Happy Anniversary, Boss Abele, You Pro-Poverty Plutocrat!

Two years ago, then Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen led the way to the passage of a living wage resolution.

Two years ago today, March 19, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele vetoed the resolution, claiming that it was too expensive to pay people $11.23 per hour even though he paid his staff more than $80.00 per hour. He predicted it would send the county into economic ruin.

Fortunately, the county board did not believe his scare tactics and overrode his veto.

And guess what! The county is doing just fine.  Actually, Abele is boasting about the improved situation that would never have happened if his veto stood.

But Abele wasn't done with just a veto he knew would be overridden.

While the board was deliberating and passing the resolution, Abele was busy doing what he always does when he doesn't get his way.  He was running to Madison, checkbook in hand, to cry on the shoulders of his Republican friends.

In order to thwart the county board's actions to help the working poor, Abele used both his own and the taxpayer's money to get the Republicans to pass a law banning living wage ordinances across the state.   Oh, Abele tried to deny his involvement with the attempted ban of living wages, but the proof stated that - SHOCKER ALERT!!! - Abele lied about that too:

In other words, Boss Abele wanted to keep thousands of Milwaukeeans - most of them African Americans - living in poverty and would hurt working people across the state to do so.

In glaring contrast, his opponent in the upcoming election, State Senator Chris Larson, is very much in favor of the living wage.  As a state senator, Larson co-authored a bill that would raise the minimum wage in increments to a living wage of $15.00 per hour by 2020.

While Abele thinks that you make too much money and that only his fellow plutocrats and his lackeys should be able to live well, Larson has vowed to work with the community to lift all boats.

On April 5, we must make sure we stand up for ourselves and our best interests by voting for Chris Larson.

US Democrats Move Towards $12 Per Hour Minimum Wage

Well, at least some people in the Democratic Party is on the ball with the minimum wage issue:

The U.S. Senate’s Democrats, under prodding from Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., are moving toward supporting a $12-an-hour national minimum wage, higher than the $10.10 plan put forward by President Obama.

An increase in the federal $7.25 an hour minimum wage — a level set by the bipartisan Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 — has been blocked from a vote by Republican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“The $10.10-an-hour proposal is one we advanced two years ago this summer,” Murray said in an interview. “We were looking at where we should be, had that passed, and where we should be going with wages in this country.

“I know from my own experience, when you pay a livable wage people have increased buying power and can take care of their families’ needs. Businesses get more income and succeed. It is good for everyone.”

The proposals for a higher minimum wage may be stalled in Congress, but a tighter labor market has caused major retailers to increase wages for their lowest paid employees.

Wal-Mart announced last month that it will hike minimum pay to $9 an hour starting in April, and to $10 an hour a year from now, a move expected to boost paychecks for 500,000 of its 1.3 million “associates.”

That's a helluva lot better than the $10.10 proposed by Obama and other Republicrats.  At least the $12.00 per hour would put most people above the poverty line.

Further down the article, it shows why Scott Walker and his Teapublican allies are really out of the loop on this issue:

In 2014, voters in four Republican-controlled states — Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota — all voted to raise state minimum wages.

The highest-ever purchasing value of the federal minimum wage was 47 years ago. At $1.60 an hour the 1968 minimum wage was equivalent to $10.88 in 2014 dollars. Purchasing power has been in decline over the past three decades.

The gentle reader will remember that Walker said that he didn't think that the minimum wage serves a purpose.

Labor Unrest At MPS

On Tuesday, the Finance Committee of the Milwaukee Public School Board was to meet.

The Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association were present to speak for the need for raises for the Education Assistance, who barely make a living wage and haven't had a raise in years.

However, Committee Chair Jeff Spence led the committee out of the room before the MTEA members were allowed to speak for a "closed door session" that was scheduled for the end of the meeting.  They did not come out of the closed door session until after the MTEA members left, unheard by the committee.

On Thursday, the school board met but would not allow public comment, so MTEA and supporters from the community took a direct action by doing a mic check.

What is telling is that School Board President Michael Bonds was more concerned about having these citizens removed from the room than hearing what they had to say.

Afterwards, Bonds called the citizens "rude and disruptive."

I'm sorry, but what is rude and disruptive is school officials refusing to listen to their employees and even worse, to the general public.  They were elected to represent the public who voted for them.  They were not elected to dictate to the people who voted for them.

This is the result of Act 10, which is nothing more than an effort to silence an entire section of the population and allowing petty tyrants to just go ahead and do what they want without rhyme or reason other than just because they can.

However, history shows again and again that the people won't remain silenced and will have their voices heard one way or another.  The sooner that elected officials like the Milwaukee Public School Board learns this, the better things will be for everyone.

And if they choose to still not listen, they can be replaced by people who will.

Brian Sikma Defends Plantation Economics

On Wednesday, I took advantage of hearing Boyd McCamish, the Executive Director of AFSCME District Council 48, give a presentation about the history of the so-called "Right to Work" laws.

McCamish explained that "Right to Work" laws originated in the Deep South as a reaction of the agricultural elite to unionists who came to help workers - who were primarily African Americans - organize and push for better work conditions and better pay.  The agricultural elite wanted to preserve their plantation economy and have been fighting to suppress workers' voices and minimize (if not eliminate) workers' rights ever since.

The anti-worker fight eventually led to the Taft-Hartley Act, which opened the door for Right to Work, which the Southern states jumped at and passed as quickly as they could.  Now the Big Business factions are looking to spread their maleficence around the country, especially in the Midwest.

Their efforts are evident throughout the Midwest in both subtle and not so subtle cases, ranging from Scott Walker's Act 10 and Michigan's ramming through Right to Work legislation in a lame duck session to the race baiting language used by squawk radio and propaganda groups.

Two examples of the latter came up this week.

Brian Sikma

Both are pieces of dreck written by Brian Sikma, the racist hack employed by Media Trackers, the propaganda front group sponsored by the Bradley Foundation, the Koch Brothers and other dark money sources.

In the first example, Sikma attacks Sheila Cochran, the Secretary/Treasurer of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council.  His complaint is that Cochran, an African American woman, makes more than the median average for Wisconsin households:

The annual Milwaukee Laborfest Labor Day event is organized by the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, an AFL-CIO affiliated non-profit that assists labor unions with educational and organizing activities. While the event is designed to celebrate union workers, the leader of the group hosting the event, Sheila Cochran, makes more than the median income for Wisconsin working families.

