California conservative multimillionaire supports minimum wage increase

[mota bhai 2,675]

Ron Unz, an entrepreneur and registered Republican with conservative credentials, argues raising California's minimum wage to $12 an hour will ease low-paid workers' dependency on food stamps and other government assistance programs.

Entrepreneur Unz, 52, is a former publisher of The American Conservative magazine with a history of against-the-grain political activism that includes pushing a 1998 ballot proposal that dismantled California's bilingual education system, an idea he later championed in Colorado and other states.

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After a long break on the political sidelines, Unz's reappearance has startled members of both major parties, and his proposal — if it goes to voters in November — could unsettle races from governor to Congress.

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To Unz, who's spoken out over the years on issues as varied as campaign finance to IQ and race, the proposal simply makes sense. As drafted, it would increase the minimum wage in two steps — to $10 an hour in 2015, and $12 the following year, which would be the highest among states at current levels.

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Unz says taxpayers for too long have been subsidizing low-wage paying businesses, since the government pays for food stamps and other programs those workers often need to get by. He posits that the increase — at $12-an-hour, up from the current $8 — would lift millions of Californians out of poverty, drive up income and sales tax revenue and save taxpayers billions of dollars, since those workers would no longer qualify for many welfare benefits.

He dismisses the notion that countless jobs would evaporate, noting that most of the state's lower-wage jobs are in agriculture and the service sector, which can't be easily automated or transported elsewhere. He believes higher wages would make the jobs more attractive to U.S. residents, curtailing a lure for illegal immigration.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0112/California-conservative-multimillionaire-supports-minimum-wage-increase

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

George Miller likes the idea as well:

Minimum Wage Increase Author Miller to Retire From Congress

Edited January 14, 2014 by The Postmaster

[mota bhai 2,675]

George Miller likes the idea as well:

Minimum Wage Increase Author Miller to Retire From Congress

Is he a commie?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Is he a commie?

No, these are smart people that understand that extreme wealth and income concentration is not good for the economy and is thus not good for anyone including the rich. It's the stuff that banana republics are built on but not much more.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Are you a commie?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Are you a commie?

No.

[mota bhai 2,675]

No.

I'm pretty sure you've been trained to say that.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I'm pretty sure you've been trained to say that.

No.

[mota bhai 2,675]

No.

Exactly.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Exactly.

No.

[mota bhai 2,675]

You are exceptionally well trained, operative. Props to your superiors.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

You are exceptionally well trained, operative. Props to your superiors.

No.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Those GDR boys sure knew what they were doing.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Is he a commie?

Yes. He gives good Pelosi.

[mota bhai 2,675]

Yes. He gives good Pelosi.

So Pelosi is a dickhead?