The Minimum Wage–and Other Left Ideas Washington Post Might Find ‘Lame’

[KamaAina]

http://fair.org/home/the-minimum-wage-and-other-left-ideas-washington-post-might-find-lame/

Just after announcing his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker denounced the left for not having any real ideas for workers. According to Walker:

They’ve just got really lame ideas, things like the minimum wage. Instead of focusing on that, we need to talk about how we give people the skills and the education, the qualifications they need to take on careers that pay far more than minimum wage....

There are a few points worth noting here. First, “the left” has many ideas for helping workers other than just the minimum wage. For example, many on the left have pushed for a full-employment policy, which would mean having a Federal Reserve Board policy that allows the unemployment rate to continue to fall until there is clear evidence of inflation, rather than preemptively raising interest rates to slow growth.

It would also mean having trade policies designed to reduce the trade deficit (i.e., a lower-valued dollar), which would provide a strong boost to jobs. It would also mean spending on infrastructure and education, which would also help to create jobs and have long-term growth benefits.

I'm getting a sinking feeling that Bezos finds anything to the left of Rand Paul "lame".

[daredtowork]

1. No to full employment and no to minimum wage

yet also no to all the safety net or income floor programs for all the people forced to be unemployed or take minimum wage jobs? Because "we" can't afford it? Because "they" won't work even though Walker has explained its all part of the plan to keep a certain segment from working or having living wage jobs?

That convoluted thinking is what's LAME.

[Maedhros]

2. Why do these Republicans, who claim to have such superior insight into how the economy works,

fail to grasp simple concepts like 'supply and demand.'

The demand for college-educated professionals is insufficient to provide work for the graduates we currently produce. Adding more college degrees won't magically make jobs appear.

[hifiguy]

3. How are people going to get educated?

Walker is hell-bent on destroying the entire UW system, once one of the finest state university systems in the country. I suppose he figures if he never graduated from college no one needs to.