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income for Wisconsin households between 2008 and 2012 was $52,627, just slightly below the national median household income.

Records filed with the IRS by the Milwaukee Area Labor Council reveal that Cochran’s 2012 salary from the group was $76,799. Despite being higher than the median household income of the state, that figure is actually lower than what her salary has been previously. In 2009 Cochran made $80,804 and in 2011 she made $78,182.

Obviously, Sikma is offended that a black woman is making a living wage. Oddly, Sikma doesn't mention that Dianne Hendricks, a white woman who favors squashing workers' rights, was worth nearly $3 billion in 2012, yet didn't pay one cent in taxes.

In his next example, he lashes out at a union leader that put his personal freedom at risk by joining scores of people demonstrating in support of a living wage and the right to unionize.  The union leader's crime apparently was trying to raise up everyone while making more than a minimum wage himself:

Bob Peterson is the president of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association – MTEA – the union for teachers in Milwaukee Public Schools, the state’s largest school district. On Thursday, Peterson joined Wisconsin Jobs Now, 15 Now and representatives from several labor unions including the SEIU and AFSCME to protest in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

According to a database assembled by media outlets, Peterson’s total compensation from Milwaukee Public Schools during the 2012-2013 school year – the most recent year for which data is available – was $121,616. His formal job title is “Short Term Substitute Teacher” and his job category is “Short-Term Substitute/Extra Curricular Activities.”

In the middle of the school day, Peterson was spotted walking in circles on a sidewalk outside of a McDonalds shortly after several protesters, including U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D) were arrested for disorderly conduct. Asked if he works a minimum wage job, Peterson confirmed that his job pays him more than the minimum wage.

Again, Sikma won't come out and say what he wants to say, but his outrage apparently stems from the fact that many of the fast food workers would benefit from a living wage are African Americans. Sikma must not be able to understand how Peterson, a white man making more than minimum wage, could possibly want to rectify the pay disparity that minorities have to face every day.

Now, these are just two obvious examples of the mentality that the special interests and their minions have.  But if the gentle reader pays attention, I assure you that you will be shocked at just how pervasive this racism is, either on squawk radio and other forms of corporate media to statements made by the likes of Scott Walker and Chris Abele.

The good news is that we can and we will overcome their maleficence through educating, organizing and - most important of them all - voting.

Ironic Picture Of The Day

So, I happened to stumble across this picture on teh Intertubes:

What makes this picture so ironic is that Chris "Boss" Abele was so incensed at the thought of health care workers in Milwaukee making a living wage that he tried to make it so that no health care workers in the entire state of Wisconsin would be guaranteed a living wage.

How sick is this boy king that he would pretend to support the working people when he was planning to keep his boot on their collective neck?

Seattle Could See $3 Billion Boom From Raising Minimum Wage

The City Council of Seattle recently voted unanimously to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.  Because of that vote, 100,000 people will see their incomes grow and subsequently, Seattle could see a $3 billion boost to their economy.

Here is a video of the vote and remarks from various Seattle officials regarding this historic moment (warning: sound levels vary widely):



Now ask yourself whose side people like Scott Walker and Chris Abele are on when they fight these long overdue increases in the workers' wages. Here's a hint: It's not yours unless your a wealthy business CEO.

All That And An Order Of Fries

You wouldn't know it from the corporate media, but Thursday was a global day of action, calling for fast food giants like McDonald's to pay their workers a living wage:

Working people across Wisconsin applaud the spirit and the courage of the fast food workers in 150 cities who are walking off the job today demanding fair wages and the right to form a union without retaliation.

“Working families throughout Wisconsin stand in solidarity with the striking fast food workers who struggle to support their families every day. No one should work full time but live in poverty. Fast food executives who rake in multimillion dollar salaries should pay their workers a fair wage,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, President of the Wisconsin state AFL-CIO.

Today’s strike, which features actions across America and six continents, is the first global day of action. Workers in countries like Denmark, Argentina and Japan are walking off the job in solidarity with their counterparts in America. In the U.S., strikes are taking place in more cities than ever before, including first time locations in Philadelphia, Sacramento, Miami and Orlando. In Wisconsin, workers are taking action in Madison, Milwaukee and Wausau.

“Politicians in Washington D.C. and in Madison can help solve this problem by raising the minimum wage for all workers and indexing it to inflation,” added Stephanie Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO. “Fast food workers deserve to be treated fairly at work and so does every person who goes to work every day and sacrifices to support themselves and their families.

As if paying the workers such obscenely low wages, places like McDonald's have been caught systematically stealing from the little bit they do pay their workers.

What really cracks me up is when some right wing nut job - y'know, the kind that is always mewling about how their taxes are too high - start complaining about the extra seven cents it would add to the price of a Big Mac to increase the workers' pay to a living wage.  I just like to ask them if they can't afford the seven cents, how can they afford the $7 billion in public assistance the low wages are costing us.

And for those that might believe that paying a fast food worker a living wage would kill jobs or ruin the economy, ask them why Denmark hasn't fallen into the sea yet:

I work for McDonald’s and I make $21 an hour.

No, that isn’t a typo. It’s really my salary.

You see, I work for McDonald’s in Denmark, where an agreement between our union and the company guarantees that workers older than 18 are paid at least $21 an hour. Employees younger than 18 make at least $15 — meaning teenagers working at McDonald’s in Denmark make more than two times what many adults in America earn working at the Golden Arches.

To anyone who says that fast-food jobs can’t be good jobs, I would answer that mine isn’t bad. In fact, parts of it are just fine. Under our union’s agreement with McDonald’s, for example, I receive paid sick leave that workers are still fighting for in many parts of the world. We also get overtime pay, guaranteed hours and at least two days off a week, unlike workers in most countries. At least 10 percent of the staff in any given restaurant must work at least 30 hours a week.

It's embarrassing how much abuse we have accepted and for how long we've been accepting it.  I hope to see many more actions like we saw today.  Things need to change and the only way that will happen is if we make it happen.

Chris Able: The Pro-Poverty Plutocrat

Here we go again.

Chris Abele, the Mitt Romney of Milwaukee County, has opposed a living wage ordinance since Supervisor David Bowen first announced his plan to introduce the resolution on Labor Day of last year.  Abele was so opposed to it that he went to the Teapublicans in the state legislature and nearly had all living wage laws in the entire state nullified.

Fortunately, despite Abele's best efforts, the living wage ordinance passed, his veto was overridden and the law will go into effect at the end of May.

