Equal pay for women? Not if you work for Barack Obama

"Do As I Say, Not As I Do" should be the campaign theme of Sen. Barack Obama.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that compensation figures for Obama's legislative staff show that Obama pays women just 83 cents for every dollar his male staffers earn.

And this is the guy who criticized the Republicans for not supporting equal pay for women?

Based on calculations by LegiStorm, a Washington, D.C. watchdog group, Obama's 28 male staffers divided among themselves an average of $54,397. In contrast, Obama's 30 female staffers split $45,152, on average among themselves.

Among Obama's five best-paid advisers, only one was a woman, notes the Republican National Committee. Among his top 20, seven were women, the RNC says.

John McCain's 17 male staffers averaged $53,936 in pay. His 25 female employees averaged $55,878.

Among [McCain's] top-five best-compensated staffers, three are women, according to the RNC. Of his 20-highest-salaried employees, 13 are women, the RNC says.

The Republican National Committee had this observation on the disparity between what Obama pays women on his staff:

On average, according to these data, women in John McCain's office make $1.04 for every dollar a man makes. In fact, all other things being equal, a typical female staffer could earn 21 cents more per dollar paid to her male counterpart -- while adding $10,726 to her annual income -- by leaving Barack Obama's office and going to work for John McCain.

Republican National Committee: Obama Only Talks Good Game on Gender Pay Equity