At a public event in Florida last week, a voter asked Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young (R-Fla.) about increasing the federal minimum wage. It didn't go well.
For those who can't watch clips online, the voter, later identified as an Occupy activist named Andrew Kovanis, asked the congressman a pretty straightforward question: whether he might support an existing proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $10 an hour. "Probably not," Young replied.
Pressed further, the Republican asked, "How about getting a job?" When the voter explained, "I have a job," but that he sees the need for an increase in wages, Young once again said, "Well then, why do you want that benefit? Get a job."
Now, my point is not to mock the confusion of an 81-year-old man. If Young is going to be in Congress, however, he should understand the difference between unemployment and the minimum wage. Telling a person who has a job, but is concerned about wages to "get a job," doesn't make sense.
And more to the point, one wonders if Young's House GOP caucus is inclined to respond to the same question in the same way, content to tell those struggling to get by on the existing minimum wage to simply get a better paying job if they want one.
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Kovanis should have asked Young for his job.
Talking points from the 1960s. The last time Republicans had ideas.
How appropriate ....
From wikipedia
Young was born in Harmarville, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, in 1930
In 1960 Young was elected to the Florida Senate,
So he has been sucking on the Government teat since he was thirty years old .
You really should read the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Young
Despicable homophobe grifter
You were expecting a sensible reply from a Republican--especially this one? You'll have a better chance of falling UP the next time you jump.
You know ... you actually can "fall up" inside a ship near the pointy end while operating in sea state 4 or higher.
I've seen footprints as much as 8 feet up the walls (bulkheads).
Rare but but it happens on ships built to conduct combat operations inside hurricanes.
Some ships are equipped with seat belts for that reason.
I find it hard to understand why people don't connect the economic collapse with 3 million immigrants leaving the country.
Is this some kind of mass hypnosis?
Consumer demand from 3 million immigrants creates enough cash flow to directly employ about 2.5 million people because of the money they spend for rent, groceries, taxes, and transportation.
3 million immigrants had to live somewhere, so they abandoned about 3 million dwellings. That consumer demand indirectly employed people in construction, real estate, and banking.
Most of the immigrants left because police stole their cars after states banned them from having drivers licenses.
The Occupy Movement and the 99% Movement exist only because about 5 million jobs shifted away from these industries and toward industries like health care and technology that require re-education and training that has not happened yet.
I don't understand the reluctance to cover this topic on news programs.
Perhaps Young was not listening to the voter when he explained he already had a job. Or more to the point Young probably just did not give a damn or perhaps both. But it does not excuse this type of behaviour.
At any rate Young was disrespectful & rude. He is a public servant not an overlord. Talking down to your constituents is not okay under any circumstances.
Politicians work for us, not the other way around. Unfortunately they don't see it that way. Chris Christie & Bill Young are but two examples out of many more that prove my point.
Thank you, Serena! I have the same questions about politicians who think it's just fine to insult and abuse their constituents... those who vote to put them in office! I've watched a lot of elections over the years, and I can't recall any others where the arrogance of the person in office has been this blatant! Walsh is another one who holds the people he supposedly works for in utter contempt.
I sincerely hope this comes back to bite them in the butt, because this kind of behavior is totally unacceptable. Have we gone so far down the rabbit hole that it has no effect?
No, he wasn't listening. I think it's a thing on the right to simply assume that anyone who expresses concern over matters of economic justice must be unemployed and therefore lazy. It's a pavlovian response. We saw the same thing with the Occupy encampments, particularly the one in Chicago where stockbrokers dumped job applications (from McDonald's if I remember correctly, but maybe not) on the people in the camp. All they know is that a bell has been rung, and that they must salivate.
"Now, my point is not to mock the confusion of an 81-year-old man. If Young is going to be in Congress, however, he should understand the difference between unemployment and the minimum wage."
the big part here is all TGOP members are just as confused as this 81 year old. and the saddest part is that many tea party are just as confused! or maybe just out right weak minded.