But Abele is still bound and determined to keep people in poverty.

The latest chapter in Abele's war against the poor starts with a battle over the housekeeping contract for Milwaukee County.  Abele is trying to get the contract with his chosen vendor, CleanPower, rammed through before the living wage law goes into effect.*

To do so, he is sending out his minions, like his personally-owned county supervisor, Deanna Alexander, and with the help of right wing propagandists like Wisconsin Reporter, to raise the false concern that postponing the contract will cost taxpayers more than $2 million over the next two years.

There's more than a few problems with this presumption.

First and foremost is the presumption that it will have to cost taxpayers a dime.  If Abele and his band of cronies had any negotiating skills, they could have the vendor eat the costs.  They can afford to lose a half million or even a million dollars of pure profit more than the workers could afford to be kept at sub-poverty pay levels.

Secondly, what Abele and company doesn't want you to think about is what it would cost not giving these workers a living wage.  If these workers are kept at the sub-poverty pay levels, taxpayers would be paying for their income subsidies, such as BadgerCare, food stamps and energy assistance.  It also doesn't consider the other costs that stem from keeping people in poverty, such as the money needed to deal with foreclosed homes, homelessness and so on.

Thirdly, Abele doesn't want people to realize that this would also help stimulate the economy.  Paying someone $11.33 an hour is not going to make them filthy rich.  These workers are going to be spending the extra income on food, rent, mortgages, taxes and all sorts of things that will help keep the economy going.

Perhaps Abele realized that this argument wasn't working after all and tried to up the ante by complaining that the living wage law would require the county to hire three people to enforce the law.

Abele claims that he needs the extra staff to investigate employee complaints, do audits and answer open records requests.  I'm not exactly sure why the extra staff would be needed since these are services that should already being done.  Unless he his implying that the companies he is contracting with are that disreputable.

The cost of these three extra people, if they are really needed, would be $200,000, per his propagandists.

His concern over that price is laughable.

The county budget is $1.3 billion.  In a budget that big, $200,000 isn't even a blip on the radar.

Abele is paying more than that to just two of his top aides, Chief of Staff Amber Moreen and Director of Administration Don Tyler.

Abele's 2014 proposed budget was off by $3.5 million, but he wasn't concerned about that.

Abele's deferred maintenance caused a fire in the courthouse that is going to cost more than $17 million, of which at least $2 million will be coming directly from taxpayers.  He has yet to apologize for this.

The supposed price for these three workers is half of what Abele wanted to spend on a private security force, because he was too busy trying to lay off deputies, leaving none to protect him.

As I have pointed out before, the issue of a living wage is not an economic one.  The fact that Abele has not qualms about squandering millions of tax dollars shows that it's not a fiscal issue for him either.

No, it's not an economic issue, but a moral one.  And the message Abele is sending with his constant attacks against the poor is that he is willfully trying to keep them in poverty, , which, by any measure, is an immoral act.

Fortunately, the Milwaukee County Board, which has shown the fiscal responsibility and moral strength that Abele can only wish he had, appears to be poised to push the housekeeping contract back so that the living wage can be enforced and lift the workers out of poverty sooner rather than later.

*I would be remiss if I did not also point out that by refusing to give the county housekeepers their jobs back, he is not only not going to save money, as the private company workers will get the living wage as well, but if the housekeepers prevail in their lawsuit, the county will also have to pay them five years of back pay.

The Message Behind Chris Abele's Veto Of The Living Wage Ordinance

On Wednesday, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele happened to find time to make a rare appearance at the Milwaukee County Courthouse to veto the living wage ordinance.  This comes as no surprise since he was actively lobbying the Teapublican state legislators to pass a law banning not only Milwaukee County's living wage ordinance, but all local living wage laws in the state.

As an excuse for his veto, Abele trotted out the old, tired line that it would cost too much, endanger services and harm the people that it was meant to help.  This is the same claptrap that Big Money has always used whenever the subject of raising the minimum wage is brought up, even though it has been repeatedly been proven to be a false claim.

Ironically, Abele says he would prefer the federal government or the state government to raise the minimum wage, but then vetoed another resolution from the Board which would show support for that very thing.

Supervisor David Bowen, who has been leading the move for a living wage in Milwaukee County, responded to Abele's veto with this tweet:

Looking fwd to veto override vote tomorrow that will turn 1000's of poverty jobs to good jobs w/Living Wage! Action not lip service!

Indeed, the Board should override this veto.

When one looks past Abele's inanity, his message becomes painfully clear.

He is saying that the person taking care of your grandmother isn't worth $11.32 an hour, although he is willing to pay his personal friend and crony, Amber Moreen, $81.73 per hour to translate his drunken emails.

He is saying that the people who will care for the people he is kicking out of the mental health complex aren't worth $11.32 per hour, but that Don Tyler, his administrative director, should get $81.73 an hour to flat out lie to the county board to cover up the cause and cost of Abele's courthouse fire.

I spoke to Boyd McCamish, Executive Director of AFSCME District Council 48, regarding this. AFSCME, along with other unions and grassroots groups, has been a strong proponent of the living wage.  McCamish put it in clear terms what Abele's veto was saying.

McCamish said that this was a chance for Abele to do good.  He pointed out that the number of people in Milwaukee County who are living under the poverty line has only grown under Abele's administration.  McCamish said that with his veto, Abele was making the conscious decision to keep thousands of people in poverty.  McCamish added that this was not an economic question, but a moral one.

In summary, the message the Abele is sending to the people is the same one that the aloof and the elitists have been saying for centuries: "Let them eat cake!"

As I said above, the Milwaukee County Board should override his veto.  Not only is economically responsible, but it is morally imperative.

It is sad that Abele is either unable to understand this or he just doesn't care.

Abele Gets Invited For A Walk

Thanks to the leadership of Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen, Milwaukee County has a chance to get a living wage.

But thanks to the greed of Chris Abele, the Mitt Romney of Milwaukee County, he not only vetoed the resolution, but went so far as lobbying the Teapublicans in Madison to make sure that not only the people in Milwaukee County, but everyone in the state of Wisconsin, could be denied the chance to make a living wage.

But Abele's avarice and disdain for the working poor is coming back to bite him.

On Thursday afternoon, scores of people gathered for a demonstration outside of Abele's mansion, the largest in the city, and invited Abele to walk in their shoes.

It seems he did not take them up on the offer.

Apparently, Abele believes that putting on working shoes or even standing with the people is simply beneath him.

