Bernie Sanders followers do not believe there is a wage gap.

[PatrickforO]

10. Whoa, there!

You are being more than a bit disingenuous by looking at the replies to that tweet and assuming they are Bernie supporters. Read the comments to some of Trump's tweets sometime and you'll see in stark terms what I mean. Literally anybody can reply to a tweet.

As to the wage gap being 'debunked,' that simply isn't true.

All you have to do is look at the latest census data profiles. Specifically you'll reference the Data Profile 03: Economic Characteristics. This profile can be downloaded from data.census.gov for any given geography, from the nation, to states, to counties, metro areas, micropolitan areas, and census designated places - like neighborhoods.

The DP03 has a line that gives the average earnings for a female full time worker and a male full time worker. Depending on the geography the range might go from $0.60 on the dollar to over $0.80 on the dollar, but I've never seen parity.

Now, if you want to talk statistics, this does not necessarily mean that companies are not paying women the same money, though some aren't.

It can also have to do with occupations that individuals tend to self-select into. Occupational families such as teachers and counselors, for instance, tend to be dominated by women, and pay lower wages. Other industries, such as stock brokerages and engineering firms tend to be dominated by men, and pay higher wages.

One academic actually destroyed her career by having the temerity to suggest that since some women 'stop out' of the labor force to give birth and raise families, they will, when they return to the labor force, earn less because they've missed some years of progressive earnings. She was crucified for it, which I have mixed feelings about because we're in reality not in academia.

My take after many years as a practicing career counselor and economist is that we need some policy direction leading to higher wages for teachers, counselors, nurses and other occupations that are truly important, and perhaps cap wages for occupations that don't add as much social value - like CEOs.

So what is it? I suggest it is a combination of all three. There really IS a wage gap, and Bernie stood right there on the video saying that. He cannot be responsible for the trolls that reply to his twitter posts.