#Minimum wage increase makes the ballot

[wilwheaton]

The GOP wonders why young people (and others) don't want to vote for them. Some wise scribe assembled this list.

1.) Your Reagan-era “trickle-down economics” strategy of tax breaks for billionaires that you continue to employ to this day has widened the gap between rich and poor so much that most of them will never be able to own a home, much less earn a living wage.

2.) You refuse to increase the federal minimum wage, which is still $7.25 an hour (since 2009). Even if it had just kept up with inflation, it would be $27 now. You’re forcing people of all ages but especially young people to work multiple jobs just to afford basic necessities.

3.) You fundamentally oppose and want to kill democracy; have done everything in your power to restrict access to the ballot box, particularly in areas with demographics that tend to vote Democratic (like young people and POC). You staged a fucking coup the last time you lost.

4.) You have abused your disproportionate senate control over the last three decades to pack the courts with religious extremists and idealogues, including SCOTUS—which has rolled back rights for women in ways that do nothing but kill more women and children and expand poverty.

5.) You refuse to enact common sense gun control laws to curb mass shootings like universal background checks and banning assault weapons; subjecting their entire generation to school shootings and drills that are traumatizing in and of themselves. You are owned by the NRA.

6.) You are unequivocally against combatting climate change to the extent that it’s as if you’ve made it your personal mission to ensure they inherit a planet that is beyond the point of no return in terms of remaining habitable for the human race beyond the next few generations.

7.) You oppose all programs that provide assistance to those who need it most. Your governors refused to expand Medicaid even during A PANDEMIC. You are against free school lunches, despite it being the only meal that millions of children can count on to actually receive each day

8.) You are banning books, defunding libraries, barring subject matter, and whitewashing history even more in a fascistic attempt to keep them ignorant of the systemic racism that this nation was literally founded upon and continues to this day in every action your party takes.

9.) You oppose universal healthcare and are still trying to repeal the ACA and rip healthcare from tens of millions of Americans and replace it with nothing. You are against lowering the cost of insulin and prescription drugs that millions need simply to LIVE/FUNCTION in society.

10.) You embrace white nationalists, Neo-Nazis, and other groups that are defined by their intractable racism, xenophobia, bigotry, and intolerance. You conspired with these groups on January 6th to try to overthrow the U.S. government via domestic terrorism that KILLED PEOPLE.

11.) You oppose every bill aimed at making life better for our nation’s youth; from education to extracurricular and financial/nutritional assistance programs. You say you want to “protect the children” while you elect/nominate pedophiles and attack trans youth and drag queens.

12.) You pretend to be offended by “anti-semitism” while literally supporting, electing, and speaking at events organized by Nazis. You pretend to hate “cancel culture” despite the fact that you invented it and it’s basically all you do.

13.) Every word you utter is a lie. You are the party of treason, hypocrisy, crime, and authoritarianism. You want to entrench rule by your aging minority because you know that you have nothing to offer young voters and they will never support you for all these reasons and more.

14.) You’re so hostile to even the notion of helping us overcome the mountain of debt that millions of us are forced to take on just to pay for our post K-12 education that you are suing to try to prevent a small fraction of us from getting even $10,000 in loan forgiveness.

15.) You opened the floodgates of money into politics via Citizens United; allowing our entire system of government to become a cesspool of corruption, crime, and greed. You are supposed to represent the American people whose taxes pay your salary but instead cater to rich donors.

16.) You respond to elected representatives standing in solidarity with their constituents to protest the ONGOING SLAUGHTER of children in schools via shootings by EXPELLING THEM FROM OFFICE & respond to your lack of popularity among young people by trying to raise the voting age.

17.) You impeach Democratic presidents over lying about a BJ but refuse to impeach (then vote twice to acquit) a guy whose entire “administration” was an international crime syndicate being run out of the WH who incited an insurrection to have you killed.

18.) You steal Supreme Court seats from democrats to prevent the only black POTUS we’ve ever had from appointing one and invent fake precedents that you later ignore all to take fundamental rights from Americans; and even your “legitimate” appointments consist of people like THIS (sub-thread refuting CJ Roberts criticisms of people attacking SCOTUS' legitimacy).

19.) You support mass incarceration even for innocuous offenses or execution by cop for POC while doing nothing but protect rich white criminals who engage in such things as tax fraud, money laundering, sex trafficking, rape/sexual assault, falsifying business records, etc.

20.) You are the reason we can’t pass:—Universal background checks—An assault weapons ban—The ‘For the People/Freedom to vote’ Act or John Lewis Voting Rights Act—The ERA & Equality Act—The Climate Action Now Act—The (Stopping) Violence Against Women Act—SCOTUS expansion.

21.) You do not seek office to govern, represent, or serve the American people. You seek power solely for its own sake so you can impose your narrow-minded puritanical will on others at the expense of their most fundamental rights and freedoms like voting and bodily autonomy.

22.) Ok, last one. You are trying to eliminate social security and Medicare that tens of millions of our parents rely on and paid into their entire lives. And you did everything to maximize preventable deaths from COVID leaving millions of us in mourning.

Source: https://imgur.com/gallery/e8DBZLH

#republicans are garbage #uspol

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Union pensions are funding private equity attacks on workers

On October 7–8, I'm in Milan to keynote Wired Nextfest.

If end-stage capitalism has a motto, it's this: "Stop hitting yourself." The great failure of "voting with your wallet" is that you're casting ballots in a one party system (The Capitalism Party), and the people with the thickest wallets get the most votes.

