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Bob Geiger got an exclusive interview with Harry Reid — and the whole interview, including a few audio clips, is up on Bob's blog. But I wanted to highlight one particular snippet for everyone:
Geiger: One ongoing drama I've seen in watching the Senate every day is the battle that Senator Kennedy has had over the minimum wage — and seeing how many times that's been shot down by the Republicans unless it happened to be attached to an Estate Tax cut. I think people are very encouraged with what they expect to happen with that in the coming months and what I'm wondering, sir, is that for low-income Americans who may be a little disillusioned with Washington and maybe not understand how it operates, what can you say to them about the minimum wage being raised with Democrats in charge of the Congress?
Reid: To show you how strongly we feel about this, we told the Republicans that there will be no Congressional pay raise unless you raise the minimum wage. There's no minimum wage increase, there's no Congressional pay raise for the first time in many years.
We're serious about this. We want the people in this country, the hardest working, to be able to work instead of going on welfare and make a living. Right now, you can't do that. You make a little over $10,000 a year working 40 hours a week — try living on that. It's very hard to do. So I feel comfortable that we can pass a minimum wage increase. I guess I put it in this vernacular: I dare the Republicans to stop us from doing it. [Audio]
Geiger: Do you feel confident that it will happen in the first month or two of the new Congress?
Reid: It will happen in the first six weeks that we're back.
Clear, concise, and right on point for working families. If this keeps up, I may actually be able to smile more often while watching C-Span come January. For more on miminum wage discussions, try this article from The Nation, this one from David Sirota, this from the NYTimes, just for starters. Funny how having not raised the minimum wage in close to 20 years is a huge, huge bone of contention — but the Congress having raised it's own wages by around $35,000 the last few years is much ado about nothing, isn't it?
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FITZMAS!
I can’t believe I walked in, sat down, hit refresh, and BAMMO! New Thread.
and the zed is awarded to – Busted!!
Kofi anybody?
(doing my best Maxwell Smart impersonation):
“Missed it by *that* much!!”
Seems I read somewhere in the last few days that congress persons make about $161,000 a year for a two to 3 day work week.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 6
You got a problem with that?
Good on the Dems, I say.
This is the best way to get the attention of these no good bastards.No pay raise for hardworking Americans?
No pay raise for you.
Best of all, Cheney seems to be somehow specifically targeted here. *G*
Not to be contentious, but I thought the minimum wage was last raised during Clinton’s reign in 1996.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/chart.htm
Nor do I in anyway mean the minimum wage shouldn’t be raised now.
Am I missing something?
Bustednuckles @
8
All things considered I’d much prefer Cheney were being targeted with serious impeachment strategies by this time.
As to congressional wages. I could probably live quite comfortably on just their perks alone.
minimum wedge issue.
good on Dems.
They may work two to three days a week (on the weeks they work, that is). And by work you know that means pushing a button to record a vote or sitting in a chair to utter a few words written by someone else about some bill or another then listening to the other people utter the words they’ve been given to utter.
But they spend so much more time on that at their jobs — on constituent care! You know, their constituents? The lobbyists and corporate donors who own them and whose demands are neverending?
We really have reverted to pre-1830s England type government with so many rotten boroughs. I love the talk coming out of Pelosi and Reid, but I’m still waiting to see the walk. It’s exciting to think we the people really and truly might actually be getting our government back.
Congressman Bob @ 7
Yes, 16 times the current minimum wage! 3.5 times the minimum wage in raises alone over the last few years. How much do we pay for each congress persons health benefits?
I say pay them around 35k a year, health care similar to the average US worker, paid travel expenses and a free dorm room in DC.
Oh good!
This reminds me of the recent article about a GA congressman who was whining about the newly-instituted 5-day work week in Congress.
“Democrats hate families, I won’t get to see my family, wahhh.”
Goopers I told about this argued that housing was too expensive in that area to expect people to actually work there all week long. !
