Tag Archives: Fight For $15

2/26 Biden Promotes War in Syria, Chooses Legislation that Favors Wall Street Donors Over Raising the Fed Min Wage in a 5 year Period; Open Thread (updated with Bernie’s comment about Syria)

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

A $15 minimum wage would cost employers. Inequality costs all of us

n the 1960s, the federal government marshaled its resources to fight a “War on Poverty.” More recently, however, we’ve been fighting what amounts to a “War on the Poor” — a sustained campaign of denial and neglect that we can begin to end by raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The current figure of $7.25 — unchanged since 2009 — is so absurdly low that the country effectively has no federal minimum wage at all. As of May 1, when Virginia’s minimum wage rises, 29 states will mandate higher wage floors. Assuming a 40-hour workweek, a $7.25-per-hour rate adds up to $290 before taxes. Try stretching that to cover a week’s worth of food, housing, clothing and transportation for an individual, let alone a family. It can’t be done.

Nor is it realistic to expect workers to survive, much less thrive, on $10 an hour, as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) proposes, or $11 an hour, which Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) would prefer. The richest country on Earth can surely afford to accept the following proposition: Anyone who works a full-time job should be able to afford at least a working-class life. At less than $15 an hour, that simply is not possible.

Republicans cite the principle of federalism in arguing that states and cities should be able to set their own minimum wage levels according to local conditions. Indeed, many states do impose higher minimum wages, and some cities, such as Seattle and D.C., are on a path to $15. But five states — Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi and Louisiana — have no minimum wage at all, meaning employers are bound only by the $7.25 federal standard. And Wyoming and Georgia bizarrely set their minimum wage at just $5.15; again, the federal rule applies to jobs covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Federal policy recognizes that the current minimum wage is not a living wage. We help low-wage workers survive with tax credits, food assistance, subsidized housing and other sorely needed programs. But why the reluctance to require employers to compensate an honest day’s work with an honest day’s pay?

Other important principles once championed by the Republican Party are being undermined by this hesitance: Self-reliance. Self-respect. The idea of work as its own reward. The notion of idleness as damaging to self and to society.

Setting a nationwide floor of $15 an hour would require many employers to fine-tune their business plans. The cost of a Big Mac might marginally rise.

Yes, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 1.4 million workers could lose their jobs, although many other economists argue that the impact on employment would be marginal or nonexistent. The CBO also estimates that the net impact would be to lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty.

Look beyond the fact that the federal poverty level — a family of four making a penny more than $26,500 annually is not considered poor — should really be called the federal penury level. And leave aside that a full-time, minimum-wage job would earn only $15,080 per year. Consider instead how seldom we even talk about poverty today, as though the poor have magically become invisible or ceased to exist.

Activists are trying to get us to pay attention. The Rev. William J. Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, has been holding virtual and socially distanced events across the country — including in Manchin’s home state — to argue that a $15 minimum wage is a vital component of any effective covid-19 relief package. “The truth of the matter is it will lift millions of people out of low wages and poverty,” he says, taking a more realistic view of where the poverty line should be drawn than the federal government does.

President Biden included the $15 wage in his proposed relief legislation. But because the Senate parliamentarian has ruled that the boost cannot be approved through the arcane “reconciliation” process requiring only 51 votes, Democrats would have to pursue it independently.

But I fail to see the political downside of supporting the measure for any Democrats — or even for the few reasonable Republicans left in the Senate. Raising the minimum wage is a popular idea; a Vox poll this week showed that 62 percent of voters support the relief bill’s plan for a gradual increase to $15 by 2025. Some of the nation’s biggest employers have already made the move: Costco this week announced that it would raise its starting hourly wage to $16, outflanking major corporate rivals. Small-business owners would have four years to adjust and adapt.

And the moral calculus could not be clearer. A $15 minimum wage would cost employers. Growing inequality costs all of us even more.

Instead of having the VP overrule the Parliamentarian, or even fire her as Bush/GOP did in 2001 when the Parliamentarian Would Not Rule in Favor of Tax cuts, Biden Administration decides to cut the life line to workers in retail, home health care, and fast food. Yes, he can spend more money on useless COBRA, which doesn’t guarantee good health care to anyone. It’s just catastrophic insurance. People still will continue to go to emergency rooms. In 2020, health insurance profits continued to soar in the pandemic.

Using the parting gift that McConnell left on Biden’s doorstep, $750B funded military, Syria draws the lucky number of hearing the echos of John McCain: Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran.

Biden administration conducts strike on Iranian-linked fighters in Syria

The Biden administration conducted an airstrike in Syria on Thursday that officials believe killed a number of alleged Iranian-linked fighters, signaling its intent to use targeted military action to push back against violence tied to Tehran.

The attack on a border-crossing station in eastern Syria, the first lethal operation ordered by the Biden administration against Iran’s network of armed proxies, was “authorized in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in Iraq, and to ongoing threats,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

The facilities were used by Iranian-linked Iraqi militias, including Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, he said.

Bernie Sanders has no reason to support the OMB nominee. He should vote his conscience.

More news, tweets, videos in the comments.

