So like, what happened to the ‘Raise the Wage Act of 2021?” The Dems removed it from “President” Joe Biden’s 2 Trillion dollar COVID-19 Relief package in order to appease the Republicans. They were supposed to have a separate vote on raising the federal minimum wage as soon as possible. That was back in January. They promised they’d get right on it once the stimulus package passed…

Oh, they swore up and down it was a TOP PRIORITY.

So what the fuck happened?

The current federal minimum wage is a measly $7.25 an hour – which any normal person would describe as an “outrage” – and it hasn’t been raised since 2009. Back in January, when negotiations were still ongoing, some progressive Democrats tried to propose raising the wage to $15 an hour in the stimulus legislation. Even though House Democrats could have passed it through the ‘budget reconciliation’ process, they of course bowed to the wishes of the minority party and voluntarily removed it from the COVID relief bill.

It’s a moral travesty that a livable goddam wage is still being debated in the land of ‘free-market’ capitalism where billionaires and corporations are raking in the spoils of this broken system while working people are forced to visit food lines and homeless shelters.

It boggles the mind how quickly important issues like this can be flushed down the newshole in the USA with nary a peep from any civil rights groups, union advocates, so-called progressive organizations…or anyone, really. The story has even disappeared from the self-proclaimed ‘alternative’ media. No wonder the USA fell 11 points in the latest ‘Freedom Index.’

The MSM hasn’t touched this story since February.

Apparently we aren’t allowed to discuss the matter publicly anymore. We’ve got bigger problems to deal with, right? Unrelenting gun violence; police brutality; climate change; a ‘for profit’ government; rioting in the streets; the pandemic, general chaos and disorder…etc…

A livable wage is simply a non-issue now except maybe on a local level. The fact that the story has completely fallen off the political map is all the proof you need that you can never sit back and just hope the Democrats will do the right thing. Because they won’t.

Mind you, even $15 an hour won’t do a whole lot to drastically change anyone’s life, but it would certainly help bring the basic standard of living up for most people. And no one is asking to raise the minimum wage overnight, not even Bernie Sanders. What has actually been proposed is a phased increase by 2025.

Republicans predictably argue that a livable wage would “cripple small business” – which is what they always say. And of course they’re totally wrong. And they’re fucking liars, too. Is this a surprise?

I have a real problem with the argument they always trot out that raising the minimum wage will hurt small business owners. Fuck it, if a small business owner can’t afford to pay their workers a livable goddam wage then they shouldn’t fucking be in business in the first place. That’s what capitalism is ALL ABOUT: competition, right?

As always, they want to have their cake and eat it, too. And while they’re at it, they will have your cake, too…

There’s no excuse for employing anyone below the poverty line; especially not in the so-called “richest” country on earth. That’s fucking slave labor. It’s total bullshit that small businesses can’t afford to pay workers fifteen bucks an hour, and all the fake mainstream economists know it.

Besides, when a business pays their staff so poorly that they still need assistance from the government through food stamps or whatever other benefits are available – then we the taxpayers are the ones actually paying those wages FOR the corrupt, incompetent business owners. Then all the CEOs take that free money and give themselves massive raises!

Jeff Bezos could give every single Amazon employee a hundred-thousand dollar bonus and STILL BE AS RICH as he was before the COVID-19 pandemic!

It’s ironic that the same fuckers who are so vehemently opposed to government handouts or any kind of public assistance to struggling families are the same fuckers who are so vehemently opposed to rewarding hard-working Umerkins by paying them decent wages!

California is one of seven states which already have a $15 minimum wage in the US. The others are Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, and the District of Columbia.

So why haven’t their economies crashed and burned? Those states have some of the highest GDP (Gross Domestic Product) values in the country…

But of course the GOP can have it both ways: they get to fuck over all the deadbeats AND all the decent, honest, hardworking citizens at the same time! And yet, no one ever calls them on it.

This doesn’t happen in civilized countries. There have been minimum wage laws in the EU and Britain for many years now. In Europe, labor unions have enormous political power, and minimum wage laws have been around for a very long time…and while they’re not perfect, they have certainly not destroyed small businesses or ruined the economy. In fact as everyone knows, the European Union as a whole contains some of the world’s strongest, most stable economies.

Simple common sense will tell you that if people no longer have to worry about putting food on the table or how they’re gonna pay the rent, it gives them the freedom to spend their wages on other things – stimulating the local economy and creating a demand for more jobs.

Again, only in Umerka – where critical thinking is highly discouraged – is the population too blinded by ignorance and arrogance to understand these facts, and they are utterly incapable of doing anything about it. You can’t exactly fix a problem if you can’t acknowledge it even exists.

While polling consistently shows the minimum wage increase is favored by the vast majority of Umerkins, opposition remains from the GOP, some Democrats and of course the only “citizens” who really matter: corporate lobbying groups.

Most Umerkins want a higher minimum wage, they want gun control, they want access to affordable healthcare, they want stronger financial regulation – the polling on some of these issues is around 75% or more – and yet somehow our “democracy” can’t seem to deliver any of those things.

When one [minority] party and its corporate masters have complete domination of the government no matter WHO gets elected, it’s Game Over, folks. The “president” is merely a temporary employee. It’s primarily a ceremonial position now. The courts, the state governments and the legislature are firmly in the hands of straight-up fascists. Nothing constructive ever gets done in this god-forsaken country because The System is set up that way. Any attempt to pass legislation benefiting the people will be summarily crushed.

Our “government” has been totally privatized, and this is the end result. Corporations have more rights than the Umerkin people.

Bottom line: corporations no longer serve the government; corporations ARE the government.