The Republican-controlled House of Representatives in Minnesota has decided that even though there is a rising tide of sentiment to raise the minimum wage in the state–and across the country–they will do everything they can to make sure it doesn’t happen.
Passing a bill earlier this week, Gopher State Republicans have now set into place a two-tiered minimum wage. The bill sets a?lower rate for employees who receive tips of at least $4 per hour, while also restricting cities or the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport from enacting a higher minimum wage than the state minimum, which stands at $7.25 an hour.
Attempting to defend the backwards motion of the GOP,?Rep. Pat Garofalo, chairman of the Job Growth and Energy Affordability Policy and Finance Committee and the bill’s chief author, argued that without a change in the minimum-wage law, restaurants and taverns could be forced out of business by higher labor costs as the state’s minimum wage rises to $9.50 per hour by 2016 and then increases with inflation after that.
Even Forbes, long a bastion of the business world–and the Republican economic policy– has debunked the myth that rising wages lead to job losses. Reporting on supposed job cuts in the Seattle area after the minimum wage increased to $15 an hour there, the magazine said:
“Never mind that not so much as one of the restaurant closings discussed in the original piece referenced the coming rise in minimum wage as a reason for their decision to shutter their business. And never mind that the owner of one of the four eateries discussed is currently opening two new restaurants in Seattle. It was a headline that opponents of the citywide minimum wage increase could not resist?and the facts could not be allowed to stand in the way.”
The bill is likely dead on arrival when it reaches the Minnesota Senate, which is still in the hands of Democrats. Democratic Governor Mark Dayton is also opposed to the legislation.
Once again we see the true goal of the Republican Party throughout this country: To make sure average workers are unable to get ahead financially while at the same time further enriching the wealthy business interests which bankroll their efforts.
Ebenezer Scrooge is alive and well in America, and he is clearly a member of the GOP.