Couldn't. Agree. More.
R. Priebus was on earlier talking about some kind of economic policy where magic was involved.
His forehead got all wrinkled and it looked like smoke was going to shoot out of his ears when questions kept coming that he couldn't explain.
Sounded like Priebus was trying to deliver a sermon about the burning bush.
Looks like a good campaign commercial for Young's Dem opponent.
Yes - and end the commercial with "This November, tell Bill Young to get a (new) job."
Can the Dems find someone, anyone, to run against this old fart?
Notice the way some quaisi offical stepped in to interrupt the trouble maker. "Hi, thank you for coming, I'll lead you back to the limo now, Mr. Young."
i truly don't understand what was wrong with that voter. if he doesn't feel like his wages are high enough, all he has to do is start his own venture capital firm with money borrowed from relatives, and in no time at all, he will have made his first fortune. i mean, some people are just so lazy!
It is probably high time for Congressman Young to retire, since apparently he is lacking the ability to even understand the question asked. Young is apparently well past his prime and it is time to go and say goodbye.
Now this is one of the sickest things that the Republicans pull is where it is so apparent that Congressman Young is suffering from some form of Dementia. And these people who suffer from Dementia can be too easily manipulate into doing things they normally would not do. Look at the crap with Reagan what they did in covering up that crap and especially in such an important position as the President. People should be outraged by this, since in no form are the people getting properly represented by a government elected official. This is an outrage and a total miscarriage of what is right and just in such important positions.
Wow, I'm not one to typecast however this guy does it all on his own. He looks like he was old when Pigasus was a phenomenon.
"Get a job you dirty hippie!"
Get a job--or run for office.
So, from the Occupy activist statement right at the end, "I do have a job but it is not enough to get by on," it would seem he has a job only paying the minimum wage. Anyone check that out?
If he does, he is in a group of only about 3% of the working population who are making at or below the minimum wage. Seems like 3% is a fair number of entry level employees 16 and older who the minimum wage is appropriate for. My numbers are pulled from this BLS link from 2010 that state hourly wage earners are about 60% of the total workforce and minimum wage (or lower) only about 6 percent of those.
Lastly, I think the Rep. answered the question and then was being more dismissive (which in itself never a good thing) rather than specifically addressing the questioners situation/point.
Your post makes just as much sense as Rep. Bill Young's response.
Oh, please, Donna, tell me specifically what part of my post is confusing to you.
(mgywsa)
RobDon,
I am confused by your response. Raising the minimum wage forces up the wages for nearly all of the people above the minimum wage. Done within reason raising the minimum wage doesn't reduce the number of minimum wage jobs.
A wise politician understands that by improving the lot of people at the bottom he is helping the people in the middle and at the top by increasing consumer demand. Consumer demand, not investment banking, actually creates wealth. Investment banking is just arranging deck chairs. Increasing consumer demand generates the funds needed for all sorts of important things, like funding payrolls and dividends.
Rep. Young's response reminded me of a grumpy old man past his "retire by" date.
Robdon, you're making an unwarranted assumption. Yes, minimum-wage is too little to get by on... but so is a good bit of pay territory north of that. Given the cost-of-living in Florida, and depending on where exactly this fellow lives, a $10 minimum wage might not cut it, even.
Rob, clarify every convoluted point that you are trying to make with your post, although Ron and grumpy did a good job with calling bull about your post.
Donna, my cryptic (mgywsa) stands for "my guess, you will say all," and you did. You didn't point to anything specific, you just said every point was "convoluted." You are the one who seems to lack the intellectual integrity or ability to carry on a legitimate conversation.
Ron Byers, you make a valid point. Many make the argument that raising minimum wage raises everyone's pay. Using that, the questioners statement regarding his own pay could be based on that and not the fact he was a minimum wage earner.