During the Cultural Revolution, the Chinese state would bill the families of executed dissidents for the ammunition used to execute their loved ones:

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-the-Chinese-government-makes-the-families-of-executed-people-pay-for-the-cost-of-bullets

In end-stage capitalism, the dollars we spend to feed ourselves are used to capture the food supply and corrupt our political process:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/04/dont-let-your-meat-loaf/#meaty-beaty-big-and-bouncy

And the dollars we save for retirement are flushed into the stock market casino, a game that is rigged against us, where we are always the suckers at the table:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/07/25/derechos-humanos/#are-there-no-poorhouses

Everywhere and always, we are financing our own destruction. It's quite a Mr Gotcha moment:

https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/

Now, anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop. We are living through a broad, multi-front counter-revolution to Reaganomics and neoliberal Democratic Party sellouts. The FTC and DOJ Antitrust Division are dragging Big Tech and Big Meat and Big Publishing into court. We're seeing bans on noncompete clauses, and high-profile government enforcers are publicly pledging never to work for corporate law-firms when they quit public service:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/09/nein-nein/#everything-is-miscellaneous

And of course, there's the reinvigoration of the labor movement! Hot Labor Summer is now Perpetual Labor September, with 75,000 Kaiser workers walking out alongside the UAW, SAG-AFTRA and 2,350 other groups of workers picketing, striking or protesting:

https://striketracker.ilr.cornell.edu/

But capitalism still gets a lick in. Union pension plans are some of the most important investors in private equity funds. Your union pension dollars are probably funding the union-busting, child-labor-employing, civilization-destroying Gordon Gecko LARPers who are also evicting you from the rental they bought and turned into a slum, and will then murder you in a hospice that they bought and turned into a slaughterhouse:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/26/death-panels/#what-the-heck-is-going-on-with-CMS

Writing for The American Prospect, Rachel Phua rounds up the past, present and future of union pension funds backing private equity monsters:

https://prospect.org/labor/2023-10-04-workers-funding-misery-private-equity-pension-funds/

Private equity and hedge funds have destroyed 1.3 million US jobs:

https://united4respect.org/press-release/people-who-work-at-walmart-sears-amazon-formerly-toys-r-us-more-join-forces-together-as-united-for-respect-2-2-2-2-5-3/

They buy companies and then illegally staff them with children:

https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230217-1

They lobby against the minimum wage:

https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Insire-Brands-memo-on-15-wage.pdf

They illegally retaliate against workers seeking to unionize their jobsite:

https://www.hoteldive.com/news/dc-hotel-workers-enlist-us-representatives-to-fight-sofitel-union-busting/650396/

And they couldn't do it without union pension funds. Public service union pensions have invested $650 million with PE funds. In 2001, the share of public union pensions invested in PE was 3.5%; today, it's 13%:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B0vv26VEFmwtfw5ur6dSDMY8NftvZKij/

Giant public union funds like CalPERS are planning massive increases in their contributions to PE:

https://www.calpers.ca.gov/page/newsroom/calpers-news/2023/calpers-preliminary-investment-return-fiscal-year-2022-23

This results in some ghastly and ironic situations. Aramark used funds from a custodian's union to bid against that union's members for contracts, in an attempt to break the union and force the workers to take a paycut to $11/hour:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-11-20/pension-fund-gains-mean-worker-pain-as-aramark-cuts-pay

Blackstone's investors include the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS). The PE ghouls who sucked Toys R Us dry were funded by Texas teachers.

Then there's KKR, one of the most rapacious predators of the PE world. Half of the investors in KKR's Global Infrastructure Investors IV fund are public sector pension funds. Those workers' money were spent to buy up Refresco (Arizona Iced Tea, Tropicana juices, etc), a transaction that immediately precipitated a huge spike in on-the-job accidents as KKR cut safety and increased tempo:

https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1675674.015

Petsmart is the poster-child for PE predation. The company uses TRAPs ("TrainingRepaymentAgreementProvision") clauses to recreate indentured servitude, forcing workers to pay thousands of dollars to quit their jobs:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/04/its-a-trap/#a-little-on-the-nose

Why would a Petsmart employee want to quit? Petsmart's PE owner is BC Partners, and under BC's management, workers have been forced to work impossible hours while overseeing cruel animal abuse, including starving sick animals to death rather than euthanizing them, and then being made to sneak them into dumpsters on the way home from work so Petsmart doesn't have to pay for cremation. 24 of BC Partners' backers are public pension funds, including CalSTRS and the NYC Employees' Retirement System:

https://prospect.org/culture/books/2023-06-02-days-of-plunder-morgenson-rosner-ballou-review/

PE buyouts are immediately followed by layoffs. One in five PE acquisitions goes bankrupt. Unions should not be investing in PE. But the managers of these funds defend the practice, saying they "facilitate dialog" with the PE bosses on workers' behalf.

This isn't total nonsense. Once upon a time, public pension fund managers put pressure on investees to force them to divest from Apartheid South Africa and tobacco companies. Even today, public pensions have successfully applied leverage to get fund managers to drop Russian investments after the invasion of Ukraine. And public pensions pulled out of the private prison sector, tanking the valuation of some of the largest players.

But there's no evidence that this leverage is being applied to pensions' PE billions. It's not like PE is a great deal for these pensions. PE funds don't reliably outperform the market, especially after PE bosses' sky-high fees are clawed back:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3623820

Pension funds could match or beat their PE returns by sticking the money in a low-load Vanguard index tracker. What's more, PE is getting worse, pioneering new scams like inflating the value of companies after they buy and strip-mine them, even though there's no reason to think anyone would buy these hollow companies at the price that the PE companies assign to them for bookkeeping purposes:

https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bstqfcskz9o72ospzlds/opinion/why-does-private-equity-get-to-play-make-believe-with-prices

To inject a little verisimilitude into this obvious fantasy, PE companies sell their portfolio companies to themselves at inflated prices, in a patently fraudulent shell-game:

https://www.ft.com/content/646d00f4-af5d-4267-a436-54fb3bc1697b

What's more, PE funds aren't just bad bosses, they're also bad landlords. PE-backed funds have scooped up an appreciable fraction of America's housing stock, transforming good rentals into slums:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/27/extraordinary-popular-delusions/#wall-street-slumlords

PE is really pioneering a literal cradle-to-grave immiseration strategy. First, they gouge you on your kids' birth:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/27/crossing-a-line/#zero-fucks-given

Then, they slash your wages and steal from your paycheck:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3465723

Then, they evict you from your home:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/05/vulture-capitalism/#distressed-assets

And then they murder you as part of a scam they're running on Medicare:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/05/any-metric-becomes-a-target/#hca

As the labor movement flexes its muscle, it needs to break this connection. Workers should not be paying for the bullet that their bosses put through their skulls.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/05/mr-gotcha/#no-ethical-consumption-under-capitalism

My next novel is The Lost Cause, a hopeful novel of the climate emergency. Amazon won't sell the audiobook, so I made my own and I'm pre-selling it on Kickstarter!

