A Big Deal Over So Little ($)

Yesterday, a very special guest appeared at Casa Don Juan in Downtown Las Vegas. Vice President Joe Biden stopped by to host a roundtable discussion on raising the minimum wage. Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas), Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman (I), and local business owners joined Vice President Biden at Casa Don Juan.

The Vice President received some tough questions yesterday, including one on the economic impact this would have on small businesses. Here's how he responded.



And he's actually quite far from alone. According to a CareerBuilder national survey released late last month, 55% of hiring managers support raising the federal minimum wage to at least $10 an hour (while another 30% want it raised above $8 an hour). This falls in line with a July Lake Research poll showing 61% of small business owners support a $10.10 national minimum wage. And that came after a March Greenberg Quinlan Rosner poll showing 57% of small business owners support a $10.10 minimum wage.

So yes, even those in charge of hiring understand the need for a fairer and more livable minimum wage. And why not? They're on the economic front line. They realize how much we're losing by allowing so many people to fall between the cracks and into unnecessary poverty.

Yesterday, the usual "TEA" powered suspects were mocking Vice President Biden's message at Casa Don Juan. Have they tried living on minimum wage level earnings? Have they met the hard working Americans who are struggling to make ends meet on poverty level income? Have they even visited the states that have recently raised the minimum wage and are actually experiencing improved job growth?

Our guess is no. After all, it's so much easier to take political pot shots than to examine the actual policy. It's so much easier to pontificate about "economic philosophy" than to produce actual policies to solve our growing inequality crisis.

Who knew there could be such a huge fight over so little?

"Count on Joe"

Today, let's take another trip to the always exciting Nevada Progressive archives. This time, we're traveling back to September 2011. Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) was caught doing a rare town hall meeting in Summerlin. And he had to answer a tough question from the audience on his vote for Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wisconsin) Medicare busting austerity budget earlier that year.



Ouch. He had to resort to rhetorical pretzel twists to defend that vote... Yet he voted for another Paul Ryan austerity budget in March 2012. But after he caught some political heat for those votes later that year, Rep. Joe Heck turned around and voted against the third Paul Ryan austerity budget last year.

Now, Heck seems to be feeling the "Ryan-mentum" again. This past June, Rep. Heck had Paul Ryan write a fundraising letter for his reelection campaign. Of course, the letter contains all the usual accusations of President Obama, Senator Harry Reid (D), and Nancy Pelosi being such meanie poopyheads who won't let the "YOUNG GUNS!!!" have any fun on Capitol Hill. Oh, and Rep. Ryan "can count on Joe as a leader in the struggle to revive our economy".

How so? Was he talking about the government shutdown that yanked $26 billion out of our economy? Is he talking about the continuing denial of unemployment insurance (UI) that's hut over e million Americans (including over 37,000 Nevadans)? Is he talking about the denial of a minimum wage increase that could have given our economy the extra boost we all need? Or is he just talking about his austerity program that's been suppressing economic growth?

Income inequality is a serious problem in this nation. Don't believe us? See the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Standard & Poors (S&P) reports. Income inequality hinders economic growth.



And Paul Ryan's austerity regime is worsening our income inequality problem. Is that what he meant when he "can count on Joe as a leader in the struggle to revive our economy"? He can certainly "count on Joe" to vote for his policies that harm the economy and hurt working families. And if that's the message they want to share with Nevada voters, we won't stand in the way of that.

Ironic

Yesterday, we witnessed the tale of the conflicting appellate court rulings. While a 3 judge panel of the DC Circuit Federal Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to strike down Obamacare health insurance tax credits for working class families in 36 states, a 3 judge panel of the nearby Fourth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals voted unanimously to uphold the Obamacare/Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits. Of course, the usual G-O-TEA suspects cheered on the DC Circuit ruling. And of course, that means the usual G-O-TEA suspects want to raise taxes on the middle class & working poor.

