Edwards Promises Dignity, Higher NYC Minimum Wage

[rodbarnett]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, pushing plans to help working families save and buy homes, on Monday told trade union members worried about their jobs that he would fight for their dignity as well as their livelihoods.

The North Carolina senator, racing to catch front-runner John Kerry before a crucial March 2 "Super Tuesday" round of 10 contests, fielded questions from members of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees and promised to raise the minimum wage and protect their jobs.

He said working families were going into debt and "the result of that is, if something goes wrong ... then the potential is they go right off the cliff," Edwards said.

Edwards, the son of a textile mill worker who was the first in his family to go to college, advocates a $5,000 tax credit for use as down payment on a home, with matching savings up to $1,000 and a program to crack down on predatory lenders

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4417463

[AP]

1. He's protecting the value of labor, which is all MOST of us have to offer

in exchange for money.

It's a theme he's really developing incredibly well, and it works for the poor as much as it does for doctors and lawyers who get 90% or more of their income from earned income sources.

[jenk]

2. precisely why he's closing the gap in NY

as soon as Edwards gets his message out, he gains ground

nice to see him get the endorsement of the 2 generation dean members

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

14. Edwards' working class message CAN win

and WILL win if he's got enough time and money to get it out. I hope he keeps pushing on the outsourcing, class war, FTAs, and the rest.

[DuctapeFatwa]

3. He favors raising the minimum wage a dollar fifty an hour

According to the government's figures, the average apartment now costs almost 4 times the minimum wage.

While raising the minimum wage by $1.50 would not have much effect on minimum wage earners themselves, voters generally comprise the top 25% income tier, and those who consider themselves "liberal" will find this proposal attractive, without raising the spectre of being unsupportive of business interests.

[AP]

4. When people at the bottom accumulate wealth, they also accumulate

political and economic power.

It' has a knock-on effect. Even if it doesn't get you (a person at the BOTTOM of the income scale) into an that the AVERAGE person can afford, it does meann that you have some more power which you can assert to give you a much better terrain within which more progressive things can happen.

I'm surprised that you think that advocating for a higher minimum wage is something polticians do to get the votes of upper middle class people.

Perhaps you don't remember the kinds of debates we have every time Democrats want to raise the minimum wage.

[DuctapeFatwa]

5. If the rent is $800, and you have $600, and I give you $10

Is it likely that your landlord will let you stay if you give him $610?

The price of a day's labor has now fallen well below the price of a day's survival.

If debates about minimum wage were designed to get the votes of minimum wage earners, they would be about raising it to enough to purchase the basic necessities and re-house people who have been priced out of housing and keep those who are about to be priced out from hitting the street.

And if politicians wanted the votes of low income workers, the polls would be open more than 12 hours on a working day.

Edit to add: Accumulate wealth, my ASS!

[AP]

6. People who make minimum wage don't live in the AVERAGE NY apartment.

They live in the cheapest apartments with one, two or three or more other income earners.

It's just absurd to pretend that, because politicians don't want to raise the minimum wage to a point where the poorest citizens can afford the average apartment on one income, it's not a debate aimed at the poor.

And I don't think Edwards is making this argument to win the votes of just poor people (or middle class people).

He's making this argument because it makes moral, economic and political sense and it's part of his coherent policy persona: he's all about making sure that people who work hard can keep a fair percentage of the wealth they create (rather than have it flow straight to the top of the wealth pyramid).

[DuctapeFatwa]

11. People making minimum wage do not have "personal wealth"

Even people making twice minimum wage do not have "personal wealth."

What they have, those who have not already been priced out of housing and become working homeless, is a losing battle to stay in housing, keep the lights on, and eat.

The gap between rich and poor has grown over 70% in the last few years, again, according to the government's own figures, and raising the minimum wage a buck fifty is a great way to make "concerned" affluent people feel good without doing jack to lessen that gap.

If Edwards, or any of the rest of them are interested in human dignity and doing anything about stopping the handcart to Rwanda the country is on, they can not only propose, but implement, a Living Wage, and a Right to Housing, not to mention a change in the popular policy of medical treatment as a commerical product, just for starters.

Declaring that the yellow liquid on the carpet is due to metereological precipitation does not fool short people.

[AP]

16. So, for whom are you voting?

[democratreformed]

46. That does it! I'm voting for you!

DuctapeFatwa for President. It is clear that you genuinely understand the plight of the working poor. Quite unlike John Edwards.

