This is really striking and illustrates Obama’s hypocrisy on equal pay for equal work. Not only are the female staffers on McCain’s campaign paid more than their counterparts on Obama’s staff, but McCain’s female staffers make more money than McCain’s male staffers. The Boston Herald examined the salaries for female staffers in both campaigns Senatorial offices using this formula:
The most recent statistics are for the half-year from Oct. 1, 2007, to March 31, 2008, excluding interns and focusing on full-time personnel.
For someone who worked only until, say, last Feb. 29, extrapolating up to six months’ service simplifies this analysis. Doubling these half-year figures illustrates how a year’s worth of Senate employees’ paychecks should look.
Let’s take a look at the salaries for Obama’s staffers:
Obama’s 28 male staffers divided among themselves total payroll expenditures of $1,523,120. Thus, Obama’s average male employee earned $54,397.
Obama’s 30 female employees split $1,354,580 among themselves, or $45,152, on average.
Why this disparity? One reason may be the under-representation of women in Obama’s highest-compensated ranks. Among Obama’s five best-paid advisers, only one was a woman. Among his top 20, seven were women.
Now let’s compare that to McCain’s female staff:
McCain’s 17 male staffers split $916,914, thus averaging $53,936. His 25 female employees divided $1,396,958 and averaged $55,878.
On average, according to these data, women in McCain’s office make $1.04 for every dollar a man makes. In fact, all other things being equal, a typical female staffer could earn 21 cents more per dollar paid to her male counterpart – while adding $10,726 to her annual income – by leaving Obama’s office and going to work for McCain.
How could this be?
One explanation could be that women compose a majority of McCain’s highest-paid aides. Among his top-five best-compensated staffers, three are women. Of his 20-highest-salaried employees, 13 are women. The Republican presidential nominee relies on women – much more than men – for advice at the highest, and thus, best-paid levels.
So let’s summarize.
Obama employs fewer women, and of the women he employs, only 1 is part of his five highest paid staffers. On top of that, Obama pays the women he does employ quite a bit less than he pays the men who work for him.
On the other hand, McCain employs quite a few women, and of the women he employs, 3 of them comprise his five highest paid staffers. Additionally, McCain pays the women he employs more than he pays the men who work for him.
Obama demanded equal treatment for women in his acceptance speech at the DNC and even referenced his daughters:
I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.
He writes about equal pay for women on his website:
Despite decades of progress, women still make only 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. A recent study estimates it will take another 47 years for women to close the wage gap with men at Fortune 500 corporate offices. Barack Obama believes the government needs to take steps to better enforce the Equal Pay Act, fight job discrimination, and improve child care options and family medical leave to give women equal footing in the workplace.
Even though Obama paints himself as the the patron saint of women, he doesn’t act on his words. Senator Obama has some explaining to do.
