[guest post by Dana]
Last week, JVW wrote about Bernie Sanders’ unionized staffers demanding a “living wage” of $15 per hour. Today, Rep. Rashida Tlaib upped the ante:
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) called for a $20 federal minimum wage less than a week after the House of Representatives voted to raise the wage to $15 over the next six years.
A video from America Rising shows Tlaib making the remarks at an event for One Fair Wage, an organization that lobbies to raise the federal minimum tipped wage. Tlaib said the $15 minimum wage demand needs to be updated to reflect the rising price of food.
“By the way, when we started it, it should have been $15. Now I think it should be $20,” she said.
“It should be $20 an hour, $18 to $20 at this point,” she repeated, continuing to claim that the price of food such as milk and eggs has increased.
Alfredo Ortiz, president of the Job Creators Network, told the Free Beacon, “America can’t afford a $15 minimum wage, never mind $20.”
Ortiz also pointed to recent move by the Bernie Sanders campaign to cut hours for its staff as an example of the economic impact wage increases have.
“It’s a shame Rep. Tlaib didn’t hear that Bernie Sanders is cutting his staff’s hours to meet their demands for a $15 minimum wage,” Ortiz said. “If she won’t listen to job creators about the unintended consequences of a higher minimum wage, maybe she’ll listen to a socialist politician.”
We’ve seen how mandatory wage hikes have forced layoffs, reduction in work hours, businesses closing their doors, and an ever-increasing focus on developing automation to replace the live worker. This in turn leaves the once employed, now unemployed. Here’s a look at the real life consequences of raising the minimum wage.
Last week, House Democrats passed the “Raise the Wage Act”, which would increase the federal minimum to $15 an hour by 2024, and after 2025 the minimum wage would be tied to inflation.
My question as well, especially as the next round of debates are just a week away. Tlaib’s timing couldn’t be better:
Democratic candidates, including the relative centrist Joe Biden, have come out in favor of a $15 minimum wage. But given how in the previous debate Democrats came out in favor of radical proposals including providing free health insurance to illegal immigrants that had never really been part of the national conversation, it would be interesting to see if any of the candidates would feel the need to join Tlaib’s call for a $20 per hour. If they do not support a $20 minimum wage, it would be interesting to hear all of them articulate on what basis they support a $15 minimum wage while believing a $20 minimum wage would be too high.
…
[I]s there a level at which Democrats believe the government could set a minimum wage that would be so high that the negative effects would outweigh the positive effects?
WATCH: @RashidaTlaib calls for a $20 Minimum Wage. pic.twitter.com/tKsjOXDhIj
— America Rising (@AmericaRising) July 22, 2019
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana