The Minimum Wage Is A Poverty Wage

This chart shows the history of the minimum wage (in 2013 dollars) and its comparison to what would be required to meet the various poverty levels. As you can easily see, only a single person who is working for minimum wage could stay above the defined poverty level -- and sadly, most people working for the minimum wage are not single (nor are the teenagers, as the GOP would have us believe).

A single parent with one or two children (a common thing in our current society) would make far less than what would be required to keep that family above the poverty level. And there's simply no way a married couple with two children can even come close to rising above the poverty level while working for minimum wage. This is why 20% of American children are living in poverty -- not because their parent is lazy, but because they work hard at a full-time job that pays a wage that keeps them in poverty.

Even more troubling is the fact that the situation is not getting any better -- it is getting worse. Most of the new jobs being created are jobs that pay at or near the minimum wage, and it is expected that by the early 2020's at least 20% of the workforce in this country will be working for the minimum wage (or very near it). With a workforce of over 150 million, that means more than 30 million will be working for poverty wages.

That should shame every American, since we live in the richest country in the world -- a country that could afford to pay workers a decent wage. But too many of our leaders, both in industry and government, simply don't respect workers. They don't care that they are forcing hard-working people to live in poverty, and some (the Republicans in Congress) would like to abolish the minimum wage and let employers pay even less than the currently required $7.25 an hour.

We don't just need to raise the country's minimum wage -- we need to raise it substantially, to at least $10.10 an hour. That may sound like a lot when compared to the current vastly inadequate minimum wage, but it is only about $21,000 (less than half of the median wage in the U.S.). And after it is raised, it should be tied to the rate of inflation, so its buying power doesn't immediately start to disintegrate.

Hairtrigger

Political Cartoon is by Stuart Carlson at carlsontoons.com.

Bernie On Cuba And Guantanamo

Zappa

A Shocking Number Of Americans Are Willing To Trade Their Democracy For A Plutocracy

(The image on the left is from the web page Institut Neo Socratique.)

Venture capitalist (and rich jerk) Tom Perkins recently popped off and said the citizens of the United States that don't pay taxes shouldn't be allowed to vote in our elections. That told me right away that this was a person who did not believe in democracy. He thought the rich should be the only people with a voice in government, and that is not democracy -- that is plutocracy (rule by a wealthy class).

He also came up with another idea that was just as ridiculous -- that votes should be apportioned according to the amount of taxes paid (with the person paying the most getting the largest number of votes). Again, this is a plutocracy instead of a democracy -- because it would give the rich a larger voice in who gets elected.

The simplest definition of democracy is one citizen, one vote -- with the vote of any citizen (rich or poor) counting the same as the vote of any other citizen. The further one departs from that ideal, the further they get from democracy.

But that is not the only thing wrong with Perkins' silly idea. The fact is that everyone pays taxes. Even those citizens who don't have a large enough income to pay income taxes, still pay a significant amount of their paltry income in taxes. They pay property taxes (even if they rent), sales taxes, license & other fees (which are taxes whether you call them that or not) -- and because they pay these taxes, they should be able to have a voice (through the ballot box) in the government that is levying these taxes on them.

Right-wing Republicans have been engaging in a propaganda war over taxes, labeling those who work for low wages (and therefore pay no income tax) as "takers" -- completely and conveniently ignoring all the other taxes these people pay. They are trying to sell the false notion that these people (most of whom work hard at full-time jobs) are lazy and just living off of government handouts paid for by the rich taxpayers. It is a lie, but they have convinced a lot of ignorant people that it is true.

How many people are ignorant enough to believe the GOP lie (and are therefore willing to trade in their democracy for a plutocracy)? A shockingly high number of people! The folks who do the YouGov Poll decided to find out how many people would be willing to go along with Perkins' voting ban. Their survey was conducted on February 14th and 15th of a nationwide sample of 1,000 adults (and has a margin of error of between 3 and 4 points). The first chart shows the percentage of people who would be willing to deny the right to vote to their fellow citizens because they don't pay taxes (assuming they think only of income taxes).

