I kept shaking my head throughout Friday’s gubernatorial debate.
Scott Walker simply has no clue about what it’s really like to work for a living.
Why is our economy so sluggish?
It’s not a jobs problem. It’s a “work” problem, according to the longtime government employee with a safe pension and health care.
Translation: If you don’t have a job it’s your fault. Not Walker’s.
Then he repeatedly dodged a specific question about the minimum wage. He talked about everything but the minimum wage and when asked, again, to provide an answer, he said he wanted to create jobs that pay more than the minimum wage.
That would be awesome.
But what about those who earn the minimum wage?
No answer.
The thing is, Walker has the power to raise the minimum wage with the stroke of a pen.
He doesn’t need to go to the Legislature or get permission from anyone.
He just has to raise it.
Last week, when presented with a complaint by Wisconsin Jobs Now about the state’s minimum wage, with tons of evidence that it’s not a “living wage” as required by Wisconsin law, Walker refused to take up the complaint and tackle it.
Walker reasons that if these low-wage workers qualify for social assistance programs, then they’re doing just fine. Instead of being paid fairly for their work, they need to use FoodShare and BadgerCare to get by. The cost of covering fast-food workers alone in Wisconsin is $166 million annually—corporate welfare, no doubt about it.
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Although a majority of Wisconsinites support a higher minimum wage, Walker is standing on the side of employers who don’t pay adequate wages.
No wonder why 54% of those surveyed in the most recent Marquette University Law School poll said Walker doesn’t care about them. It may also explain Walker’s lead with wealthy voters and men—folks less likely to work minimum wage jobs. The catch is that those who support raising a minimum wage are less likely to vote. Probably because they feel that their vote doesn't matter, that those in charge, like Walker, don't care about them.
In contrast to Walker's elaborate evasions, Democrat Mary Burke said she’d raise the minimum wage. No dodging there.
Will voters remember that when they cast a ballot?
