red dog 1
red dog 1's JournalThe GOP's Minimum Wage Nuttiness....by Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower
July 30, 2014
Anyone who works full time, ought not live in poverty, period.
Raising the minimum wage above the poverty level, is not a question of economics
(even though it would be a big plus for our economy), but a question of morality.
Who are we as a people, a nation - especially in the richest nation in the world - if we dishonor the work ethic with a wholly-unethical wage floor?
It's disgraceful, which is why three out of four Americans support raising the floor, including a majority of Republicans.
Yet, the wage stays stuck at the unconscionable level of $ 7.25 an hour because Republican leaders are stuck on the low-wage dogma dictated by corporate elites.
At a forum in April, GOP Congress critter Dennis Ross of Tampa was confronted by a fast-food worker who asked him to support a minimum wage hike.
"Who's going to pay for it?" snapped Ross, who's paid $174,000 a year by us taxpayers.
A person in the audience rose to say he'd gladly pay a little more for a hamburger so workers could be paid a decent wage - a comment that prompted applause from the crowd.
Yet Ross railed against the very idea of a minimum wage.
"If the government's going to tell me how much I can get paid...then we have a serious problem in this country."
Yes, we do have a serious problem, and it's name is Dennis Ross.
Or, let's call it Lamar Alexander
The Republican Senator from Tennessee said of the minimum wage, "I do not believe in it."
Indeed, he "believes' in the immorality of letting executive-suite kleptocrats set sub-sub-sub-sub-poverty pay scales to impoverish America's workforce.
Or, how about John Boehner, the GOP Speaker of the House, he's gone operatic on the issue,
declaring that he would "commit suicide before I vote to raise the minimum wage."
These guys aren't just out of touch -- they're nuts!
http://www.jimhightower.com/node/8393#.U9l8ZRY5mTM/
"Do-Nothing Congress Takes a Vacation"....by Jim Hightower
July 23, 2014
Jim Hightower
When I heard that our Congress critters are taking an extended vacation for all of August and part of September, I had two incongruous reactions: Anger... and gratitude.
Gratitude, because their vacation gives us a five-week-break from the spectacle of right-wing mad dogs in the House, yapping, foaming at the mouth, and running around in circles.
"Kill the minimum wage," they howl, "Repeal Obamacare, deport immigrant children, re-invade Iraq, impeach Obama"....and yada-yada-yada.
Yes, nutty as they are, it's also infuriating that these pampered politicos feel entitled to such a vacation...It's another sign of their total disconnect from the hard realities of the workaday majority they're supposed to serve.
EARTH TO CONGRESS CRITTERS: Most American families are being hosed out of the middle class, having to work harder and longer for less pay, no benefits, and not even two weeks off, much less a five-week getaway.
In the spirit of fairness, though, I should concede that the current do-nothing House has been setting an eight-year performance record in one category of congressional activity: Junkateering.
Yes, not only does this bunch love to vacation, but it also tiptoes around the ethics rules so lobbyists can pay for their trips.
Not since the sleaze days of pay-to-play uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff have House members taken as many junkets, financed by corporate interests.
Oh, excuse me, they're called "fact-finding missions," not junkets..
By whatever name, nearly 1,900 of the free trips were enjoyed last year by lawmakers, their spouses, and staff -- paid for by private entities seeking legislative favors.
Adding to the disgust, House leaders very quietly axed an ethics requirement this year that lawmakers must disclose these travel freebies in their personal financial reports.
Yet they wonder why their public approval rating is in the ditch.
http://www.jimhightower.com/node/8387#.U9AxvhY5mTM/
MoveOn.org Starts Petition To Impeach Boehner
MoveOn.org
July 14, 2014
BREAKING NEWS:
John A. Boehner, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives,
is moving forward with his lawsuit against the President of the United States.
As of this hour, Speaker Boehner has introduced a formal petition on the Floor of the House to Sue a Sitting President.
Boehner has got to go!
PETITION TO IMPEACH THE SPEAKER of the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
"Under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution's Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, We hereby petition the United States House of Representatives, the U.S. House Committee on Rules, and President Barack H. Obama to Impeach the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John H. Boehner (R-Ohio) for Dereliction of Duty in Governance"
To sign petition:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/to-impeach-the-speaker?mailing_id=23791&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=9017801/
UPDATE: Saturday, July 19, 2014
MoveOn.org wants to get 7,500 signatures on this petition.
As of July 19, there are 7,050 signatures, so they only need about 450 more signatures.
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Home country: U.S.A.
Member since: Tue Sep 14, 2010, 03:05 PM
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