That's OK though. It just shows how much better we all will be without him.

Milwaukee County Supervisors Criticize Abele's Veto Of Living Wage

From the inbox:

MILWAUKEE COUNTY SUPERVISORS DAVID F. BOWEN AND KHALIF RAINEY CRITICIZE

COUNTY EXECUTIVE ON VETO OF LIVING WAGE ORDINANCE

Milwaukee County Supervisors David F. Bowen and Khalif Rainey said today that the County Executive's veto of a living wage ordinance is "a slap in the face of the working poor in Milwaukee County."

The Milwaukee County Board passed a living wage ordinance that sets a wage of $11.32 an hour by a veto-proof majority of 12-6 on February 6. The County living wage measure affects employees of companies which have contracts with the County. The current minimum wage is $7.50.

Bowen said the County Executive was, according to the Government Accountability Board, "busy lobbying the Legislature for an Assembly bill to kill living wage ordinances across the State because he does not have the courage to sign the Milwaukee County living wage ordinance.

"The County Executive has not been listening to the people," Bowen said. "By vetoing this ordinance he is doing everything possible to prevent the working poor from getting a living wage, and not only has he vetoed the ordinance, he is lobbying for a state law prohibiting municipalities from establishing living wages."

Rainey said that any delay in establishing a living wage in Milwaukee County hurts the working poor.

"The time for a living wage is now," Rainey said. "Too many people in Milwaukee County are working full-time and still living in poverty. This becomes a drag on the economy as these people come to rely on County social services. What we need is a living wage to put money in the pockets of the working poor so they can lift themselves out of poverty and help the local economy."

Bowen, who authored the living wage ordinance with Rainey as lead co-sponsor, said the County Executive should lobby for policies that create good family-supporting job, not on taking money out of working people's pockets.

"Many of those who testified before the Board's Finance, Personnel and Audit Committee spoke in favor of the living wage because they know how important it is to workers, their families and our local economy," Bowen said. "But the County Executive has chosen to ignore them.

"I urge my colleagues on the County Board to override this veto. The working poor are depending on people of conscience to help lift them out of poverty."

Couldn't say it better myself.

Question of the Day: Who Has The Best View?

Last week, at the urging of Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele, the ALEC controlled state legislature started ramming through a bill to kill the living wage ordinance that had just been passed by the Milwaukee County Board with a veto proof majority.  But the Teapublicans took it even further so that the bill would kill all the living wage laws passed by any local government.

This means that thousands of people working under contracts with the City of Milwaukee, the City of Madison or Dane County could suddenly see their pay drop by thousands of dollars.  The Teapublicans tried to say they were doing this because it would ruin the local economies and drive businesses away, while ignoring the fact that these laws have been in effect for over fifteen years.  They also had to ignore the fact that the Madison area has the lowest level of unemployment in the state and has the best local economy.

During the testimony regarding the bill, one of the sponsors, State Representative Chris Kapenga (T-Delafield), gave this unbelievable statement in regard to the urban poverty plaguing Milwaukee:



"I'm a little unique because, yes, I represent Delafield but I am very familiar with Milwaukee because I employ Milwaukee residents and I drive through Milwaukee every single day."

That is a very peculiar statement to make.  Not only is it rather ignorant and offensive, it also just doesn't make any sense.

A quick check of Google maps shows that he would have to go way out of his way to drive through Milwaukee on his way from Delafield to Madison:

Further investigation shows that he is also the primary stock holder for his company, Integrated Time Systems, which is based in Brookfield.  Well, that's closer to Milwaukee, but still doesn't explain why he would drive through Milwaukee every day.

Digging deeper, we start seeing things that starts to make sense of this.

Kapenga's LinkedIn account shows that he is a member of the the Metro Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce.

That must be it. He goes into Milwaukee to pick up his graft from them as well as his "gifts" from Abele and the other members of the plutocracy that will benefit from his hard work to keep so many people under the level of poverty.  As we all know, less money in the pockets of the workers, even if it is just to the level of poverty, means more money in the pockets of the plutocrats.

Oh, and Abele who denied lobbying for the killing of the living wage laws, even though the proof shows he was indeed lobbying for it, has now said that he is going to veto the Milwaukee County resolution:

The measure called for an $11.32 county minimum wage that would apply to county workers and employees of some county vendors. Most of those affected would be the 2,400 low-wage personal care attendants indirectly paid through the county's Family Care program.

"What I'm vetoing is a $5 million extra expense to Family Care," Abele said. County Comptroller Scott Manske has estimated the measure would eat up nearly $5 million of a Family Care reserve fund this year and further increase county costs in the future.

Backers of the plan say workers deserve the higher wage as a means to be self-supporting. The $11.32 figure is the federal poverty line for a family of four.

Translated into English, this means that Abele is more concerned about the bottom line than he is about the person taking care of your grandmother or your disabled son making a wage even with the poverty line. He would rather have all these people make sub-poverty wages.  Also keep in mind that this would include the caretakers of the chronically mentally ill people he is evicting from the mental health complex.

That shows just how much disdain he has for the working poor as well as the people that are dependent on these services.  He is more worried about the profits of the profiteers than he is about the caretakers or the people they are taking care of.

All of this leads to the question of the day: Who's got the better view of the urban poverty in Milwaukee- Chris Kapenga from his drive throughs of Milwaukee or Chris Abele from atop his ivory tower?

Abele's War On Workers Runs Amok

This past Tuesday, State Representative Chris Kapenga (R-Marie) and State Senator Glenn Grothman (R-Antoinette) announced that they were introducing a bill that would prohibit local governments from having any sort of living wage laws. To make matters worse, they announced that the public hearing was going to be the very next morning.

Obviously, they were hoping that the people weren't going to be able to rally fast enough and only the entities
openly in favor of the bill would be able to testify.  They obviously underestimated the people.

The hearing was well attended by Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen, Milwaukee Alderman Tony Zielinski, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, and activists Mike Wilder and Nicole Collazo Santiago, to name just a few.

Given that the Milwaukee County Board had just passed a living wage ordinance last week and the fact that Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele has been an outspoken opponent to such a law, many - including myself - naturally presumed that Abele had done one of his usual temper tantrums and ran to the Teapublicans in the state legislature to get them to pass a bill to allow him to get his way.

