NBC Medical Editor Claims Saudi Arabia Better Than U.S. on Equal Pay for Women
Making an absurd declaration on Friday's NBC Today, chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman asserted that the oppressive regime in Saudi Arabia was fairer to working women than the United States: "We still make 77 cents to the dollar as men. It's ridiculous. In a country like Saudi Arabia, where we question their rights, it's against the law to pay women less than men." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Guess what else is against the law in Saudi Arabia? For a woman to work without the permission of her male guardian. As a result, according to a report on PBS Newshour Extra, women in the Islamic state currently "only make up 5 percent of the workforce." Women must also adhere to a strict dress code and are banned from driving.
The topic of equal pay arose as Snyderman and fellow Today's Professionals panelists – advertising executive Donny Deutsch and attorney Star Jones – took questions from viewers during the 9 a.m. et hour of the morning show. One woman, introduced only as Sheila, wondered: "...a report just came out this week about men and women doing the same jobs, professional careers, and the men are continuously being paid higher salaries. Why is that?"
After Snyderman made her rant, Jones used the opportunity to campaign for President Obama: "My bread does not cost 30 cents less than a man's bread when he goes into the grocery store. Equal pay for equal work. That was one of the first things that Obama did, was sign the Lilly Ledbetter Act."
What all of the supposed "professionals" failed to mention was the fact that the "77 cents to the dollar" statistic simply compares all working women in the country to all men, regardless of whether they actually do the same work.
As James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation explained in a June 5 report: "This gender gap is not the result of rampant discrimination. Rather, it exists because men and women often work in different jobs, work different hours, and have different qualifications. When work experience, education, occupation, and hours of work are taken into account, the average woman makes 98 cents for every dollar earned by a man."
Here is a full transcript of the June 8 Today exchange:
9:37AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: We are back with more of our special Today's Professionals hour. Now it's your turn to ask the experts: Star, Donny, and Dr. Nancy. We're going to do a lightning round with these guys. Al is out on the plaza and he's got some questions from the crowd. Hey, Al.
AL ROKER: Hey, Savannah, guys. Okay, here we go, we've got Sheila first of all question. You're from Houston, right?
SHEILA: Yes, sir.
ROKER: Okay, what's your question for the crowd?
SHEILA: My question is, a report just came out this week about men and women doing the same jobs, professional careers, and the men are continuously being paid higher salaries. Why is that?
ROKER: What a surprise.
SHEILA: Yeah, why is that?
ROKER: What's up with that guys?
GUTHRIE: Okay, Nancy?
NANCY SNYDERMAN: We still make 77 cents to the dollar as men. It's ridiculous. In a country like Saudi Arabia, where we question their rights, it's against the law to pay women less than men.
GUTHRIE: Donny you employ a lot of people, hope you pay them equally.
DONNY DEUTSCH: You know, women raise – run my company. I want to challenge the women. My experience is women don't feel entitled enough to ask and demand what they deserve – no, no.
GUTHRIE: What?! So it's the woman's fault?
DEUTSCH: No, I'm not saying it's women – it's that women are now empowered. And once again, this is the problem, women need to say, "I deserve this. I want this." And have some of those same stupid traits that men have, as far as entitlement.
STAR JONES: Absolutely. My bread does not cost 30 cents less than a man's bread when he goes into the grocery store. Equal pay for equal work. That was one of the first things that Obama did, was sign the Lilly Ledbetter Act.
DEUTSCH: Women demand it. Demand it.
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Comments
The Middle East Challenge
Submitted by Kubrickfilmfan73 on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 1:49pm.
I'd like for Ms. Snyderman to take my Middle East Challenge: fly to anywhere in the Middle East other than Israel, then as soon as you get off the plane, ask the first ten people who cross your path for directions to the nearest synagogue. Be sure to carefully document all the love, joy, and acceptance you receive. For bonus points, if you feel up to it, tell 'em you're gay.