Wait, what?! Oh, yes. That's right. 87% of Obamacare enrollees in the 36 states under the federal health insurance exchange would lose their tax credits if the plaintiffs succeed in Halbig v. Burwell. So essentially, they'd have to pay higher taxes. And health insurance premiums for all consumers in these 36 states would rise by an average of 76%. Oh, and some 6.5 million Americans would lose insurance coverage. So basically, G-O-TEA politicians are cheering on a health insurance "death spiral" that would result in higher taxes and less health care for many millions of Americans. (Just don't tell them they lost in King v. Burwell, and their chances of killing Obamacare in court don't look good going forward.)

Where's Grover Norquist? Where are the "TEA" fueled purists? We thought they were against raising taxes. And we thought they didn't want consumers hit with higher costs.

Perhaps they were too busy demanding the arrests (and firings) of working mothers? Debra Harrell was just fired by McDonald's after she was arrested for letting her daughter play in a park. No really, she was arrested for letting her 9 year old daughter play outside. And she was essentially arrested for being too poor to afford day care.

But wait, whatever happened to "LIBERTY!!!" Whatever happened to "FREEDOM!!!"? Whatever happened to "DON'T TREAD ON ME!!!"? Apparently for the usual G-O-TEA suspects, it's perfectly OK for "BIG GUV'MINT!!!" to arrest working parents for letting their kids play outside because they're too poor to afford summer camp.

Isn't it ironic? For all the G-O-TEA talk of "low taxes" and "limited government", they want the working poor to pay higher taxes and face police state style oversight simply because they work at or near minimum wage level pay? Why is this? Might it be due to their desire for "low taxes" and "limited government" only for those who can afford it?

Might we possibly be witnessing a tale of a party spouting an ideology rooted in paradox? Or do these "TEA" powered politicians just detest the middle class and working poor so much that they just don't care about their nonsensical "philosophy of governance"?

The Answer Is Simple

There's a reason why constituents asked Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) about it this past February. There's a reason why many constituents railed against Senator Dean Heller's (R) vote against it in April. And there's a reason why a number of Southern Nevada's fast food workers took part in #FastFoodGlobal last month.

Hint: The minimum wage is too damned low. It's not enough for most workers to survive. And the longer we wait to #RaiseTheWage, the more unnecessary pain we're causing ourselves.

Don't believe us? Believe the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Addressing the U.S.’s persistently high poverty rates, the report lauds the U.S.’s expansion of health care coverage thanks to the Affordable Care Act, then argues for two separate policy fixes to further aid in the reduction of poverty: expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to cover more low-income people and raising the minimum wage.

“An expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit—to apply to households without children, to older workers, and to low income youth—would be [an] effective tool to raise living standards for the very poor,” the report states. “Similarly, the government should make permanent the various extensions of the EITC and the improvements in the Child Tax Credit that are due to expire in 2017.

“[G]iven its current low level (compared both to U.S. history and international standards), the minimum wage should be increased,” it goes on. “This would help raise incomes for millions of working poor and would have strong complementarities with the suggested improvements in the EITC, working in tandem to ensure a meaningful increase in after-tax earnings for the nation’s poorest households.”

Back in February, Rep. Heck suggested expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as an alternative to raising the minimum wage. However, many of his G-O-TEA colleagues don't even want to do that (cough- Mitt Romney- cough). And now, the IMF is urging us to do both to address our inequality crisis.

Wage growth has been minimal since the onset of The Great Recession, even as overall economic growth has resumed. The working poor are indeed working, and many of them happen to have families to support. Yet even as they're working, their wages haven't kept up with the cost of living. And even some Wall Street titans are starting to admit there are negative consequences to rising income inequality.

So what can we do to start filling the inequality gap? How can we ensure that hard work actually pays? And how can we stimulate more economic growth while also pulling Americans out of poverty? The answer is simple: #RaiseTheWage.

Perhaps when Congress comes back from another recess, it can actually try passing something #4jobs? That answer should be simple...

Make Ends Meet

There's a reason why a number of Southern Nevada's fast food workers took part in #FastFoodGlobal last week. They're working incredibly hard to survive. Yet even as they're working, they're still finding it difficult to survive and make ends meet.

Just look at the numbers Desert Beacon unearthed earlier today. Those numbers tell a sobering story. Even workers who earn slightly more than the minimum wage struggle to make ends meet for their families.

