A Step in the Right Direction

Admittedly, our new president has his hands full. The country is in a shambles in so many ways and everything can't be fixed at once. With the wars, the economy....the list goes on and on. All the things that need to be corrected will take some time.

The first day in office, Obama went into action. He has already made some moves that have me cheering. Today he took another step in the right direction: he signed a bill today extending the time for workers to file pay-discrimination lawsuits, "declaring that it's a family issue, not just a women's issue." The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act reverses something that shouldn't have been limited in the first place.

According to MSNBC:

"The measure is designed to make it easier for workers to sue for decades-old discrimination. He said "this is a wonderful day."

The law effectively nullifies a 2007 Supreme Court decision that said workers had only 180 days to file a pay-discrimination lawsuit.

Ledbetter said she didn't become aware of a pay discrepancy until she neared the end of her 19-year career at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, Ala. She sued, but the Supreme Court in 2007 said she missed her chance.

The court said in its 5-4 ruling that a person must file a claim of discrimination within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay a worker less than it pays another worker doing the same job. Under the new bill, given final passage in Congress this week, every new discriminatory paycheck would extend the statute of limitations for another 180 days.

Congress attempted to update the law to extend the time, but the Bush White House and Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in the last session of Congress."

Thanks, Mr. President...for being more active in your first few days than our former president was in years. As an adult woman who has worked her entire life, this is nice to see. Thanks for looking out for us. And thanks to Michelle too, who is already showing her intelligence and class as a First Lady. We don't expect everything to be fixed right away, but this is definitely a step in the right direction.