Should Hillery Clinton release Wall Street speach transcripts

[DanG 1]

Regardless of what your media sources tell you (NPR and MSNBC, yeah right) Obama is not a dictator. To increase the minimum wage nationwide Congress needs to pass a law. You know, because Constitution.

Obama did raise the minimum wage paid to federal contract workers through Executive Order. Happy?

- Dan G

[brenthutch 444]

First two years
Democratic House
Democratic Senate
Obama could have passed l living wage with ease, if he thought it was important.

BTW I just got done watching Joe Kline get his ass handed to him on Morning Joe (MSNBC)

[DanG 1]

Maybe you should ask your Congressman. During the first two years Obama spent all the political capital he had trying to get healthcare reform passed. In hindsight he made the mistake of including Republicans in negotiations. He should have just shoved everything down their throats, but he didn't. I'm sure if he had it to do over again, he would have passed a minimum wage increase, closed Gitmo, and imposed socialized medicine. But he didn't.

BTW, I'm not of the opinion that a minimum wage increase will solve all our problems like TK is. I'm just trying to explain the political realities.

- Dan G

[jakee 1,499]

brenthutch

If it is such a no brainier why didn't Obama do it?
It helps the working poor, it is good for business because people have more money to spend on their products and services, it helps the deficit by reducing the need for food stamps and such........ Why not do it?

Because the GOP would shut down all of government until he stopped trying?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[tkhayes 348]

again, I GIVE UP.....WHY?

You already know that there are 100,000 reasons why common sense legislation gets passed or not passed.

You are simply trying to change the focus of the subject from the facts and basis of the subject to something else. a simple diversion.

And by the way, CONGRESS, not Obama changes the minimum wage, and Obama has called for minimum wage increases many times during his presidency.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=obama%20calls%20for%20minimum%20wage%20increase

And I believe he did already through executive action for federal workers and contractors, which is probably the legal extent of his ability.

Now back to why we should be increasing the minimum wage, not why Congress has yet to act on it.

[tkhayes 348]

Quote

BTW, I'm not of the opinion that a minimum wage increase will solve all our problems like TK is.

I never claimed it would solve all our problems. i claimed it is part of the solution and will do no harm, and will do good.

There are many parts to solving 'the problems'. Minimum wage is one of them.

And no I do not believe that a jump to $15/hour is in order, but I have no problem with a $10.50-$12 minimum wage (plus some future scaling up on CPI or whatever inflationary number is chosen)

And I think it would radically change the face of welfare and food stamps in the country and drive GDP and consumer spending while having little effect on consumer prices.

[brenthutch 444]

Why not $15? Why not $16?

[tkhayes 348]

The $15 an hour thing is a red herring and if you actually READ the articles about the places that did it, those changes are going in over several years, not a quantum leap to $25 at once.

It is not needed that is why. Take the minimum wage from 20-30 years ago, add inflation using CPI and you get about $11-$13/hour. And no one disagrees with the statement that minimum wage went a lot further decades ago compared to today.

That would be something called 'common sense' if you want to have the same living conditions for people that worked minimum wage jobs 30 years ago, keeping up with inflation would actually help to accomplish that.

I am pretty sure that you would like your pension, your IRAs, your wages to keep up with inflation, whatever job you have and whatever pay scale that you are on.

Seemingly that logic always should apply to 'us' but never apply to 'them'.

[brenthutch 444]

I didn't say $25 I said $15. Why is that a red herring? It is the number that populates most of the placards of the living wage movement.