More intelligent folks than I have commented here about the blatant discrepancies in our society between the ‘monied’ and ‘unmonied’ class system.
There are so very many things wrong in the world today and they are readily distinguishable for the interested and conscientious soul who looks and seeks to understand. But few things, in this country, are more egregious than the mechanism by which this social class system is enforced.
Those who have and wish to ensure that they and their progeny will continue to have; those are the ones with access to the lawmakers who continue the cycle of poverty with ignorant and short sighted social policy. If there is one thing that Democrats can still do to distinguish themselves as such, it will be to band together and begin mending America’s social fabric. Raising the minimum wage is only a few bare stitches towards that goal; but it is certainly that thing which pundits love to banter about — the litmus test. Any Democrat who does not support a minimum wage increase in its plainest form, is simply not a Democrat and it should be duly noted!
Eureka Springs, AR says
December 11th, 2006 at 11:01 am*
I say pay them around 35k a year, health care similar to the average US worker, paid travel expenses and a free dorm room in DC.
I say pay them a damn good wage, in order that truly qualified people will still want to serve. But, cut off their access to outside money through stringent lobbying reform, and –
Make all elctions publicly financed!!!
SharonW @ 9
Last raised in 1997, according to chart.
I hope they put an automatic cost of living adjustment in this time.
I can’t wait for the new session to begin. Thank the gods for C-SPAN! I was disabled in 1994 when the Republicans took over, and I watched a lot of C-SPAN in those days. I remember being appalled by the bullying tactics of the Republicans, especially in the committee meetings. I have a memory in my head of the Rules Committee and the chair basically silencing all Democrats, the stunned disbelief of the Dems and the smug bully confidence of the chair. Was it Bill Thomas? Someone like that.
I want payback. No “bipartisan” crap. Not at first, anyway. Besides, they lost, we won, elections have consequences, blah blah blah.
oh yeah I forgot -
Most certainly make them go search for their own goddamm health insurance!
Emma Anne @ 19
If the minimum wage today were equivalent to what it was when I was making it in 1971, it would be about $17 an hour.
johnSwifty @ 16
I don’t know if you read these two recent posts by Digby, on America’s aristocracy of wealth & privilege. Making the wider electorate understand what is happening here would go a long way to ensuring a Democratic victory in 08, IMO.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com…..5080957566
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com…..5080957566
jayt @ 17
3.5 times the minimum wage should be fine for public servants. As Linda R mentioned…
If the minimum wage today were equivalent to what it was when I was making it in 1971, it would be about $17 an hour.
Tie reality of the people to elected officials.
I like Harry Reid and I’m glad he has his priorities straight. But I was looking up some stuff on Mormonism the other day and I ran across this:
Picture of Mormon Endowment garments
This is supposed to be a deep dark secret (and I can now see why). I am having a hard time taking Harry seriously after seeing this. (I hope whoever posted this is just putting us on)
Now, I realize that every religion has it’s idiosyncracies. But why Joseph Smith would require his followers to wear this and why any of them would go to temple regularly and be able to stifle a giggle later is beyond me.
I dunno, maybe it was bait and switch. By the time you put on the figleaf and learn the handshake, you’re in it too far to spill the beans. It’s like going snipe hunting.
Biodun @ 18
Oops, my bad, but still. That’s ten years ago, not “close to twenty.”
I remember having an argument on another message board with a conservative who said that a minimum wage increase would cause job losses. I said that the last time they were increased was under Clinton and unemployment was dropping and continued to do so. Clearly, that old economic axiom of the right doesn’t hold water.
Rather the Ford idea of paying workers well enough to be able to afford the corporation’s product seems to make far more sense.
In essence, an increase in the minimum wage should increase the GDP through consumer spending.
GHWB to Dubya…
This Just In:
Ruling on intelligence keeps CIA leak trial on track
POSTED: 1:50 p.m. EST, December 11, 2006
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge all but resolved the protracted legal fight over classified information in the CIA leak case Monday, helping ensure the dispute would not derail former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s perjury and obstruction trial.