Yet when we've seen Congress debate even a fairly modest increase in the minimum wage, we've heard the usual "job killing" rhetoric from G-O-TEA politicians. Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) tried it at a Henderson town hall in February. And Senator Dean Heller (R) tried it when he voted against raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. (FYI, #FastFoodGlobal strikers last week were demanding $15 per hour because that's what a parent with child needs just to make ends meet.)

What they fail to acknowledge is that Washington has the highest state minimum wage in the nation... And the highest rate of growth for small business employment last year. They also fail to acknowledge is that San Francisco has the highest municipal minimum wage in the nation... And the highest rate of growth for small business employment. Oh, and Seattle is the #2 city for small business growth. It's the largest city in Washington State, and it's now implementing a plan to #RaiseTheWage to $15 per hour citywide by the end of the decade.

We've yet to figure out how businesses would be hurt by guaranteeing workers' ability to make ends meet. To the contrary, workers with higher wages mean consumers with more income to drop back into the economy. And that ultimately means less poverty and more economic growth.

If anything, our current system isn't working. Case in point: McDonald's, the nation's largest fast food chain. McDonald's low wage business model costs US taxpayers an average of $1.2 billion per year due to McDonald's forcing its workers to utilize the social safety net just to make ends meet. And McDonald's executives are wondering why their company's profits have been so weak lately?

Maybe it's because low wage workers are struggling so hard just to make ends meet that they can't afford to buy their kids a lot of "Happy Meals"? Maybe it's because they've contributed to the inequality gap that's threatening to undo the foundation of this very nation? Maybe it's because their short term avarice has harmed their company's (and this nation's) long term success?

Think about it. How are we supposed to succeed as a society if so many of our people are finding it increasingly difficult just to make ends meet? And how can our democracy function if so few can afford to participate? How will America then be able to make ends meet?

A Way Out

Last Thursday, a number of local fast food workers took to the streets with community allies as a part of #FastFoodGlobal. These workers either make minimum wage or just above minimum wage. And they're struggling just to survive.

These low wage workers are merely asking for this: #MakeWorkPay. That's all. They're already working hard just to feed the kids and pay the bills. How are we really hurting anyone by ensuring people can actually work for a living?

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) has yet to answer this question. He opposes increasing the minimum wage. And he opposes even sustaining social safety programs that actually work at reducing poverty. But now, we're supposed to believe that Rep. Paul Ryan wants to "fight poverty"?

How exactly does Rep. Ryan plan to "fight poverty" if he's constantly fighting against letting millions of workers work for a living wage? And how does he "fight poverty" by fighting to rip to shreds the social safety net that prevents millions of Americans from falling into deeper poverty? We can only wonder if any of the hedge fund executives who Ryan met at Bellagio. Did anyone address the glaring disparity between Ryan's rhetoric and his real policies during the pool side party or the Champagne mixer?

Economic inequality is not merely some philosophical conundrum in need of abstract concepts. It's a very real problem in America today. Real people are suffering. And they're not helped by empty rhetoric and counterproductive policies.

Here in Nevada and elsewhere throughout the nation, millions of Americans are merely asking for a way out. They don't want a handout. They just want a way out of the poverty cycle. Is this really too difficult for Paul Ryan and other Republican "leaders" to understand?

Loud & Clear

It's hard work. Try working all day, and possibly all night as well. And try working so hard... Only to be paid so little.

This isn't just a theoretical scenario for these workers. This is real life.





That's why they and some community friends stood outside a local McDonald's in Las Vegas today. They have been working hard for minimum wage and near minimum wage pay. And they're struggling to survive.



Minimum wage hasn't been enough for them to take care of their families. So they asked for a raise. And they weren't alone in doing so.

This was just one of many #FastFoodGlobal events across the nation... And around the world. They were simply asking for fair wages. They were asking for a chance to feed their families. And they were asking for a chance to improve our economy.

And they weren't alone today. State Senator Ruben Kihuen (D-Las Vegas), community activist Linda Turner, and many more community allies from PLAN, ProgressNow Nevada, SEIU, and elsewhere joined the protest.



For over an hour, they were all baking under the hot Southern Nevada sun. And this was just one of three #FastFoodGlobal events in the valley today. Local fast food workers really wanted to make sure their voices were heard today.