What do you say, Ms. Snyderman?
(Wait for it . . . ) (Wait for it . . . ) (Wait for it . . . )
crickets
OMG these people are insane.
Submitted by povertypimpin on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 1:53pm.
The vast majority of women aren't allowed to work or even drive for that matter.
How do you measure this
Submitted by Russian55 on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:02pm.
How does one measure if a woman is earning less than a man in the same job? When pay is based on merit, people often earn different amounts for the "same job" because they perform differently.
I have employed women and men and often the women earned MORE, because they were doing a better job.
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Those who beat their swords into plowshares will end up plowing for those who kept their swords in the first place!
I cant find the link to back
Submitted by Snappy on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:47pm.
I cant find the link to back this up, but I believe a recent study found that the different pay for the same job numbers mainly derive from averages, once you examine and plug back in where your numbers are coming from you find that the reason it might appear women are making less is that men on average put more hours in, work more weekends etc than women do, so actually the gender wage gap is not as real as people would have you believe.
GenderGapNeverBeenReal
Submitted by Lamdog on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 3:19pm.
Wait till she find out black women make more than white women.
That being said: I always pose this question to women who moan and groan about gender pay gap. If it was true, Why would an employer hirer a man when he/she could hirer a woman and keep the difference in pay?
Again, you are asking libs to use logic and reasoning.
One those issues which keep feminists panties in a wad.
Ahhh...yes!
Submitted by P. Aaron on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:04pm.
The bubble that is today's media and the commenters who reside there.
Just another no clue liberal talking head
Submitted by John21 on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:05pm.
Just another no clue liberal talking head.
This man obviously has never been to any of the Middle Eastern countries or he is thoroughly indoctrinated in the administrations disinformation campaign. How much Kool-Aid did you drink?
I do not think these morons realize that a large number of Americans have spent a lot of time in the Middle East over the last decade and have observed Muslim culture at close range. They have seen how the Muslim women are treated or mistreated with their own eyes; do you think you can tell them that they are getting a fairer deal than women in the US?
Do they really think they can announce this kind of propaganda and be believed? I mean I know its NBC and I know that they are in the liberal bag and provide unlimited propaganda for the Obama administration. I know that they see the world thru rose colored glasses that have nothing to do with reality but you would think viewing their loss of rating and their absence of credibility they would out of self-protection at least keep the lies in the believable range.
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“Truth is always stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense” Mark Twain
Offended
Submitted by NMEwithin on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:07pm.
As a Veteran of Desert Storm and having spend a year in Saudi Arabia, this is the most absurd thing I have ever read! Has this idiot ever been to Saudi Arabia? Women cannot work without permission, they can't drive or even SPEAK without permission from the eldest male family member! This comparison is freaking insulting!
I think these people who love
Submitted by Semus on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:08pm.
I think these people who love all these places should move there.
Is this a joke?
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:11pm.
This has to be a joke. In Saudi Arabia, women are the property of men! Guess who gets to keep that "equal" pay?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Shillin' for a livin'
Submitted by c5then on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:16pm.
How do these people say this stuff with a straight face???
Why don't they ask Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi who it was recently reported (not by NBC of course) pays her female aides less then her male aides.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
What an idiot! If what she
Submitted by rbosque on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:21pm.
What an idiot! If what she says is true, then why dont I see her over there making more money?
Hey stupid! Put up or shut up! Move to Saudi Arabia! Do it! Let's see if you're right!
Insider Trading by A True Wack Job
Submitted by libBuster on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:23pm.
Wow what a wack job. I had not realized that she was hit with an insider trading violaiton by the SEC.
She is right
Submitted by octavioj on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 2:39pm.
Women make zero dollars in Saudi Arabia... :-) Is she really claiming the US should treat women like Saudi Arabia? The lengths these people go to advance a cause is astounding.
Permission
Submitted by Tjexcite on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 3:06pm.