#pluralistic #labor #pensions #finance #private equity #toys r us #Rachel Phua #kkr #bain capital #calpers #aramark #Private Equity Stakeholder Project #RefrescoArizona Iced Tea #CalSTRS #Roark Capital #child labor #blackstone #PSSI

[thelastharbinger]

Did not have the U.S. government holding hearings on previously classified information and lying making confirmations under oath that they are in possession of alien bodies and ufos in order to distract from the fact that covid-19 is still the leading cause of death in children, the cost of living is astronomical, cop city is well underway despite Atlanta residents overwhelmingly crying out against it, we are experiencing the hottest & deadliest temperatures on record, the state of Florida trying to rewrite history to say that slavery was just a mutually beneficial unpaid internship, trans lives and rights are under attack, anti drag laws, FLINT MICHIGAN STILL DOES NOT HAVE CLEAN DRINKING WATER, anti-discrimination laws being reversed, Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action, Roe v. Wade undone, universal free school lunches are on the ballot, ongoing mass shootings, climate change, big pharma killing off people by withholding live saving drugs at ungodly market prices, the erasure of separation of church and state, AI surveillance being implemented to detect fare evasion for increasingly costly public transport services, the rise of fascim, proud boys showing up with military grade weapons at libraries and day care centers, the permitted attempted coup of the capital, labor union strikes happening all over the country, people dying of heat in Texas because evil landlords want to cut off cooling over an unpaid $51 utility bill, train derailments causing toxic waste spills, corruption within the highest court in the land, homelessness rates the highest its ever been, migrants and asylum seekers being kicked out of temporary housing, the cost of food, book bans, Miranda Rights no longer being stated, mayors deciding to no longer publicly disclose how many people are dying pre-trial in detention facilities, federal minimum wage still $7.25, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, oil pipeline constructions on native lands, something like 30-50% of the nation's drinking water contaminated with forever chemicals, the rich remaining untaxed, biden going back on his campaign promises to forgive all student debt, still no free universal healthcare, ICE deportations increasing under biden admin, the u.s. yet maintaining colonies, teens and women getting jail time for miscarriages and abortions, 100 companies globally responsible for 70 or 80-something percent of all CO2 emissions, we are living in a police state, diseases resurfacing after years with no cases due to rising temps, death penalty, public services being defunded to increase military and police spending budgets, and abusers suing victims for defamation cases in court so that they legally cannot talk about it, and setting a dangerous precedent in the process in my 2023 bingo card but here we god damn are.

#2023 is a goddamn JOKE #aliens #us government #us govt #aliens and ufos #2023 bingo #land temp in spain was 140 degrees 2 days ago. owners r gonna have to start buying shoes for their pups out of obligation bc paws on fire. #i hate it here so bad #like can the aliens fix racism?

[robertreich]

The Republican Party’s Worst Nightmare

Republicans have been trying to crush unions for decades, but American workers are fighting back with a vengeance.

Many GOP leaders wink and nod while talking about “making America great again,” as if the country was more prosperous when they were in charge.

Rubbish.

Yes, there was a time when the American economy worked better for workers than it does now, but not because Republicans played any part in making it that way. And certainly not because of the bigotry, misogyny, and racism they’ve been peddling to pit workers against each other to distract them from how much wealth is being siphoned off to the top.

In fact, Republicans have been waging a relentless war against what had been one of the biggest drivers of prosperity for the working class — labor unions.

Now, it’s important to note that this prosperity wasn’t shared equally with women or people of color, but a big reason much of the workforce was better off decades ago than today is because of the power of labor unions to organize and fight for the rights and dignity of workers.

Republicans have fought labor unions tooth and nail. They’ve enacted deceptively named "right-to-work" laws, which are all about weakening unions rather than giving workers more rights. And they've voted against bills allowing workers to form unions with simple up or down majorities at the workplace.  

This is the great irony of the MAGA movement. And it would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. If Republicans really cared about American greatness, they would support unions — one of the major tools at our disposal to actually combat inequality and lift up the working class.

Fortunately — despite Republican efforts — labor unions are on the rise once more. And so are pro-labor Democratic politicians.

These Democrats won big in the 2022 midterms — especially in the rust belt. They captured the governorships of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and also Michigan — where they flipped both chambers of the state legislature. The last time Democrats had full control of Michigan’s state government was in the 1980s.

And look at the impressive victory of John Fetterman — the new U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. He defeated a wealthy Republican snake oil salesman and flipped a senate seat, while running on an unabashedly pro-worker platform aiming to increase the federal minimum wage, end corporate price gouging, and make it easier for workers to organize unions at their workplaces.

It wasn’t just pro-worker politicians who won big during the midterms, but worker friendly ballot measures as well — almost universally opposed by Republicans.

Illinois voted to enshrine collective bargaining rights into its constitution, effectively banning right to work laws from ever being passed in the state.

Washington D.C. voted overwhelmingly to eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped workers.

Voters in Nebraska and Nevada chose to increase their state minimum wage.

Forced prison labor was outlawed in Vermont, Alabama, Tennessee, and Oregon.

Republicans, along with their rich and powerful patrons, have always feared that working people would recognize their collective power, both through unions and at the ballot box. So the wealthy are doing everything they can to hold working people down.

But the midterm elections and the resurgent worker power movement should give us hope that a more just and equitable United States will be built with union labor.

It’s not just about making America great — it’s about making America better. Not just a bigger economy but a fairer economy. Not just more wealth for the wealthy, but better and more secure lives for all.

#youtube #videos #video #unions #labor #John Fetterman #GOP #Republicans #politics

[skidar]

I was interested in what my city's minimum wage was compared to the rest of the state and was surprised to find that a movement going forward is set to raise it an additional dollar this next year, and an additional dollar that next year as well.

how did I find that info you ask WELL I found a very angry armchair economist dude's blog begging his readers to vote no on the insanely popular proposition because he's 'business driven'

I read the whole thing and laughed, dude is so out of touch.

The living wage in this city PRE housing shortage is $23/hour

No one makes that here.