Paul Wellstone & Stephanie Gasca

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

I didn’t know much about Paul Wellstone in his time tbh. But I’ve heard plenty about him in the years since his untimely death. Wellstone’s Legacy: Doing What I Honestly, Truthfully Believe Is Right This week marks the 15th anniversary of the sudden death of Minnesota’s progressive Sen. Paul Wellstone in a plane crash that also killed his wife, daughter, several staffers and two pilots. His death in 2002 came days before a dead-heat election where he was seeking a third Senate term; it also came two weeks after he became one of 23 lawmakers to vote against the invasion … Continue reading →

Paul Perry’s Campaign For Congress (PA-07)

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Pennsylvanians deserve a representative who serves the people, not the establishment parties in Washington D.C. I’m running for Congress so that we, as a community, can come up with powerful solutions to the long-standing problems that we face — together.

Cruel policies are expensive policies, I know this first hand. My family has had their share of hardships. My biological parents struggled with addiction and brushes with the law — in fact my mother was pregnant with me while in prison. As an adopted child in a loving family with two dads, we faced our fair share of prejudice and financial hardship as well.

My ties to the 7th district run deep — both of my fathers served their country in uniform (Army and Air Force) and worked hard as small business owners in Montgomery County. Their pride in their service and work ethic was passed down to me at a young age. Early in my career I followed in their footsteps and served this community the best way I knew how — as a teacher.

My experience teaching in classrooms in Philadelphia has given me a unique perspective. Those years I would look at my students and think “How can I help each one of these kids succeed as individuals and address the issues they’re bringing into the classroom?” I’ve worked to support young parents of the children I’ve served struggling to keep up with childcare costs. I’ve personally experienced how student loan debt limits and defines your life as I work to pay back my own college debt to this very day.

As an educator I’ve seen the real impact that stagnant wages, spiking costs of living, and underfunded public programs can have on families. I had to look my students in the eye every single day as their families struggled with so much. As a community leader I understand that it’s not just the poorest among us who suffer when programs we rely on are stripped away or underfunded — all of us do.

When families and young professionals are scraping to get by, all of us suffer. That’s money being taken out of our homes, our shops, and our local economy to stagnate in an offshore bank account. My friends, my family, and my neighbors feel in their bones that this system isn’t fair. It’s our duty to use efficient and effective government to give Pennsylvanians a better shot at a promising future than they’re being given today.

I have experienced the impact of pharmaceutical companies shaking down vulnerable seniors firsthand when one of my fathers was diagnosed with brain cancer and couldn’t afford life-saving prescriptions. I felt helpless as my own father was forced to live off of drug samples provided by his physician because our insurance wouldn’t cover the cost. Millions of our citizens face these impossible choices, forced to beg for financial assistance or go without treatment and risk their lives. The answer is simple: government should guarantee healthcare for every citizen as a right. Period. I will fight for Medicare for All from my first day in office.

For More About Perry please follow the link below:

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9/26 News Roundup – Puerto Rico In Crisis, Target Announces A $15 Min Wage & More

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Happy Tuesday friends, thanks for visiting TPW! If you are not currently a member and would like to be, please email the tpwhelpdesk@gmail.com and I’ll get you set up (or you can try your luck with the automated system…).

Starting off with some good news:

‘Our Momentum Is Unstoppable’: Workers Celebrate as Target Announces $15 Minimum Wage

In what is being described as a huge victory for the tens of thousands of workers across the country who have for years organized, rallied, and gone on strike for higher wages, Target on Monday announced that it plans to raise the company-wide minimum hourly wage to $11 by next month and $15 by 2020.

“Five years ago, when 200 New York City fast-food workers first walked off the job for $15 an hour and union rights, nobody gave us a shot. Since then, we’ve spread this movement to every corner of the country and beyond fast-food. We did what they said we couldn’t: we won. We won in the states, in the cities, with the big politicians and with the big corporations,” Steven Suffridge, a Minneapolis McDonald’s Worker and Fight for $15 organizer, wrote in an email reacting to the news. “And today, we won $15 an hour for all Target employees.”

In celebration, Fight for $15 and other groups began circulating a graphic that echoes Suffridge’s message: “When we fight, we win!”

Immediately upon seeing the news of the Target wage boost—which will affect over 320,000 workers throughout the U.S—activists and lawmakers immediately began raising the question: if Target can pay its workers a decent wage, why can’t Walmart, McDonald’s, and other profitable low-wage corporate giants?

“C’mon McDonalds, Walmart, and everybody else,” wrote Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), who recently celebrated Minneapolis lawmakers for overwhelmingly voting to raise the city minimum wage to $15 by 2024. “Pay your workers right!”

The rest of the days news/videos/etc will be in the comments, including:

*Voting machine concerns have states eyeing return to paper ballots
*Tony Blair Says Bernie Doesn’t Have the Answers (Public Opinion Says Otherwise)
*Bernie Sanders’ Graham-Cassidy Debate Quotes Will Inspire You To Fight For Health Care
*National park ban saved 2m plastic bottles – and still Trump reversed it
*Candidate Updates (Stephen Jaffe, Joe Cunningham, Jack Love, Abdul El-Sayed, Cathy Myers & more)
*Corbyn is a changed man – and he’s forging a path to power
& much more.

Cathy Myers joins the fray in WI trying to unseat Paul Ryan

The Progressive Wing Posted on by

Cathy just announced, so she’s a little bit behind the curve at the moment.  But I like the way she handled inquiries about her stances in this tweet.

And she may prove to be less divisive than her opponents, both of whom have some baggage that is already proving to be somewhat problematic.