They can only hope they were heard loud & clear.







This isn't some theoretical argument over abstract numbers. This is real life. Real families here in Nevada are struggling, even as they're working as hard as they can to get by.

Can we hear them? We should. The message should be coming across loud & clear by now.

Benghazipalooza

Well, surprise, f**king surprise. We've known for some time that Congressional Republicans were preparing for the rave of a lifetime on Capitol Hill. Las Vegas may now have Electric Daisy Carnival, but DC Republicans plan to rival that with their own Benghazipalooza.

At Benghazipalooza, all bets will be off. And G-O-TEA politicians will definitely be all in for all the political debauchery. Hell, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Grand Marnier) has even given the green light for the ultimate #Benghazi fundraising extravaganza!

And he's wondering why virtually no one outside the G-O-TEA base is taking his (latest) "Benghazi investigation" seriously?

We're sure Rep. Joe Heck (R-Benghazi) is really craving a ticket to Benghazipalooza. He's been getting into that groove for some time. Perhaps Rep. Mark Amodei (R-??!!) also wants a ticket to the ultimate scandalicious celebration, since he's always aiming to be Mr. #TeaParty Cool.

Never mind that many Nevada workers stand to benefit from a raise in the minimum wage. Never mind that our economy also stands to benefit from an extension of federal unemployment insurance (UI). And never mind that our economy can also benefit from pro-worker policies like comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) and nationwide ENDA.

Nope, House Republicans care more about getting their party on at Benghazipalooza. They may even go directly from Benghazipalooza to their next big rave: Impeachapalooza. We guess it's nice that they can enjoy the luxury of dereliction of duty taking extra time off work to have quality play time at their hot Capitol Hill rave. It's just too bad that all of us who live in the real world can't.

Why We Need That Raise

This past February, NV-03 constituents asked Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) about legislation to raise the minimum wage. They shared their personal experiences, and they presented the facts. Raising the minimum wage can raise nearly 5 million Americans out of poverty while boosting economic growth.

Rep. Heck didn't take kindly to either their stories or their facts.



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And neither have Senate Republicans (Dean Heller included), as they just filibustered the Senate minimum wage bill.

"Min wage vote fails 54-42. Corker lone R voting aye, Reid votes nay for procedural reasons. AR & MS sens absent"

FYI, Senator Reid had to switch his vote from "Aye" to "Nay" so he can bring it back for another vote. In fact, he tweeted this following the cloture vote.

"Republicans just turned their backs on millions of hardworking Americans who deserve a fair shot. This debate is not over."

A majority of US Senators wanted to #RaiseTheWage. So do most Americans. And even some prominent conservatives have advocated #RaiseTheWage, as it would lessen the need for the public sector to subsidize the private sector's low wages.

So why did Senate Republicans block a #RaiseTheWage vote? Why wouldn't they simply allow a final vote on the bill, especially when a number of their party's "leaders" have claimed interest in "solving our poverty crisis". How can we "solve the poverty crisis" when we expect so many Americans to work for so little?

G-O-TEA media spinners are already claiming this was just a "political stunt" meant to "pamper teenagers". What they refuse to acknowledge is that most minimum wage jobs are not filled by "pampered teenagers". In fact, they're mostly filled by grown women. And 26% of the people who would benefit from a higher minimum wage have children.

Keep this in mind when you hear Senator Heller, Rep. Heck, and other G-O-TEA politicians try to spin away their opposition to #RaiseTheWage. They're denying millions of American men, women, and children the opportunity to work their way out of poverty. They're denying our economy the kind of consumer buying power that's necessary for sturdier & more robust economic growth. And they're denying our nation the opportunity to start solving the inequality crisis that's defined our time.

America is in dire need of a raise. Why can't we just have it already?

The Least We Can Do

Just a couple of weeks ago, we were left scratching our heads. When stating his opposition to raising the minimum wage, Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) tried every scare tactic available. And when that wasn't enough, he threw out a potential alternative.

And what was that alternative? He proposed increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). And he's not alone. In recent weeks, other Republican politicians and some conservative economists have signaled support for expanding EITC.

