Target Donates $150K To Group Supporting Candidate Who Wants To Cut Waiters’ Minimum Wage

[ProSense]

Target Donates $150K To Group Supporting Candidate Who Wants To Cut Waiters’ Minimum Wage

Earlier this year, Republicans were overjoyed when the Supreme Court overturned “a 63-year-old law designed to restrain the influence of big business and unions on elections.” As Common Cause noted, January’s Citizens United decision enhanced “the ability of the deepest-pocketed special interests to influence elections and the U.S. Congress.”

Thanks to Citizens United, Target is now a major Republican donor, giving $150,000 to MN Forward, a “Republican-friendly political fund staffed by insiders from departing GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s administration.” The AP reports on the retail chain’s new activism:

A Target spokeswoman said the company supports causes and candidates “based strictly on issues that affect our retail and business objectives.” Spokeswoman Lena Michaud said Target has a history of giving in state and local races where allowed, but wouldn’t provide detail on those donations.

She added that TargetCitizens, the company’s federal political action committee, has spread donations evenly between Democrats and Republicans so far this year. Political action committees contribute money collected from employees and shareholders, not from corporate funds.

Target’s donations to MN Forward – $100,000 in cash and $50,000 in brand consulting — slightly exceeds the total amount the company has given this year to all campaigns and causes at the federal level. By contrast, individuals can give a maximum of only $2,000 to candidates under Minnesota law.

MN Forward is running ads supporting Tom Emmer, the presumptive GOP nominee for Minnesota governor. Target spokeswoman Lena Michaud said the company gives money to candidates who are focused on making “economic growth a priority.”

Emmer’s — and, apparently, Target’s — idea of “economic growth” involves slashing the wages of working Americans. This month, Emmer proposed cutting the minimum wage for service workers who receive tips, such as bartenders and waiters. Attempting to justify these cuts, Emmer claimed that some of these employees earn “over $100,000 a year” and often make more than the people who employ them:

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CEO Compensation - Retailing

Gregg W Steinhafel
Target
Pay ($mil) 8.09
5-Yr Pay ($mil) 23.443

Target: cutting the minimun wage = making “economic growth a priority”

[Enrique]

1. damn waiters!

they're ruining this country, I'll tell ya!

[LiberalFighter]

2. Some of these employees earn "over $100,000 a year"????

They should provide the data supporting that claim. Bet they can't.

[ProSense]

3. What would any Republican's agenda be

without strawman arguments?

[booley]

4. The conservative flaw in that

"Emmer claimed that some of these employees earn “over $100,000 a year” "

Ignoring that of all the waiters I have ever known, none ever came even close to making 100,000 a year, People stiff waiters and other people on tips all the time, I would point to another flaw that should have made the GOP they are donating too wince (if they weren't total money grubbing hypocrites)

This is wrong even by conservative ideology as cons themselves state it.

Let's say that there are some waiters that make over 100,000. Given that the minimum wage is lower for waiters then it is for everyone else, there are only so many hours in the day and a human can only work so many hours.. oh and that even the best waiters rarely decide their own hours but are instead scheduled by their boss, then the vast bulk of that 100,000 has to come from tips.

Which means the waiters making such must be phenomenal, working long hours and convincing their customers to tip not 10 or 20% but 100 to 200% on average. Not just occasionally but almost every time.

Which means this group giving to conservative lawmakers wants to punish waiters for their success. Last i heard, cons were supposedly against that.