Obama Takes Action on Equal Pay
PEREIRA: Welcome back. At this hour, the president is in the East Room of the White House, about to sign two executive orders aimed at strengthening current laws about pay equality. And today is the day because it's being called National Equal Pay Day. It's the date that symbolizes how far into the new year a woman would have to work to earn what the average man would make doing the same job in the previous year. Now, a lot of people are asking, is this move that the president is about to sign into executive order, is it politics or is it about policy?</s>BERMAN: Well, it can be both. But it is not absent of politics right now. The fact of the matter is, that in 2012, the Democrats and President Obama won women overwhelmingly. In 2008, they won women overwhelmingly. You know what year they did not win women? 2010, in which they took an old-fashioned shellacking at the polls there. So they need women to turn out, particularly Democratic women, to turn out in big numbers. There are also huge Senate races where a lot of the candidates...</s>PEREIRA: Sure.</s>BERMAN: -- are women -- Kay Hagen, Mary Landrieu, Alison, you know, Lundergan Grimes -- a lot of women on the ballot for Senate right now. I think the White House is making the calculation that this issue will be strong for them on the campaign trail.</s>PEREIRA: Now, it's interesting, too, because, you know, people wonder what the GOP is going to have to say about this. Obviously, they are for equal pay, as well. But they're calling this a political ploy. They're saying that this is just a maneuver on the part of the Democrats, that it's not about the -- the policy, if you will.</s>BERMAN: In an election year, nothing is absent of politics. All right. Jim Acosta is at the White House, where it is a nonstop cornucopia of politics and policy all in one place -- and, Jim, the person introducing the president today is Lilly Ledbetter...</s>PEREIRA: A Republican.</s>BERMAN: -- who is, you know, a pioneer and a key figure in the fight for equal pay.</s>ACOSTA: That she is. And, actually, the very first bill that the president signed into law when he became president back in 2009 was the Lilly Ledbetter Act, which makes it easier for a woman to seek pay -- back pay from issues stemming from discrimination. And so she will be there, on hand, as well as many other female leaders here in Washington. Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, is there. And, you know, let's just -- as you were saying just a few moments ago, just to back up, this is a key political issue for the White House, for Democrats heading into mid-terms, make no mistake, about it, as the Republicans would like to talk about ObamaCare and the stumbling recovery. The White House and Democrats have been moving to some of these domestic issues that have served them well in the past -- women's issues first among them -- maybe not first among them, but pretty close to the top of the list. You will remember, John and Michaela, back in the 2012 campaign, binders full of women...</s>PEREIRA: Sure.</s>ACOSTA: -- the issue that Mitt Romney had with women voters. And then there were several candidates for the Senate and the House that had their own gaffes, on the Republican side, dealing with women's issues. Democrats exploited that. And so, you know, the White House has dismissed this as being crass partisan politics, but there is an element of that going into this mid-term cycle -- guys.</s>PEREIRA: Well, Lilly Ledbetter is at the microphone right now. She is set to introduce the president. Let's listen in.</s>LILLY LEDBETTER, PLAINTIFF, "LEDBETTER V. GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY": Folks often refer to me as the face of fair pay. But for today at least, that title belongs to President Barack Obama. (</s>CHEERING & APPLAUSE) LEDBETTER: Today, President Obama will sign an executive order that will ban federal contractors from retaliating against workers who discuss their pay and their salaries. Not only is this a critical piece of the stalled Paycheck Fairness Act, but this action also gets at what was my largest barrier for all those years ago. I didn't know I was being paid unfairly and I had no way to find out. I was told in no uncertain terms that Goodyear, then and still a government contractor, fired employees who shared their salary information. It was against company policy. Whoever left me that anonymous note did so bravely, knowing that he or she could face retaliation if they were found out. From my namesake bill through today's executive orders, President Obama has been the outspoken leader women and families need on fair pay. I urge Congress to join the president on the right side of history by passing the Paycheck Fairness Act.</s>LEDBETTER: I thank President Obama for his continued courage and vision and I am deeply moved to be the one to introduce him today. Please join me in a very warm welcome of President Barack Obama. Thank you. (</s>CHEERING & APPLAUSE) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, everybody.</s>OBAMA: Thank you.</s>OBAMA: Thank you.</s>OBAMA: Thank you, everybody.</s>OBAMA: All right. Well, thanks to my friend, Lilly Ledbetter, not only for that introduction, but for fighting for 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.</s>OBAMA: People don't want my mug on there, they want your face. You know, as Lilly mentioned, she did not set out to be a trailblazer. She was just somebody who was waking up every day, going to work, doing her job 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 you -- 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. Oh, 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.</s>OBAMA: The same job.</s>OBAMA: Working just as hard, probably putting in more hours. But she was getting systematically paid less.