We’ve written about Pete Hoekstra’s record of hypocrisy before, and now he’s at it again. After agreeing to appear at Herman Cain’s Washington, D.C. rally and becoming the first Senate candidate to endorse his 9-9-9 plan, Pete Hoekstra called the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act a “nuisance,” and added “it shouldn’t be law.”
Pete Hoekstra doesn’t think women deserve equal pay for equal work, and he has a history of voting against laws that protect workers from wage discrimination:
In 2009, Hoekstra voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The bill allowed employees to sue employers for wage discrimination for a longer period of time. The measure was designed to overturn a 2007 Supreme Court decision that ruled a worker could not bring a wage discrimination suit more than 180 days after the initial discriminatory act. [Roll Call 37, S 181, 01/27/2009; CO House Action Reports Legislative Week, 1/26/09]
In 2009, Hoekstra voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act that would have reversed the Supreme Court’s 2007 decision Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. [Roll Call 9, H 11, 01/09/2009; CQ Weekly, 1/12/09]
In 2009, Hoekstra voted against eliminating caps on compensatory and punitive damages for successful wage discrimination suits. The bill also put the onus on employers to prove that pay discrepancies between women and men doing the same jobs are actually the result of business considerations. [Roll Call 8, H 12, 01/09/2009; CQ WEEKLY – WEEKLY REPORT, 1/12/09]
In 2008, Hoekstra voted against a bill that would lift the cap on compensatory and punitive damages that women may be awarded in wage discrimination cases. The bill would also require employers who contended that pay discrepancies did not result from discrimination to give an actual business reason for why female employees were paid less than their male counterparts. Democrats argued that the bill would close some loopholes for pay discrimination. [Roll Call 556, H 1338, 07/31/2008; CQ Today¸7/31/08]
In 2007, Hoekstra voted against a bill to protect the victims of wage discrimination. The bill amended the 1964 Civil Rights Act to allow employees to file charges of pay discrimination for a longer period of time. It also clarified that an employee is entitled to up to two years of back-pay if it is determined that discrimination occurred. [Roll Call 768, H 2831, 07/31/2007; Congressional Quarterly; CQ Today, 7/31/07]
Hoekstra voted against an amendment to increase by $2 million the bill’s funding for the Women’s Educational Equity Act and to decrease by an equal amount the $319 million in funding for educational research. [Roll Call 304, H 3755, 07/11/1996]
There’s a reason Pete Hoekstra is the first Senate candidate to endorse the 9-9-9 plan – a plan that would raise taxes on 84{ef69e4e9e447e52a60027e369ac6a3d796f53805e5a70de1d67ce22dac9553da} of U.S. households – and it’s simple: he just doesn’t get it. After losing his campaign for governor, Hoekstra went to work peddling influence for a Washington lobbying firm before announcing his campaign to run for Senate.
Tapping far-right ad man Fred Davis, Hoekstra re-introduced himself to Michigan voters with his now infamous “China” ad, aired during the Super Bowl. At least this much is clear: Pete Hoekstra needs a dose of reality. Tell Pete to get real.
Below, we’ve embedded Hoekstra’s greatest hits for your viewing pleasure:
