Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro is guest blogging from the Democratic Convention for My Left Nutmeg (as well as CT Local Politics). Please make sure to express your gratitude on Congresswoman DeLauro taking time to share her experiences from the convention with the MLN community --ctblogger
I want to thank you for letting me share my Democratic Convention experience with you and appreciate all of your feedback and comments.
Everywhere I turn at this convention continues to reinforce how Barack Obama and Joe Biden have the leadership to bring the change this country needs.
I just spoke with reporters about the wage gap between men and women. I was sitting at this table with Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan , and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, and Lily Ledbetter - a woman you are all likely familiar with as the face and voice of pay discrimination. As she sat with us, she reminds us of why we fight so hard for equal pay and why this election matters. But as you would expect, with a topic of women and the economy, we veered into a broad range of topics....the state children's health insurance program, social security, reproductive health, and taxes.
As you would expect, on each of these issues, John McCain would continue the failed policies of the Bush Administration. He is so out of touch with middle class Americans. Even in the face of Lily Ledbetter, McCain continues to say he doesn't believe in the wage gap. But what do we expect from a man who cannot keep track of how many houses he owns.
Quite contrary to Barack Obama. When I was fighting to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, Barack was right there - applauding the bill's passage in the U.S. House of Representatives with me. It really is not that surprising - just look at the inspiration Barrack Obama has in his daughters and his wife, Michelle, (who was phenomenal at the Convention last night).
Monday begins the 2008 Democratic Convention and it is a critical time in our nation's history. I am pleased to share my experiences with you at MyLeftNutmeg. At this convention we will talk about Barack Obama and his plans to turn the economy around, provide real relief to the middle class, responsibly end the Iraq war and change our foreign policy to make our country safer. The country will see the very real differences between Barack Obama - who wants to lead this country in a new direction - and John McCain - who will continue the failed policies of the Bush Adminstration. One of the most glaring differences is on advancing women's issues, and importantly, working to close the wage gap between men and women - an issue I recently wrote about on HuffingtonPost.
The Paycheck Fairness Act: A Victory in Closing the Wage Gap
This is Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. I have had the honor of serving the people of the Third Congressional District of Connecticut for the past 18 years.
In the coming months I hope to engage in conversations with you about issues facing our country and what we are doing in Washington to help improve our country. Before I talk about the Paycheck Fairness Act, I just want to say that I have been blessed to serve the Third Congressional District for the past 18 years. I appreciate your continued support and do not take your support lightly.
For more than a decade, I have been fighting to ensure that women receive equal pay from their employers. When President Kennedy's Equal Pay Act was signed into law in 1963, Women were earning 59 cents for every dollar earned by a man. To this day women are still just earning 77 cents per dollar earned by a man. This wage disparity between men and women costs women anywhere from $400,000 to $2 million over a lifetime.
By now all of you in the blogosphere are familiar with the case of Lilly Ledbetter, -- the woman whose pay discrimination case against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Roberts Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that Ms. Ledbetter needed to file a complaint within 180 days of her first pay discrepancy to be awarded damages.
In Ms. Ledbetter's testimony before the Education and Labor Committee she said, "Goodyear acknowledged that it was paying me a lot less than the men doing the same work... So, I was actually earning twenty-percent less than the lowest paid male supervisor in the same position... What happened to me is not only an insult to my dignity, but it had real consequences for my ability to care for my family. Every paycheck I received, I got less than what I was entitled under the law."
The Ledbetter case highlighted the loopholes in the current law and the need to close them. On Thursday July 31st, the House of Representatives took the next step to correct this injustice by passing H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act by a vote of 247-178. This vote was about ensuring that women who work hard and productively and carry a full range of family responsibilities are paid at a rate they are entitled. So many employers and companies do the right thing as a matter of course, but passing this bill says that this is now a matter of right and wrong, that discrimination is unacceptable anywhere and we are all diminished when we fall short. We have the chance to make all men and women whole and contribute to the richness of America.
