The D.C. Fight for Low-Wage Workers
Nation's capital raises its minimum wage to $11.50 by 2016. From local news blog DCist: "In a rather anticlimactic moment, the D.C. Council unanimously passed an increase in the minimum wage today to one of the highest levels in the country. Council chair Phil Mendelson moved to place both the minimum wage increase and paid sick days for restaurant workers bills on the consent agenda, and that passed without any discussion. Supporters of the bills poured out into the Wilson Building's fifth floor lobby to celebrate."
Think Progress cites "the wave of state and local minimum wage hikes that voters and local lawmakers have instituted around the country." "Voters in SeaTac, Washington and in New Jersey approved pay hikes in November. The 2012 elections brought minimum wage boosts in Albuquerque, New Mexico and in both San Jose and Long Beach, California. Half of the Massachusetts legislature recently approved an $11 minimum wage, setting up a possible race between the Bay State and the District for which jurisdiction will have the nation’s highest wage floor."
Majority of Americans want minimum wage to be increased, poll finds. The Washington Post: "A large majority of Americans want Congress to substantially increase the minimum wage as part of an effort to reduce the nation’s expanding economic inequality, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll." But: "The idea of using public policy to combat inequality is much more popular among Democrats and independents than it is among Republicans. ... Eighty-five percent of Democrats support raising the wage, while Republicans are split 50-45 on the issue, the poll found. ... Republicans support a lower wage floor than Democrats, when asked separately about their preferred dollar amount. On average, Democrats favor a minimum wage of just over $10, while Republicans want it to be about $8.60 an hour."
A closer look at the social cost of fast-food minimum wages from Barry Ritholtz. "More than half (52 percent) of the families of fast-food workers receive some form of public assistance. That’s more than double the rate of the workforce as a whole. ... Another surprise about fast-food workers: They are no longer mostly teenagers. More than two-thirds are adults; more than one in four are raising children. ... Raising the minimum wage to $11.33, the poverty level, effectively shifts the cost of eating greasy French fries and overcooked burgers from taxpayers to fast food consumers -- where they belong."
Aiming To Take Down an Employment Barrier
Elizabeth Warren introduces bill to prevent employers from discriminating against poor people. Mother Jones: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and six of her colleagues in the Senate introduced a bill that would prevent employers from using credit checks in the hiring process, a practice that disproportionately hurts poor people. ... Forty-seven percent of employers check applicants' credit history as an indicator of their employability, according to a 2012 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. But research shows that a person's credit score has nothing to do with her likelihood of succeeding in the workplace. ... The bill, which is backed by over 40 community, financial reform, labor and civil rights organizations, would be a boon for low-wage workers, minority communities, and women. Credit checks used in the hiring process disproportionately disqualify people of color. Divorce tends to hit women's finances harder than men's, and women are also more likely to receive subprime loans than men."
AFL-CIO invites people to become citizen co-sponsors of the bill. "People shouldn't be denied the chance to compete for jobs because of credit reports that bear no relationship to job performance and that, according to recent reports, are often riddled with inaccuracies."
Budget Compromise Heads for Senate Vote
Budget deal gains enough GOP support to clear Senate. McClatchy reports: "The sharp GOP divisions over the $85 billion deal, which was approved last week by the House with a robust bipartisan majority, has turned the Senate procedural vote into a high-stakes battle between the Republican tea party wing and establishment conservatives. The conservative organizations that vehemently oppose the package are putting tremendous pressure on Senate Republicans, their last line of defense. Opposition is likely to come from the top tier of the Republican leadership, as well as some Democrats."
A Democratic senator is joining the effort to block the cuts to military pensions. The Hill: "Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) is introducing legislation ... that would replace the $6 billion saved in the budget deal through cuts to the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for working-age military retirees. Shaheen’s bill adds to the effort from a group of Republicans on the Armed Services Committee to remove the retirement benefits cuts from the budget deal, which the Senate voted Tuesday to end debate on in a 67-33 vote."
Digby calls this "Democrats saving the Republicans from themselves." "I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to get done. This constituency is very powerful. I can't help but wonder what might have happened if the Democrats had been willing to leverage them for more concessions in the budget deal," such as also relieving pension cuts for civilian federal workers, which wouldn't be addressed in this bill. "Of course not. They are a Democratic constituency. The only people who get protection from austerity's whip are people who vote Republican."
Today's Conservative Crazy
Rand Paul doubles down on support for GOP senate candidate who rallied with secessionists. North Carolina Senate hopeful Greg Brannon is "a Republican primary candidate who believes public education is dehumanizing and Marxist, and who recently cosponsored a rally with a secessionist group, the League of the South, which seeks "a free and independent Southern republic." ... He prefers the governing style of his "modern hero" Jesse Helms—a North Carolina senator of 30 years best known for refusing, even until the day he died in 2008, to renounce his support for racial segregation."
Darrel Issa tells Texas health administrator, "You need to watch more Fox News, I'm afraid." "House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) on Monday told Dr. Randy Farris, a Texas health administrator for the federal government, to watch more Fox News after the health official did not satisfactorily answer Issa's questions about HealthCare.Gov, according to the Dallas Morning News."
Breakfast Sides
The Center for Public Integrity examines Cook Islands, a "paradise of untouchable assets." "Thanks to a recently released trove of documents, it’s become clear that hundreds of wealthy people have stashed their money there, including a felon who ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme and the doctor who lost his license in the Octomom case."
Cost-of-living increases are low – with one big exception. "Core inflation's components include shelter, transportation, medical care and anything not food or energy. The shelter index is comprised of rent, the equivalent cost of owning a home, hotels and motels. Shelter increased 0.3% and is up 2.4% for the year. This is the highest monthly shelter inflation increase since July 2011."
New York Times columnist Eduardo Porter on why poverty in the U.S. has been so tough to eradicate. "Despite a half-century worth of technological progress and some fairly robust economic growth for much of that time, the labor market does a worse job lifting people out of poverty today than it did before Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. ... [T]he main reason for America’s persistent poverty is the disappearance of jobs with decent pay that can take workers above the poverty line without the government’s help."