Libby is accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters regarding a CIA operative. He says he had more pressing issues on his mind and wants to discuss classified intelligence about terrorist threats and foreign nuclear programs to bolster that argument.
Prosecutors had accused Libby of demanding so much sensitive information that the government could not safely release it — leading to a dismissal — but U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton appears to have resolved that dispute.
Walton, who rankled Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald last month by ruling that Libby must be allowed to discuss intelligence on Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, terrorism and other issues at trial, accepted Fitzgerald’s proposal to limit the details Libby and his attorneys can discuss.
If the minimum wage was increased by $1.00 per hour, minus 30% for ‘withholding’ that would be a net increase of $5.60 for the day, based on an eight hour shift. Yippee! And say you have three children, that would be a grand total of about a $1.40 each increase per day based on a household of four.
PeteCO @ 23
Thomas Frank’s What’s the Matter with Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America explains how the Repugs manage to convince the “values” people to vote against their economic interests.
Biodun @ 30
Yeah, I read that a couple of years ago-great book. The trick is distilling these points down to soundbite size.
Oklahoma kiddo @
6
Well, if they really are working, there is other legitmate work they should be doing — mountains of research to do, constituents to meet, and committee work that is not done on the Floor. That is like saying that symphony musicians aren’t working unless they’re performing in front of an audience, or athletes aren’t working unless they’re playing a game ore teachers aren’t teaching unless they’re in front of a class.
But I know what you mean. Wasn’t there something about congresscritters voluntarily posting their schedules?
PeteCO @
23
Yeah baby, I said more intelligent folk than I and doesn’t he tell it like it is!
Of all the things wrong, or all the issues wedge, or all the herrings red — there is no single thing the authoritarian leaders want to steer away from than building a solid social foundation. It scares them to death, and it should because a solid foundation allows for increased strength throughout the society and proves to all parties concerned that the concepts Reagan started with, “Trickle down economics,” are nothing other than mechanisms for the richest to continue feeding at the trough.
Issues in Iraq are depressing in that I know there is a larger world view that I can glimpse only spare bits of, yet I know the results are bad. Poor economic policy, on the other hand, infuriates me because I do understand some of the intricacies and I am very aware at just how failed most of these policies are. And, it’s not just Democrats, of course. The Clinton era was not a harbinger of good news for those who seriously expected to rebuild a social foundation. It was more of the same and status quo for those who know. In many ways, it was more insidious than Reagan in that I never expected anything better from teh Gipper.
You are exactly right, Colorado. The more people are allowed to focus on this issue, the better the chances of true social change become with real candidates in 2008 — not just lip service monkeys!
Think of a garden plot. Think of the minimum wage as water. Today, it’s just enough to keep some of the plants barely alive, while others wither and die. And the gardener screams about the quality of his vegetables!
1,361 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Oklahoma Kiddo:
See my post that got caught in the switches last thread…
As far as Harry Reid and the Democrats in Congress go…I really don’t give a shit about congressional pay, and the minimum wage increase by itself is not close to enough to justify Democratic power and the last election. In the first 100 days there must be: a higher minimum wage, extension of the Estate Tax, reduction of eligibility for medicare to 55 years, extension of Medicare coverage to all uninsured children, rollback of the tax cuts to highest earners and impeachment of both Chaney and Bush. When those actions are taken and placed before King George, then we can pat the Democrats on the back and tell ‘em they ken take a weekend off.
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION, THE LAST ELECTION WAS JUST A START!!!
P J Evans @ 28
Fitz! Woohoo!
What a fun month January could be. The Dems take control of Congress and Fitz takes control of the courtroom. :)
So lets see if I understand the backscatter…
“Let’s give ourselves a raise, and throw the underdog a bone by raising the minimum wage at the same time. that will make us look wise and magnaminous.”