And now, President Obama has included an EITC expansion in his budget proposal. He also included a Republican proposed tax loophole closure to pay for it. So can everyone become friends, hold hands, sing along, and pass this already?



Not so fast. Just last week, House Republican "leaders" proposed a "tax reform" plan that cuts EITC. And this isn't even the first time that Republicans turned hard against EITC. In 2012, G-O-TEA Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney infamously attacked EITC and other parts of the social safety net as "welfare for the 47%". And back then, Rep. Joe Heck agreed with Romney.

So what are we supposed to believe here? Do Republicans support EITC or not? We guess it depends on which day it is... And what President Obama includes in his budget (regardless of whether he's magnanimously including some of their own ideas in it!).

Of course, some prominent conservative thinkers have suggested that EITC is a rather inefficient way to address poverty & economic inequality. But then again, these tend to be the same prominent conservative thinkers who support raising the minimum wage. After all, why have federal & state government subsidize major corporations' decisions to underpay their workers?



And that brings us back to the question Rep. Heck struggled to answer two weeks ago. Raising the minimum wage is likely the most efficient and cost effective way to alleviate the suffering of America's working poor. But if Rep. Heck and other Congressional Republicans are so committed to subsidizing the miserly ways of America's corporate elite, we can at least expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. And if there are enough thinking members of Congress who are willing to find a more creative solution, we can always try a combination of both.

But in a nation crippled by epic economic inequality, nothing is not a viable option. The status quo is failing America's working class. And in an ideal world, our elected officials would be considering far more than either a minimum wage increase or EITC expansion. So really, one of these (or a combination of the two) is the least we can do for those who are hurting the most.

What We Need Is a Raise

Plenty of tough questions were asked at Green Valley High School last Wednesday. That required Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) to come up with real answers. Constituents had questions on topics ranging from gun safety to marriage equality, but those weren't all. There was one other issue that was raised... And that put Rep. Heck in a very uncomfortable position (for him).



Nevada's minimum wage now stands (for the most part) at $8.25 per hour, while the federal minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour. The minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation for some time, and that's meant millions of working families have had to work for poverty level earnings. And this is why most Americans (and even some conservatives) support raising the minimum wage.

Yet last Wednesday, Rep. Heck was pulling out every available "TEA" flavored scare tactic in an attempt to spin his opposition to raising the minimum wage into a more "complimentary light". Unfortunately for him, NV-03 constituents Wendy Starkweather, Esther Sass, & Lisa Muntean weren't letting him.



Rep. Heck cited the recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report as evidence that a minimum wage increase would harm the economy, but he failed to mention what was actually in the CBO report. He also failed to mention how it would barely budge prices for consumers. And he failed to mention how it would lift at least 900,000 Americans out of poverty.

When Rep. Heck declared that raising the minimum wage would be "bad for business", he likely wasn't expecting a rebuttal from a local business owner. Unfortunately for him, that's what happened when NV-03 constituent & business owner Cassie Rice had a chance to speak. She explained to him and the audience what motivates her hiring decisions. (Hint: It's not the minimum wage.)



Actually, what affects hiring decisions the most is the simplest of economic rules: supply & demand. Is there demand for a company's products? And is that company demanding more workers? Those influence corporate hiring decisions far greater than the where the minimum wage stands.

Yet in another way, the minimum wage can affect the overall economic climate. Think about this: What determines consumers' purchasing decisions the most? It ultimately comes down to how much money they have to spend. The more they can spend, the more they will buy.

This is what policy makers like Rep. Heck should take into serious consideration. By lifting at least 900,000 American workers out of poverty, that can lead to a real "bubbling up" effect of more consumers buying more products, which would mean more economic growth. And let's face it, what we need right now is more economic growth.

We know Rep. Heck's "TEA" drinking base either dismisses economic inequality as a serious problem or claims it can be solved by "right-wing social engineering". However, we also know neither of those claims is true. Economic inequality does pose a serious challenge, and it can't be solved with "right-wing social engineering".

Last Wednesday, Rep. Joe Heck was confronted by real constituents who had a real case to make for raising the minimum wage. He can deny their stories and their facts all he wants, but he can't change reality. What we seriously need right now is a raise... In the minimum wage.