After all, he's done just that several times before.  When the County Board prevented Abele from sticking it to the county employees to the extent he wanted to, he bought off State Representatives Joe Sanfelippo and Dale Kooyenga to pass Act 14, which usurped power from the Board and concentrated it in his hands.  He's also done that more recently to get Lake Michigan redefined so he can build a skyscraper on the lakefront.  He also did this to remove any and all oversight of the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division from the County Board because they wanted to put safety measures in place.

Abele's involvement was further implied when people started to report that Abele had spent time lobbying for this bill to be written and passed.

But Abele denied any involvement. Per a post that he or one of his aides put up on Facebook (using both his official and his campaign pages):

Despite some of the things you might have seen posted by certain groups, I did not lobby for the state bill limiting living wage laws.

In fact, the hours listed on the GAB website are for hours we spent lobbying trying to RAISE the state minimum wage to $10.10 for all workers.

An effort I will continue to fight for.

Per an article by Sean Ryan of the Milwaukee Business Journal, Abele was surprised by this bill and "had concerns":

Abele became aware of Kapenga’s bill on Tuesday, but was not involved in its drafting, said Brendan Conway, Abele’s communications director. Abele but shares Barrett’s concerns regarding how it may affect local worker hiring requirements, Conway said.

And per Steve Schultz of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Kapenga also came to Abele's defense:

Kapenga said he drafted his bill after hearing the Milwaukee County Board approved a living wage ordinance last week. Kapenga said he wasn't acting at the behest of County Executive Chris Abele, as some opponents of the measure had alleged.

"I wrote this," Kapenga said, during a hearing of the Assembly Labor Committee. He said living wage ordinances would harm the local economy by scaring away employers.

The problem with Kapenga's statement is that it is utterly false. The Cities of Milwaukee has had a higher minimum wage for almost two decades without bad effect. Likewise, the City of Madison and Dane County each have had higher wages and they are by far the most successful part of the state.

Obviously, Kapenga is not a reliable or credible person.

As for Abele's claim, one would first have to overlook his past behaviors of running to the state legislature every time he gets told no, as I cited above.

One would also have to ignore Abele's lengthy history of being an active opponent to any kind of living wage requirement.  When Supervisor Bowen first announced this resolution, Abele immediately came out against it.  Before that, when the board tried to pass a similar requirement on a hotel being built on the former county grounds, Abele was quick to veto it that and lobbied hard in order to get his veto sustained.

The biggest item one would have to overlook in order to believe Abele is this:

It clearly shows that, as Abele claims, he was lobbying in regards to increasing the minimum wage.  But it also shows that he was lobbying against the living wage as well, which is a direct contradiction to his claim that he wasn't lobbying on it at all.

Now, it's entirely possible that Abele wasn't lobbying against the living wage, but to accept that would require a person to ignore a lot of past patterns and solid proof.

My personal take is that Abele did push for this bill, but had gone back to the well once too often.

Not getting his way about the living wage, Abele did what has become habit for him, and ran to the state legislature to get them to pass a law allowing him to again thwart the will of the people.  But this time, the player got played and the Teapublicans went much farther than he had wanted.

Instead of just stopping the Milwaukee County resolution, the wages of people who work for companies contracted to the City of Milwaukee, the City of Madison and Dane County are being threatened.  If they take a large pay cut, they could lose their homes.  Not only that, but money that would have been spent regionally might start going elsewhere, even out of state.

Because of the fierce backlash to this bill, Abele is now desperately trying to to distance himself from it, even though he wanted it in the first place.

It is infuriating to think that all of these people could be needlessly harmed because Abele had another temper tantrum.

But it does show that we need to get rid of Abele as much as we need to get rid of his mentor, Scott Walker.

Some Days, An Emperor Just Can't Get Any Respect

On Thursday, Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele woke up with a smile on his face.  He just knew that this was going to be a great day.

He was scheduled to meet his good friend, President Barack Obama.  Abele had been telling people for days how Obama has been consulting with him on how to raise the minimum wage and it would be good to get some national attention in case he decided to run against Russ Feingold to take on Senator Ron Johnson.

Then, after meeting with his good chum he would return to the Milwaukee County Courthouse to watch his lackeys work the County Board's Finance, Personnel and Audit Committee so that he could get several million dollars to his corporate pals and then really stick it to both the low wage workers in the county as well as those pesky county workers themselves.

Yes, it would be a grand day indeed, and well worth giving up his usual routine of spending the morning at Collectivo and the afternoon at the University Club with his fellow plutocrats of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, toasting each other and congratulating themselves for being masters of the universe.

Still smiling in anticipation, Abele stretched and got out of bed.  He decided not to show up his BFF Obama and so when he slipped out of his silk pajamas, he decided to put on a suit instead of his usual ermine robe.

Little did he know just how wrong he was.

When he got to the airport to wait for good old Barry, he was glad to see the snow had not started falling yet.  At the expected time, Air Force One landed and the President disembarked with US Congresswoman Gwen Moore.

But as his good friend Barry Obama was acknowledging the various local dignitaries, he got to the Emperor and called him County Executive Chris Abila.  Not only did the President screw up his name he got the title wrong.  Even worse, it showed everyone that he was lying about his closeness with Obama.

The last part was the worst.  He was counting on using that charade to keep the Board from passing that horrible resolution that would require county employees and anyone working for a company that contracts with the county or gets money from the county to get paid a living wage.  Well, not quite a living wage, since it was only 100% of the poverty level.

Regardless, he was hoping to distract the supervisors with this fake out, hoping they would settle for the sub-poverty rate of $10.10 per hour, even though he secretly knew that even that small increase was not likely to happen.

After doing his stint with Obama and still trying to keep a positive outlook, he had his chauffeur drive him to the courthouse so that he could listen in on the committee meeting as they stuck it to the little people and help his corporate pals out.

But even that went wrong.

He quickly learned that a large number of the unwashed masses of common workers were crowding the committee room to push for the living wage.  He felt anger and dread wash over his body as the committee foolishly listened to those commoners and voted for the living wage, 7-2.

What was wrong with these supervisors?! Didn't they know that might cut into the many millions of dollars his friends stood to gain as he privatized and/or sold off every part of the county he could?!

Abele's - or rather - Abila's day just kept getting worse.

He had sent his top man in to get the committee to approve a pay out worth several millions of dollars to give to the companies that were still cleaning up the mess left from Abele's fire last summer.  He was hoping that the supervisors would be gullible enough to believe him when he said that the check from the insurance companies would be in the mail.  In a few months.  Maybe.