Min wage is $15.63/hr

I make $18.63/hr

Property management companies and landlords won't accept rental applications unless you earn 3x the rent. The average rent is between $1100-$1500 per month (most also don't take pets.)

No one makes that.

This armchair economist whose blog has no comments which I think is even funnier, no one's debating this guy. Also was flabbergasted that this organization managed to wrangle such high support from all the young registered voters in the area.

Huh.

56% of the city pop are renters who can't afford rent in a state where rent control is illegal managed to garner interest in a peoples first organizations push that the lowest earning population need ways to make more money by addressing the massive wage gap and housing reqs in the city? Shocking!

Anyway, this guy severly missed the point and I looked up to see these petitioners got this min wqage increase on the ballot! AND they got a proposition that says landlords have to give 120 days notice of any rent increase above 8% and assist in the relocation costs of the tenants that can't pay that to cut down on sudden homelessness.

So there are people out there doing to good fight and I remember how I was approached by one such petitioner back in march and me and my friend both signed in support of this.

So try not to ignore everyone with a clipboard sometimes ;)

[madtomedgar]

Not really... Surprised but the post about ballot initiatives is getting a lot of tags about parties or making assumptions about who voted for these things and like. Ballot initiatives officially are not about party. Tons of republicans who voted straight red down the ballot in Kentucky voted against dismantling abortion protections. Republicans in Nebraska voted to increase minimum wage. Etc. Likewise plenty of people in Massachusetts who voted for Maura Healy voted against the millionaires tax, and people who voted for deihl voted to expand dental insurance. It is massively important to maintain the separation between ballot initiatives and party politicking, specifically because people who might never vote for a candidate feom the party that supports a measure might still agree with the measure and support it if it's only about the measure. And vice versa. Also if you are a person who is so disillusioned with electoral politics in this country that you refuse to engage with them, you can still majorly impact your local community through ballot initiatives, which is pretty cool.

#people missing the point once again #i couldve been clearer but w/e

[itsbansheebitch]

Weird Idea

Hey ya'll, weird idea. Lately, I had been falling into some "Doomer" thoughts and then thought, hey what if we made some actual plans on how to fix ... *this*

Let me spit ball for a minute, here's just a line up of general, not perfect. first draft ideas (mostly American based).

Increase minimum wage to at least $20, $30 would also work

Create a better support network for homeless people (these two ideas would help a lot of people as well as stimulate the economy. About 1/5 of America is homeless and 40% of America's homeless population have jobs)

Put oil companies on trial for crimes against humanity (for lying about not knowing about climate change, running propaganda campaigns, etc)

Give Unions government support like other countries

Fund schools equally instead of by the area's property tax

Start forming the structure of a universal healthcare system (Make it better than what ever Britain has I WILL NOT BE OUTDONE)

Make voting mandatory, you can vote with a blank ballot with your name on it though. The fine for not voting will be about $10

Make strict laws against gerrymandering and voter suppression, effectively making the South's votes matter.

Eliminate the electoral college (which doesn't count all votes)

Make voting more accessible to low income communities and the disabled.

Punish hate crimes more harshly

Crack down on stochastic terrorism

Eliminate For Profit Prisons and replace them with Rehabilitation Centers for inmates (also, make the building environments safer, more secure, and more comfortable)

Make immigrating to the US safer for all parties (most illegal immigrants come by plane what did anyone think a wall was going to do???)

Tax people extra after they hit the $999 Million mark. (We'll name a park after you or something idk)

Increase the amount of sidewalks

Crack down on auto companies making trucks EXTRA big to get around safety regulations (the kinds of regulations that keep shrapnel out of your airbags)

Fund libraries and public parks

Increase teacher salaries

Create a system where the experts can advise and plan with the president new ideas, projects, laws, and organizations

Give the FDA help on the "Food" end, food fraud is OUT OF CONTROL

That's all I've got for now let me know what else ya'll want <3

#politics #us politics #lgbt #lgbtq+ #lgbtqia #lgbtq #unions #labor unions

[kp777]

By Alissa Widman Neese and Tyler Buchanan

Axios

July 14, 2023

You've seen the ads, the signs and the social media debates — but how much do you really understand Issue 1?

Early voting is underway, so here's a primer before you head to the polls.

Catch up quick: Ohio is one of 18 states in which citizens can collect petition signatures to amend the state constitution through a public vote.

We've empowered our residents that way since 1912.

Voters used that pathway to approve annual, inflation-based minimum wage increases in 2006 and legalize casino gambling in 2009.

Why it matters: Successful constitutional amendments currently reflect the will of a majority of voters. Unlike other ballot initiatives, state lawmakers can't easily reverse them.

What's happening: If approved Aug. 8, Issue 1 would make it tougher to amend the Ohio Constitution by requiring 60% of voters' approval, up from a simple majority.

It would also make it harder to put amendments on the ballot in the first place.

Between the lines: Republican lawmakers placed Issue 1 on the ballot — after previously eliminating August elections — with an initial justification of protecting the constitution from out-of-state interests.

In the short term, supporters of Issue 1 want to make it more difficult for a planned abortion rights amendment to pass in November.

But some also hope to block future proposals, like another, more significant minimum wage increase.

The intrigue: A 60% voter threshold is difficult, but not impossible, to meet.

Since 1913, 71 citizen-led amendments have made it to the ballot, according to the Dayton Daily News. Ohioans approved 19, with 11 passing by 60% or more.

Yes, but: Those amendments were not subject to two other changes that Issue 1 would also enact.

Organizers would need to obtain signatures from 5% of registered voters who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election in all 88 counties — up from the current requirement of half the counties. Ohio would become the only state to require this, per Ballotpedia News.

Organizers would no longer receive a 10-day window to collect additional signatures, if the election officials deem too many invalid.

What's next: The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 8:30pm Aug. 1, either by completing this online form or calling your local board of elections. Ballots must be postmarked on or before Aug. 7.

Or vote early in person, 8am-5pm weekdays, at the Franklin County Board of Elections, 1700 Morse Road, with extended hours July 31-Aug. 6. (Absentee ballots can also be dropped off here before polls close on election day.)

Polls are open 6:30am-7:30pm on election day, Aug. 8. Find your voting location.

