Nathan
----- Original Message ----- From: "Max B. Sawicky" <sawicky at bellatlantic.net> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 2:25 PM Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] Conservatives win by losing
Of course the R's are against indexing and the Dems are not. In my 14 years at EPI, I've just never seen any push for indexing on the Hill from the Dems. Maybe there was something that escaped my attention, but EPI keeps a pretty close eye on that issue.
max
-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of Nathan Newman Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 1:03 PM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Conservatives win by losing
----- Original Message -----
From: "Max B. Sawicky" <sawicky at bellatlantic.net>
>This reminds me of the Dems and the minimum wage.
>If they ever got it permanently indexed to something like inflation,
>they would have less justification for demanding it be increased
>periodically. They never fight for indexation.
>mbs
Max- What evidence do you have for that claim? In New York for example, the Dems at the statehouse were quite willing to support indexing, but it were the semi-friendly GOPers-- needed for passage in the GOP-controlled state Senate-- who rejected it out of hand, since they like to get "pro-labor" credentials from their periodic and reluctant votes to raise the minimum wage.
John Kerry, for example, endorsed the initiative that will be on the November ballot in Florida to raise the minimum wage by a dollar and thereafter index it to inflation. A range of Dems in the state are supporting the initiative as well.
Dem politicians in Nevada have been working closely with labor groups to put a initiative on the November ballot to raise the minimum wage with indexing.
The same is true in other states where indexing has been passed. Of course, there are always conservative Dems who oppose indexing. In Mass. for example, the Dem Senate President was pushing indexing a few years ago, while the conservative House Dem speaker in the House opposed it.
But if you want a perfect illustration that it is the GOP which opposes indexing normally, look at Alaska. In 2002, a bill was passed to raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation. See http://alaskalegislature.com/stories/030302/minwage.shtml
In 2003, a GOP-led effort deleted the indexing provision. Not a single Democrat in the Alaska House supported deleting indexing. See http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_jrn_page.asp?session=23&bill=HB199&jr n=1750&hse=H List of Democrats in state house can be found at the bottom of this page: http://www.akdemocrats.org/Documents/042803_senate_budget_vision.pdf
The fact is that it is hard to overcome GOP opposition to the minimum wage, and they fight indexing tooth-and-nail. Yet when it comes to a vote, Dems have supported indexing pretty consistently. As always, they could take stronger leadership and fight harder, but your description of why indexing doesn't get passed just doesn't match the reality of most fights over the minimum wage.
Nathan Newman
-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of Carl Remick Sent: Friday, July 16, 2004 8:09 AM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: [lbo-talk] Conservatives win by losing
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