Oklahoma Kiddo,
can be even worse than that – TX, PA,and AZ are states where tipped food/bev. servers can be paid $2.13/hour – not a typo. As long as their combined wage & hourly gratuity intake meets Fed. Min., s’okay – AND these same workers are usually required to ‘tip out’ hosts, bussers, etc. based on a set % of their sales. yup, you too can be a huge multi chain company and have your operations subsidized by some single parent with no medical benefits, making $2.13/hr!
believe AZ was working towards making that min. $3.15
HotFlash @ 32:
Maybe we need to give each member and staffer a cardkey and put electronic locks on all their doors, so their comings and goings can be recorded? At least then they’ll have a harder time claiming they’re working when they’re not on the floor, in committee, or in the office. (I like the dorm idea too. With housemothers!)
You know; the reason a lot of kids will be hurting on Christmas morning, is not because they have no presentos to open, but because they didn’t get enough to eat the day before, or they’re sick, and more likely both. And mom and dad work for next to nothing, and are worried sick and take it out on the children. But we spend $8 billion a month on Iraq and there is nothing left over at the end of the month to ensure that no child is left behind.
Well what do ya know. Real-world issues that address our Country’s base, not the party base. I expect there will be much rending of handkerchiefs and proclamations of doom from the business lobbyists.
(Which is bullshit. Speaking as a small business guy, it would be a mutual insult to me and my employees to pay min wage.)
But if our leadership works this way for two years we just might have (re)established the Democratic Party as the party of the people.
Heartening, isn’t it?
NorskeFlamethrower @ 35
I will go back there and take a look.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 29
I think they’re looking to raise it to $7.20 an hour or $2.05 above current rate. And remember that half of that 30% withholding will come right back to them as a tax refund and possibly even an additional tax credit, EIC.
This isn’t to say that it may appear meager by comparison to those of us making a lot more, but lots of people would find a $60 a week (after taxes) increase a big deal.
marksb @ 41
More than heartening Mark, absolutely crucial. The only thing the ISG and everyone who looks at Iraq agrees upon is this, “It NEVER should have happened.” No one knows how to fix it, but a real party of the people would never have made that decision, never in a million years.
LindaR @ 34
Excellent analogy.
P J Evans @ 28
cbl @ 38
The sad thing is, that’s an 8 cent increase over 18-20 years. When I waited tables back in the late ’80s, servers were paid $2.05/hr!
LindaR @ 34
Good analogy, LindaR! It is just such an obvious truth of life, almost down to individual cell structure, that the organism must be fed from the roots up. It almost seems as if the only way to distract the most obtuse from this obvious truth is to start a war; start whining about the sanctity of marriage; and, don’t forget spending an inordinate amount of time worrying about ’security’. Who cares how secure the plants are when they die from the roots.
SharonW — you mention the EITC. First, I agree this is a good thing (in the absence of a truly living wage).
But make no mistake: The Earned Income Tax Credit is also corporate welfare. It is income distribution from the middle class to the poverty class to benefit employers who are then able to pay slave wages.
H.U.G.E. News in the Libby Case, per PJ Evans @ 28 (and following up on Bustednuckles’s wise zed):
Judge Walton has come through with flying colors in the round that counts (along with the Intelligence Community), and as a result, Special Counsel Fitzgerald has himself a trial:
The graymail effort has failed!!!
The Opinion is sealed for now, but the result is clear. The government’s supplemental CIPA Section 6(c) substitution Motion has been granted (in contrast to the denial, a month ago, of the original Motion), and the 6(c) process is now concluded.
One question that this raises is whether the government will pursue its Section 6(a) appeal, or drop it to avoid a delay in the start of the January trial.
But bottomline underlined: What an achievement by the government…
Major league hat tips all around.
LindaR @ 49
Yep! It is similar in terms of allowing Wallmart to get away with abysmal employment practices and thereby pass the health concerns of its employees off to the surrounding community.
