minimum wage

It's no coincidence that Florida Democrats put a referendum on the November ballot legalizing medical marijuana. Aside from passing a really good proposal, the referendum should draw lots of pro-marijuana voters to the polls where, it is hoped, most will vote for Democrats.

Last week, prostrating himself before the Koch brothers and other right-wing billionaire campaign financiers, Mitch McConnell swore that if they helped the GOP take over the Senate-- and reelect him in Kentucky-- he would guarantee that there would never be a vote taken on raising the mimimim wage.

No doubt Labor Day is about barbecuing for many people… or an extra day off from work that can be spent with friends and family or in blissful solitude. But this morning, in his weekly address, Presdient Obama chose to discuss the minimum wage, particularly since Mitch McConnell had just prostrated himself before the Koch brothers and some equally heinous billionaires and viewed he would never allow an increase in the minimum wage to even come up for a vote if he wins reelection.

Here's the link for the Live the Wage Challenge PDF. The challenge, which invited everyone to try living on a minimum-wage budget of $77 a week, took place July 24030, but it's never too late to try it.by KenIt's a point that Howie keeps coming back to in this space: that our political world -- our Congress, to pick a hardly random example -- is populated by way too many way too rich people.

Yesterday the House passed the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act 228-295, generally along party lines. All but 4 (completely random) Republicans voted for it and all but 6 Democrats-- Blue Dogs and New Dems from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- voted against it. No biggie. More interesting, though, was an amendment Alan Grayson brought up.Grayson has been more successful at putting together ad hoc coalitions to pass legislation than anyone else in Congress.

The vote yesterday to shut down the Republican Party filibuster of the minimum wage bill ended badly, 54 in favor, 41 opposed (not counting Harry Reid who had to switch his vote to oppose so he can bring the bill up again later). It needed 60 votes to overcome the filibuster. Five votes shy.

As you already know, Blue America has endorsed Tom Guild for the Oklahoma City congressional seat James Lankford has abandoned to run for the U.S. Senate. His an unabashedly progressive leader who isn't compromising principles and values to win his a House seat.

As expected, the political theater that is the annual battle of the budgets, yielded two defeats for progressives Wednesday.

Here is a portion of an email I sent to my local Member of Parliament, in response to increased media attention of the use of temporary foreign workers in Canada, including this April 8, 2014 CBC.ca article. “I simply ask, why are we bringing in any foreign temporary workers to fill “unskilled labour” positions? By […]

Friday, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich made the case that unemployment is still high and the economic recovery so turgid because of the failed European-style austerity measures being forced on the country by the plutocrats and oligarchs, primarily through their bought-and-paid-for conservative handmaidens in government.