To Abila's disbelief, those rubes called supervisors balked at giving the insurance companies free loans - or maybe even gifts - by holding it over until next weeks meeting of the whole board.

Oh, well.  Abila consoled himself with the thought that he would soon have his Crosswalk plan in place.  He was very proud of his Crosswalk plan.  Not only did he take $5 million from the county workers to help increase the surplus to $14 million, but now he was going to take away their rights like seniority, grievances, vacations and fair work conditions.

But Abila's jaw fell to the floor as that uppity Supervisor Dave Cullen immediately moved to have the issue tabled until the call of the chair (that's legalese for putting his scheme in indefinite resolution purgatory) and called for the vote.  Those rotten upstarts then proceeded to vote it into limbo unanimously.

How dare they!  Abila was so upset that he stomped around his throne room for a whole two minutes, until he got too tired and had to sit down.

Don't they know who he is? He's Emperor Abila, er, Abele.  How dare these fools stand up for the commoners and the little people!

Sighing, Abila regained his composure somewhat and vowed to take his revenge on those uppity supervisors, especially that rotten chairwoman, Marina Dimitrijevic.  And then he would be able to do what he wanted with those miserable serfs.

Abila let out another deep sigh.

Some days, an emperor just can't get any respect.

Author's note: To make it satire, some fiction was added - Abele's robe is really sable, not ermine.

To Err Is Human, But To Really Screw Up, You Need The Corporate Media

It is well known in Fitzwalkerstan that the Teapublicans that are in charge of the state legislature don't write their own laws.  Instead, they rely on their wealthy campaign donors to write the bills for them.

This has been shown to be the sad state of affairs many times.  G-Tac wrote the mining bill.  Chris Abele and his fellow plutocrats at the Greater Milwaukee Committee hired a silk stocking law firm to write the bill consolidating power in Milwaukee County into Abele's particularly inept hands.

Most recently, it was reported that the sleazy Rep. Joel Kleefisch is pushing a bill written by the even sleazier Michael Eisenga to help Eisenga get out of paying a decent amount of child support.

In order to take the heat of their bought and paid for legislators, the corporate media did what it always does in these situations - they tried to distract the people by yelling "Squirrel!"

To be more specific, Adam Tobias of Wisconsin Reporter, a Koch Industry subsidiary, wrote a piece of propaganda claiming that Big Labor wrote the living wage resolution for Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen.

Tobias' proof is that SEIU had supported Bowen in his last election and some hearsay:

County Supervisor David Bowen wrote the legislation in collaboration with the Service Employees International Union.

Bowen, endorsed by the SEIU Wisconsin State Council in his 2012 election, worked with labor union representatives on about 15 drafts and met with them several times in his office at the county courthouse, County Supervisor James “Luigi” Schmitt confirmed.

“SEIU, they’ve been lockstep with it,” Schmitt told Wisconsin Reporter.

As one might expect, Tobias' reporting leaves a lot to be desired. And the greatest things desired would be accuracy and honesty.

I contacted Supervisor Bowen after seeing this and asked him if the SEIU had written the resolution. He was quite clear in saying they did not. He said that they did ask to have some input on it, as did about fifteen other groups, including other unions.

He also told me that the person Tobias had specifically referred to wasn't even part of SEIU.  Obviously, Tobias was just making things up by the time he wrote the article.

So why didn't Tobias include some information and then made up other things?

He wasn't completely honest because that would not fit into the corporate agenda of smearing the unions and keeping workers from making a living wage.  Why, if people were allowed to make a living wage, they just might be able to make enough money that they didn't need to work two or three jobs and would be able to see just how much the corporate special interests have been ripping them off.

And who knows where it would go from there! People might be able to make educated choices at the election booth and vote the corporate sponsored Teapublicans out.  They might unionize at the job site and start demanding things like respect and safety.  Then there might be a push for women's rights, voters' rights and who knows what!

Anyway, I digress.

The point is that the corporate shills being funded by the corporate special interests are trying to detract from how badly their puppets like Joel Kleefisch are failing in the public relations department.  And since there is no way to justify this level of greed and corruption, they try to conflate a situation to distract people from what is really going on.

But then there is more.  There is always more.

The granddaddy of all corporate media, Faux News, picked up the propaganda piece.  Unsurprisingly, they did a copy and paste job without a trace of fact checking...not that they would have reported the truth even if they had been aware of it.  But then, for some bizarre reason, they decided to go with this picture and even odder yet, this caption:

Click on image to embiggen

Well, they are still failing geography, but at least they dropped the palm trees.  Or do you suppose they all just died from being uprooted and transplanted 70 miles to the east?

And wait, I thought the capitol of Fitzwalkerstan was in Walkersha...

Really, it is beyond me how anyone can believe these corporate puppets, much less cite them as credible sources.

A tip of the crown to blue cheddar for pointing it out to me.

The High Cost Of Low Wages

It is not a deep, dark secret that Walmart treats their workers very poorly.  They have been sued multiple times in multiple states for sexism, racism and many charges of illegal labor practices.  It's been a perpetual stain on the company's image, especially when one takes into consideration that the Walton Clan is worth billions of dollars each.

To add insult to injury, Walmart has received untold billions of dollars in tax subsidies, grants and other handouts from the taxpayers.

But that is not the only way taxpayers are supporting the Walton billionaires.  Because of the low wages they pay their workers, many Walmart employees are receiving public benefits, including food stamps and health care coverage, like BadgerCare.

But now a new story broke which puts Walmart even further beyond the pale.  They are now asking for food donations from their underpaid workers for their other underpaid workers:

A Cleveland Wal-Mart store is holding a food drive — for its own employees.
"Please donate food items so associates in need can enjoy Thanksgiving dinner," reads a sign accompanied by several plastic bins.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer first reported on the food drive, which has sparked outrage in the area.

"That Wal-Mart would have the audacity to ask low-wage workers to donate food to other low-wage workers — to me, it is a moral outrage," Norma Mills, a customer at the store, told the Plain Dealer.

Working America, a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, lays out the problem even stronger terms:

When their paychecks don’t cut it, many associates turn to public assistance to make up the difference. Walmart’s low wages and insufficient scheduling are behind the enormous costs to the taxpayer incurred by each store. One Walmart Supercenter costs taxpayers $900,000 in Medicaid, SNAP, housing assistance, and other forms of public assistance.

