Hillary’s Applause Line: Pro-Lawyer, Anti-Business


Hillary Rodham Clinton

Written by Michael Medved 

Since her disastrous showing in the Iowa caucuses six years ago, Hillary Clinton has stayed away from the Hawkeye State—until a recent visit viewed by many as the unofficial kickoff of her new presidential campaign.

Speaking to more than 5,000 at a “Steak Fry” in Indianola, the former Secretary of State got by far her biggest applause with a ringing declaration that women deserve “equal pay and that means you should get equal pay for equal work.”

Unfortunately, Clinton arrived about 40 years late on this issue: in 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed legislation guaranteeing equal pay for equal work and punishing any businesses that knowingly discriminate against women.

The “equal pay” legislation Democrats push today would merely make it easier for lawyers to file suits, rather than protecting ordinary working women. It’s not a pro-female reform—just procedural change that’s pro-lawyer and anti-business.