Waco Tribune Editorial: Paycheck Fairness Act is a bad bill far removed from realities of business
No one will know for sure till after fall elections are done, but Democrats might have a winning issue in the proposed Paycheck Fairness Act in 2014 campaigns against Republicans. A Public Policy Polling survey indicates that while most Texans favor U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz over other Texans, many also favor the basic tenets of the Paycheck Fairness Act.
In one respect, that speaks well of us. All Americans should embrace the concept of equal pay for workers performing identical tasks if theyre also similar in temperament, skill, initiative, industriousness, experience and resourcefulness. But federal laws already demand this not only through the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers, but President Obamas executive order signed at the very start of his term in 2009.
The Paycheck Fairness Act is a different beast. It begins with the premise that businesses accused of paying workers differently based on gender are all guilty till proved innocent. The law is so onerous and unfair it includes a provision that exempts the federal government from having to pay punitive damages for discrimination when no such perk is allowed private industry. Nice.
Fueling litigation
Given this proposed law would require every company to report pay stats by sex, race and national origin to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Paycheck Fairness Act could unleash a wave of questionable and costly litigation; compel businesses large and small to detail to absurdly meticulous degrees the strengths and shortcomings of all employees (and at additional administrative expense); and possibly poison the workplace with bad feelings as employees learn what one another makes.
More at
http://www.wacotrib.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-paycheck-fairness-act-is-a-bad-bill-far-removed/article_cfd37d75-defb-53a4-a6f3-8fad1bddd351.html .
[font color=green]Once again, the media publishers in smaller cities in Texas show their conservative bias.[/font]