Durbin hit again on “pay gap”
Monday, Aug 25, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Illinois Review…
Tom Donelson, chairman of Americas PAC, told Illinois Review that his organization has launched additional radio ads focused on U.S. Senator Richard “Dick” Durbin’s pay gap.
Analysis of Senate Staff payroll found that in 2012 Durbin “paid men $13,063 more, a difference of 23 percent,” or about 77 cents for every dollar earned by his male staffers.
In 2014, a follow-up report by the Free Beacon found that Durbin was still paying his female staff less than his male staff. “The average female salary is $11,505 lower than the average male salary in Durbin’s office,” the paper reported.
* Listen to the ad…
- Sir Reel - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 11:17 am:
Without an accompanying “for the same job” what does this mean?
It may mean Durbin hasn’t promoted women but that’s a separate (albeit related) issue.
If this America’s PAC is Republican then so what. Republicans don’t exactly have a great record on this issue.
- Formerly Known As... - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 11:25 am:
Multiple recent studies have found that men and women are usually paid the same rate when adjusting for “the same job” with “the same experience”.
This issue is one of Senator Durbin’s favorite cudgels to wield, however, and he deliberately neglects to make that distinction when attacking others on this.
So, it’s fair game and a criticism of Durbin that he opened the door to with his own hand.
- Madison - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 11:26 am:
I was gonna say…maybe this belongs in the “Pot, meet kettle” thread!
- Anon - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 11:27 am:
Durbin is being hoist on his own petard. It’s a distortion when Durbin uses the claim, so it’s fair to hold him to the same bogus standard he applies to others.
- Responsa - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 11:32 am:
Has Durbin, denied it, or refuted it, or proved through data that the assertions about significant gender pay gaps in his office are wrong? If so, I have not seen that. As an officer of the party fighting against the alleged “war on women” this is a fair game personal and personnel issue to raise about Durbin, is it not?
- Anonymous - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 11:50 am:
It would be interesting to see how much more women are paid than men at the Oberwies’ Dairy?
- Hickory - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 11:51 am:
This is a non issue for me. The PAC should point out how far left, with examples, he is.
- ZC - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 12:15 pm:
I’ve done a little research into this story.
1) First off anyone curious about these allegations, take a second to check out the Free Beacon’s website at http://freebeacon.com/. Scroll down. Reflect on how much you should trust any “reports” by this organization.
2) Second - what report?? Has anyone seen a copy of it? There’s a news story with some numbers sprinkled within it. And they say “based on their analysis” of Senate payroll data. But that might lead you to believe there’s some formal-looking report out there, maybe in a .pdf format to download, that you can review. There’s not. I’ve looked around on the Free Beacon website and I cannot find how they constructed the numbers behind this claim, or what exactly they looked at from the Senate pay docs, or how they put their figures together. I tried to replicate their findings based on the document they provide a link to, and I couldn’t get close to their figures.
Re some commentators above … One of the reasons negative ads work, is people assume “Well if he doesn’t respond, then it must be true.” But Durbin’s failure to run ads responding to this, doesn’t mean it has any factual merit. At. All. Right now this has the smell of a right-wing echo chamber: conservative right-wing rags posing as media, churning out fake statistics that conservative super PACs then cite as “objective” evidence.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 12:17 pm:
The numbers are the numbers, and for the record, I think this is twisted for political impact and a bad comparison, but whatever. I get it.
What I don’t get is, what do they think this attack will net them? Do they think this will soften Durbin’s support among women? Do they honestly believe Oberweis has a chance to make strong in-roads with female voters?
If this attack is what their research says is the most effective against Durbin, then I think Durbin is in fine shape to be re-elected.
- qcexaminer - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 12:21 pm:
Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals #4:
“Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.”
- Federalist - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 12:22 pm:
- Sir Reel - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 11:17 am:
Without an accompanying “for the same job” what does this mean?
It may mean Durbin hasn’t promoted women but that’s a separate (albeit related) issue.
Sir Reel- This type of common sense has no traction for the feminist left and certainly no traction for those on the right who can’t stand Durbin.
- Demoralized - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 12:36 pm:
I despise these ads. They are annoying and I tone them out or turn them off. They are dumb ads and a waste of time.
- Anonymous - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 12:51 pm:
Oberweis has a lot of females with his business. Milk cows!
