I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis.
I hope you gave last week's "equal pay day" the attention it deserved, which was none at all. It was the day on which women's advocacy groups propagated the myth that women earn only 76 cents for every dollar men earn and are barred from rising to positions of importance by a glass ceiling.
The truth is women have made huge gains in wages, professional standing, education, and entrepreneurship. Just look around you.
Today, the majority of Associate's, Bachelor's and Master's degrees are awarded to women, as well as 40 percent of Doctorates. To take just two professions, between 1970 and 1998, women went from being 5 to 29 percent of lawyers, and 39 to 62 percent of psychologists.
And 76 cents on the dollar? A classic of twisting statistics. According to the National Longitudinal Survey Of Youth, when comparisons are made with similar ages, education, occupation and experience, women earn just as much as men.
Now that is something to celebrate.
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont. Next time, governmental dopiness strikes again.