04-12-2021, 02:12 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-12-2021, 02:16 AM by Eric the Green.)
(04-03-2021, 09:43 AM)David Horn Wrote:(04-02-2021, 12:21 PM)Anthony Wrote: Not surprisingly, I agree with Joe Manchin. Let's go to $11 an hour for now - so long as the minimum wage is thereafter indexed to an "unchained" CPI once the minimum wage does reach that figure.
And the Democrats have only themselves to blame - because of the Culture Wars, which they started - for being forced to compromise on this, and so many other issues.
$15 is low today and far outdated by the time it finally arrives. $11 is an insult. If the minimum had kept pace since 1973, it would be $20+. I do agree that the laser focus on culture issues has been much of the problem. It seems to be that advancement on trend line A must be offset by stagnation on trend line B. It’s not right, but it seems to be the case. And no, I don’t have a solution for that.
Anthony is not my "friend" and I disagree with about half of what he posts, but I am thinking $11 an hour is all we're going to get out of Manchin and the moderate Democrats and moderate-conservative Republicans-- if that. $11 is an insult, but they have a point that the pandemic is making it hard for owners to pay higher wages right now. So whatever we could get in the way of a gradual increase from $11 over the next few or several years would be a good idea. I consider this urgent. People are not getting a living wage, and $11 would be better than $7, even though both $11 and $15 are likely not a living wage.
I do agree that many Republicans, enough to win primaries, today vote according to cultural and racial identity, not on actual solutions to meet needs. I consider this mainly their own fault. I don't consider Democrats to blame if their voters want cultural liberation. But much of this issue should not be a political matter anyway, unless it means a law needs to be repealed, or freedom from discrimination needs to be enforced, etc.. People on both sides, but mainly on the red side, today vote according to their culture even when it is irrelevant to other issues. This did not used to be true before the culture wars.