What we're watching: Over 10,000 Franklin County residents already requested absentee ballots as of Monday, board of elections spokesperson Aaron Sellers tells us.

Last year only 400 Franklin County voters requested an August absentee ballot and overall turnout was just 7%.

Other counties are also seeing spikes, Cleveland.com reports.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to add details on Issue 1's signature threshold and its elimination of the 10-day window to collect more signatures.

#ohio special election #aug 8 special election

[truck-fump]

The Republican Party’s Worst NightmareRepublicans have been...

New Post has been published on https://robertreich.org/post/706922863253504000

The Republican Party’s Worst NightmareRepublicans have been...

The Republican Party’s Worst Nightmare

Republicans have been trying to crush unions for decades, but American workers are fighting back with a vengeance.

Many GOP leaders wink and nod while talking about “making America great again,” as if the country was more prosperous when they were in charge.

Rubbish.

Yes, there was a time when the American economy worked better for workers than it does now, but not because Republicans played any part in making it that way. And certainly not because of the bigotry, misogyny, and racism they’ve been peddling to pit workers against each other to distract them from how much wealth is being siphoned off to the top.

In fact, Republicans have been waging a relentless war against what had been one of the biggest drivers of prosperity for the working class — labor unions.

Now, it’s important to note that this prosperity wasn’t shared equally with women or people of color, but a big reason much of the workforce was better off decades ago than today is because of the power of labor unions to organize and fight for the rights and dignity of workers.

Republicans have fought labor unions tooth and nail. They’ve enacted deceptively named “right-to-work” laws, which are all about weakening unions rather than giving workers more rights. And they’ve voted against bills allowing workers to form unions with simple up or down majorities at the workplace.  

This is the great irony of the MAGA movement. And it would be funny if it weren’t so tragic. If Republicans really cared about American greatness, they would support unions — one of the major tools at our disposal to actually combat inequality and lift up the working class.

Fortunately — despite Republican efforts — labor unions are on the rise once more. And so are pro-labor Democratic politicians.

These Democrats won big in the 2022 midterms — especially in the rust belt. They captured the governorships of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and also Michigan — where they flipped both chambers of the state legislature. The last time Democrats had full control of Michigan’s state government was in the 1980s.

And look at the impressive victory of John Fetterman — the new U.S. senator from Pennsylvania. He defeated a wealthy Republican snake oil salesman and flipped a senate seat, while running on an unabashedly pro-worker platform aiming to increase the federal minimum wage, end corporate price gouging, and make it easier for workers to organize unions at their workplaces.

It wasn’t just pro-worker politicians who won big during the midterms, but worker friendly ballot measures as well — almost universally opposed by Republicans.

Illinois voted to enshrine collective bargaining rights into its constitution, effectively banning right to work laws from ever being passed in the state.

Washington D.C. voted overwhelmingly to eliminate the subminimum wage for tipped workers.

Voters in Nebraska and Nevada chose to increase their state minimum wage.

Forced prison labor was outlawed in Vermont, Alabama, Tennessee, and Oregon.

Republicans, along with their rich and powerful patrons, have always feared that working people would recognize their collective power, both through unions and at the ballot box. So the wealthy are doing everything they can to hold working people down.

But the midterm elections and the resurgent worker power movement should give us hope that a more just and equitable United States will be built with union labor.

It’s not just about making America great — it’s about making America better. Not just a bigger economy but a fairer economy. Not just more wealth for the wealthy, but better and more secure lives for all.

#Uncategorized

[taylorscottbarnett]

In state elections, Democrats had two goals: keep Republicans from breaking up or delaying Republicans getting trifectas in state governments.

As of 2021, Republicans dominated with 21 trifectas, that is control over the Governorship, State House and State Senate. Republicans have had a dominance in trifectas since after 2010, when Democrats went from having 16 trifectas, a +8 spread to 11, while Republicans went from having only 8 trifectas, a low not seen since before 1994's election to a whopping 21. A +10 spread.

The big stakes for Democrats: stopping Republican trifectas in: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. As well as not being defeated in Colorado, Maine, and Minnesota.

Democrats Governors won major victories over election deniers in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

They flipped the entire state legislature in Michigan from red to blue for the first time in decades.

Democrats won a trifecta in Minnesota.

Held both chambers of state government in Colorado, Maine, Nevada, and Oregon.

Kept Republicans from Supermajorities in the North Carolina House and the Wisconsin State Assembly and every single "Stop the Steel" candidate running for Secretary of State looks to have lost their race in battlegrounds.

Republicans were so sure of a red wave they'd targeted blue bastions of power like Nevada, Maine, Oregon, and Washington to the target list, confident a red-tide would lift them to victory.

What happened? Liberal outside spending groups countered them at every turn, swamping the states with ads at a pace not seen in politics before from left-aligned groups.

Not a SINLGE state legeslative chamber flipped from Democrats to Republicans, the first time about incumbent party has had thst result since 1934.

In Arizona Democrat Adrian Fontes beat Republican Mark Finchem for Secretary of State and Katie Hobbs fought back far-right Republican Kari Lake for the Governorship.

Democrat Kris Mayes is in a battle for Arizona's Attorney General with a 0.02% lead atm.

Kansas Gov - Democrat-hold

Maine Gov - Democrat-hold

Michigan Gov - Democrat-hold

New Mexico Gov - Democrat-hold

Nevada Gov - ? Democrat-likely hold

New York Gov - Democrat-hold

Oregon Gov - ? but dems have held this for 36-years soooo

Pennsylvania Gov - Democrat-hold

Wisconson Gov - Democrat-hold

Senate:

Pennsylvania- Democrat-flip.

Nevada- Democrat-hold.

Arizona - Democrat-hold.

But it's looking like a lot like a 51-49 Senate.

OH did I mention Nebraska passed a $15/hr minimum wage increase?

But wait, there's more!

In Connecticut a measure to allow in-person early voting passed.

My home state of Kentucky saw voters reject a constitutional amendment denying a right to abortion, three other states enshrined the right to an abortion in their constitutions.

Michigan saw voters pass a measure opening polls early, making it easier to vote in the state, voters also passed an amendment creating a right to reproductive freedom, providing a bulwark for both conception and abortion access in the state.