[SangamonTaylor]

9. Considering that the minimum wage in NY is $5.15

according to the U.S. Department of Labor, an increase by $1.50, as Edwards has proposed, would be significant.

From www.johnedwards.com :

"When inflation is taken into account, the minimum wage today is more than 20 percent below its level in 1979. Edwards believes that low-income working people deserve better. He supports an increase in the minimum wage of at least $1.50. "

Now, in my opinion, the difference between making $824 and $1,064 working full time is significant.

[DuctapeFatwa]

13. It is unlikely to be as significant to those who are more than $200

short of the rent, nor to their landlords.

[SangamonTaylor]

15. It's almost a 30% increase in what they make now..that's significant

[DuctapeFatwa]

18. I do not dispute that it is significant to you and to Mr Edwards

And I support the freedom of both of you to resign your current jobs and go to New York and take jobs that pay min plus $1.50, rent an apartment and lead significant lives, and let me know what your landlord has to say about how significant that $1.50 an hour is come rent day.

[AP]

19. It's amusing that you portray 'choice' as having anything to do with this.

Those people in those jobs have no choice to do much more than what they're doing now -- work at minimum wage jobs.

Do you really think that $240 a month is so insignificant it's not worth giving to people at the bottom?

Even mulitmillionair Howard Dean thougth $500 was too much to spend on a suit. Just think how valuble half that is to someone who's probably in debt.

[DuctapeFatwa]

21. It is precisely because they DON'T have a choice that people who

do not believe that anybody who works a 40 hour week should be able to afford the necessities of survival should, in my opinion, go ahead and defend their view and channel their energies into something more effective than boasting about the extra crumb they are so generously willing to let slip from their groaning tables.

[AP]

24. you are advocating an argument that if you're not willing to go 10 yards

for the poor, don't even talk about their issues.

That gives me such an incredible headache to even contemplate.

It's so counterproductive.

But if you have nothing else over which to criticize Edwards's position on flowing wealth down from the top of the pyramid, I guess you're left trying to make arguments like this.

[DuctapeFatwa]

26. If he's serious, let him flow enough to pay the rent or buy the groceries

or let him shut up.

As an alternative, he could propose tying the minimum wage to congressional salaries. I believe he has had an opportunity to do that and chose not to, no?

[AP]

29. "or let him shut up"??? Just when I think I've heard it all on a 'liberal'

board.

That's rich.

[DuctapeFatwa]

31. Let him defend his position that the poor should not be able to afford

housing, then.

Let him defend his position that a man or woman working 40 hours a week should not be able to afford a roof, food, medical treatment, for themselves and their childen.

Let him defend it proudly, without shame.

Let him explain to you and me both how that is progress.

[AP]

34. This argument is absurd. It's an argument for not doing anything unless

you do everything. It's condemning poor people to misery until everyone gets on board with your political-philosophical purity test, which will never happen anyway.

While you were holding people back , corporations would continue to get richer and richer, and the poor less and less economically powerful, and there'd never be a moment when you could pass your "everything" law.

This isn't an argument your making. It's looking for faults in Edwards in situations where no fault can be found. You'd be better off complaining about PA and IWR.

[DuctapeFatwa]

36. It's an argument for honesty and common sense

If you come into the emergency room with a sucking chest wound, and I have no intention of providing treatment that will save your life, does it matter to you if I put a band-aid on it?

[AP]

17. So, you're against raising the minimum wage this much?

[DuctapeFatwa]

20. Please see previous posts. Token increases in minimum wage are

irrelevant to getting those already priced out of housing back in, or keeping those in housing who are being priced out.

If Mr. Edwards is so interested in the plight of the poor, let him pledge to enact, by executive order if necessary, a LIVING wage, as well as a right to housing.

Anything less is nothing but hot air to warm the cockles of the well-heeled.

[AP]

25. You are really criticizing a Democrat for advocating an increase in the

minimum wage?

I'll have to add this to the list of interesting things liberals have to say to discredit Edwards.

- Progressive taxation is bad.
- Defecit spending in times of economic trouble is bad.
- Trial lawyers who transfer ill-gotten gains of negligent corporations to the people they injured are bad.
- Advocating an increase in the minimum wage is bad.

[DuctapeFatwa]

30. I am criticizing a rich politician for blowing hot air

If he is so concerned about the minimum wage and human dignity, once again, let him pledge to raise it to a Living Wage.