P J Evans @ 39
Could be a good use for the electronic anklet. What was that Sci-Fi story where all the politicians had a bomb strapped to their back and each of their constituents had a button? Politicians exploding all over Capitol Hill, but always more to take their place…
“…lots of people would find a $60 a week (after taxes) increase a big deal.”
$2.06 an hour increase. But that number will have to be ‘hammered out’. That spells compromise. If they settle on $1.56 per/hr say, what does that really mean? And no medical, no sick time, no maternity leave, no vacation time and perhaps most importantly, no overtime pay. And don’t forget to factor in inflation.
We have money for tax giveaways to the rich and to do what we do in Iraq. I would advocate pulling out of Iraq, tax cut roll backs and a minimum of $5.00 increase in the ‘minimum’. With benefits.
I do understand what you’re telling me. And what you say has merit for sure. ;)
I suppose I’m just greedy to lend a hand up. Merry Christmas!
P J Evans @ 28
PJ, thanks…
That will 37 days and counting…
Jack
Eureka Springs, AR @ 24
Based on a 40 hour work week..
$17 hourly 35,360 gross per year
at 3.5 multiple, Congress would earn 113,760 per year, not a raise, but reasonable, imo.
edited
Christy’s last Gray Mail post
9/27/6
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..ase-today/
pow wow today,
Christy then,
ooh one last bit of Hardin Smith goodness:
go on with your bad rumpled self !
Oklahoma kiddo @ 53
I grew up in MI in the 50’s and union was a dirty word — Jimmy Hoffa was King Teamster back then and intimidation and worse was common. My mother and I were threatened — my dad was a newspaper reporter.
So no one could be as surprised as I was when I concluded recently that strong, international unions are the only hope that workers have of being able to push back against giant global corporations who want their employees to soak up max risk for minimum $.
Two old queens in the auto insurance for poor folks bizness, had Limbaugh on the radio. Limbaugh said Liberals are trying to make everyone equal by eliminating the opportunity for upward mobility. And the middle class in the the us is unique and fortunate that they have central heat and air conditioning and are not huddled in front of a fireplace. The liberals are trying to destroy the middle class and Hillary, Kerry, Kennedy, etc are all rich. The middle class in the us has lots of free time to stand around in airports and look for lawsuits because there is no minora. Limbaugh is nuts.
Its really amazing that two fat gay insurance guys can sit around and listen to that crap and take it seriously, but they were.
Great post, Christie. Thank you for a feel good thread before the Holidays!
Next I want to hear we are funding medicaid again for poor people around the country!
I can’t wait to hear from the maven, her fine self!
was it these guys ?
http://www.car-insurance-resou…..insurance/
sorry, waaay too tempting
johnSwifty @
60
Where can we get info on empthy wheel’s FitzBook?
HotFlash @ 52
love the image!
hahahahahha
http://www.arhungeralliance.org/
• Over 17% of Arkansans live below the poverty line and can’t afford enough food to eat. That means that 1 in 6 of your neighbors struggles with making ends meet and providing enough food for their family. – ACS Survey
• Arkansas’ childhood poverty rate is 25.9% compared to the national average of 18.4%. – ACS Survey
• 1 in 8 of our elderly citizens lives below the poverty line and has to choose between food and medicine. – ACS Survey
• Arkansas is ranked in the top 5 of most food insecure states.
• The regions in our state with the greatest prosperity will experience the greatest increase in poverty by 2010.
[bold mine]
Sounds like a plan…
OT:
Here’s Slate’s John Dickerson on the Barack Obama phenomenon in New Hampshire this past weekend:
http://www.slate.com/id/2155121/
HotFlash @ 61
Here’s the scoop on the book, and a lot of fun comments besides. You can backtrack through the links there to find even more.
