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President Obama prodded Republicans to support paycheck fairness legislation in the Senate Tuesday, following his own executive orders that he says will help reduce the pay gap between men and women.

The president was marking Equal Pay Day with a speech meant to mobilize women voters and put the GOP on the defensive ahead of the midterm elections. The Democrats have planned an agenda focused on pocketbook issues to send a message to lower- and middle-class Americans that they have their best interests at heart.

"So far Republicans in congress have been gumming up the works, they've been blocking progress on this issue," the president said of the equal pay issue. "We don't have to accept that. America, you don't have to sit still. You can make sure you're putting some pressure on members of Congress on this issue. And I don't care if you're a Democrat or a Republican. If you've got a daughter, if you've got a sister, if you've got a mom - I know you've got a mom - this is something you should care about."

At the event in the White House, he signed two executive orders that will affect the federal workforce. One will prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who discuss their salaries, while the other will mandate that the Labor Department collect data on the compensation for federal contract workers, organized by race and sex. The two orders will help make it easier for women to earn the same as men, the president said.

"Equal Pay Day means that a woman has to work about this far into 2014 to earn what a man earned in 2013," the president said. "That's not fair."

Republicans have taken issue with both the widely-repeated White House statistic that women earn just 77 cents for every dollar that men earn, as well as the president and the Senate's proposed changes.

The 77-cent figure, they say, comes from the average earnings of women in all positions compared to the average earnings of men in all positions, without taking into account the different types of jobs.

"There's a disparity not because female engineers are making less than male engineers at the same company with comparable experience. The disparity exists because a female social worker makes less than a male engineer--just as a female engineer would out-earn a male social worker. The difference isn't because of their genders; it's because of their jobs," said a memo from the Republican National Committee. "The 'Paycheck Fairness Act' wouldn't change that."

Moreover, the White House has found itself in hot water over a study by the American Enterprise Institute found that female staffers in the White House earn 12 percent less than men, on average, or 88 cents on the dollar.

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Obama challenges Republicans to support paycheck fairness bill

#TBT House Republicans Pass Budget That Balances #ThatsFair
U.S. Congressman Sean Duffy (WI-07) took to the Floor of the House to remind the American people that House Republicans have once again, passed a Budget Reso...

By: RepSeanDuffy

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#TBT House Republicans Pass Budget That Balances #ThatsFair - Video

Key Peele Black Republicans

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Key & Peele Black Republicans - Video

Republicans want top officials from the Dayton administration to answer questions about what they knew of problems with the MNsure health exchange before its rocky launch on Oct. 1.

Citing recent news reports, Republicans on a MNsure oversight committee said that DFL Gov. Mark Dayton and his top advisers were warned about health exchange defects "well in advance of their decision to make the website available to consumers," they wrote in a letter sent Monday to the DFL chairs of the committee.

Asking that Dayton's human services commissioner, former chief of staff and the former MNsure executive director attend a committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, the Republicans wrote: "Minnesotans deserve answers to the continued questions about the management failure at MNsure prior to its launch."

Sen. Tony Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, co-chairman of the legislative oversight committee, said in a voicemail message Monday that he had forwarded the letter to Dayton and expected "the administration to have people to answer questions appropriately" during the meeting.

Linden Zakula, a spokesman for Dayton, blasted the request in a statement, saying Republicans should be "as interested in hearing current good news, as they are in dredging up old bad news."

Two proposed witnesses are no longer employed by the state, Zakula said. Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson said Monday she is scheduled to testify at a Senate committee meeting on funding for the state security hospital in St. Peter -- but if that ends soon enough, she may be able to attend the oversight hearing.

The Republicans' letter, Zakula said, makes "outrageously false statements about MNsure's current condition, while they attempt to divert the committee's attention to circumstances that are six months old."

Republicans said in their letter that the Wednesday session provides "a unique opportunity to follow up with those from the governor's office and MNsure about their joint decision to go live on October 1."

The letter was written by oversight committee members Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake; Sen. Sean Nienow, R-Cambridge; Rep. Tara Mack, R-Apple Valley; and Rep. Joe Hoppe, R-Chaska.

On Sept. 19, Dayton was briefed by MNsure leaders and told there was a possibility that the health exchange website might not be able to launch on Oct. 1, Zakula said. The meeting with Dayton was reported Sunday by the Minneapolis-based Star Tribune newspaper.

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Republicans on MNsure oversight panel seek answers on rollout problems

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) North Carolina Republicans expanding their majorities at the General Assembly in 2012 are now wielding even more influence, according to a biennial effectiveness survey released Tuesday by a nonpartisan research group.

Republicans held the top 15 spots for effectiveness in the House and first 16 in the Senate during the 2013 session, according to survey results accumulated by the North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research.

Two years earlier, after Republicans took control of the Legislature for the first time in more than 140 years, Senate GOP members claimed the highest 10 spots and House Republicans 12 of the top 15 slots in their respective chambers. Republicans won an additional 11 seats during the 2012 elections. They now hold 33 of the 50 Senate seats and 77 of the 120 House seats, giving the majorities the ability to override a governor's vetoes if they largely remain united.

As expected, House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, and Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, held the No. 1 spots in their chambers for the second time in a row based on the surveys of legislators, lobbyists and state government reporters.

Here's a closer look at what the survey found:

NEAR THE TOP: In the House, Rules Committee Chairman Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, ranked No. 2 in effectiveness, followed by Rep. Julia Howard, R-Davie and senior co-chairwoman off the House Finance Committee at No. 3. Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, was 4th. Lewis is a finance panel chairman and helped shepherd a voter identification law through the House in 2013.

Rules panel chairman Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson, was No. 2 in the Senate, followed by ex-Sen. Pete Brunstetter, R-Forsyth, at 3rd and Majority Leader Harry Brown, R-Onslow, at No. 4. Brunstetter resigned in December to become an executive at a hospital network. Brunstetter and Brown were both Senate Appropriations Committee co-chairmen in 2013.

SECOND WIND: Some second-term legislators saw their effectiveness ranking rise substantially in 2013. Sen. Rick Gunn, R-Alamance, rose 22 places from two years ago to 11th, with Sen. Brent Jackson, R-Sampson, rising 19 places to 8th and Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, 11 spots to No. 7. The House member with the largest second-term increase was Rep. Susi Hamilton of New Hanover County, going up 60 spots to No. 42.

TOP DEMOCRATS: In the Senate, Minority Whip Josh Stein of Wake County was considered the most effective Democrat in the chamber, ranked 17th. The late Senate Minority Leader Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe, who died last month, wasn't included in the rankings. His successor, Sen. Dan Blue, D-Wake, was No. 23. The top House Democrat was Rep. Rick Glazier of Cumberland County at No. 16, followed by Minority Leader Larry Hall of Durham County at No. 23.

FIRST STEPS: Sen. Jeff Tarte, R-Mecklenburg, was ranked the top Senate freshman at No. 24, while Rep. Dean Arp, R-Union, ranked the highest among first-term House members at No. 38.

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NC Republicans hold more top effectiveness spots