Let’s make tomorrow different. Let’s not allow the Big Boy and his poodles to own it. Sure, I want to see Barbara Buono win, but, if she doesn’t, if she is sold out by too many people, at least kick a little sand in the Pufferfish’s face: Vote for the minimum wage he vetoed.
I know. It’s as predictable as the sunrise: If something helps workers, it’s a job destroyer; if it helps the rich, everyone will benefit—some day. The same tired line the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are taking.
I don’t buy it. That flavor Kool-Aid went out with Ronald Reagan and the trickle down economics that brought us the worst income inequality since robber barons pillaged the country. Just as they are pillaging it now. So the typical CEO makes 475 times what a line worker does.
Because the rich own the main-stream media—either directly or indirectly through advertising—we are spoon fed this pap every day. Here’s some more: “The New Jersey Chamber and the business community recognize that competitive wages are an important part of attracting and retaining a top-notch workforce.”
Well, I’m sure some members of the chamber believe that. Just as I am also doubtlessly sure most members of the chamber are not at all unhappy that labor unions have become the ghosts of Christmas past. If union-busters in both the public and private sector had not been so successful—if laws passed by both Republicans and Democrats had not made union organizing so difficult–we wouldn’t need to change the Constitution to ensure a minimum age.
A minimum wage: $8.25 an hour. $330 a week (if you can get a 40-hour week). Just over $17,000 a year (if you’re not laid off before the year is up). Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Emphasis on little.
Minimum, as in the very least. Not a good wage. Not a living wage. MIT calculates what a living wage would look like in New Jersey: For one adult alone, $11.13 an hour. For a family of two adults and two children, a living wage would be $21.17–$44,000 a year.
If we taxpayers can bail out banks and help pay their fines for almost destroying our country through greed, let’s, just for one day, forget we’re pawns in a game controlled by the Koch brothers and the others who paid for Citizens United and other atrocities. Let’s remember–we can help men and women feed their kids or we can pay for food stamps so McDonald’s and Wal-Mart can increase their profits.
Let’s occupy just one day of the year. The Fifth of November.
And help the people many more of us soon are likely to become.
I could have written this myself. Also remember that those making minimum wage are often being subsidized by the taxpayers.
Bob Braun: Yes, good point.
According to a recent report, one-quarter of New Jersey families live in poverty. This is a shameful statistic. Raising the minimum wage won’t solve the problem. Even if the referendum passes there will still be millions of people in poverty in this state. Raising the minimum wage is just a start. We need to invest in infrastructure, education, health care, and other areas that create good-paying jobs. Only that will rescue the NJ economy. Unfortunately, Christie subscribes to the debunked “trickle-down” theory, so if he’s re-elected, New Jersey’s economy will still be in the dumps four years from now.
[…] Promoted by Rosi. Cross-posted with Bob Braun’s Ledger. […]