But beyond the numbers are the associates themselves, juggling unpredictable schedules and light paychecks, who see the food bins as a sign that the company sees their struggle as the rule, not the exception:

An employee at the Canton store wasn’t feeling that Walmart was looking out for her when she went to her locker more than two weeks ago and discovered the food drive containers. To her, the gesture was proof the company acknowledged many of its employees were struggling, but also proof it was not willing to substantively address their plight.

The employee said she didn’t want to use her name for fear of being fired. In a dozen years working at the company, she had never seen a food drive for employees, which she described as “demoralizing” and “kind of depressing”.

Just last week, CNNMoney did a report showing that Walmart could easily give each of their employees a 50% raise and not break the bank. And while the usual corporate toadies will whine that their stock would fall, the article shows that Google gave their employees a 10% pay increase and their stock is now 60% higher than it was before the raise.

The poor pay and poor treatment that Walmart gave their workers led to the Black Friday protests last year, where workers went on strike for the day.  Walmart gave themselves a black eye by retaliating against these workers, threatening and punishing them.  On Monday, they got their other eye blackened by the National Labor Relations Board, who found that they had done so illegally and would be pursuing charges.

But it is not just Walmart that is the problem.  There has been a systematic failure in our economy in which large corporations are maltreating and underpaying their employees.

And the dissidence from this maltreatment is growing.

This was shown during the numerous one day strikes of fast food places over the past summer, including a few here in Milwaukee.  On Monday, hundreds of truckers that work at the Port of L.A. parked their trucks for the day in a one day action.

As a result of these unsustainable wages, there has been a movement across the country to raise the minimum wage to a living wage.  Recently, the people in the Seattle area voted to give the workers in and around the airport an increase in their minimum wage to $15 an hour.  Similar stories are found in other areas including San Francisco as well as the states of California and Washington.

In Milwaukee, a subdued version of a living wage act was introduced by Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen.  Bowen's resolution would require than any company contracting with the county would have to pay their workers a living wage - about $11 an hour.

On cue, the corporate special interests - in this case, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce - came out with their tired, worn out lines of how the market won't support a sustainable wage and that it would cost jobs.

This is, of course, so much poppycock.

And to show that it is so much poppycock, the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) and the American Legislative and Issue Campaign Exchange (ALICE) will hold a media conference call on Tuesday afternoon at 1 pm, in Madison, at which time they will release a report "about best practices of these living wage laws. Living wage policies have proven to be a highly effective tool for increasing wages and stimulating local economic growth, especially when federal and state governments appear unlikely to raise the minimum wage."

I will post the report at a later time.

Along with their event on Tuesday, Wisconsin Jobs Now will hold a town hall meeting this Thursday here in Milwaukee.  In their announcement, they include the findings of a study by UC - Berkeley that shows that "34% of Wisconsin's 28,000 fast food workers' families are forced to rely on public assistance to make ends meet. All that adds up to $166 million in our money that pads the profits of companies like McDonald's every year."

Gee, does all of this give you the idea that workers are getting fed up with the status quo?  It is time and beyond time for companies to start respecting their workers and paying them a living wage instead of keeping them mired in poverty.

Not only will it help keep people in their homes and food on their tables, but it will also stimulate the economy and lower taxes.

Now who could argue with that?

Living Wage Ordinance Gains Momentum

On Labor Day, Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen announced that he would introduce a resolution which would mandate that any agency or company contracting with Milwaukee County would have to  pay its workers a living wage.

Since then, we have seen how other communities with a much higher minimum wage are not only not failing, but are thriving with the higher pay, proving the right wing talking points to be again a bunch of malarkey.

The movement is growing with such momentum that even the local corporate media had to take notice of it:

"Private corporations are making record profits," said Martha De La Rosa of the Center for Progressive Leadership, a nonprofit in Milwaukee.

The law would apply to companies with service contracts for food, security, janitorial services, home healthcare, and concessions and other jobs at Mitchell International Airport. It also would apply to companies getting tax breaks from the county, De La Rosa said.

"Adding more living wage jobs will help all Milwaukee," said Mike Bink of the United Auto Workers union, whose members aren't directly affected by the legislation. "Taxpayers shouldn't be forced to subsidize profits for wealthy companies while they pay workers low wages, and then have to pay to support government programs that provide services to the workers."

The groups came together three to four months ago and have collected more than 10,000 signatures on petitions from county residents supporting the proposal.

At the rally, chants of "It's not right!" and "We're worth more!" interrupted impassioned speeches describing the hardships of low-paid workers and how higher wages would help boost the local economy.

Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele, who has a lengthy record of being anti-worker, has not come down from his ivory tower to let the little people know what they should feel about this proposal.

Let Milwaukee County Lead On A Living Wage

On Labor Day, Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen announced that he was going to introduce a resolution that would require any company or agency contracting with Milwaukee County to pay its workers a living wage.

At that time I noted that the City of San Francisco was paying the highest minimum wage in the county at $10.55.  Even though they are paying this rate, none of the doom and gloom predicted by the corporate special interests have occurred.  The city still stands and hasn't burned to the ground by suddenly homeless people when all the jobs went away.

Likewise, the State of Washington raised their minimum wage at the beginning of 2013 and they are not only surviving but they are thriving.  Then again, they had to raise their minimum wage to keep workers from fleeing their state for greener pastures:

The increase translates to $310 a year for the average affected worker. The minimum wage will rise in nine other states, including Northwest neighbors Oregon and Montana. The minimum wage in British Columbia went up last spring to $10.25 (Canadian) an hour.

The hike in low-income wages results from a 1998 ballot initiative, championed by organized labor and opposed by some business groups, that provides annual rate adjustments to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

“Washington’s modest annual minimum wage increases have proven incredibly valuable in promoting economic growth and protecting the real value of low-wage workers’ paychecks during the weak post-recession recovery,” said John Burbank, director of the Economic Opportunity Institute.

“Congress should learn from Washington’s example and pass a federal minimum wage increase with annual cost-of-living advances to promote consumer spending and help cash-strapped workers make ends meet,” Burbank added.

And now we see the entire state of California has just raised their minimum wage as well:

Calling it a "matter of justice," Gov. Jerry Brown put his signature on a bill that will hike California's minimum wage to $10 an hour within three years, making it one of the highest rates in the nation.
The legislation signed Wednesday at a ceremony in downtown Los Angeles will gradually raise the current minimum of $8 an hour to $9 on July 1, 2014, then to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016.

The increase is the first to the state's minimum wage in six years and comes amid a national debate over whether it's fair to pay fast-food workers, retail clerks and others wages so low that they often have to work second or third jobs.