Grumpy, you comment is akin to Byers, that there are other explanations one could assign to the questioners comments. I would say to you and Mr. Byers that there are others that make the case raising the minimum wage beyond what the "market" or job can support reduces pay and causes job loss. I understand you may disagree with this position.
And you still didn't answer my question, Rob. Which makes you not only a troll, but a hypocrite as well.
I didn't answer your 'please clarify everything' demand because I thought it was dismissive. I'll be glad to answer any question regarding my posts.
My points: 1) The questioner in above video was advocating raising the minimum wage so that it was enough "make a living." 2) He said he was not making enough to make a living and implied raising the min. wage would make his wage a living wage. 3) This seems to mean he is making the minimum wage (with the exception pointed out by Ron Byers). 4) I then pointed out that those making the min. wage are only about 3% of all wage earners which seems appropriate to me. 5) And lastly, without questioning Rep. Young about what he meant by his last comment, it seems it could be he was being dismissive instead of directing them to the unknown questioners situation.
See, I don't mind at all. And yes, at times I can be hypocritical as well...sometimes knowingly and sometimes unaware.
The market can bear a $10 minimum wage; it can bear multi-million-dollar bonuses for executives, and huge donations to political campaigns and PACs, thus it has the "load-bearing capacity" to bear a living wage. In part, it can bear it because that wage comes BACK to the system, since the people at the bottom of the pile have no choice but to spend the vast majority of their income in the process of maintaining existence.
The market can bear much more than it's being asked to at the moment; anyone who tells you differently has something to gain from the denial of fact.
Borrowed from a tumblr (STFU Conservatives, to be specific, you can see why I love it):
"Whenever someone balks at minimum wage increases or mandated employee benefits because it “hurts businesses,” I’m just like, “What could hurt a business more than not having any customers?” Consumers are what fuel this economy, not businesses.
Do you know what I did when I finally got a full-time job? SPENT A F%#KLOAD MORE MONEY. (And paid off some credit card debt.) My favorite sushi restaurant has probably seen a 30% uptick in business. I can afford to get things dry cleaned! I can buy a mattress that isn’t from IKEA! Giving money to employees is giving money to the economy. I remember seeing an article when TARP was passed suggesting that they give all the money to college students, since they’ll spend every last penny in their local economy. Honestly? Not a terrible idea."
It's really very simple. Congressman young must have meant Mr. Kovanis should get another job.
It's really quite simple. Representative Young must have meant Mr. Kovanis should go get another job.
I've been Bill Young's constituent from 1970 through 1990, and again from 1994 to the present. The Bill Young I know is a non-ideological pragmatist who has managed to stay in office for decades by dedicated constituent service and by scooping lots of federal earmarks (yes!) to Pinellas County. Most notably, he has worked hard to support the Bay Pines VA hospital, with the result that this facility is an outstanding caregiving facility for veterans, and a huge component of the Tampa Bay area's economy. In sum, he has made life better for us in this area during his tenure in Congress. And at no point in his career as a member of Congress has he indulged in the sort of stupid culture war fearmongering that has become characteristic of the GOP.
This "ambush" video leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. I don't agree with Young's conservative politics. I also acknowledge his participation in the monstrous and vile "Lavender Scare" Johns Committee--an historical fact that Young has quite successfully pushed very deep into the "memory hole." I still feel that what we have here is an unfair "ambush" video. I am moreover saddened to see the venom that has been channeled through the Internet against Bill Young from people outside Florida.
In balance, I do think that Young deserves some measure of respect as someone who has actually done some good in Washington.
The tone of voice gives emphasis to his prejudgement that working a minimum wage job ($7.67) is just as repugnant to him as being lazy.
Right JimMc3, This guy (and others) does think a parent working several jobs would be optimal, like Pres. Bush. Just take kids with them to work, that would work. Stick them in the car (if you have one) with a box of cheerios and a bottle of milk. Just crack a window. Easy peazy.
At least he answered the question and at least it was asked.