Back in March, the three Republican U.S. Senate candidates in Missouri got together for a debate, and none of the three could accurately say what the minimum wage is. I figured, right about then, every campaign consultant for every Senate candidate would take their boss aside, say "Remember, if anyone asks, it's $7.25 an hour."
Apparently, I assumed wrong.
In this video, Republican Rick Berg, the U.S. Senate candidate in a competitive North Dakota race, was asked what the minimum wage is in the state. He didn't know and referred the voter to a staffer, who said it's the same as the federal minimum wage, though no one seemed to know what that is, either.
At least in the Missouri debate, the three Republicans could say they're not currently in office, so have a slightly better excuse for being ignorant. Berg, however, is a sitting member of Congress and a former state legislator -- who's voted against minimum-wage increases.
Why should voters care about something like this? Perhaps because the minimum wage's purchasing power is at a historic low, and with so many low-income Americans struggling, and with some GOP officials pushing to eliminate the minimum wage altogether, it matters that a millionaire Republican hasn't bothered to even learn what the wage is worth.
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Maybe a month of 'possum stew and Polk salad would...
No, expecting them to know which plants are edible would be a bit much.
FDR's Economic Bill of Rights
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bill_of_Rights
Second Bill of Rights
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
clip ...
Among these are:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.
For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.
The right to earn a decent, prosperous living without the fear of being raided by lawless corporate pirates, or, as the Republicans call it, "Communism."
We need a cadre of his ilk. Most importantly, they must come from the wealthy class.
"...it matters that a millionaire Republican hasn't bothered to even learn what the wage is worth."
Yes, but since neither he nor any other politician running for office have to actually "work for that wage" they don't have to "be bothered to know what it is". The sheeple that vote for them won't care either.
Did they learn nothing from Sarah Palin? For gosh sakes, WRITE IT ON YOUR HAND!
It shouldn;t surprise a soul that Republicans and conservatives are simply too preoccupied with the agenda of the rich and corporate elite to understand even a single issue having to do with the well-being and prosperity of the middle-class and working Americans. These conservative neanderthals would eliminate a minimum wage responsible for keeping tens of millions of Americans out of poverty -- and worse -- without even understanding the issue. Any form of protection for workers is automatically red-flagged by these terrorists. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
In the world of RepublicanLand, the only that a politician needs to know is that the minimum wage is too high and it is taking money out of the pockets of job creators.
I think the Republicans are operating on the principle that having to pay your serfs anything is un-American, not to mention risky for the ruling class. Heck, give the pee-ons some extra money and they are likely to rush out and buy pitchforks, and then where will we be?
/snark
You have to wonder what the voters are thinking when they vote for these idiots despite their professed ignorance.
RM, The correct answer is determined by your political party affiliation. Since your focus for this question is Republican, or right-sided: A more specific answer to "What is the minimum wage?" is, on average 2%... which is the standard, minimum fee that you receive for managing/admin. an investment, a fund, venture cap. equity deal, and/or similar structured situations. And please, do not even think of incl other fees, carried interest, and/or other well-deserved incentives. All earned. END All above fictional. Any similarity to real person(s), event(s), and/or places coincidental. Not responsible for errors. Good show...
Maybe if our "representatives" earned nothing but minimum wage while in office, they'd appreciate it more.
Guaranteed, they'd know what it is.
It’s funny, a young man told me that the Democrats are ruining this great country and that we need someone like Mitt Romney in the White House.
He said he’ll put his ‘free market capitalism principles’ to good use. I had to laugh at the term he used; ‘free market capitalism principles’.
So I’m told constantly by my conservative friends that we can all get out of this if we just let the market correct itself and allow 'free market
capitalism' to blossom and provide? Really?! I just have a few questions before I buy that.
How do non-competitive bids for military and government contracts fit into ‘free market capitalism’? How are the publicly funded Wall St. and Bank bailouts ‘free market capitalism’?
How do speculation and derivatives fit into ‘free market capitalism? How do publicly funded, government subsidies to thriving giant companies and tax give-backs fit into ‘free market capitalism’?
