One Wisconsin Now

Today John McCain held a women-only town hall in Hudson and made the following comment:

"We haven't done enough. We have not done enough. And I'm committed to making sure that there's equal pay for equal work. That there is equal opportunity in every aspect of our society. And that is my record and you can count on it."

Did McCain get lost in the moment or did he intentionally misrepresent himself to Wisconsin women? Regardless of his reason for the statement, it is clearly not an accurate one. He has clearly not been a supporter of equal pay for women despite what he said today in Hudson. Consider just some of the following points from the McCain record.

On April 23, McCain skipped a vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have restored workers ability to pursue pay discrimination claims in court.

In a May campaign event McCain was questions by a 14 year old girl about his opposition to equal pay laws. He responded that he didn’t believe that equal pay laws would do anything to help the rights of women.

While campaigning in April, John McCain said that he opposed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, even though he said that he was “familiar with the disparity.” He then suggested that women simply need more “education and training” to help close pay disparities.

In 2000, McCain voted against providing more effective remedies for victims of wage discrimination based on gender.

In 1985 John McCain voted against the passage of a bill to do a federal equal pay study. [1985 CQ Almanac; HR 3008, vote # 318, 10/9/85]

That is John McCain’s record. He has been a long-time opponent of equal pay regardless of the false claim that he made to Wisconsin women today.