as you said in your lead in. the other thing the white house is doing, which i think is equally important, if not more so, is where they are going to be asking for the rorns from the secretary of labor on gender and race, breakdowns in summaries, not by individual employee. this is important. because most contractors probably aren't even aware that they have these disparities and after you control for seniority, if you still have a disparity, you want to ask yourself, why is it? >> jenna veef, this study shows that women at the white house make less than men at the white house. what does that have to do with the national debate on this issue? >> well, the problem for the president on this is, look, because if you take everybody together and average all men and women salary, you have a problem at the white house. but if you compare women to men in the same job with similar background, similar experiences that they brief to the table, the wage gap all

and i would also point to the lilly ledbetter case. she didn't find out she was making left until after she left. >> should we disclose it, though -- do you think, larry, that we should disclose -- yes or no, should we disclose our pay, like athletes do, for example? larry first. >> listen, i still would like an employer to have the right to mandate rules for his or her own business. here in america, if you start your own business, you should be able to set rules for your employees. i don't think it's unreasonable for an employer to say, it's nobody's business what you're making, that's your agreement with me as your employer and i don't want you talking about it on the job. >> i kind of like the idea. it's an interesting idea. i haven't thought it through completely. but i think something has to be done. i do think there is some discrepancy. you can chalk it up to what you want to chalk it up to. but there is a discrepancy. >> what i love about this debate is i feel like you both were right. hopefully we'll find some sort of compromis

the first bill that president obama signed into law as president was the lilly ledbetter act. i remember this worm working in alabama in a tire factory who after she had been there more than ten years realized she was doing the same work as that man standing next to her and was being paid less every single day. she had enough of it, brought a lawsuit against the company. the supreme court turned her away and we had to change the law and the president signed into law the lilly ledbetter act to make sure that women had a fighting chance. now we want to bring it to a new level to make sure that pay equity for those in the workplace is an american dream come true. we can do that. the free enterprise system is good, but listen, let's be honest about it, in some aspects it doesn't really reach the goals that we want in terms of equal opportunity in this country. i want to make point two when it comes to this whole question of affordable care. i happened to meet a man, ray romanowsky. he was in a health care clinic in chicago. he was a part-time musician most of his life. for the fir

but the trick is discovering you are in an unequal pay situation, the lily ledbetter case was about,resident was trying to address, getting people into a position where they can evaluate how their pay come pares to others? >> correct. i think the challenge the situations where you have two people doing the same job and one is paid less are the minority of the situation. when we look at that. >> they're hard to find. >> they're hard to find. it's not the big reason for the 70 cents on the dollar number as we heard them. >> what are the big explanations for that, that pay gap? >> the two biggest are occupation, industry as you said. those two alone explain about half of the gap. so once you put people in the same occupation, same industry. that gap goes from 23 cents to about, 12 cents. which is what the white house had because people are pretty much in the same job. you have in the statistical bucket, a female social worker making x, silicone valley engineer, male, making something ten times x. those things are turned together. so the real thing, what, would, would the hourly wage be

lily ledbetter is only a procedural part of title 7.can't get too excited about that. >> you brought the actual pen and a piece of living history for us here. >> this is the pen that was given to me by president johnson. >> yeah, so it is an honor, and you're one of the perfect people to reflect on this. soy appreciate your time, clifford alexander, former associate special counsel to president johnson. appreciate it. >>> coming up, i'll be joined by former attorney general of the united states, dick thornberg, for his perspective on this anniversary of the civil rights act. that's straight ahead. and a low sex drive, i had to do something. i saw my doctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron the only underarm low t treatment that can restore t levels to normal in about two weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is a

lilly ledbetter taught us that, that her -- her decidedly lower pay that she -- that she received working at goodyear showed up in a significantly lower pension when she retires. over the course of a 35-year career, a woman with a college degree will make about $1.2 million less than a man with the same level of education. and as i said, when women make less, their families have less, their retirement income and savings are smaller. women 65 and older, their annual median income from all retirement sources, social security, pensions, private savings, her annual median income is about $11,000 less than men in the same age group. it's even more discouraging for african-american women who make 64% less and hispanic women who earn 53% less. that's so, so, so unacceptable. as a father of daughters, as a husband, as a grandfather of 2-week-old jacqueline sally, and as america i know this pay gap devalues women's work. it discourages economic growth because women take up nearly half of today's work force. at a time when families are struggling to make ends meet, equal pay for equal work isn't ju