How do private jails fit into ‘free market capitalism’? How do tax incentives to ship economies out of the country fit into free ‘market capitalism’?
How do oligarchy, collusion and monopolies fit into ‘free market capitalism’. That’s just a few of the issues that come to mind. There are many more but, I digress at the risk of boring you.
Sometimes I’m told it’s all in the name of freedom? Free to make as much as we want? Working to make ourselves free? It’s our god-given right to work anywhere and anytime we want? You know, just like ‘right to work’ states, all those ex-slave states? No, that can’t be it. Maybe it’s because there are too many lazy people who need to‘just get a job’ I hear constantly like a mantra? Not likely but let’s see. Now I’m only going on my experience and I’ve worked in a lot of environments over my 37+ years being employed. I’ve rubbed shoulders with the uber-rich (Bain Cap*tol, among other BIG money makers) all the way down to the ridiculously poor (day labor) and I can tell you the cushiest jobs were at the top.
Honestly, pound for pound the rich and uber-rich are the laziest lot in the pool. They are mentally, physically, morally and financially the laziest people I ever worked with, bar none.
Now, as for the poor and the destitute, you just don’t have that luxury on the front lines, government help or not. It is sink, swim, or tread water and most are in the latter but too many end up in the former.
Well then, maybe it’s all this wealth re-distribution I hear conservatives talk about. The Democrats are taking money from the job-creators because they’re socialists and they’re jealous. I don’t know, the country has lost $4 trillion in wealth since 2007 but the top 1% has gained $2 trillion (not counting the stuff that hasn’t made it to offshore accounts) and the other ‘rich people’, you know, the corporations, are sitting on $2 trillion more. I think maybe the wealth re-distribution has gone in a different direction.
We’ve been here before, several times actually. Once was in the early 1890’s and again from 1928 to the mid 1930’s and again in the late 1940’s to the early 1950’s.
We had debts even bigger than the ones we have now in relation to our GDP, they were HUGE.
Guess how we got out of it? Guess how we got our country back to work? Guess how we re-invented ourselves? Give up? You can ask your grandparents or great-grand parents if they’re still alive. Well, I’ll just tell you, spare you from hearing an old person rant about (oops, too late). We got out of the mess by the government spending like drunken sailors on infrastructure and manufactured goods. That’s right, the government invested in the middle-class like gangbusters (old person’s term). Go ahead. Check it out with Mr. Google. He’ll tell you. It works EVERY time. Know what never has worked. Ever. In the recorded history of economics? I’ll give you 3 guesses and the first two don’t count. Austerity. Again, check with Mr. Google, he’ll tell you.
That leaves me with one nagging question. Why does Washington and Wall St. want to fool us into thinking austerity and ‘free market capitalism’ works? It may just be simple, misguided greed. Perhaps they think they can have it all and be REALLY wealthy but, I think they’re wrong. The wealthiest periods in the recorded history of the world were when, everyone had money.
Now, the wealthy then were insanely wealthy! You know filthy rich, where do you think the term came from? The truth is though, the more we make the more we spend, and the more the wealthy profit from us spending. I think maybe the uber-wealthy has forgotten this fact or maybe they really don’t care anymore. Maybe that’s it. They just don’t care.
Either way, I know that Washington politics is just a parlor game for the uber-wealthy now but how long does Middle America buy into tinkle down economics? Where the hell are the people with that famous sense of fairness from the Southwest, Midwest and Plain states that I heard about when I was growing up (last century)? You know, where you work hard, play fair and you’ll get a shot at the American Dream. What about the great men and women who struggled, fought and won the rights to have the simple dignities like child labor laws, fair wages, usury lending laws, G.I. Bill, National Highway Act, and a whole host of other humane triumphs that MADE America great through the middle class?Why is it left to the two coasts to keep reminding the rest of the country that WE, the middle class, created these realities and now we are losing everyone of them? Where have you gone?
You know there’s an old saying that ‘you can’t win if you don’t play’.
The uber-wealthy aren’t playing and nobody’s winning, not even them.
You tell that to conservatives these days and they won’t believe ya.