Hillary is NOT a Republican: The Minimum Wage

(Originally written March 8, 2016)
I'm quite tired of people calling Hillary a "Republican".

I'm tired of people saying that there is no difference between Trump and Hillary Clinton.  I'm tired of these same people whining when someone calls them on their idiocy and calls them... an idiot.

From Media Matters

For the record, Hillary Clinton voted right down the middle with the Democrats when she was a Senator.  According to various measures, she was either the 5th, 9th, 11th, or 32nd most progressive Senator when she was in the Senate.

She received very low ratings from the right-wing/Republican raters such as the US Chamber of Commerce and the Koch Brother's Americans for Prosperity.  In fact, in 2007, her rating from the "corporate" US Chamber of Commerce was lower than that of Bernie Sanders (which should be considered a good thing.)

And, to top it off, she and Bernie voted the same way 93% of the time when they were in the Senate together.

But, despite all of this, I just came across an article in the Huffington post (not surprising) in which the author, a man named Russ Belville, lists 25 reasons why he doesn't vote for Republicans.. and then complains that he won't vote for Hillary (assuming she is the Democratic nominee) because she fits his profile of a "Republican" and he hits her with his 25 reasons.

Hillary isn't as progressive as the author insists a Democrat should be. 

On the whole, his list is absurd.  Hillary isn't as progressive as he wants a candidate to be on these items, so he lumps her in with people who are Regressives, namely Republicans and conservatives.  It's pretty clear that Hillary is probably with the majority of the Democrats on his list of 25.  I would take this to mean that he doesn't vote for Democrats either.  Then the guy complains when Chet Panieza of the Daily Banter calls him an "idiot".

I never think of progressives as, by definition, being close minded, but after seeing so many senseless complaints about Hillary Clinton, I've had to change my mind.

The Minimum Wage

So let's look at just one of his 25 points.  Perhaps I will examine the rest later, one by one, or a few at a time.

9) I don't vote Republican because they think a $15 minimum wage is too high and at best it ought to only be $12.

Umm.... Most Republicans don't think the minimum wage should be anything close to $12.

CNBC summarizes:  One of the clearest distinctions to come out of the presidential debates so far has been around the minimum wage – specifically, the Democratic candidates' support for, and the Republican candidates' opposition to, raising the federal minimum wage.

And yet the "author" at Huffington Post thinks that not supporting raising the minimum wage as much as he thinks it should be raised is the same as being against the minimum wage, the same as being against raising it at all.

Now what do those Republicans.. real Republicans, not people that some silly "progressives" want to call "Republicans" like Hillary Clinton, want to do with the minimum wage?  (The following comments are from this link at OurFuture.)

Donald Trump says raising the minimum wage creates “a lot of problems.” (Like reducing poverty and creating jobs?) Trump supports creating two minimum wages, one for high school students and a slightly higher one for adults.In one of the debates, the moderator referenced  "Fight for $15" protests outside the debate venue and asked Donald Trump if he was sympathetic to the cause. Trump responded that he was not. He said, "…[with] wages too high, we're not going to be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave it the way it is." 

Here's what Marco Rubio thought about the minimum wage before he dropped out of the Republican race: 

Marco Rubio believes a focus on the minimum wage is “a waste of time.”
“My problem with raising the minimum wage is not that I want to deny someone $10.10. I’m worried about the people whose wages are going to go down to zero because you’ve made them more expensive than a machine.” (Actually the minimum wage is so low, a boost would likely create jobs.)
But he has said “I’m not for repealing the minimum wage.”  (How charitable of him.)  He also called raising the minimum wage "a disaster."

Ted Cruz says:

"I think the minimum wage consistently hurts the most vulnerable.” (If you mean “hurt” as in “lift 5 million out of poverty.”) He has said $0 is the “real Obama minimum wage.”“If you raise the minimum wage, the inevitable effect will be, number one, young people will lose their jobs or not be able to get their first jobs.”“Unemployment among young people will go up if the minimum wage goes up as President Obama says. Unemployment among Hispanics, among African Americans, among those struggling to get their first job to climb the economic ladder, will go up.”

But Russ Belville believes that opposing a raise in the minimum wage or opposing the minimum wage period is the same as saying that the minimum wage should be raised to $12.00 (a 60% hike) instead of $15.00 (a 100% raise.)

What Democrats proposed in 2014

Most Democrats want the federal minimum wage to be raised, but not all of them are calling for it to be raised to 15 bucks.  The Fair Minimum Wage Act introduced by Democrats in the House of Representatives in 2014 proposed raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 in three steps and then indexing the minimum wage to the rate of inflation.

$10.10?  So, according to the great "progressive" Russ Belville, that must mean that most Democrats are also Republicans.  And that bill not only didn't pass, but the REAL Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives (Thanks in part to "progressives" who didn't vote in 2010 because they were "mad at Obama" for not being able to get the public option into the Affordable Care Act.) didn't even bother to pull it out of committee. 

Yes, Belville, Chet Panieza is quite right to call you an idiot.

"You Don't Think $10/hour is good enough so she gets nothing."

Here's another take on the minimum wage; unfortunately I can't immediately find the source:

Think of it this way: Some Progressives are not happy with the $10.10 minimum wage that the Dems have proposed. They think it is not enough, and that it brings no real change to the whole corporate system. (I actually agree that it is not enough and doesn't impact the basic problem of inequality and control.)  But... would you tell a woman trying to raise her kids on minimum wage that, because the proposed increase isn't good enough, you will oppose it? 

"Miss, you really deserve a raise, but your raise should be at least $15/hour and all of the workers need some part of ownership of this corporation. Because I so strongly believe that $10.10 is not enough of a raise for you, I'm going to oppose it. Both these parties suck; $10.10 sucks. So because $10.10 is such a lousy deal, you can continue to work for $7.25/hour. How does that sound?" 

Because, friend, when you say that neither party is good enough, that's exactly what you are telling that young Mom trying to raise her kids on $7.25: You don't think $10/hr is good enough, so she gets nothing. 

That is unfortunately the way many "progressives" think these days.  So we are all stuck with less.