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/…..12006.html
Eureka Springs, AR says:
December 11th, 2006 at 12:00 pm *
Eureka Springs, AR @ 24
jayt @ 17
Eureka Springs, AR says
December 11th, 2006 at 11:01 am*
I say pay them around 35k a year, health care similar to the average US worker, paid travel expenses and a free dorm room in DC.
I say pay them a damn good wage, in order that truly qualified people will still want to serve. But, cut off their access to outside money through stringent lobbying reform, and -
Make all elctions publicly financed!!!
3.5 times the minimum wage should be fine for public servants. As Linda R mentioned…
If the minimum wage today were equivalent to what it was when I was making it in 1971, it would be about $17 an hour.
Tie reality of the people to elected officials.
Based on a 40 hour work week..
$17 hourly 35,360 gross per year
at 3.5 multiple, Congress would earn 113,760 per year, not a raise, but reasonable, imo.
Sorry, got called away for a bit.
$113,760. reasonable, in D.C.? I’m gonna have to disagree on that one. I could live on it here in Indy, but I don’t live in D.C., and I want people more qualified than myself serving as my senators and house-critters. Gotta pay them a wage at least commensurate as to what they can earn as CEO of some viable corporations. Otherwise, it makes no sense to go to Washington. Recall that I’m also proposing a cut-off from K-Street funds, and public financing of elections.
I want qualified people, decently compensated, who know that their compensation comes from me, not Phizer or DowChemical, or….
Pay ‘em enough to work for *us* – cut off the rest of the junk, and let ‘em get to work!
And this would still get rid of a lot of the criminal-class of Washington.
Here is a table from the Bureau of the Census on 2003 stats of percent below poverty by state. Notice that Louisiana has the greatest percent, while New Hamshire has the least.
http://www.census.gov/acs/www/…..01T040.htm
Peterr @
66
Sorry Peterr, I meant *news*. The thermometer has come down and I heard something is cooking, but no word here or over at Next Hurrah.
Today’s Order in full:
SharonW @ 26
There’s a back story to this old saw about Henry Ford and his $5 a day pay plan so that his workers could afford what they made.
What Henry didn’t advertise at the time is that in 1911, he didn’t think he was getting enough out of his workers (this theme would reappear during the height of the depression), so he went to perhaps the most brutal of all businesses for advice–the people who ran slaughterhouses.
From what he learned there, he revamped his assembly lines in 1911/12. As a consequence, the twelve-hour days in his plants were literally wearing people out. Henry Ford actually proposed his $5/day plan because his labor turnover rate, in the year after revising his assembly lines, was 380%….
Here is a table of minimum hourly wage rates by state.
http://www.4nannytaxes.com/news/stateminimum.cfm
LindaR @
20
Yeah, me too. I think they’re just renewing the latest batch by 13 episodes at a time for the new season. Everyone is afraid to make a commitment.
:-)
I’m looking forward to see whether or not the Dems reopen more proceedings that the Rs blocked C-Span from covering. I think they will.
Jane’s welcoming a New Blogger upstairs.
PA_Lady @ 47
I waited tables when I was in college, and dinosaurs roamed the face of the earth. Working in a decent mid-scale restaurant, I made at least $80 in tips on a 5 hour dinner shift, after tip-outs to bussers and line cooks. Even better, those were the days when no-one declared their real tip income and the IRS hadn’t figured out how to impute it.
It’s hard work, but it also paid pretty well. Tips are the primary income, pay from the restaurant is pretty small by comparison.
BC
From tomdelay.com:
Hmm.
I got my first job in 1964 as an amusement park ride operator for $1.25 per hour. Gasoline was $.25 a gallon. A bottle of coke cost $.10, a McDonalds cheeseburger was $.15. So I could buy eight cheeseburgers or five gallons of gas on an hour’s work. Now, for that purchasing power today, minimum wage would be (a can of coke X10 plus a gallon of gas X5 plus a cheeseburger X8, divided by three) $15.85. That would be $32,968 per year – more than many beginning teachers with masters degrees now make!
