GOP rep.: Keep minimum wage low ‘for minorities’ who aren’t worth more than $7 an hour

www.rawstory.com...

California Republican Rep. Tom McClintock said on Thursday that the minimum wage should not be raised because low pay was necessary for minorities and other unskilled workers who were not worth more than $7 an hour.

It's almost as if the GOP wants to lose elections. People and even unskilled workers will vote in their own perceived self interest.
And the Democrats will use this as ammunition to grow their base of the working poor and minorities even larger.

McClintock continued: “If your labor is an unskilled person just entering the workforce is worth say $7 an hour at a job and the minimum wage is $10, you have just been made permanently unemployable. That first rung of the economic ladder has been ripped out and you can’t get on it. That is a tragedy.”

More BS that won't serve the republicans well in the coming elections.

As a manufacturer, retail/wholesale business man; I start my unskilled people out at $10 to encourage loyalty and hard work. Rep. Tom is probably a lawyer and knows nothing about real business.

a reply to: olaru12

It may not serve them well politically, but sometimes reality is not politically friendly.

I just wish honesty would be a permanent part of politics.

(yes, the idea of the reality of that makes me laugh, too)

ETA: It's nice that you do that in the manufacturing industry, but there are a lot of industries, such as produce, that honestly don't and can't because of affordability of the product and the lack of skill necessary to pick fruit, regardless of the extremem physical toll it takes to do it day-in and day-out.

But I'm guessing that your employees are not illegal immigrants? Many unskilled laborers in California are--I grew up in the San Joaquin valley surrounded by farm land for 19 years. The low wage may not create loyalty, but in all honesty, it's a fair wage for such an unskilled job that is paid under the table with no taxes taken out.

Oh great that will create even more working poor that will need government handouts! I am sure Walmart will be right on lowering their workers wages if this law was to pass.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

It's been my experience that if you pretend to pay people, they pretend to work! And steal!

a reply to: olaru12

That's just lovely. He has the idea that minimum wage jobs are taken by young and minority people, and everyone else has a college education or experience and won't be making minimum wage. Also, he thinks minorities are naturally uneducated and inexperienced. It must be wonderful to be so blissfully ignorant.

What about all the NON minorities (white men) who have families and are taking crappy minimum-wage jobs just to get by? In his world, these people don't exist.

No, this doesn't serve the GOP well at all. He may as well make a statement about the 47% of leeches while he's at it.

Republicans opposites depend on low wages, and the poor.

Hell they don't the wage raised themselves.

Their base would dry up.

I wonder what minimum wage would be if EMPLOYERS where not paying half of employees ss, and and medicare contributions.

All of the employees workmans comp, and unemployment insurance.

originally posted by: olaru12
a reply to: SlapMonkey



It's been my experience that if you pretend to pay people, they pretend to work! And steal!

Kinda like Milton from Office Space. They pretended to pay him, he pretended to work, plus he stole the red Swingline stapler.............. and he wasn't even a minority.

People like Tom McClintock are an embarassment to this country, IMO. How can anyone be that stupid and still be considered a member of the human race? And the people who elected him and put him into office are no better. Sometimes it amazes me that we’ve made any progress at all as a nation. McClintock perfectly represents the master/slave culture and mentality.

Oh, wait a minute; I forgot. It’s Obama’s fault.

You know, McClintock would make a perfect argument against designing artificial intelligence to mimic the human brain. The movie Frankenstein comes to mind...

a reply to: olaru12

The $10 an hour days are dead. Your going to be under the poverty line at 50k a year soon if the inflation rate and the way we manage our economy doesnt change. The current multi decade old trend of wealth being consolidated into few hands is going to continue until we change our base strategy and perspective on job, economy and culture.

Theres no policy that will do this.

a reply to: olaru12


this caught my eye...

As a manufacturer, retail/wholesale business man; I start my unskilled people out at $10 to encourage loyalty and hard work.
Rep. Tom is probably a lawyer and knows nothing about real business.

Well... either you or a human resources professional screened/profiled/vetted the candidate you started as a new-hire @ $10.hr

unskilled does not mean a complete mental or physical defective or such a nincompoop they can not be shown or told just what unskilled work needed to be performed and quickly be up-to-speed...actual productivity is the only real risk you have with your $10 new-hires (productivity would necessarily include scheduled attendance being maintained as scheduled for their work week)

btw, I am not sticking up for lawyers nor community organizers ... the backbone of the body politic since the forefathers day

originally posted by: onequestion


The $10 an hour days are dead. Your going to be under the poverty line at 50k a year soon if the inflation rate and the way we manage our economy doesnt change. The current multi decade old trend of wealth being consolidated into few hands is going to continue until we change our base strategy and perspective on job, economy and culture.

