The Mad Professah Lectures

Kevin Drum analyzes the debate between Rachel Maddow and Bob Somerby over the accuracy of this sentence: “Women get paid 77 cents for every dollar that men get paid. For the same work, dudes get paid more.”


It is not really disputed that women earn less than men; the nexus of the debate is whether the source of this is discrimination.

Kevin says:

It's true that some of the gap goes away when you account for the fact that women tend to work in different jobs than men and take more time off to have children. But that's all part of the story. When all's said and done, women are punished financially in three different ways: because "women's jobs" have historically paid less than jobs dominated by men; because women are expected to take time off when they have children, which reduces their seniority; and because even when they're in the same job with the same amount of experience, they get paid less than men. All of these things are part of the pay gap. Whether you call all three of them "discrimination" is more a matter of taste than anything else.

I am not sure that one can just reduce this difference of opinion to a "matter of taste." The tendency of Republicans and conservatives to express disinterest and disbelief in a proven statistical disparate impact of the way society is  ordered on subaltern (marginalized) groups like women and people of color and LGBT folks is precisely a symptom of the problem. Do you think it's a coincidence that "women's jobs" (like teaching) has such low status and compensation in this country? There are real, serious and lasting impacts of gender-based discrimination.

Teachers, nurses, long-term care workers, community allies–the whole labor family–converged on First AME in Los Angeles on Monday, April 4, to rally together in support of Wisconsin workers and to show strength in numbers in California.

The environment was buzzing and filled with familiar faces–young and old–representing the rich diversity in race, ethnicity, immigration status, and language that are Los Angeles and California.

This rally’s message echoed the recent march downtown, where I added my voice with several thousand California voters and the sounds of protest chants and high-school bands. We spoke then and reiterated in church on Tuesday that California must not and will not become Wisconsin. In both states, community leaders and elected officials need to heed the public outcry and the economic evidence: collective bargaining, public education, affordable healthcare and higher education, and reliable pensions are the backbones of a strong middle class. These proven tools of America’s strength need to be upgraded and renewed, not undermined or reversed.

Luis has a fundraiser this afternoon at Le Barcito in Silver Lake. Please support him!

Judy Chu has made it official: she is running for California's 32nd Congressional district. An article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times carried her annoncement as well as interesting analysis of various politicians chances of winning the seat:

In an interview with The Times on Monday evening, Chu said she made the decision to run Sunday after days of urging from supporters.

"I've decided to heed those calls," she said. "I know this district very, very well and I believe the people of this district know me and know I'm very devoted to the San Gabriel Valley."
[...]

Romero could not be reached Monday afternoon, but said publicly last week that she would pursue the seat. A staunch labor supporter, Romero was elected to her state Senate seat in 2001, replacing Solis. She had previously served in the Assembly and said she represented the district at the state level for 10 years.

She would have an important leg up on Chu, according to political consultants.

"Most people believe a Latino would be favored," said Allan Hoffenblum, publisher of the California Target Book, a nonpartisan publication that analyzes and handicaps legislative races.

He said about 48% of the district's voters are Latino. Asians are the second-largest group, making up 13% of the vote.

But if several Latino candidates split the Latino vote, he said, a strong Asian candidate could put together Asian and white voters and take a majority.

Perhaps an even larger factor, said Democratic political strategist Steve Maviglio, is who the Los Angeles Federation of Labor backs, and how strongly.

"They have the most horses in the county. They have the most money. If they put all their firepower behind one candidate, it's pretty much over," he said.

That's partly because most special elections have turnouts below 20%, which he said favor grass-roots, get-out-the vote campaigns that are labor's strength.

Another interesting aspect of the race is that apparently there is not a residency requirement for the special election, so theoretically any big name Latino politician could consider running for the seat. Fabian Nunez, anyone? Then again he's a bit busy right now keeping his son out of jail!