That’s how much EVERYONE’S real wages have gone down in 42 years, folks.
Oh, yeah. Back then – rent in parts of Seattle was $40 a month for a house, car insurance for a 17-yo (me) was $55 a year.
sofistic @ 70
More good info from the folks at the Eisenhower Foundation that Christy will be talking to/with tomorrow. The say all the stuff we are saying, right up to and including campaign finance reform. It appears that we don’t have to reinvent this wheel or argue the merits, they have already done a lot of that that we can use. They list communicating as one of their priorities. Betcha that’s where Christy and this media coverage panel come in.
You could live on 6.00 per hour if you had no choice.
If public campaign finance were in place. Our congress would not have to compete with big money (who storm DC and raise the cost of everything with their unlimited funds) or work that many more hours raising it most every day.
If travel expenses and in DC housing were included with that 113K pay. It’s plenty of money!
Public servants do not need to compete with CEO or lobbyist pay, in fact CEO’s make way to much, which would dramatically change with minimum wage where Linda R suggests it might be appropriate(17 per hr). Many wonderful people who are not motivated by their own income, above all else, would gladly step up with a level playing field, imo.
I love it when folks balk at the idea of this level of compensation when our minimum wage is 10k a year and 26 percent of the children in my state are hungry and below the poverty line.
We all need to get real here. If you make a 100k plus you are rich beyond most peoples wildest imagination. (aside from Hollywood dreams)
dammit – I left a whole reply – then erased it accidentally. Dammit
You could live on 6.00 per hour if you had no choice. I don’t representatives who are working for $6/hr – because they have no choice.
If travel expenses and in DC housing were included with that 113K pay AGREED. That’d be a nice start.
Public servants do not need to compete with CEO or lobbyist pay STRONGLY disagree. You must be able to pay competent people wages which are commensurate with what they’d make in the free market.
Many wonderful people who are not motivated by their own income, above all else, would gladly step up with a level playing field, imo. And so would a lot of other people who know fuck-all about much of anything. I want professionals running my government, and I’m willing to pay them to do it.
If you make a 100k plus you are rich beyond most peoples wildest imagination.
I had a law practice where I was making that or more. Then there was this little (ok, maybe more than a little) nervous breakdown. I’ve spent the last 6 years selling hardware and slinging lumber and concrete for $10/hour. I really don’t think of myself as an elitist.
This interview shows why Bob Geiger is one of my favorite small blogs. He has expertise in Congressional matters and knew just what to ask Harry Reid. I was struck by Senator Reid’s statistic that 60% of all minimum wage earners are women whose only source of income is that minimum wage job. Boy, the Democrats really need to galvanize this group as they did union workers in the early 20th century.
oh man, sorry for any trigger I may have caused mods.
jayt – a reply will pop in soon….)
Sounds like we both understand both success and setbacks. (in few words I really can relate personally with breakdown and share a similar dilemma) Wouldn’t call 100k an elite level of income (at all) but really think many would.
It’s an assumption on my part (ok several) but many a Ch*isty Ha*den *miths or Juan Coles, Glenn Greenwalds (insert your favorites here) might just step up if they didn’t have to compete financially with Heinz Kerry’s, GE, A*PAC etc… for funds or cost of living.
My favorite Senator (Russ Feingold) sure isn’t suffering or in it to get rich.
Sure would like to try something along these lines someday..
Found this bit of data (fyi) and downloading it now..
http://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/acs- 01.pdf
Thanks for the replys… I do go far left when allowed.
Hate to be the cynic here, but isn’t what Reid stated more this: ” we won’t give ourselves and the republicans a raise until we give the minimum wage workers one, TOO??
Gee, I wish I had that choice of when to give myself a raise AND look like a generous person at the same time.
Read it again, he is stating he is FOR giving Congress ANOTHER raise.
Like they have earned it.