Top Romney Adviser: I Was Wrong, Romney Took No Stance On Ledbetter

Mitt Romney’s campaign was unable to produce a clear answer after the debate on whether he supports the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a recurring problem that goes back months. After the law was a main focus in Tuesday’s presidential debate, the specificity gap on Ledbetter between President Obama — who signed the law as one of his first acts as president — and Romney became almost comically pronounced.

Romney adviser Ed Gillespie told the Huffington Post after the debate that Romney opposed the passage of the bill, but would not repeal it.

A day later, he said something completely different to TPM.

“I was wrong when I said last night Governor Romney opposed the Lily Ledbetter act,” Gillespie said in a statement. “He never weighed in on it. As President, he would not seek to repeal it.”

That’s in keeping with Romney’s murky views on the Ledbetter law. For months, Romney has said he wouldn’t act to repeal the law — which passed over the opposition of many Republicans in 2009 — but has declined to say whether or not he would have signed it.

President Obama went after Romney in Tuesday’s debate specifically over his vague position on the bill, which makes it easier for women to sue employers over pay equity. Romney took a question from an audience member on pay equity, but pivoted to a discussion of his own hiring as governor, where he said he looked through “binders full of women” to find qualified applicants.

more
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/10/romney-campaign-lilly-ledbetter.php?ref=fpnewsfeed