The Senate Democratic arm threatening to hang the GOP's refusal to OK equal pay legislation around the neck of every Republican in the midterm elections suffers from an even worse gender “pay gap” than the much-advertised 77 cents for women for every $1 a man makes.

According to an analysis of recent salary information from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the group pays women 70 cents for every $1 a male employee works.

Even with employing more women than men, many at top levels, the DSCC in its latest salary filings with the Federal Election Committee covering September-November 2013, paid males an average of $18,576 for the three months to $13,044 for women.

The analysis provided to Secrets by the Republicans appeared to include a sizable bonus to long-serving DSCC Executive Director Guy Cecil. Eliminating that, the group still pays less to women, about 82-cents per $1 for men.

The DSCC retaliated with a pay breakdown of the National Republican Senatorial Committee that shows the group paying 77 cents for every $1 a male makes.

Democrats argued that their calculation should not include the highly-paid and experienced executive director of either group because it skews the numbers. Eliminate the salary of the top men at both groups, and the figures show that the DSCC pays women $1.13 and the NRSC 87 cents per $1 for men.

But that waters down their pro-woman argument, said the GOP. "That's the weakest, most embarrassing and hypocritical excuse that a Democrat has made this week, and that is saying something. If the men at the DSCC don't believe that male bosses should count against the pay gap, it destroys their entire argument, doesn't it?" said NRSC press secretary Brook Hougesen.

While nailing down exact employment figures for the DSCC or NRSC is complicated, they indicate that paying women the same as men isn’t as easy as just diving payroll equally among the sexes.

It also highlights a potential problem for the DSCC which has launched a “GOP Pay Gap” campaign to hold Republican candidates accountable for their opposition to legislation on the issue. They have mounted an outrage campaign via social networks and President Obama this week attacked Republicans for voting down a pay gap proposal in the Senate.

The GOP calls the issue a political gotcha that builds on a claim that women earn 77 cents for the $1 a man makes.

The DSCC, however, wasn't taking any guff from the Republicans.

“Pay equity matters to voters, women and men and it's going to be a huge issue for voters in this election,” said spokesman Justin Barasky. “Republicans in Washington are desperately trying to convince themselves that it doesn't matter but it does, and Mitch McConnell, Tom Cotton, Terri Lynn Land and the rest of their candidates will pay a political price in November.”

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.