Of my 18 years in Congress, this was one of the most rewarding victories I have experienced in this remarkable institution. With your help in electing Barack Obama as our next President, I hope to enjoy many more days like we did when we passed the Paycheck Fairness Act in the years ahead.
For more information on me and my positions, feel free to visit my website www.rosadelauro.com. I look forward to talking with you more in the coming months.
I just came upon a disturbing realization today. The Green Papers report on Democratic delegate allocation indicates 51 Senate super delegates. 51?? Does Joe Lieberman qualify to be a super delegate at the 2008 Democratic Convention? I cannot think of a greater slap in the face than to have this shill for the Bush administration show up in Denver. But he might do so.
So what exactly is a super delegate? Paraphrasing from Wikipedia, a super delegate is a delegate to a presidential nominating convention not bound by the decisions of party primaries or caucuses. "Superdelegates are usually party officials or elected officeholders. ... The aim was to allow party officials to have some say in the nominee."
Looking over the DNC's qualifications for super delegates, Joe seems to fail on 3 counts.
1. You have to actually be a Democrat. Eligibility is exteneded to "All Democratic members of the United States House of Representatives and all Democratic members of the United States Senate." Although Lieberman is a registered Democrat and caucuses with the Democrats, Lieberman won on the CFL ticket and considers himself an "Independent Democrat," whatever that means.
2. You have to support a Democratic presidential candidate; the super delegate is disqualified if "any such member has publicly expressed support for the election of, or has endorsed, a presidential candidate of another political party." Joe has already said that he might support any Republican candidate who likes war as much as he does.
"I'm not going to make my selection of who to support for president in '08 based on party. I'm going to choose to support whichever of the candidates I think will be the best president of the United States to protect our security against the threat of Islamist terrorism and to rebuild America's economy ..."
If you believe, like I do, that this violates Democratic Party rules and rewards someone for ignoring the results of a legitimate primary election, then I urge you to contact party officials at the DNC.
Early on, there were signs of hope, but ultimately, and sadly, business as usual prevailed.
The Journal Inquirer carried the obituary of the murdered anti-war plank in the Democratic platform. The deed was done presumably to assuage "Blood and Thunder (but no guts) Lieberman."
There's a struggle going on over the Hartford delegation to the Democratic Convention between the "official" delegation put into place by Mayor Eddie Perez and a slate of challengers led by Nick Carbone, long-time progressive activist.
The Democratic State Convention will convene on Friday night the 19th at 6 p.m. for ... drum roll please ... the endorsement of candidates for the United States Senate!
I must say, this is a major surprise. This means that Lamont delegates will know going into the second session on Saturday, how DeStefano, Malloy and the New Haven and Stamford delegations have voted for Senator. The expectation is that Lamont supporters will give their gubernatorial votes to whichever candidate does the most for Ned.
Since DiNardo is a known Lieberman supporter, the question is why things have been set up this way. If there's an advantage for Joe in this arrangement, I'll be damned if I can figure it out.
One theory I've heard is that this could mean that Joe has let it be known to Nancy that he'll be history before the convention starts, rendering the Senate nomination moot. This way, Lamont's ascendency will be old news by Sunday, when the gubernatorial candidates will garner all the front-page headlines.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro is guest blogging from the Democratic Convention for My Left Nutmeg (as well as 
Monday begins the 2008 Democratic Convention and it is a critical time in our nation's history. I am pleased to share my experiences with you at MyLeftNutmeg. At this convention we will talk about Barack Obama and his plans to turn the economy around, provide real relief to the middle class, responsibly end the Iraq war and change our foreign policy to make our country safer. The country will see the very real differences between Barack Obama - who wants to lead this country in a new direction - and John McCain - who will continue the failed policies of the Bush Adminstration. One of the most glaring differences is on advancing women's issues, and importantly, working to close the wage gap between men and women - an issue I recently wrote about on HuffingtonPost.
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