Ted Rall for September 02, 2019

Better than no one fighting to keep you from getting poorer. And who are the Progressives fighting against to get the semblance of a living wage? Why, I think it is the party telling you that your economic woes are caused by immigrants, and that all we have to do is build a wall!

Why isn’t Bernie wearing glasses?

But don’t worry… "Con"gress will make sure that THEIR PAY stays ahead of the inflationary curve…

I am going to have to take exception to those numbers based on the info I can find. Since 2009, inflation of the CPI has averaged less than 2% per year and only about 1.5% since 2013, and that 2013 $15 is only a 2019 $16.41. https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/

Meanwhile.. the rich are reaping the windfall in today’s dollars.. The Golden Rule played out like it always does.. those that have the gold.. make the rules.

According to the law, minimum wage is supposed to be tied to the cost of living.

It ain’t.

You just keep getting better. And more accurate.

Bernie’s bill does include indexing, but not until 2024.

uhhh…… the math is incorrect.

I’m doing the math here, and it doesn’t seem right. The numbers weren’t adding up, so I went to an inflation calculator. 15.00 in 2013 dollars, it says, equals 16.52 in today’s dollars. And we haven’t had trouble with our inflation rates for a while, certainly not above 4% like the graph says.

So, I went to do it manually, and looked up inflation rates. The last time inflation was even 3% was 2011, and since then it has had plenty of years where inflation is under 1%. At an average rate of 2%, (more or less), the math would say 15 * 1.02^6 which is about 16.9.

Perhaps I’m doing it wrong, but both manually, and with the inflation calculator, it seems to contradict your point. Not that I necessarily disagree with the idea “the minimum wage should be higher than 15”. I’m undecided on that point. But the math, and the facts, seem wrong

If you have to complain that Progressives aren’t pushing the minimum wage high enough, then just vote Conservative and keep the same $7.25 in 2024 that you’ve had for decades and it will be worth… what? $2.50 or so in 2000 dollars?

When did Bernie comb his hair?

Republicans want to repeal the minimum wage law so they can pay you even less.

I don’t know where you’re getting your numbers from, but they don’t look right to me. We’re currently running at or below 2%annual inflation, and have been for over a decade. At 2%, that $15/hour in 2013 is now a little under $17, not $21. I get your point — the deeper problem here is capitalism and the distribution of income — but you undermine your case by using fuzzy math.

There are about 36 states that have a minimum wage under $5 for employees that are tipped.

I remember the minimum wage being $2.00 in 1974. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $10.41 now. A lot less than $15 but more than the $7.25 it is now.

While we’re looking at the minimum wage we should also look at the federal poverty level. There is a lot I don’t know about government programs but their formulation and dollar amount for poverty level is ludicrous anywhere in the United States. https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines

I’m all for raising the minimum wage but I dislike the one-size-fits-all-approach. $15/hr in NYC and Boogers MT are 2 very different things. It’s also not a panacea for poverty. A recent CBO report found that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour would boost pay for 17 million workers currently earning less than that and would bring 1.3 million workers above the poverty level, though it would result in 1.3 million jobless Americans. The report also found this wage hike would reduce business income and raise prices for consumers.

AS one would expect, there are numerous competing “studies” that show varying projected results. Of the few that I’ve looked into, they ALL make too many assumptions that naturally are designed to skew the results one way or the other. There are some that seem to be more honest, but again, too many assumptions (although they recognize them and address their impact) to consider them accurate predictors. Looking at markets that have adopted higher minimum wages shows a mixed bag, which in my view justifies both sides of the argument. NYC has seen job losses and other negative outcomes for employees, but some employees certainly have benefited. Seattle’s law is more nuanced and has a better result, but still a mixed bag.

So who is the best candidate?

and if the Right wins, you’ll get nothing

Politics is the art of the “M” possible. “M” for M‍itch M‍cConnell… whose avowed purpose in life is to prevent any legislation that’s not directly aimed at increasing the wealth of the 1%..

Which is still better than supporting those who want to speed up the rate at which you get poorer. Meanwhile, there are people who love to point out that Bernie is a human being who is not perfect and owns (gasp!) more than one house! And they cite this as a reason to vote for sh!tbags like Ted Cruz instead of people like Sanders.

Bernie Sanders is a senator and knows first hand what will and what won’t pass the senate vote. All his promises, from 2016 and today, just show that Sanders is just as dishonest as tRump.