"Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act" Signing ... and other Needed Measures ....

It's been so long since I seen actual action at this speed in Washington ... I didnt know if there was such a thing. I had confidence that this new President would act, but I sure as hell didnt expect him to kick over this many stones in the first couple week's ... and the fury over him engulf's the Hill ... behind the BS smiles for the camera's. And I must say ... I love every minute of it! : )

The signing of the "Lilly Ledbetter Fair Trade Act" was another needed action. Now the trick is ... trying to actually enforce it ... but ... it's a start. This is something that I have seen so much of in the workplace. Seeing co- worker's who bust ass ... and not only women ... and dont get nearly the fair pay for their effort's. Just one instance to recall off hand was when I was a head of a "graphic art's film dept" years back ... lot's of satellite photo plotting, and architectual/ engineering photo layout drafting. I had to screen new hires one on one ... I usually was told to pick from a lot that just graduated from the trade school's with the 2 year associates degree ... to keep down expense ... and it gives them that "first break" as well. No ... I didnt have a degree ... or even much formal education ... I just was one of them eager quick learner's ... who got good at it ... and hustled my way into it ... within 2 year's I ran the department.

But this one gal I got to hire who was a single mom with 2 boy's and no support coming in, was probably the most reliable employee and asset we had. She agreed to start at a entry level payscale and position ... she busted ass ... was reliable ... and straight up. When it came time for a review and a raise ... her raise was not good enough ... in my opinion. Then the second review ... was delayed ... and delayed again, yet ... business was booming ... and bonuses/ profit's sharing etc. I finally sat down with the 2 owner's of the company one day ... and told them how valuable of an employee this was ... and frankly ... if we dont pay her right ... we will loose her in a heartbeat. I had to really hound these guy's to get through to them ... and when they did give it ... they joked around on the sly with me ... and said they knew why I was pounding for her raise ... because she's cute ... and she probably "takes care" of me on the side. I assured these boy's ... that wasnt the case ... it's just a matter of being fair ... that's all. This gal took on the challenging job's with no whining about it! But this is just one of many instances I could talk about ... the bottom line is, I have seen alot of drastically non- competitive wages shelled out to female employee's.

But all these action's in the last week or so by this new President was really needed. All I could say was ... it's about goddamn time ... over and over ... from the stem cell thing to the contraceptive funding ... to the remark's to Wall St., that bonuses are fine ... but this is not the "time" for bonuses ... and what the President has seen he said was "shameful"... it's the bloody truth! I see also all these young folk's coming out of college ... in debt ... 10's of thousand's of dollar's in college loan's ... with their degree's and having to settle for $10 buck an hour office clerk job's...believing that with these degree's..they will at least get a decent paying job. I see folk's bust ass and spend,spend,spend ... doing the so called "right thing" trying their damdest ... yet getting no where. These folk's are the main active cylinder's of the engine ... they're keeping it all going.

A gal named Rita who has a blog called "Around Town with Rita" summed it up perfectly the other day when she commented on one of my posting's when she said that the consumer's have become basically the "consumed". That's the reality in a nutshell!

PS: You see ... I think one of the thing's that we have lost sight of in our society is the importance of fair pay, trade, business. I been pro- business all my life. Nothing wrong with a little greed ... it's natural. But what we are seeing now, is extreme greed...and it's simply bad all the way around for business. When all component's in business are working balanced and just right ... everyone is a winner.The workforce will be happier psychologically ... more productive ... and most importantly ... spend more. Hell man ... that's what capitalism is all about ... were not bloody communist's.

Also ... voting conservative most of my life ... I realize that the arguement would be that government cant intervene and make it right. And if a person is paid unfair ... it should be their responsibility to go find something better ... true. But what we have now ... is all this extreme greed in the top crust of the financial sector, with no one watching them ... and a population of around 300,000,000 or so. In a marketplace that is global interdependent more than ever ... and thrives off of cheap third world labour ... so ... it's a new challenge.This aint 1970 folk's!



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