Rachel Maddow Takes on the Big Boys in the War On Women

RACHEL MADDOW: Policy. It should be about policy. And all of our best debates are always about policy. And it should be about policy that affects women specifically. The Romney campaign wants to talk about women and the economy. Women in this country still make 77 cents on the dollar for what men make. So if –

ALEX CASTELLANOS: Not exactly.

RM: Women don’t make less than men?

AC: Actually, if you start looking at the numbers, Rachel, there are lots of reasons for that.

RM: Wait, wait. No.

AC: Well, first of all, we –

RM: Don’t tell me what the reasons are. Do women make less than men for the same work?

AC: Actually –

AC: – because.

RM: No? (LAUGH) Okay. No.

AC: Well, for example –

AC: – men work an average of 44 hours a week. Women work 41 hours a week. Men go into professions like engineering, science and math that earn more. Women want more flexibility –

RM: Listen, this is not a math is hard type of conversation.

AC: No, no. Yes, it is, actually.

RM: No, it isn’t.

AC: We’re having to look –

RM: No, listen –

DAVID GREGORY: All right, let Rachel –

RM: Right now women are making 77 cents –

AC: And litigated –

RM: – on the dollar for what men are making, so –

AC: Well, that’s not true.

RM: – so –

AC: If so every –

DC: All right, let Rachel make her point.

AC: – greedy businessman in America would hire only women, save 25% and be hugely profitable.

RM: I feel like this is actually –

AC: That’s it.

RM:and it’s weird that you’re interrupting me and not letting me make my point, because we get along so well. So let me make my point.

AC: I will.

RM: But it is important, I think, the interruption is important, I think, because now we know, at least from both of your perspectives that women are not faring worse than men in the economy. That women aren’t getting paid less for equal work. I think that’s a serious difference in factual understanding of the world.

But given that some of us believe that women are getting paid less than men for doing the same work, there is something called the Fair Pay Act. There was a court ruling that said the statute of limitations, if you’re getting paid less than a man, if you’re subject to discrimination, starts before you know that discrimination is happening, effectively cutting off your recourse to the courts. You didn’t know you were being discriminated against. You can’t go.

The first law passed by this administration is the Fair Pay Act. To remedy that court ruling. The Mitt Romney campaign put you out as a surrogate to shore up people’s feelings about this issue after they could not say whether or not Mitt Romney would have signed that bill. You’re supposed to make us feel better about it. You voted against the Fair Pay Act. It’s not about – whether or not you have a female surrogate. It’s about policy and whether or not you want to fix some of the structural discrimination that women really do face that Republicans don’t believe is happening.

DG: It’s policy is the argument.

AC: It’s policy. And I love how passionate you are. I wish you are as right about what you’re saying as you are passionate about it. I really do.

RM: That’s really condescending.

AC: For example – no.

RM: I mean this is a stylistic issue.

AC: I’ll tell you what –

RM: My passion on this issue –

AC: Here’s a fact –

RM:is actually me making a factual argument

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