House approves fair pay bill, despite N.C. Republicans

When Congress devised the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act last year, President Bush told them that if it passed, he'd veto it. (Nice to know that gender discrimination is worthy of Bush's seldom-used veto power.) Now, with Bush on his way out, the House of Representatives passed a version of the bill.

The bill is named for Lilly Ledbetter, a female who learned after decades working as a supervisor at an auto plant that she was getting paid far less than her male counterparts. She sued, only to have no less than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts, tell her that her suit was rubbish because she should have filed it within 180 days of the initial decision to discriminate against her. Of course, the fact that she didn't frakking know about it didn't matter to Roberts, the captain of the Privilege Squad. It's perfectly fine with him that, if a company succeeds in hiding its unfair practices for a measly six months, the employee is for all time f*cked. (Dipshit.)

Anyway, the bill was designed to close that particular loophole. If signed into law, the 180-days thing won't apply; each paycheck will be considered a separate discriminatory act. This is a HUGE victory for American workers. Yes, of course it will be a pain for employers...Employers who discriminate against their workers, that is. Call me crazy, but I'm not losing sleep over that one.

The sad thing is that the vote came down on party lines; only three Republicans voted for the bill. Way to show that you're the party of the people, guys. Here's how the North Carolina delegation broke down:

Democrats — Butterfield, Y; Etheridge, Y; Kissell, Y; McIntyre, Y; Miller, Y; Price, Y; Shuler, Y; Watt, Y.
Republicans — Coble, N; Foxx, N; Jones, X; McHenry, N; Myrick, N.

Screw you, Virginia Foxx. Seriously, I hope your meanness causes some incurable form of pox that's not covered by your health insurance (which I pay for, by the way), and then when you die that God has your ass hauled off to a holding cell before you even make it to the Pearly Gates.