Stop Me Before I Vote Again

We're hearing some nice noises on the minimum wage.

Seems Senator Kennedy will participate in a "Living Wage Days" event on Monday, January 16 at the United First Parish Church Unitarian in scenic Quincy, Mass.

Ted thinks min wage workers need a raise. Last month, at a holiday news conference, thus Ted:

"In this the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works for a living should have to live in poverty."

" How can any of us in good conscience enjoy our own high standard of living, when it is built on the backs of underpaid workers?"

Why MLK day? Well, thus Martin:

"There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American worker ... whether he is a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid, or day laborer."

King wrote those lines in late '67, when the federal minimum wage was worth 3.50 an hour more, more, yes mooooooooooore, than it's worth today. To get back to that same level of "lack of vision" King deplored, we would need to raise the min from its present $5.15 to $9.10; and to reach Dr. King's goal of "total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty" we'll need to do a hell of a lot more than get back to where he stood. In fact, we'd need about a $12.50 min.

Do you hear any Democrats calling for that?

Oh by the way: this information comes courtesy of the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, active both at the national level and in a number of states including Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, West Virginia and Arkansas. So if you're looking for a constructive outlet for your political energies, why not join 'em? It would feel a lot better than working to elect some Democrat In Camo, or whatever the buzzword-du-jour is.

And while you're up and at 'em, suggest indexing the Federal minimum, so we don't have to wait on the patronage of a Ted to start back along the road to where we were when Bobby was still alive.

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