Republican Mayra Flores, a who gained fame within the party by winning a special election in a Democratic district in the Rio Grande Valley this year lost his race on Tuesday.

Voters in Tennessee and Vermont supported ballot measures by wide-margins that remove language allowing slavery as punishment from their state constitutions.

And in one of the weirder results: Texas re-elected a criminally-indicated and Trump supported Attorney General to a third term? What the fuck Texas?

Oh and Gen-z secured their first US House seat with the election of 25-year old Florida Democrat.

Periods have heavier flow than this "red wave".

#politics #us politics #election 2022 #democrats #republicans #liberal #conservative #biden #gop #trump

[citizensaul]

Massachusetts ahead of the curve

There is a ballot question in Massachusetts "Question One" which is a proposed amendment to the Constitution to establish a 4% state income tax on taxable income of a $ 1 million up which would affect very few of us and maybe 2% in the State if that . The naysayers say that it would hurt Small Business which bodes the question of what a Small business is ? Most in that category would be thrilled if they ended the year with a 1/4 of that  Million .The thing is people making that kind of dough will hardly feel the 4% and they will continue to sail their yachts and fly in their private jets. These same naysayers were the ones pushing Trump's tax cuts for fat cats calling it a Middle class tax cut which no Middle Class earner received even from "Trickle down". They also say the increase will cause layoffs,HELLO just as they claimed in the early 1930's when the first minimum wage of 25 cents per hour was introduced by Democrats in Congress. Massive layoffs will be the result !  People of  Massachusetts, this amendment is deserving of your YES vote !

[bopinion]

2021 / 47

Aperçu of the Week:

Once seen is better than a hundred times heard, once done is better than a hundred times seen.

(Pedagogical principle based on a Chinese proverb)

Bad News of the Week:

I don't know if my personal top ten of bad news is led by the corona virus or the climate crisis. Both are so persistently dominant that it doesn't even take a new bad news story to see them for what they are: Scourges of humanity, for which humanity itself is responsible. In their emergence and in the inadequate handling of them. Both with open eyes, which makes it worse in real and moral terms.

What would I give for the headline "Destructive meteorite hurtles towards the earth". Because that bad news would just be an immanent disaster. Without the double bottom that one would also be to blame for it. The German title of John Green's book "The Fault in our Stars" is "Fate is a rotten traitor". Yes, you can see it that way. And then also complain about it. But if one's own misconduct is the cause of an evil despite knowing better, any snivelling is forbidden. I wish for anger, burning anger. From everyone. Against many things. Because otherwise, it seems, the worst always happens: nothing at all.

Good News of the Week:

The formation of the new German government is actually on schedule. There were considerable doubts as to whether the three parties involved - the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals - would even be able to get their act together. And then so quickly? The coalition agreement was finally presented on Wednesday, and since then information about the ministerial appointments has been trickling in. Next week, the individual party congresses (or, in the case of the Greens, a ballot) are expected to approve the negotiating groups' agreement - that's considered certain - then the new chancellor will be elected in the Bundestag around Saint Nicholas.

By the way, this will mark the end of 16 years of Angela Merkel. And she was only the eighth head of government since the Federal Republic of Germany came into existence. Which also shows remarkable political stability: Italy, for example, has had 30 prime ministers in the same period, alternating 47 terms. This was primarily due to the fact that, until now, a large so-called people's party has always governed either alone or with a junior partner. This era is now over.

For the first time, Germany is now governed by a coalition of three parties. Which fueled fears that only minimal consensuses would suffice and that the big throw - a forward-looking mission - would fail to materialize. And yet the coalition agreement is entitled "Dare more progress - Alliance for freedom, justice and sustainability." Whereby every term in the second part can be clearly assigned to one of the parties involved: Freedom to the Liberals, Justice to the Social Democrats and Sustainability to the Greens. Because apparently (even if I have not yet read the 177-page work completely) it succeeded actually that all three find themselves sufficiently in it. And, thank goodness, it reaches considerably more than just the feared minimum consensus.

A few examples: Introduction of a minimum wage of 12 euros. Lowering of the voting age to 16 years. Improved working conditions and wages for nursing staff. Establishment of a permanent crisis team (initially, of course, for the Corona pandemic). Reorganization of social welfare into a citizen's income. No tax increases, but no tax cuts either. Creation of a separate ministry for construction for 400,000 new apartments per year and long-term fixation of a rent brake. Infrastructure improvement measures for fiber optics and mobile communications. Digitization of schools. Guarantee of an apprenticeship. Release of cannabis. Fixing of the pension level and introduction of the so-called share pension. Introduction of a basic child care benefit and fixing of children's rights. Further liberalization of abortion law. Changes in immigration and labor law. Etcetera.

Most important for the coming years is, of course, the issue of climate / environment / sustainability. Fortunately, there are clear positionings here as well. Bringing forward the end of coal-fired power generation from 2038 to 2030. Significant strengthening and expansion of renewable energy sources, especially wind power on 2% of the state's land area and, in general, solar panels on all new commercial buildings. A mandatory climate check of all future legislative projects. No more internal combustion engines after 2035. Retention of the nuclear energy phase-out. Appointment of the Greens to the ministries of Environment & Consumer Protection and Agriculture & Food. Etcetera.

Above all, in the creation of a Ministry for Business and Climate Protection, headed by Green Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. And that is a strong statement, because there can only be a secure future for a developed society with a pleasing level of prosperity if economy and ecology are not (any longer) seen as opposites. In this respect, I wish this new government every success. To the good for all of us.

Personal happy moment of the week:

This weekend, winter has begun on the Bavarian edge of the Alps. The landscape is white, everything seems so strangely peaceful, as only snow can do. And tonight the fire will be crackling in the stove. Simply beautiful.

I couldn't care less...

...whether the new Corona mutation from southern Africa should be called Omicron, Ny or Xi. It's not the packaging that matters, but the content. And how dangerous this can be, is not yet seriously known. On the other hand, I like any discussion that leads Ted Cruz to publicly come out as a bullshitter.

As I write this...

...I am waiting for my pubescent son to clean up at least part of his room. Only parents can understand what an immense monstrosity such an undertaking can be.

