Dan Patrick appears with Huckabee, says he wouldn’t support bill to make equal pay lawsuits easier

[TexasTowelie]

Lieutenant governor candidate Dan Patrick said Thursday in a North Texas visit that men and women should be paid equally, but he indicated he did not support loosening restrictions on lawsuits over pay discrimination.

“I just believe in free markets and I believe the market is the best place to do that,” Patrick said. He appeared at the Park Cities Hilton, where former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee offered fundraising help.

Patrick voted against a measure offered last year to allow women more time to sue over claims of gender-based discrimination. The measure passed the Legislature, but Gov. Rick Perry vetoed it. It has been a top subject this week in the race for governor, with Democratic nominee Wendy Davis criticizing Republican nominee Greg Abbott for saying he would not support such a measure.

“Women should be should be paid the same as a man, but I don’t believe government should enforce it,” Patrick said.

More at http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/03/dan-patrick-appears-with-mike-huckabee-says-he-wouldnt-support-bill-to-make-equal-pay-lawsuits-easier.html/ .

[font color=green]At the end of the article Patrick says he’d like to participate in televised debates with Dewhurst in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and somewhere in rural Texas. So would any rural Texas DUer be willing to offer a venue for an appropriate fee ($$$$$) or the opportunity to ask questions to the GOP LG candidates?

(That's a call-out to mbperrin, Ilsa and Dustlawyer among others).[/font]

[polichick]

1. Please tell me most female Texans have had about enough of this shit!

[Gothmog]

2. I think that Leticia van de Putte can beat Dan Patrick

Here is a good analysis from Off the Kuff http://blog.chron.com/kuffsworld/2014/03/its-as-much-about-leticia-as-it-is-about-dan/

As I noted before, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which LVdP wins. It won’t take all that many crossover voters, especially if Democrats finally manage to get their base turnout level up. LVdP will be a big asset in that. As Molly Ivins would have said, she has a lot of Elvis in her, and she has the experience and sensibleness to be an acceptable choice to the kind of Republican that can’t bear the thought of voting for Dan Patrick. The main thing she needs right now is financial support so she can get her name and her message out. If you’re supporting Wendy Davis – which of course you should be – you also need to be supporting Leticia Van de Putte. We’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time. Let’s not let it go by without giving it all we’ve got.