- Ahoy! - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 1:02 pm:
Was this a position by position comparison?
- ZC - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 1:06 pm:
It’s possible this could be a case of America’s PAC deciding, “Oh, this is such a fun political hit - we get to label Durbin as anti-feminist!” and they just keep doing it, regardless of whether it’s a good line of attack, or well-coordinated with Oberweis. Durbin’s failure to respond much does suggest his team isn’t overly worried by it.
The GOP does have a message coordination problem with all these conservative Super PACs cropping up, all with their pet issue attack ads. It clearly was a problem for Romney in 2012 anyway.
- DuPage - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 1:24 pm:
Without specifying “for the same job” the numbers are not valid.
Among women, K-12 teachers are highly educated and qualified, are union represented (with women union “bosses”, and earned, defined pensions. The women far outnumber men in TRS, the largest state pension system.
I am surprised Durbin does not point out that the Rauner attacks on public school teachers, their “union bosses”, and attacks on their contracts and pensions basically are targeting mostly women.
- Winning with Sheen - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 2:33 pm:
It is true. Durbin has not denied it. Notice there is NOT one woman from his staff jumping in to defend Durbin.
- ZC - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 2:51 pm:
Winning with Sheen,
“Durbin has not denied it” is very weak tea, sorry.
If they said he was a space alien infiltrating the US Senate, and he did not deny it, that would not make it remotely true.
There is such a thing as ignoring silly unfounded attacks so as not to give them oxygen. If he -responded- then somebody would argue, “ah that shows he is worried, there must be something there.”
- Formerly Known As... - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 3:30 pm:
Mr. Durbin is not ignoring it because it is a “silly” or unfounded attack.
Mr. Durbin is ignoring it because he understands it is the same attack he has made on others countless times, and in the exact same fashion.
If he denies it, they trot out a highlight reel of him making the same accusations using the exact same “math”. If admits it…
- 47th Ward - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 3:43 pm:
Let’s assume you’re right, FKA. What does this ad do for America’s PAC? How does this change the odds of a Durbin re-election?
Is it a set-up spot, trying to bait a response out of Durbin so they can use your so-called “highlight” reel against him?
Or is it just a waste of money?
- Federalist - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 4:17 pm:
Regardless of what is leveled at Durbin, will it make any difference as to whom gets elected?
I think not!
- Formerly Known As... - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 4:19 pm:
47th - It is doubtful this is part of some elaborate plan or set-up. Many “hits” are essentially one-off’s designed to hurt your opponent, expose their hypocrisy or weaken them in an area of perceived strength.
I would guess this was designed to try and back Durbin into a corner. If he denies the accusation, well, here are the numbers for his staff and the Senator’s own words on the matter. If he admits it, well, he can’t.
Where this falls on the spectrum of being what ZC might describe as “a fun political hit” or what you might describe as “a waste of money” is subject to opinion. Probably somewhere in between the two.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 4:44 pm:
===It is doubtful this is part of some elaborate plan or set-up.===
===I would guess this was designed to try and back Durbin into a corner.===
Well, one of those sentences is probably accurate, lol.
I just find it difficult to see where someone who produced this, presumably tested it, and others who approved and paid for it, thought it would move the needle, even a little.
- Formerly Known As... - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 6:11 pm:
:) neither my best nor clearest exposition, 47th.
Another way of putting it is, this seems more like a one-off than an advanced tactical maneuver following many months of strategic positioning. Mr. Durbin left himself vulnerable on the issue, so you take a flyer on it and see if it sticks.
- quincy - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 7:54 pm:
Lets check out some Republican staffer, Oh sorry cant talk about Republicans because we are ran be Republicans. Ask Brucie boy what he pays his women working for him, Its about $0.65 on the dollar.
- Wally - Monday, Aug 25, 14 @ 8:55 pm:
Below I80, they need to remind people that Durbin is the guy who thrust Obama on us.
- Demoralized - Tuesday, Aug 26, 14 @ 7:13 am:
@Wally:
Yeah, not to mention the 65 MILLION other people that voted for him. Other than that, yeah, it was all Durbin’s fault.
- Demoralized - Tuesday, Aug 26, 14 @ 7:13 am:
Sorry, typo, 69 MILLION
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