Because the male family member who gave permission for her to work will kick her employers "but" if they rip her off in wage. And the wage might not even go to her, it goes to the male guardian anyways.
Against the law???
Submitted by Pilgrim1949 on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 3:30pm.
Yo, sand-for-brains!
It's been against the law here for YEARS now (hence, no need for yet more duplicate legislation to that effect), not that a superior-intellect journalist like yourself should be expected to be able to use Lexis/Nexis or that newfangled Al-Gore thingie called the Internet to do any REAL research. (If you're not up to speed, I'm sure one of your staff or interns could help you out there...)
If things were as "terrible" as she claims the courts would be log-jammed with a huge backlog of equal-pay cases as far as the ambulance-chaser tort weenies can see.
Reality -- not so much.
Reality regularly proves to be a real BE-atch to these Libtards.
"Ye canne change the laws of physics....." but some politicians believe that with the right legislation you can pretend they don't really apply to your own pet projects...
Its not 77%
Submitted by allouchsit on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 3:56pm.
It is illegal in the United States, just as it is in Saudi Arabia, to pay women less than men. That law has been on the books for over 40 years.
That 77% figure is arrived at by dividing all income earned by women by all income earned by men - that's comparing apples to oranges. But it you compare apples to apples and compare the pay of women with the same education and experience doing the same job as men for the same number of work days and the same number of work hours, you find that woman earn 95% of what men do.
Does Snyderman still have a medical practice?
Submitted by ohio granny on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 4:00pm.
If she does all I can say to her patients is be afraid, very afraid. Find a new physician quickly because this woman is cracking up (or has already done so).
She is quickly becoming a pariah in the medical community.
Submitted by drsamherman on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 4:27pm.
She purports to speak for the entire medical profession with her big mouth and her uninformed opinions on everything non-medical. She does not speak for the profession, only for herself. I honestly don't know one physician who could point at her and say, "Oh her opinion carries so much more weight because she does nose jobs for a living" (She's an ear/nose/throat surgeon). The primary purpose of having her as the chief medical editor of NBC News, under any rational assumption, would be to have her comment from a medical provider point of view on RELEVANT topics. Instead, she sticks her likely-corrected schnoz into matters where her medical training is obviously irrelevant. She is no more equipped to issue opinions on matters outside of health care than the janitor. The janitor is far more productive and infinitely more informed than Nancy on politics, law and the economy.
She carries the same level of contempt from practicing physicians as Mehmet Oz, Drew Pinsky, Sanjay Gupta and other physicians who sold their professional souls to be D-list celebrities.
This crazy talk
Submitted by needle on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 6:29pm.
Maybe Nancy Snyderman is posturing for a role Michael Moore’s next dis-informercial / slockumentary.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
Here's a great idea:
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 9:34pm.
FREAKIN' MOVE THERE THEN YOU FOOL!
Why is Dr. Snyderman involved in this topic in the first place?
Submitted by djwolf12 on Fri, 06/08/2012 - 10:43pm.
Hey Dr. Snyderman, shouldn't you be sticking to the issues in your field instead of reading the White House Memes of "Not getting cancer screenings" or Aborting "diseases"?
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm no longer going to call this woman a Doctor. She will forever be known as Death Panels Snyderman.
There has been an equal pay law on the books since 1963.
Submitted by The Vet on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 12:04am.
Women are already protected, have been since 1963. Equal Pay Act of 1963
STAR JONES: Absolutely. My bread does not cost 30 cents less than a man's bread when he goes into the grocery store. Equal pay for equal work. That was one of the first things that Obama did, was sign the Lilly Ledbetter Act.
Lilly Ledbetter Act did not advocate equal pay for equal work. It just extends the statutory limits of filing a lawsuit.
I was going to toss in a rant here...
Submitted by wizardjr on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 11:47am.
but you guys pretty much covered it for me. Well said.