Post Scriptum:

75% of German hospitals already have to postpone "scheduled surgeries" because all capacities are occupied with mostly unvaccinated Corona-infected patients. And this includes not only new hip joints, but also life-saving cancer operations. Currently, in our county, a forty-year-old mother with severe cancer is losing her life because she could not be operated here and there was no more room on the Air Force special planes that currently transfer the worst cases nationwide. And now it is too late. I do not know this woman personally. Nevertheless, I cry for her.

#thoughts #aperçu #bad news #good news #news of the week #happy moments #politics #chinese proverb #coronavirus #covid19 #climate change #john green #angela merkel #liberals #social democrats #greens #coalition #progress #freedom #justice #sustainability #consensus #snow #winter #omicron #robert habeck #ted cruz #dying #cancer

[robertreich]

The One Thing to Know Before You Vote

Many of the biggest issues affecting our day-to-day lives are determined by state and local officials who are running for office down here — as well as ballot measures.

But these races at the bottom of the ballot often receive less attention — and fewer votes — than federal positions that appear at the top of your ballot.

Why? Well many people who vote simply don't fill out their entire ballot. It's a serious issue.

And I get it. I mean, how can you be expected to know what a comptroller does? Does anyone really know?

And you may not be familiar with all of the other names you see on your ballot.

But these state and local government officials are going to be vital for holding on to what we have –– protecting many of the rights that extremist Republicans in Washington and the Supreme Court are actively trying to erode.

Down ballot races are also critical if we want to advance progressive changes at the state level –– like raising the minimum wage, instituting ranked choice voting, inscribing abortion rights into state constitutions, expanding Medicaid, protecting trans youth, making public higher education more affordable. All of these become possible when we pay attention to down ballot races.

Control of many state legislatures is often determined down here — by a handful of races that can swing in either direction based on a relatively small number of votes.

Republicans have been focused on state and local races for decades — especially when it comes to funding them.

It’s long past time for the Democratic Party to do the same.

On top of that, ballot roll-off — a phenomenon where people vote for top-of-ticket candidates but then don’t vote for down ballot offices — has been a huge problem for Democrats as of late in key battleground states.

A recent analysis of presidential election results from 10 swing states dating back to 2012 showed that in contested races, the Democratic presidential nominee at the top of the ticket received more votes 87% of the time compared to Democratic state legislative candidates at the bottom of the ballot.

On the flip side, the Republican nominee for president received more votes than Republican state legislative candidates just 45% of the time.

Folks, it’s not enough to just vote for President — or even Governor — and call it a day. As we have seen, the consequences of doing so are enormous.

So here are a few things you can do to get prepared to vote down-ballot.

Get your ballot early — request a sample ballot from your local election office. Take it home and familiarize yourself with it.

Next, research ALL down ballot candidates. There are some great organizations to guide you — Sister District, The States Project, Bolts Magazine, and People’s Action are just a few. I’ve linked to them below, but feel free to leave a comment with other local resources you’ve found helpful.

Lastly, connect with your friends and share this information. Get them to vote down-ballot, too. Research shows that texting a friend about voting increases turnout.

We don’t win overnight. We win by connecting with our communities. Paying attention to candidates up and down the ballot — even organizing for them.

When it comes to power in America, remember to vote for the little folks down at the bottom of your ballot.

#youtube #video #videos #election #politics #midterms #Democrats #Republicans #Medicare For All

[mysherlockstardis]

Don’t waste your vote.

Please don’t throw your vote away on November, 3rd.

Please don’t write in Bernie Sander’s name or vote 3rd party or ignore your civil duty all together.

Please vote for Joe Biden if you truly believe that Trump is not good for this country. You can either stomach Trump, support Trump, or acknowledge that he needs to go!

For those who supported Bernie and now want to sit out of this election or cast a vote with his name in protest please consider what Sanders and Biden have in common.

On Criminal Justice:

1. Biden and Sanders want to abolish capital punishment.

2. Biden and Sanders support ending the cash bail system.

3. Biden and Sanders support scraping sentencing disparities (on cocaine).

4. Biden and Sanders support abolishing the minimum sentences on nonviolent drug offenses.

5. Biden and Sanders support scrapping previous pot convictions.  

6. Biden and Sanders support eliminating private prisons.

On Economy:

Biden and Sanders both want to increase the minimum wage to $15.

On Education:

Biden and Sanders want to boost teacher pay.

I would like to add that while Biden and Sanders certainly don’t share a lot of similar views on education, it should be noted that Biden does support 2 years of free college, and wants to work on reforming the student debt problem in our country.

On Climate Change/Food & Agriculture:

1. Biden and Sanders want to pay farmers to adopt climate friendly practices.

2. Biden and Sanders support protecting the rights of farm workers.  

Again, they don’t share many views in this department, but I would like to note that Biden supports the development of nuclear technologies to fight climate change, end new oil and gas leases on federal land and offshore drilling, and place a tax on carbon emissions.

On Gun Control:

Biden and Sanders support a ban on assault weapons and a plan to have a federal buyback on such weapons.

Biden and Sanders support universal background checks.

On Immigration:

Biden and Sanders want to grant citizenship to DACA recipients or dreamers.

On the Supreme Court:

Either Biden wins and when RBG retires, she is replaced with a judge of similar temperament or Trump wins and puts another conservative judge thereby shifting the dynamics of the supreme court in favor of conservative values for the rest of our lifetimes.

I do not want to debate anyone about any of these individual policies. This isn’t about debating politics, but looking at the similarities of the 2 candidates that divide the only party that can defeat Trump. I just want those who supported Bernie Sanders and can’t stand the idea of voting for Biden to understand that by not actively voting against Trump for Biden, you are enabling Trump to remain in office. We could debate about how Trump lost the popular vote and still won, and how the electoral college devalues individual votes. 100%. We could also debate that in 2016, if third party voters in Florida had chosen to vote for Clinton instead of giving their vote to a person that had no chance of winning, then she could have won that state.

The more progressives, democrats, liberals, and left-leaning idealists argue about how disappointing of a candidate Biden is, then the more likely Trump will be re-elected. Trump’s base is not divided. We are.

Can it not be agreed upon by both the moderate democrats who support Biden and the liberals who supported Bernie that Trump needs to go?