Brown called the bill an overdue piece of legislation that will help working-class families and close the gap between "workers at the bottom and those who occupy the commanding heights of the economy."

The governor was joined by state legislators and business owners who supported the measure, saying increased wages would boost the state's economy.

The state Senate approved AB10 on a 26-11 vote Sept. 12, and the Assembly followed hours later on a 51-25 vote. Both chambers voted largely along party lines.

Miguel Aguilar, a worker at a Los Angeles car wash, thanked the governor for signing the bill.

"We work really long hours," said Aguilar, who has a union contract. "Now, with the increase in the minimum wage, we'll be able to sustain an income that can support our families."

Supporters said the bill by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, would help workers left behind during the recent recession.

Imagine that, actually putting money back into the hands of the public to help improve and maintain the economy. I wonder what Scott Walker would make of this? He's so far has only taken money from the people and given it to his wealthy campaign contributors and benefactors. The only thing he has given the people is a lot of lip service.

I would also ask Supervisor Bowen to include county workers in this resolution.  Thanks to the cuts by County Emperor Abele, there are county workers who are now eligible for public assistance.  This should not be allowed, especially if they are asking contractors to do the same.

Then again, a living wage shouldn't be for just county workers or the workers of county contracted companies, but should be across the board for all workers in the county and the state.  A living wage isn't just an economically good thing, but it is also the moral thing to do.

Could Milwaukee County See Living Wage Proposal?

During Monday's Labor Day Rally in Milwaukee County,  Supervisor David Bowen announced that he would be introducing a living wage resolution, much akin to the one recently passed in Dane County:

At the rally that awaited them, Milwaukee County Supervisor David Bowen told the demonstrators that the living-wage ordinance to be considered by the board will be similar to one approved in Dane County.

The proposal would apply to companies contracted by the county to employ service workers, including janitors and security staff, and would require those companies to meet a new wage standard based on federal poverty guidelines, Bowen said.

Bowen was joined at the rally by Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic and Supervisors Theodore Lipscomb Sr., Khalif Rainey and John Weishan Jr.

"If you use public money, you should invest back into the community," Bowen said.

The article went on to show the support for it and the sound reasoning behind it:

"If companies receive taxpayer money, they should provide a living wage to keep their workers off public assistance," said Janet Veum, communications coordinator for Wisconsin Jobs Now.

If wages are so low that workers need public assistance, the taxpayers pay twice, once for the company and then once to support the workers, she said.

Workers also spoke out Monday. Deirdre Dunlap, one of the Labor Day marchers, said she earns $5.25 an hour, plus any tips, for pushing wheelchairs at Mitchell International Airport. She's worked there since November.

"I'm in this because the living wage needs to be increased," she said. "It's really needed to meet basic needs, just paying rent and the bills."

Dunlap supports herself and two daughters on her salary. She said getting them ready for school was a challenge. At one point, she had to choose between buying her daughter shoes and paying a bill. She chose the shoes.

"If there was a living wage that would allow us to not need public assistance, it would allow us to completely get off the system," she said.

The timing for this couldn't be any more vital either.

The Institute for Wisconsin's Future just came out with a study showing how the state budget was designed to really stick to the poor and make they stay poor. Some of the findings include:

• Making health insurance and health care much more expensive for many parents now in BadgerCare;
• Charging premiums for transitional Medicaid;
• Additional cuts in child care support, which make child care less affordable and harder to find;
• Not rolling back the tax increases on low-income households that were included in the last budget –and leaving low-wage workers out of the recent income tax cut; and
• Tightening eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits for jobless workers.

As one would expect, there are going to be cranks that don't believe people should be paid a living wage. One of these fools is Supervisor Steve Taylor, who issued a press release mewling about the proposed resolution:

"As folks throughout Milwaukee County and the nation celebrated the last holiday of the

summer, some Milwaukee County Supervisors were busy reviving the ill-advised minimum wage proposal. At the time when our communities are in dire need of more development to create jobs and increase the tax base, the County Board should be working on initiatives that attract rather than deter companies from doing business with Milwaukee County. Given the current less-than-favorable economic outlook, a resolution of this kind is misguided, out of touch with reality and would do more harm than good to Milwaukee County residents. It is a questionable short term fix that will have long term negative effects on the county's economic well-being. Should an ordinance change with respect to minimum wage be proposed, rest assured that I will be working with my like-minded colleagues on the Board to stop it."

It's amazing how much stupid a person can cram into one paragraph.

First off all, the day is Labor Day. The fact that Taylor couldn't even name it shows how much respect he has - or more appropriately, doesn't have - for the workers. Secondly, the "like-minded colleagues" on the Board also believe in purple unicorns and have their press releases written by Chris Abele's spokesman.

Furthermore, Taylor's whining might not have been so laughable if not for the fact that he is currently on vacation, touring the Southern part of the country and spending what would take a poverty-level wage earner months to make.

If there is a fault with Bowen's proposal, it is that it doesn't go far enough.  Instead of just limiting to companies that contract with the county, it should be for all companies within the county.  While conservative readers are cleaning their spittle off their monitors at this statement, remember that San Francisco raised their minimum wage to $10.55 per hour.  Australia's minimum wage is set at $15.59 per hour.  And neither of these places have fallen into the ocean, despite the hair pulling and teeth gnashing of Teapublicans.

In fact, these places are benefiting by the higher wages.  As is explained by Unite Here Local 2 President Mike Casey in San Francisco:

“Any day that the lowest paid workers in a community get a raise is a great day,” he said.

Casey said the extra income will go directly into the local economy.

“That money gets spent,” he said. “It doesn’t get stowed away into savings accounts or into buying stocks or doing what rich people do with their windfalls.”

There is no indication what Abele would do if this resolution makes its way to his desk, but as the gentle reader is aware, he is well known for not being a friend of workers.

Methinks that the following statement I got from Supervisor Theo Lipscomb sums the whole issue up the best:

We can debate what the standard should be but there's no doubt in my mind that when public dollars are invested the wage should be high enough that those who work don't also need food stamps to feed their family.

So much of what government does has been privatized; essentially politician's have outsourced their conscience. Most elected officials would never vote to pay people minimum wage but when you privatize services you basically hire someone else to do that dirty work for you.

Living Wages Now!

Indeed, the only reason to oppose this idea would be the desire to continue to suppress an entire group of people in order to favor the moneyed elite. That is not fiscal responsibility.  That is plutocracy.