ANALYSIS/OPINION:

In case you haven’t heard, Tuesday is Equal Pay Day – a bipartisan issue.

Democrats and Republicans both believe no matter where you come from, what gender you are, or what your race is, you should be able to achieve your highest potential and nobody should be treated unfairly in the work place.

Yet it still happens. A Washington Free Beacon analysis performed over the summer found Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign paid women 88 cents for each dollar earned by men. Nationally, women earn 79 cents to every dollar a male makes.

So what should be done?

There are laws already on the books that prohibit discrimination. Those laws should be pursued to the fullest extent if and when a women feels she’s being discriminated against.

Studies have also found women are hesitant to ask for raises - they need to speak up more.

Last year, a survey by Glamour magazine found 57 percent of women have never asked for a raise, compared to 46 percent of men. Another study, conducted by Citigroup and LinkedIn, found that only 27 percent of women had asked for a raise in the last year, and for those who did, 84 percent got more money.

Democrats would have you believe the federal government is the solution – by pushing through more regulations that burden small businesses and don’t guarantee a fair outcome. Instead, public officials should be advocating for meritocracies and not bureaucracies – where work is rewarded by ability and talent, not seniority and privilege.

As former GOP Presidential candidate Carly Fiorina so eloquently put it: “The single greatest impediment to equal pay for equal work is the seniority system, which pays not on merit and not on performance, but on time and grade. We don’t need increased regulation to address this issue; we need flexibility for employers.”

So when Mrs. Clinton says on the campaign trail, like she did on Tuesday: “Women all over America deserve a raise. There’s no discount being a woman — groceries don’t cost us less, rent doesn’t cost us less, so why should we be paid less?” I fully agree.

Women should speak up and not be afraid to ask for the raises they deserve or holding those accountable who discriminate. The government, meanwhile, should be dismantling their own bureaucracies and promoting based on merit and performance.

Equal pay for equal work.

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