That's unbelievable to anyone who supports a democratic style of government. Slightly more than a third of the population (34%) think it would be acceptable to deny the vote to the poor and to low-wage workers. For these people, the concepts of democracy, equal rights, and justice have no meaning.

Then they surveyed on Perkins' second idea -- that the number of votes a person should get ought to be based on the amount of taxes they pay (again assuming we are talking about income taxes). But a very interesting thing happens when this question is asked -- the percentages go way down. It seems that many of those who would deny the right to vote to the poor and low-wage workers, don't like the idea that someone else might get more votes than they would get. In short, they are not willing to give up what they are willing to deny to others -- an equal vote.

Bankrupting America

Political Cartoon is by Milt Priggee at miltpriggee.com.

Americans Are Still Unwilling To Accept Global Climate Change Is Caused By Human Activity

The chart above might give those of us some hope that the seriousness of global climate change (commonly called "global warming") is finally beginning to sink in to the American public. It shows that 63% of the public believes the effect is real, and believes it is a serious problem. But believing it is a problem, and being willing to do something about it (or believing something can be done about it) are two different things -- and that is the problem with the American public.

It turns out that the public still has not accepted the fact that global climate change is caused by human activity (specifically the overuse of fossil fuels that cause a build-up of CO2 -- a greenhouse gas). As you can see from the chart below, while more people now believe it is due to human activity rather than to a naturally-occurring planetary trend, those accepting it is due to human activity still do not make up a majority of the public (with the high point being 48% in July of 2012). Currently it rests at 44%.

That's not good enough. Until a significant majority of Americans admit global climate change is caused by human activity, the government will not do anything about it. There is too much pressure from the polluting corporations for Congress to act without significant pressure from the general public.

It's starting to look like greed is going to win out over common sense -- and that we are going to be the first generation to leave those who come after us with a worse world than the one we inherited.

These charts were made from information contained in Rasmussen Polls -- the latest one being conducted on February 18th and 19th of 1,000 nationwide likely voters, with a margin of error of 3 points.

Karma

Political Cartoon is by David Fitzsimmons in the Arizona Daily Star.

Poem

My Embellished Truth

Truth

Where art thou

Buried beneath some wild

Embellishment

Must we dig

To find you

Must we strain you

Through a sieve

To know you

How is it that you hide

What is wrong inside

That you must appear

Larger and more interesting

Than you actually are

Are you that insecure

Is there no trust

That you

Truth

Will be believed

If you stand on your own

To mine own self

Be true

Should be your cry

Embellishment

Is no more than

A lie

by Brian McLaughlin

Obama's Fault

Political Cartoon is by Bill Day at cagle.com.

Geography & Truth

A progressive's Wish

Hillary's Popularity Is Still High - GOP Race Still A Muddle

Hillary Clinton has still not announced her candidacy for the presidency, and she is unlikely to do so for at least another year or so -- but she continues to be the candidate to beat. Last week a poll showed she would beat any of the leading Republicans in Ohio (which is a state Republicans must win to retake the White House). And now a new poll shows she remains very popular with the general public nationwide -- with an approval rating 22 points higher than her disapproval rating (59% to 37%).

It is the latest Gallup Poll -- taken between February 6th and 9th of a nationwide sample of 1,023 adults (with a margin of error of about 4 points). The poll shows Clinton is much more popular than Joe Biden, who is generally regarded as the second choice among Democrats. Biden had a 46% favorable rating and a 42% unfavorable rating -- a difference of only 4 points.

Meanwhile, the Republican field still has no clear leader. Public Policy Polling released polls from three new states -- Alaska (January 30th to February 1st, with a 4.7 point MOE), North Carolina (February 6th to 9th, with a 5.6 point MOE), and Louisiana (February 6th to 9th, with a 5.6 point MOE). These are all teabagger-controlled states, and while they showed no clear leader, they do show the far-right-wing candidates do well in those states -- which means it is probably going to be very hard for the GOP to nominate a moderate and viable presidential candidate in 2016.

Size

Political Cartoon is by Mike Luckovich in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.