>> well, i just think if you look at her voice, at what's emerged in the lilly ledbetter case, in the walmart case, in the voting rights act case from last year, i think she's at the top of her game when it comes to being what stevens was, which was this clarion voice of progressive vision and progressive aspiration at the court. and to suggest that you can just replace her with the next guy, knowing as we know that sonya sotomayor and elena kagan almost didn't get confirmed, the idea we're going to find another aclu lawyer to replace her i think is pretty fatuous. >> yeah, you think about her work on gender equality and all those cases and all the positions she took, and you think about what it takes to get confirmed today and it really is an open question. dahlia lithwik and e.j. dionne, thank you both for joining us tonight. >> good to be with you. >> thanks. >>> coming up i'll talk with the south carolina police chief who was just fired after 20 years of service. she believes it is because she is a lesbian. you're going to hear a tape that might help her case. that's straight ahea

doing more than we did with the civil rights act of 1964, doing more than we did with the lilly ledbetter act that i supported just several years ago. if there is more that needs to be done, i'm willing to work on it because i don't want to be in a state where men are being viewed as being paid a dollar to the 67 cents that a woman is being paid. i don't want those statistics to be valid. i don't want them to play out in my state. i want to understand how we ensure that there is a level of fairness. but i do think that we need to make sure that we're looking keenly to the issue of whether or not there is discrimination at play or whether in fact there are a host of other issues that we need to consider as well. and i'm willing to work in good faith with my colleagues to do just that. with that, i see that the chairman of the judiciary committee is with us, and i will yield the floor to him. mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i thank the distinguished senior senator from alaska for yielding, and i was interested in hearing h

lilly ledbetter will join the president at the white house for this event.watching the president in maryland, a wrap-up with students eager to meet the united states. we'll continue to follow this and certainly the battle over equal pay and the president's focus tomorrow with that executive order. thanks for sticking up. up next, my colleague, andrea mitchell. peace of mind is important when you're running a successful business. so we provide it services you can rely on. with centurylink as your trusted it partner, you'll experience reliable uptime for the network and services you depend on. multi-layered security solutions keep your information safe, and secure. and responsive dedicated support meets your needs, and eases your mind. centurylink. your link to what's next. when folks in the lower 48 think athey think salmon and energy.a, but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. thousands of people here in alaska are working to safely produce more energy. but that's just the start. to produce more from existing

. >> woodruff: the president was joined by advocates, including lilly ledbetter, famous for her lawsuit that led to pay-equity legislation, the first bill mr. obama signed after taking office. today, he took two executive actions, aimed at federal contractors. one bars companies from retaliating against workers who discuss their pay with each other. the other requires compensation data broken down by race and gender. census data shows women make 77% of what men make, and equal pay day marks the date when the average woman's earnings finally equal a man's total earnings for the previous year. the president challenged republicans to support a senate bill that would make it easier for workers to sue over pay discrimination. >> if republicans in congress want to prove me wrong, if they want to show that they in fact do care about women being paid the same as men, then show me. >> warner: in the senate, democrats, led by maryland's barbara mikulski, joined in trying to ratchet up the pressure. >> we want the same pay for the same job. and we want it in our lawbooks and we want it in our chec

lily ledbetter is only a procedural part of title 7.e actual pen and a piece of living history for us here. >> this is the pen that was given to me by president johnson. >> yeah, so it is an honor, and you're one of the perfect people to reflect on this. soy appreciate your time, clifford alexander, former associate special counsel to president johnson. appreciate it. >>> coming up, i'll be joined by former attorney general of the united states, dick thornberg, for his perspective on this anniversary of the civil rights act. that's straight ahead. defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. calcium citrate plus d. highly soluble, easily absorbed. gunderman group is growing. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. growth? growth. i just talked to ups. they've got a lot of great ideas. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! aw

lily ledbetter is only a procedural part of title 7.cited about that. >> you brought the actual pen and a piece of living history for us here. >> this is the pen that was given to me by president johnson. >> yeah, so it is an honor, and you're one of the perfect people to reflect on this. soy appreciate your time, clifford alexander, former associate special counsel to president johnson. appreciate it. >>> coming up, i'll be joined by former attorney general of the united states, dick thornberg, for his perspective on this anniversary of the civil rights act. that's straight ahead. legal solution that's right for you. with easy step-by-step guidance, we're here to help you turn your dream into a reality. start your business today with legalzoom. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®. sfx: car unlock beep. relieving the pai