wage discrimination against women

I don't understand why the piece of legislature called the Paycheck Fairness Act was defeated in the Senate. 

It appears that the Republicans opposed the bill because it might be a burden on small businesses.  A burden because they would have to pay a woman the same thing as a man?  Is it better for the Republicans if they just continue to squash bills that perhaps could move the country forward?  Are they interested in making sure that views are skewed on each topic so that people can remain uneducated about the decisions that make?  Is that what keeps them in power or do they really care about equal rights for all?

Bottom line, if two people of different genders are doing the exact same job, they should get compensated the same.  If one person, perhaps a woman, who has decided to leave the work force for 10 years and returns to a job where she is responsible for the exact same thing as her male counterpart who never left the workplace for any time, she should still get paid the same amount. Equal responsibility equals equal pay.

Now if you look at teachers, teachers get paid at different levels because of their education and experience.  If you get two degrees vs one then you get paid at a higher level vs your counterpart.  It is probably presumed that the education you received gives you the ability to teach at a higher level.  I don't know if that is true or not but I have seen in this circumstance that degrees and experience can change the game in teacher compensation.

Yet, in regards to two people who are doing the exact same job, at the same level, with the same amount of responsiblity...shouldn't it be illegal to pay them each a different amount?  My guess is at one point, this will go all the way to the Supreme Court and these days who knows which way they will judge but there are a variety of laws in place already that supposedly supports equal pay already.

Time will tell.