Our country is unfortunately a two-party system. It sucks, but it’s a fact. There are 2 choices for President. Joe Biden or Donald Trump. You either choose one or admit that you don’t actually care enough about the leadership in our country to even cast a vote. Or maybe you do care, but not enough to cast a vote that could make a difference in the election. Writing in Mickey Mouse or Bernie Sanders is not gonna make Mickey Mouse or Bernie Sanders the President. It just means that you better hope that your fellow Americans who are casting the votes that actually count are looking out for your best interests; because you aren't.

Under Trump, Dreamers will not be offered citizenship.

Under Trump, if he is reelected, the Supreme Court will likely become a completely conservative leaning court (arguably endangering the rights of women and the LGBTQ+ community, don’t @ me).

Under Trump, climate change is not and will continue to not be addressed with the seriousness it deserves.

Biden is not a perfect candidate (trust me I don’t wanna defend his character or all of his politics), but he is literally the only option we have. Other than Trump.

I truly do not understand how people who oppose Trump and Biden, but like Bernie, can seriously sit back and debate throwing their vote away. Listen, I get it. This post probably sounds like I don’t get it. This post probably sounds like I’m trying to ignore all the problems Joe Biden presents as a person and politician.

I do not agree with Joe Biden on everything. There are few people who would probably agree with Joe Biden on everything.

I just know I agree with Joe Biden more than I agree with Donald Trump, which makes casting a ballot in his name a lot easier than sitting back and being upset that we only have two bad choices for president. People always get upset when I argue about the lesser evil, but if we are going to be stuck with an evil either way, isn't it better that you get to choose which of those evils will hurt you less?

#bernie sanders #Joe Biden #blacklivesmatter #politics #election 2020 #supreme court #rbg #pride #women #democratic party #democrats #liberals #progressive's #independents #president trump #climate cange #justice reform #votedemocrat #vote blue #vote blue no matter who #biden2020 #votebiden #america #american politics #moderates #against trump #anti trump #bernie 2020 #bernie supporters #president

[truck-fump]

The One Thing to Know Before You VoteMany of the biggest issues...

New Post has been published on https://robertreich.org/post/699113292435718144

The One Thing to Know Before You VoteMany of the biggest issues...

The One Thing to Know Before You Vote

Many of the biggest issues affecting our day-to-day lives are determined by state and local officials who are running for office down here — as well as ballot measures.

But these races at the bottom of the ballot often receive less attention — and fewer votes — than federal positions that appear at the top of your ballot.

Why? Well many people who vote simply don’t fill out their entire ballot. It’s a serious issue.

And I get it. I mean, how can you be expected to know what a comptroller does? Does anyone really know?

And you may not be familiar with all of the other names you see on your ballot.

But these state and local government officials are going to be vital for holding on to what we have –– protecting many of the rights that extremist Republicans in Washington and the Supreme Court are actively trying to erode.

Down ballot races are also critical if we want to advance progressive changes at the state level –– like raising the minimum wage, instituting ranked choice voting, inscribing abortion rights into state constitutions, expanding Medicaid, protecting trans youth, making public higher education more affordable. All of these become possible when we pay attention to down ballot races.

Control of many state legislatures is often determined down here — by a handful of races that can swing in either direction based on a relatively small number of votes.

Republicans have been focused on state and local races for decades — especially when it comes to funding them.

It’s long past time for the Democratic Party to do the same.

On top of that, ballot roll-off — a phenomenon where people vote for top-of-ticket candidates but then don’t vote for down ballot offices — has been a huge problem for Democrats as of late in key battleground states.

A recent analysis of presidential election results from 10 swing states dating back to 2012 showed that in contested races, the Democratic presidential nominee at the top of the ticket received more votes 87% of the time compared to Democratic state legislative candidates at the bottom of the ballot.

On the flip side, the Republican nominee for president received more votes than Republican state legislative candidates just 45% of the time.

Folks, it’s not enough to just vote for President — or even Governor — and call it a day. As we have seen, the consequences of doing so are enormous.

So here are a few things you can do to get prepared to vote down-ballot.

Get your ballot early — request a sample ballot from your local election office. Take it home and familiarize yourself with it.

Next, research ALL down ballot candidates. There are some great organizations to guide you — Sister District, The States Project, Bolts Magazine, and People’s Action are just a few. I’ve linked to them below, but feel free to leave a comment with other local resources you’ve found helpful.

Lastly, connect with your friends and share this information. Get them to vote down-ballot, too. Research shows that texting a friend about voting increases turnout.

We don’t win overnight. We win by connecting with our communities. Paying attention to candidates up and down the ballot — even organizing for them.

When it comes to power in America, remember to vote for the little folks down at the bottom of your ballot.

#Uncategorized

[npr]

Kecia Jolley is getting a pay raise this week. But she's still making minimum wage.

Jolley works as a grocery store cashier in Missouri — one of nearly two dozen states that increased their minimum wages on Jan. 1. Economists say those mandatory wage hikes are an important factor boosting pay for workers at the bottom of the income ladder.

Jolley's Friday paycheck will be the first to reflect Missouri's 2020 minimum of $9.45 an hour, up from $8.60 last year.

"I think that I'll be better off," she says. "But I think that it's going to still be a struggle."

Jolley says her paycheck will still barely cover rent and utilities. She relies on food stamps and school lunches to help feed her three children — ages 6, 11 and 14. Jolley is grateful that a ballot measure passed by Missouri voters in 2018 calls for three additional increases in the minimum wage over the next three years. By 2023, the minimum will climb to $12 an hour.

"I would consider that at least a decent living wage," Jolley says. "Then people can pay their bills. They can possibly get a few things on their 'wants' list every month. Like, kids need new clothes. Or — I'm a girl. I ran out of mascara, like, a month ago. Luxury items such as new socks."

While the federal minimum wage hasn't changed in more than a decade — it's still $7.25 an hour — many cities and states have adopted higher thresholds. In Arizona, Colorado and Maine the minimum wage is already $12 an hour. Minimums are higher still in California, Massachusetts and Washington state.

Minimum Wage Hikes Fuel Higher Pay Growth For Those At The Bottom

Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

#news #NPR #business #minimum wage