Theres no policy that will do this.

the 'policy' will be Austerity... NO a $10 hr won't allow you to keep abreast of the latest Smart Phone with unlimited use and 50 gigs of data, nor $300 name brand sports shoes, etc, etc,

that ~~~'Austerity'~~~ is the planned direction for the lower tiered 90%...resource rationing. wage-price control, etc. etc. are the future dystopian lifestyle model for those who are 'left behind' to man the positions which cannot be robotically done....
Submit~Obey~live to serve others

originally posted by: xuenchen
The whole problem backtracks to the fact that normal higher wage jobs are not accelerating.

Government has made sure those jobs keep getting scarcer by the day.

the oil jobs are contracting...

the whole economy is deflating/ contracting as prominent, iconic formerly well heeled corporations are releasing thousands of workers, both now and scheduled for the next 5-12 months...just read the market reports on layoffs coming down the pike

but the BLS keeps claiming we are now almost pre crisis employment (less than 5.9% unemployed)
inflation is less than 1.7% and the potential resumption of QE will be needed to get a 2% inflation rate going...
the economy is growing at more than 5% GDP
yes, you are in wonderland

The whole problem backtracks to the fact that normal higher wage jobs are not accelerating.

Government has made sure those jobs keep getting scarcer by the day.

The minimum wage fallacy keeps your eye off the real problem.

I like the idea of expanding the earned income tax credit to childless workers. I think rubio's idea of a credit covering the difference between what a worker makes and 40,000 to be givin as a tax credit.

It would be better than raising the minimum wage because employers could continue employing workers at the same rate and it would save many other jobs that might be lost to robots.

He was not saying that people are only worth $7 an hour. He was saying that the job that needed doing was only worth $7 an hour and those jobs will be eliminated.

originally posted by: onequestion
The $10 an hour days are dead. Your going to be under the poverty line at 50k a year soon if the inflation rate and the way we manage our economy doesnt change.

While our economy can certainly be better the inflation rate has been fairly stable since the mid-80's.

a reply to: olaru12

Not to worry, after they get wages low enough they will want to pass laws allowing overseers to use whips to increase productivity and we all know employers should have the right to cut the hand off anyone that steals from them.

The lowering of wages due to lack of skills in our society is a subject that takes some deep thought. Today skilled jobs are being done more and more with the help of machines that eliminate the need for skilled workers. A welding instructor / business owner I knew used to hire welding students to work in his fabrication shop. He bought a robotic welding machine that only needed a unskilled worker to place parts into a jig. His reason was that if a worker did not show up for work he could call the unemployment office and get another warm body to do the job rather than need or pay for skilled labor.

originally posted by: Benevolent Heretic
a reply to: olaru12

That's just lovely. He has the idea that minimum wage jobs are taken by young and minority people, and everyone else has a college education or experience and won't be making minimum wage. Also, he thinks minorities are naturally uneducated and inexperienced. It must be wonderful to be so blissfully ignorant.

What about all the NON minorities (white men) who have families and are taking crappy minimum-wage jobs just to get by? In his world, these people don't exist.

No, this doesn't serve the GOP well at all. He may as well make a statement about the 47% of leeches while he's at it.

This guy would get along great with Gov. Paul Lepage from Maine.

After taxes, most people that make 10-11 an hour make minimum wage. Those at minimum wage, make even less. How about we start there?

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71
He was not saying that people are only worth $7 an hour. He was saying that the job that needed doing was only worth $7 an hour and those jobs will be eliminated.

What unmitigated BS. Jobs utilizing unskilled workers will never be eliminated! Service industries and agriculture can't get enough labor as it is, there is a labor shortage...that's why they are sending buses to Mexico to bring in undocumented labor for the central valley.

McKlintock was just pandering to the GOP faithful without regard for the facts. I suppose that after he loses his election he can go to work for Fox news.

www.nytimes.com...
www.cnbc.com...

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: onequestion

The $10 an hour days are dead. Your going to be under the poverty line at 50k a year soon if the inflation rate and the way we manage our economy doesnt change.

While our economy can certainly be better the inflation rate has been fairly stable since the mid-80's.

Survey says that survey stats go to the highest bidder.

here in the real world the price of groceries have doubled in a couple of years.