Speaking at the 40th anniversary of the National Partnership for Women and Families, Michelle Obama bragged that the Obama administration has made women’s concerns a priority from “day one.” (Day One, as you know, was very busy for the Obama administration.)


Did she promise a thriving economy that allows families to save for their future? Jobs for parents who want to provide for their children? Well, not exactly.


Mrs. Obama promised that the administration would continue to push for the Paycheck Fairness Act that would regulate what employers pay. This act seeks to remedy a wage gap that feminist activists, always on the prowl for more government intervention, exaggerate. To the extent that there is a difference between what men and women earn it is based on women’s choices such as getting out of the workforce to raise children-not discrimination. Indeed, in n the case of urban young professionals, women earn more than their male counterparts. What the Paycheck Fairness Act would do is get the government more involved in setting salaries, a matter better worked out between employee and boss, and lead to endless, economy-choking litigation.


She also touted the appointment of Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court and noted that women made up nearly half of Obama’s nominees to the federal bench, “a greater percentage than any other president in history.” Somehow this didn’t make me feel a whole lot better.


“Even today, with all the advances that we’ve made, too many women face barriers and roadblocks for reaching their full potential,” Obama said. “Too many girls are held back by narrow expectations and limited options. So it’s our job to just keep working, not just for us but for them.”


What planet is Mrs. Obama living on? This was true once upon a time, say sometime before Michelle got her scholarship to Princeton. But it’s not now. Women outnumber men on college campuses and, if there are any roadblocks, they are for boys. 


But you’ll be hearing a lot talk like this. Democrats must have the majority of the women’s vote to win in 2012. Until the 2010 midterms, they could pretty much count on women skewing Democratic. The midterms erased the gender gap. So expect a lot of pandering to us women between now and November 2012. 


I only wish that the Democrats understood what we really need–a good economy, same as what the guys need.