Let him correct his omission of proposing legislation to tie it to congressional salaries - say 25%.

Congress can decide whether to raise the minimum wage or lower their own to 20 something an hour.

[AP]

33. If congressional salaries determined the minimum wage, congressional

salaries would never go up and congresspeople would be rewarded on retirement with boards of directorships from all the corporaitons which saved billions of dollars by not having the minimum wage go up $1.59/hour.

[DuctapeFatwa]

37. So you are saying that the entire Congress would prefer to live on $20

an hour rather than see American workers be able to afford housing?

At last, we may have found a point of agreement.

[AP]

40. You know what. If it meant that big business could pay shit wages, I bet

we'd have a congress that was paid minimum wage, and only millionaires corproate whores whould run and win, and they'd all double their net worth after serving a couple years by sitting on boards.

[DuctapeFatwa]

42. Except for the congress paid the minimum wage part, how does

your scenario differ from the status quo?

[redqueen]

47. That's what I'm wondering.

:shrug:

Does Edwards even mention the words "Living Wage"?

How many 'liberals' understand just how badly out of sync our very measurement of poverty is with reality?

How many know that they don't even take housing costs into consideration?

I'm really starting to understand why most poor people don't bother to vote.

[robbedvoter]

7. Dignitude again?

Where am i going to store all that doddam' dignitude?

MATTHEWS: OK. I just want to get one thing straight so that we know how you would have been different in president if you had been in office the last four years as president. Would you have gone to Afghanistan?
EDWARDS: I would.
MATTHEWS: Would you have gone to Iraq?
EDWARDS: I would have gone to Iraq.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3131295/

[citizen snips]

8. What does that have to do with this thread?

It is about minimum wage.

[SangamonTaylor]

10. So, you disagree with Edwards on Iraq....what's your point?

do you NOT support an increase in the minimum wage?

That is why you clicked on this thread isn't it?

[Goldberg]

12. This is why he is my main candidate for president.

He cares about us working people.

[DuctapeFatwa]

23. He's for reducing capital gains taxes, too!

That will help minimum wage workers almost as much as that $1.59 an hour.

[AP]

27. Lord. That's the opposite of the truth. He wants to raise cap gains tax on

income earners over 300K. Its 15% today for all cap gains, regardless of your AGI. He wants add 10% to that rate if you're over 300K.

It's not only the definition of progressive, it does the economically valuable service of shifting the tax burden off of earned income and on to unearned income.

[DuctapeFatwa]

32. That is outrgageous! All those poor people struggling to get by on

a scant half million a year!

Can't he at least give them an extra buck fifty an hour?

[AP]

35. This post makes no sense to me. Are you criticizing progressive taxation

too?

[DuctapeFatwa]

38. You don't think they should get the extra buck fifty, or what?

If it will be so significant for the minimum wage earners, just think what it'll do for the folks trying to get by on half a million a year.

[robbedvoter]

22. yeay! Son of a stoolie will throw money at us!

The guy who never took a pro bono case and was voted by Bushies will make NYC rich! And I came from the boat yesterday!
And hate bigots too! (Civil unions - if any operatives miss the point - I am for gay marriage too)

[AP]

28. Are there some internal polls showing a huge Edwards surge? Suddenly

there's a rash of posts like this.

[SangamonTaylor]

39. yeah, I can always tell that things are improving whenever antiEdwards

people come out of the wood works.

Keep up the positive momentum Edwards!!!

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

41. the Clark team appears to have been ordered to attack Edwards now

Clark posting on DU is a well coordinated campaign, evidentally.

[DuctapeFatwa]

43. LOL I am neither attacking Edwards, nor do I support Clark

I am encouraging Edwards to defend his position that American workers should not be able to afford housing.

To the best of my knowledge, Gen. Clark did not disagree with him on this point, nor was this the only point on which the two are in essential agreement.

[AP]

45. Who do you support?

[DuctapeFatwa]

48. I do not support any of the candidates (nt)

[AP]

49. Care to rank them according to wihich one you dislike most to which one

you just dislike?

[DuctapeFatwa]

50. The only ones who propose even a slight deviation from the status quo

are not considered "electable."

As for the ones considered "electable," one of them appears to be taller, and one appears to have more manageable hair.

Both are more telegenic than bush, and much better speakers, and both do a creditable job of phrasing the current policies in a much more attractive way.

[AP]

44. Remember how the Clark supporters started winning all the preferrence...

...polls really soon after Clark announced here at DU.