Pat Smith over at Wetterling v Bachmann has an excellent post about Bachmann and the minimum wage. Pat posts a recent press release from Patty Wetterling, then adds:
I like the phrasing of this press release. Framing the minimum wage as a "family values" issue lets voters see that, despite Michele Bachmann's claim to the "values" voter, she does not have the best interest of the working families of the Sixth District in mind.
However, the Wetterling campaign could have gone further in attacking Bachmann's record on the minimum wage. During her time in the MN Senate, Bachmann has made some pretty extraordinary statements regarding this issue. For instance, there's this doozy, stated during testimony on January 26, 2005, to the Jobs, Energy and Community Development Committee:
"I was wondering, if most employers are already doing this anyway, isn’t minimum wage really just superfluous? Why do we even have one?"
Did Michele Bachmann really advocate abolishing the minimum wage? Does she still hold this out-of-the-mainstream position? Well, wait 'til you hear some of her other plans regarding worker compensation...
"Many teenagers that come in should be paying the employer because of broken dishes or whatever occurs during that period of time. But you know what? After six months, that teenager is going to be a fabulous employee and is going to go on a trajectory where he's going to be making so much money, we'll be borrowing money from him." —Michele Bachmann, 1/26/05, explaining why teenagers should pay employers for the privilege of working instead of receiving minimum wage.
I wonder how Bachmann's teenage supporters feel about this one. Pat concludes:
How can we take Michele Bachmann seriously when she suggests that, not only should we abolish the minimum wage, but that some employees should not be compensated for their labor at all, and should even pay the employer to work?
Bachmann v Wetterling isn't happy with this. Karl commented about the Bachmann v Wetterling post over at Wetterling v Bachmann:
The whiz kids at the Bachmann v Wetterling blog are blowing smoke about the minimum wage, citing copious statistics from the innocuous-sounding Employment Policies Institute. Hmmm. I wonder who's behind them? Surprise! Those generous folks in the hotel/restaurant/bar/tobacco lobby!
Read all about them here:
Of course, don't try to tell the Bachmann Boys that--their dishonest little blog doesn't allow comments. I guess the truth is easier to avoid that way.
Posted by: Karl
Karl linked to the Center for Media and Democracy "Source watch" entry on the Employment Policies Institute:
Employment Policies Institute
The Employment Policies Institute is one of several front groups created by Berman & Co., a Washington, DC public affairs firm owned by Rick Berman, who lobbies for the restaurant, hotel, alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries. EPI, registered as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, has has been widely quoted in news stories regarding minimum wage issues, and although a few of those stories have correctly described it as a "think tank financed by business," most stories fail to provide any identification that would enable readers to identify the vested interests behind its pronouncements. Instead, it is usually described exactly the way it describes itself, as a "non-profit research organization dedicated to studying public policy issues surrounding employment growth" that "focuses on issues that affect entry-level employment." In reality, EPI's mission is to keep the minimum wage low so Berman's clients can continue to pay their workers as little as possible. |
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