True colors

In an interview with "Meet the Press" on the 23rd of January, Bill Thomas (R-CA) who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, suggested tying Social Security benefits to a person's race or gender:
"We also need to examine, frankly, ... the question of race, in terms of how many years of retirement do you get based upon your race. And you ought not to just leave gender off the table, because that would be a factor."

The presumption that Thomas was working off of was that women live longer than, but that minorities don't live as long as, white males. So the thinking, I guess (I can't tell if he's thinking or not) should be that minorities would get more money per year (because they live shorter lives), but that women should get less money per year (because they live longer), so that everyone in the end receives an amount of money equal to what they put into the accounts.

Republicans have been the party of sexual and racial inequality for the last two decades or so - let's not forget that Head Start funding was drastically cut during a Republican administration, or that restrictions on reproductive health and equal-pay bills have been put forth under Republican leadership.

Democrats need to seize on this and remind people that this is a Republican talking. Trent Lott didn't get away with saying what he said, and neither should Bill Thomas - the fact that he's not Senate Majority Leader should mean nothing.

The Democratic party, as yet (nearly 24 hours after the statement) hasn't even issued a statement condemning Rep. Thomas's remarks. It's time to get on the ball, McAuliffe.